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Edited on Mon Oct-30-06 07:28 PM by KamaAina
The Cardinals finished the postseason 11-5. Six games above .500.
They finished the regular season 83-78 -- only five games above .500, in a division where they got lots of free shots at the likes of Pittsburgh and the Cubbies.
Six games above .500 in a 16-game postseason, for a percentage of .688. Five measly games above .500 for the entire regular season, more than ten times as long, for a '73 Mets-like percentage of .516. Ye gods.
This isn't an anti-Cards rant per se; they're one of the real old-line franchises, the fans are great, and it may be, pound for pound, the best pure baseball town on the map. But this year's team? Eurghh. The one that got swept by the Red Sox a couple of years ago was better.
Note: And who's been complaining about the extended playoff format rewarding mediocrity? Most prominently, Bob Costas.
St. Louisan Bob Costas.
Something tells me we won't be hearing much of that for a while...
edit: Twelve teams had better records, 8 (!) in the AL and 4 in the NL, five of which failed even to make the postseason. "We're No. 13! We're No. 13!" :shrug:
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