It’s Reid Night at the ballpark on Friday.
Actually, it’s the first of two 2007 Reid Nights at the ballpark.
The family is headed down to Busch Stadium for the first game of the St. Louis Cardinals weekend series against the Washington Nationals.
I purchased the tickets on a frigid snowy morning back in March. Good seats were available for most games, so I didn’t get stuck with the Nationals. I also wasn’t simply taking what was available when I purchased tickets for the Sept. 8 tussle against the Pittsburgh Pirates.
There is method to the madness of the dates and the teams.
Last year the Reids attended two games. The first was June 7 against the Cincinnati Reds. The second was August 1 against the Philadelphia Phillies. Both games had two things in common – the heat index was well above 100 and the Cardinals got hammered.
So, this year the genius that is Alvin picked an early-season team against the Nationals and a late-summer game against the Pirates. While pleasant weather was not guaranteed, I felt confident that the girls would get to enjoy the fun of two big Cardinal victories.
Little did I know that the Nationals and Cardinals would have the same pitiful number of wins (16) when this week began. The Redbirds are also looking up at the perennial basement-dwelling Pirates.
As of Tuesday’s series opening game against those same Pirates, the Cardinals were nine games under .500 and 10 games behind the first-place Milwaukee Brewers.
I’m still sticking to my guns and foresee the Cardinals righting the ship and sailing into the port with an unlikely National League Central Division championship.
Of course, last Thursday I blabbed to the world on KFNS 590 The Fan that not only do I foresee the Cards winning the NL Central, the run would start with the team winning two of three games in Detroit. Didn’t happen.
With injuries, age, a morose manager and unexplained offensive inability, the smart money is not on the Cardinals. But my wife Carmen will tell you, “Alvin isn’t that smart.”
I have no factual evidence supporting my “Cards will win the division” theory, but I do have two things in my favor.
The NL Central is the worst in baseball. Don’t be fooled by the Brewers. Nine games over .500 could easily become one game under .500 in less than a month. Every other team in the division has more losses than wins. Yep, the Cards still aren’t out of this thing.
Also working in my – and the Cardinals’ – favor is the upcoming schedule.
The team closes out a three-game series with the Pirates this afternoon (May 24) and then takes on the Nationals on Reid Night, Saturday and Sunday.
The Cardinals well celebrate Memorial Day in Denver taking on the NL West last place Colorado Rockies (18-27) and after four games there, move on to Houston (21-23) for three games. June 5-7 brings the Reds (18-27) to St. Louis and the Los Angeles Dodgers (25-20) come to town for a weekend series June 8-10.
Six of the next nine games are against the hapless Kansas City Royals (17-28) with a series in between at the Oakland A’s (22-22.)
The Cards desperately need to win five-of-six games against the Nationals and Pirates. Three-of-four against the Rockies would be great, but I’d take a split. Winning two-of-three from the Astros would position the Cardinals for a meaningful run to heights higher than .500 from that point to the All-Star Break on July 9.
It could happen. But most importantly, it’s Reid Night on Friday. What a perfect night to get it together.