Cards fans, don’t panic. After digesting and contemplating the long term effects of a 7 game losing streak for the past 18 hours, I can tell you that doom hasn’t settled over the team YET.
Things to remember…
*We are losing to 2 of the best teams in baseball. The Braves and Pirates are stocked with good young pitching and play very well at home. This isn’t an excuse but only a reminder when you think this 62-44 team is inching closer to their death. Scratch that. There is time and we aren’t done yet. Sometimes when you lose so many in a row you forget who the opposition is.
*This bad bad streak is happening with 2 months left. Better now than late September. A playoff savvy team has to be playing their best baseball in a tight division race. The timing of this streak isn’t sweet yet not that bitter either. If this happens at the end of June the team is probably barely above .500 and more than 2.5 games behind the Pirates. It happened this past week, and took the pep out of our step but we still only sit a few games back and have tonight’s game to inch closer. The Cards could be a totally different team in late August and September and show a few new members. Don’t sweat this streak for long.
*One win can change everything. Overall mindset. Outlook. When we staked Adam Wainwright to a 2-0 lead last night, I really thought we were going to snap the streak and climb back in. However, as Mike Shannon said last night via Twitter(yes that just happened), “they never said it was going to be easy”. Waino was sloppy and the team blew it. That’s life and that’s baseball. The good thing about this is that the Cards get another shot tonight. The turnaround in baseball is quick and that can be good or bad.
The game of baseball can age a man. I say this because I am a die hard baseball fan and am obsessed with the game and the Cards, as you probably discovered here. It’s so hard to not get romantic and passionate about sports if you step too close for a long time. This is why I whispered into Vinny’s ear last night that its okay to not be obsessed with sports and to actually get there and live a little. This game will take pieces of your soul and sanity away little by little. The more you give, the more the team will take when they plummet and suffer. Cards baseball is the only sport in town that can drain my senses and control my mood. I’ve watched the Blues since a young age but I can shake off their defeat and it’s even less with the Rams(playoffs not included). The reason for me is baseball is such a slow diabolical game and it will wear you down. It contains the most games in a single season and the games are very frequent. It isn’t like in the NFL where you have 1 game per week and that is it. Win or lose, you can recover in time for the next one. In hockey, they play 2-3 times a week but the action happens so fast it can roll in and out of your system quicker. In baseball, it’s a slow bleed and a painful boil inside your soul and mind. It can kill you. All the little inner mind games going on and the intellectual madness and despair involved in the decision making. As fans, we take it all in and its dangerous. For me, with baseball, I see all the signs and the lanes of opportunity. Like last night when Matheny didn’t pinch hit for DD with Adams and Carpenter on the bench. That one decision. This game is truly a game of inches. Inches that can decide a huge number of games. As a fan this can be painful.
Example. When the Cards lost game 1 of the doubleheader on Tuesday, I was about to walk into a movie. I watched the ball bounce off Kevin Siegrist’s glove and into left field for the winning hit and I walked into the theater and literally told my poor wife, “This movie better be fucking good!”. I give a lot of credit to my wife for putting up with my sports and movie obsession. It’s not always easy seeing your husband watch a movie for the 15th time or seeing him wallow with a team when they struggle. She gets extra points for that. I can say without hesitation that sports obsessions have ended plenty of relationships but the Buffa’s got it together. She knows I have a mistress that is the Cardinals from February until November. She accepts that and that’s why I’m lucky. Most women would shake their heads(unless they were die hard fans too) and walk out the door.
So tune in tonight and don’t hold your breath for a victory but I wouldn’t rule out success at the same time. They may crush our spirits again but we can at least keep in mind that they will do it again on Friday. Take the field, pitch to win, hit to succeed and try to make enough plays and smart decisions to come up with a win. Also, the people who want Mike Matheny fired are stupid, ridiculously inept sad excuses for a baseball fan. Probably a member of the best fans in baseball who desperately want Tony La Russa triple guessing decisions and perplexing strategy back.
Alright, non baseball shit-
*The Bourne Legacy is nearly as good as the previous three entries. Without Matt Damon, Jeremy Renner stepped into the role of Aaron Cross, a fellow Bourne like agent, and knocked it out of the park. Together with a cast including Rachel Weisz and Edward Norton, the writer of the original three Bourne films, Tony Gilroy(along with his brother Dan) crafted a highly entertaining and intelligent film. The same tense action and thrills and gutsy performances. Check it out on HBO or DVD.
*I have acquired my copy of the first season of Cinemax’s underrated and addicting new series, Banshee. I have written two articles about it on my website. The show is delicious and worth a look. The entire season is only 25 dollars on DVD. Check it out.
*The Black Rebel Motorcycle Club are coming to St. Louis on September 27th and I will be there. One of the most underrated unknown rock bands return to a place they have piloted before and the walls and floor will be shaking. Smooth old fashioned punk rock n’ roll. Swirling guitars. Heavy vocals. Plenty of hits. Tickets go on sale tomorrow and they are cheap. Need a taste. Here it is.
*Trailer Spotlight-Peter Berg’s latest, based on a true story.
Title-Lone Survivor
Check it out…
That is all I got for you right now. Until next time, stay healthy.
-DLB
Dose of Buffa 