Deck certainly seems stacked against these Cards
The Cardinals don't need to consult a history book to know what the odds are against them now. Only the Red Sox have come back from being down, 0-3, in a best-of-seven baseball series, and no club in history has done it in a World Series.
Even before the Cardinals returned home to Busch Stadium's circular confines, they knew the numbers facing them were daunting. Whenever they've dropped the first two games of the World Series (in 1928, 1930, and 1987) they've gone on to lose. Of the 48 previous teams that have been down 0-2, only 11 have prevailed, including just one of the last 11.
The exception was the 1996 Yankees, who lost the first two at home to Atlanta, then won the next four. No team dropping the first two on the road has won the Series since the Dodgers beat the Yankees in '81.
One down at home
Last night's home loss was the first for St. Louis in the postseason after six victories. The Cardinals also had won seven of their last 10 Series games here, including all three in 1987 against Minnesota . . . While Scott Rolen (.000) and Jim Edmonds (.091) have been the vanishing men in the St. Louis lineup, Larry Walker has been the team's big basher, hitting .417, with two homers and a 1.083 slugging average. He's driven in three of his mates' anemic 12 runs in the Series . . . There was clearly a correlation between the Cardinals walking 18 Boston batters and losing the first three games. During the regular season, they were 88-33 when they walked three or fewer, 17-24 when they didn't . . . Cardinals starter Jeff Suppan was the first pitcher to start a Series game against his former team since Sterling Hitchcock did it for the Padres against the Yankees in 1998. Suppan's old teammates knocked him out before the sixth for the first time in the postseason and hit .364. Suppan had held playoff opponents to a .154 average.
No opening for closer
The loneliest man in the St. Louis bullpen has been closer Jason Isringhausen, the only Redbird pitcher who didn't get into the first three games. Isringhausen, who was 4-2 with 47 saves in 74 appearances during the regular season, played in eight of the 11 games against Los Angeles and Houston, losing one and saving three . . . It isn't as though the Quincy Marriott, the Cardinals' perch for the first two games in the Hub, was the Bates Motel. "The hotel wasn't bad," testifies pitcher Ray King. "No critters running around, the lights worked . . . the hotel did a terrific job. They probably got about three days' notice that they were housing us." What the players (and their wives) assumed was that they'd be downtown, within walking distance of shopping and restaurants, as the Red Sox are here. "When a team comes to my town, I want them to have the best amenities," said King. As for their lodgings for this weekend's return, the Cardinals are hoping just to have a return. "We're trying to win three ballgames here," King said. "We'll cross that bridge when we come to it." . . . St. Louis had four players named to the Sporting News National League All-Star team -- first baseman Albert Pujols, shortstop Edgar Renteria, third baseman Rolen, and center fielder Edmonds. Pitcher Chris Carpenter, who's sidelined for the Series with an irritated nerve in his right arm, was named comeback player of the year . . . Is St. Louis the best baseball town in America? "The fans are as enthusiastic as other places, but they're probably a little more fair-minded," said manager Tony La Russa. "You can get booed here as a visiting player some, but you're not going to get embarrassed by the booing . . . You virtually never see nastiness from our fans. If you like people that are really enthusiastic and fair to both sides, it's got a chance to be the best." . . . Cardinals immortals Stan Musial and Bob Gibson threw out the first pitches. Both won Series rings against the Sox -- Musial in 1946, Gibson in '67.
