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3 up, 3 down

Sporting News, The, Oct 25, 2004 by Stan McNeal

Up Brad Lidge. Remember the name. It soon will be mentioned in the same sentence with the other elite closers. Ask the Cardinals. Lidge had held them to no runs and two hits while striking out 23 in his first 13 2/3 innings against them this year (regular season and NLCS combined). Lidge struggled with injuries earlier in his career, but he looked pretty healthy working two innings in consecutive days against the Cardinals.

$12 million. That was the reported difference in how much more the Yankees were willing to spend to acquire Alex Rodriguez than the Red Sox. Looks like money well-spent by Mr. George.

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Cardinals fans. Hearing announcers declare how wonderful they are can get a little old, and their pleas for a curtain call after every Cardinals home run has been a bit much. But the 52,000-plus who sat through a night of cold and rain for Game 2 deserve every accolade that comes their way.

DOWN Next year. For the Red Sox and Cubs, this really should have been the year. Considering the clubs' offseason issues--Pedro Martinez and Sammy Sosa, to name two--there's little reason to think 2005 will be better.

Ray King and Julian Tavarez. Between the NLDS and the NLCS, the Cardinals' relievers apparently lost more than their humility--they lost their out pitches. King allowed only one homer all season but served up two to Lance Berkman in the first four games of the NLCS. Tavarez lost his cool--not to mention the game--when he gave up a seventh-inning homer to Carlos Beltran in Game 4. Perhaps next time the chatterboxes will save their yakking for after the season.

Steroids and Bends. Bud Selig doesn't like any news about his sport except playoff news in October, but during the LCS the commissioner had to face yet another story implicating Barry Bonds with using steroids in 2003. Earlier in the week, baseball lost one of its All-Stars of the 1990s, Ken Caminiti, who had admitted taking steroids during his MMP season of 1996.

3 up, 3 down

Sporting News, The, Oct 25, 2004 by Stan McNeal

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