Cards asleep at the wheel?
I awoke bright and early last Thursday to start the first day of my girls’ spring break.
The plan was to cook their favorite breakfast dish of bacon and watch a little Sponge Bob before heading to work.
Instead, we watched video of Tony La Russa leaving the Palm Beach County jailhouse after being arrested on a DUI charge in Jupiter, Fla. We listened as news reports filtered in, and I have to admit the word “damn” slipped from my lips upon hearing La Russa was found asleep at the wheel of his SUV at an intersection, the vehicle in gear and his foot on the brake.
I also realized that last week’s column dealt with the new smoking ban, but I touched on over-consumption of alcohol at Busch Stadium. The headline that hit the streets: “Cards should snuff out drunks too.”
Wow, what a staggering coincidence.
The Tony DUI story has been done to death this past week, so the topic here is baseball, not drinking and driving. But La Russa’s arrest is an ominous way to start the 2007 season. Mark my words, things will not go as planned by the Cards’ front office.
Even if everything does not fall into place – Mark Mulder’s return from surgery, Jason Isringhausen staying healthy, Chris Duncan playing decent outfield – the Cardinals will win the National League Central Division title.
The fact is that no team in the division can topple the Cardinals in 2007.
The Chicago Cubs lineup is more solid with Alfonso Soriano joining Derrek Lee in the batting order. Carlos Zambrano could fulfill his guarantee of winning this season’s NL Cy Young Award and Ted Lilly offers reliability that this team is not used to in its starting rotation. But the Cubs refusal to seek a divorce from Mark Prior and Kerry Wood will again be the team’s downfall. Wood is already headed to DL and Prior will soon follow.
The Cincinnati Reds picked September to fall apart after challenging the Cardinals throughout the season. Alex Gonzalez at shortstop is a key addition, but Aaron Harang and Bronson Arroyo are the team’s only two reliable starters. The Reds’ bullpen is a mess and the over/under for games played by Ken Griffey Jr. should be set at 100.
Milwaukee was overrated last year, and they are overrated this year. Jeff Suppan will only have cash to console him as he and the Brewers struggle. Fireballer Derrick Turnbow is in the bullpen, but he might be midseason trade bait because there will be few games for him to save. Look for an almost identical 75087 record from the Brewers in 2007.
Carlos Lee was traded from the Brewers last year and he is now a member of the Houston Astros. The addition of his bat will not act as a Fountain of Youth for this aging team. Craig Biggio and Lance Berkman will do their best, but it will be a struggle for the Astros to finish above .500. The “x-factor” of course is Roger Clemens. But word is the organization is tired of playing the “will he or won’t he” game with Clemens as are his prospective teammates. This is another team that could throw in the towel at midseason and begin building for the future.
The Pittsburgh Pirates have a solid nucleus of young players including shortstop Freddy Sanchez and pitcher Zach Duke. But that, and a lot of empty seats, is about all this team has to show.
While it might seem like I’m saying it’s the Cardinals by default, the fact is that the Cardinals remain the most solid team in the division.
Cards will win the division, but then the trouble starts in the first round of the playoffs.
But we’ll cross that bridge when October gets here, and let’s hope the team does not fall asleep at the wheel in the meantime.