Could be Birds vs. Mutts in NLCS
As a young man and St. Louis Cardinals fan, I found myself rooting for the team via KMOX during college and then my tour of journalistic duty for Gannett Inc.
I listened and/or watched the Redbirds win the 1982 World Series from my apartment near the University of Kansas in Lawrence.
My heart was broken in Danville, Ill., when the 1985 Cardinals were ripped off in the World Series against the Kansas City Royals.
While in Lansing, Mich., I begrudgingly had to accept the seven-game defeat at the hands of the Minnesota Twins in October 1987.
During these years on the road, one thing did not change.
I despised the New York Mets. In fact, during the ’85 battle to the wire with the “Pond Scum,” I drove from Danville to St. Louis and back on the same night just to see a critical Oct. 1 game. The Cards came back to beat the Mets that night and reduce the Magic Number to two. They would win the division two days later with a win over the Chicago Cubs.
Oh, I hated the Mets. And I still really did, until 2005.
Then, everything changed. After an embarrassing 71-91 performance in 2004, the Mets hired manager Willie Randolph and General Manager Omar Minaya. A black man and Hispanic man would run one of the premier Major League Baseball franchises.
Randolph is a first-time manager; Minaya is in a role very few minorities are trusted with.
Together, they improved the team in 2005 and have run away with the National League East a year later. The team’s 91st win on Monday night was the one that closed out the NL East race. The 4-0 win over the Florida Marlins, the most spirited team in baseball, set off a celebration usually reserved for the postseason.
Randolph had hugs for his coaches and players. Fireworks exploded as the last out was recorded on a fly-out to Cliff Floyd. Minaya was in the middle of the champagne celebration in the clubhouse, as Randolph and the team busted loose.
It was a fun scene.
But, trust me, if Randolph had the cast of characters that the Mets paraded on to the field in the late 1980s, I’d still hate them even with Randolph as manager.
But the team and attitude that Randolph and Minaya have crafted in just two years has earned my respect and admiration.
I was one disappointed Cardinals fan when the Mets manhandled the Cardinals in the 2000 National League Championship Series. I didn’t watch very much of the ensuing Subway Series, but I admit I wanted the New York Yankees to triumph.
There is a very real possibility that the Mets and Cardinals will square off in the NLCS. In fact, I think it will happen.
The Mets will have the better team and home-field advantage. The Cards will have the advantage of being in the postseason for sixth time in seven years.
The Mets will have to overcome the curse of reaching the postseason first among all the playoff teams. This team has not won a World Series since the inception of the Wild Card playoff spot.
The Cardinals will have to overcome a season full of spotty play and injuries.
The Mets will be favored. The Cardinals will be underdogs.
The series will be fun.
We’ll talk later about who will win.