Your professor: the venerable Joe Morgan. A sample of his work:
"In the postseason last year, the Cards' problem wasn't complacency, it was stage fright. When they got to the World Series, the bright lights were a little too bright for them."
Yes, the Red Sox defeated the Cardinals because St. Louis was a squad of chokers, too lily-livered to come through on the big stage. Head ninny Tony LaRussa led his team of cowards into four games and came up empty each time, probably because he had never, ever been on the postseason stage ever before. Ever.
Those lights are bright!
Never mind that the Cards' lineup and rotation was stocked with veterans who supposedly "know how to play the game the right way." St. Louis featured only three positional starters under the age of 30: All-Stars Albert Pujols, Scott Rolen and Edgar Renteria. I was about to check the number of postseason appearances for each and every Cardinal, but given that I am currently blogging from a wireless hotspot in Kennedy Airport, time is running short.
But from what I've checked so far, a lot of these guys have been there before. And of course, their manager is a guy lionized time and time again for his in-game decision-making and overall genius-hood. You're telling me the guy they wrote an entire book about couldn't prepare his immensely talented squad -- a team that won 105 games -- to play under the "bright lights" of the World Series?
That guy must really suck at managing.
Labels: joe morgan
