Open Letter to Cardinal Nation

For any relationship to be successful, it has to be built on trust. All parties involved have to be open and honest. (I'm not getting all Dr. Phil on you, there's a point here somewhere). Besides, everyone knows guys are terrible liars, so why even risk it? Why hide the truth when it's only a matter of time before you get caught?

Now that we've established an open line of communication, let's just get this doozy out of the way. It's true, I'm a Cub's fan...always have been, always will be. I realize some of you already know this, and some of you really don't care, but as Scott "The MMA Pundit" so eloquently put it, it's a Cardinal sin to be a Cub's fan in St. Louis. It makes it even tougher when you come to work on Cardinal Day with a Mark Prior jersey on (In case you were wondering, no, I did not throw out my arm while putting the jersey on). I blame my grandfather for turning me into a Cub's fan when I was too young to understand the implications. That's right I said blame. He's the reason I'm stuck with this curse. ....unfortunate allegiance. He used to send me Cub's gear when I was young and impressionable, and growing up in Tennessee there were no professional teams to root for. Had I known I could possibly go my entire life without ever seeing them win a World Series (or even play in one), I might have started following hockey and been a Blues fan instead....wait....that wouldn't have worked either....

So here we are....a Cubs fan writing for an audience of Cardinals fans (nothing good can come from this).

This has obviously been a tough start for the 07 Cardinals and it just keeps getting worse. Now the fans are throwing in the towel. I haven’t seen this many people jump ship since this season of “Lost” came back from its three-month hiatus. Just like “Lost”, the decline of the defending World Series champs can be attributed to a few key factors.

1. Fans of “Lost” have complained that this season’s episodes have not lived up to the hype. This sounds very familiar, doesn’t it? This season’s Cardinals were picked to easily repeat as NL Central winners even though they only won 83 games last year and lost 3/5ths of its starting rotation. A starting rotation that wasn’t even that good to begin with. The combined ERA of the seven pitchers that started 14 games or more last year was an unsightly 5.12, with only Carpenter coming in under 4.00. So, gone this year are Suppan, Weaver, and Marquis and the key signing for the rotation was Kip Wells (career stats: 58-82, 4.57era). What did management expect out of this motley crew of hurlers?

2. The first half of the current season of “Lost” was criticized for not maintaining the same quality of prior seasons. Again, sounds familiar. Let’s face it, the Cardinals aren’t getting any younger and the play on the field has regressed with each passing year. Since getting back to the playoffs in 2004, the winning percentage for the Cards has dropped each year (04-.648, 05-.617, 06-.516, and 07-.390).

3. “Lost” has also been prone to wild, inexplicable plot twists that seem to come out of left field (in fact, that pretty much sums up my writing skills). While the decline of this Cardinals’ team has been in motion for the past few years, no team can prepare themselves for the loss of a teammate, especially under the circumstances that surrounded the Josh Hancock accident. Couple that with the loss of Chris Carpenter until mid-August and you have a full season of plot twists in the first two months. What’s next….we hear there’s more to Scott Rolen’s shoulder injury and that he’ll never be the same?

4. While no team can fully prepare itself for accidents and injuries, management must be able to make the necessary adjustments to stay competitive. The producers of “Lost” recognized the rough start to their season and did just that. So far, Cardinal Brass hasn’t made a move to get a starter or an outfielder, even though there could be some intriguing names available…..Mark Buerhle, Rich Harden, Carlos Zambrano (NO!!!), Torii Hunter, Alex Rios, Reggie Sanders, Jermaine Dye, Ken Griffey Jr.

The Cardinals are at the crossroads of their 2007 season. They’re currently 16-25 and mired in a five game losing streak. The patchwork rotation of Looper, Reyes, Thompson, Wainwright, and Wells is 11-21 but they’ll have to hold down the fort until Mulder and Carpenter return. The good news is the next 28 games are against teams that are a combined 48 games under .500. This is the best chance the Cardinals have of salvaging their season. If they can go 19-9 during this stretch (which is definitely possible) they’ll be one game over .500 and should have Mulder back within a week or so.

So, Cardinal fans, there’s light at the end of the tunnel. If the Cardinals don’t return to the playoffs this year at least you have your championship to get you through the night. And, it could always be worse…you could be a Cub’s fan.

The People's Champ