The 5.5 Hole

In an alternate universe, David Freese is an outcast. His dropped pop-up cost the Cardinals the World Series. But in the real world, he is a redemption story. His mistake was not a huge one. It wasn't on the same level as Buckner, but it was a mistake on the grandest of stages. It was a mistake Freese was able to overcome with an amazing offensive performance.

The kid from St. Louis seemed to come from nowhere in the NLCS. In fact, he was interviewed after winning the NLCS MVP and asked how it felt being the MVP on a team with players like Pujols, Holliday, and Berkman. Well, he can be asked that question again. Berkman had an impressive World Series, Pujols had a three home run night, and while ineffective Holliday is a threat every time he steps to the plate. But it was Freese who was crowned MVP of the World Series.

As you all know by now, Freese hit a game-tying triple in Game Six followed later by a game-winning home run. In Game Seven, with the Cardinals already in a 2-0 hole before they even game to bat, things were starting to look bleak. But Freese, again, knocked in the game-tying runs with two outs. From there, the Cardinals never looked back and Freese earned the hardware.

Pretty good for a guy with 98 career RBI in three seasons. Pretty good for a guy making $416,000 a year. He's quickly becoming one of the best young players in the league. In his first three seasons in the league, Freese has compiled a .298/.354/.429 triple slash. At 28, Freese has plenty of years ahead of him. And playing in his hometown, Freese may be able to provide Cardinals fans a decent replacement for their star if Pujols decides to leave for greener pastures.

David Freese became the sixth person to win the NLCS MVP and World Series MVP in the same postseason under it's current format. He almost single-handedly lead the Cardinals to their 11th World Championship. His heroics helped provide one of the greatest World Series games in history. And he will forever be remembered for it. (After Game Six, the Hall of Fame asked for his bat. Freese, claiming he was not superstitious, gave them the bat and used a new one for Game Seven. So, apparently the bat had very little to do with Freese's success)

Now, the calendar turns to November. Winter is peeking around the corner ready to turn ballfields across the country to frozen tundras. We have over 100 days before pitchers and catchers report. Sure there will be off-season story lines to follow, but even without those, this World Series will give us something to remember. We can hold on to Freese's monstrous World Series as the fuel to get us through baseball's hibernation period that is winter.

I can't imagine the fan bases in Texas and St. Louis slept a wink last night.  It's now the morning after one of the greatest, if not the greatest, World Series games in history.  It was sloppy, competitive, offensive heavy, dramatic, and beautiful.  It was a game that saw the Cardinals trailing by two in the ninth, down to their final strike.  It was a game that found the Cardinals again trailing by two in the tenth, again down to their final strike.  In both cases, the Cardinals stood in there, continued to fight, and tied the game.  Which of course led to the redemption of all redemption.  David Freese's walk-off game six home run will be forever remembered with some of the most famous World Series home runs.  Maybe more so because he also dropped a pop-up on the in-field earlier in the game. 

No one knows for certain who will win Game Seven tonight, but one thing is certain; the season will come to an end tonight.  Perhaps these two teams will continue to pitch and slug and field their way to the longest Game Seven in history.  Maybe they will play through the night and finish Game Seven in the wee hours of Saturday morning.  I wouldn't put any of this past these two teams.  It's fitting that we have been given this great World Series after the last day of the season provided the greatest single day of baseball's regular season.  It's also sad that it has to end.

This is not a season recap.  This is just a reminder of how great baseball can be.  I was reminded by someone that had last night's game been a football game, the trailing team never would have had a shot to come back.  In football, the leading team would take a few knees and run out the clock.  Baseball's lack of a game clock makes it great.  No other sport allows for the momentum swings as quickly as baseball.  After the Cardinals tied the game in the bottom of the ninth, it would have been easy for the Rangers to get lost in momentum of the Cardinals.  But they didn't. Josh Hamilton stepped to the plate and hit a two-run home run that would have been his crowning achievement and the moment that would make his story the perfect movie.  Momentum swing, Rangers.  Then, the Cardinals again came back and tied the game in the bottom of the tenth.

There will be more to write once the season ends tonight.  One team will have a magical end to a season-long story straight from a fairytale.  One team will come up shorts after making an improbable run.  No matter the case, the World Series Champion this season will be a team no one really saw coming.  

One team is owned by the only man to have tossed seven no-hitters.  The only man to have struck out more than 5,000 batters.  The only man to have beat the heck out of Robin Ventura.  OK, that last one has little to do with baseball, but still proves Nolan Ryan's toughness.  The Rangers were built to pitch.  "New" philosophies were introduced by Ryan and his management team.  Pitchers would go longer in games.  There would be less focus on pitch counts and more focus on results.  They were going to win the way the Giants beat them in 2010; with pitching. 

The other team started the year with two legitimate Cy Young candidates in Adam Wainwright and Chris Carpenter.  They had a potent offense, sure, but they also boasted a pitching coach who churned out four Cy Young award winners (LaMarr Hoyt, Bob Welch, Dennis Eckersley, and Chris Carpenter).  They were managed by a man who focuses so much on pitching, he's been known to change pitchers in the middle of an at-bat.  They were going to breeze through this season and the play-offs on the strengths of their arms. 

Then they had to play the games.  Adam Wainwright blew out his arm.  The Rangers were unable to re-sign Cliff Lee.  And both teams finished the year outside the top-ten in ERA, and strikeouts.  Neither team was horrible at pitching, but neither team was great.  Yet, their offenses clicked at the right time.  The Cardinals overcame an eight-game deficit in September to take the Wild Card while the Rangers fought off the Angels and their perennially competitive ways. 

Two teams who were seemingly built on pitching, succeeded and plowed through the postseason on everything but. The Rangers put together a disappointing 4.40 ERA during the postseason so far.  The Cardinals did not fair much better.  They posted a 4.27 ERA.  Their offenses fared a bit better.  The Rangers scored a total of 55 runs.  The Cardinals scored 62. 

The second year into what many have dubbed "The Pitchers' Era" has provided a postseason with very little pitching dominance.  The World Series will likely be much of the same.  The Rangers, and Nelson Cruz specifically, are so locked in, their offense doesn't seem like it's going to let up.  The Cardinals, with the barber-shop quartet of Pujols, Berkman, Holliday, and Freese, should light up the scoreboards with regularity.  So, keep plenty of pencils on hand  if you plan to keep score.  Your scorecard will be marked up more than a high school geometry test.

I love baseball. I love do-or-die elimination games, extra innings, and pitcher's duels. I love clutch hits, great plays, and winning runs.

From the last day of the season on, baseball has been absolutely fantastic. The greatest single regular season day in baseball history has been followed up with division series' in both leagues for the ages. There were no sweeps, no easy advancements. The Rays and the Rangers were the only series not to go the full five games. But each game was intense and exciting. Two games in that series came down to some bottom of the ninth drama, and three out of the four games were decided by 2 runs or less. And that was just the series that DIDN'T end in a game five matchup.

The Yankees got the matchup they wanted in the Division Series when they hosted the Tigers, but quickly found themselves down two games to one. The juggernaut Yankees threw CC Sabathia in Game One and the Tigers threw the soon-to-be unanimous Cy Young pick Justin Verlander. They both got through one inning, then the rain came and erased a matchup most of the baseball world had been anticipating from the second the matchups were announced.

With the series knotted up at one game a piece, we finally got that matchup we had been looking forward to so much. But the offense stole the show. The game ended with a Tigers 5-4 win and pushed the Yankees to the brink of elimination with perhaps their worst pitcher slated to start Game Four.

AJ Burnett did start Game Four despite the collective groans from all of New York City. And he out-pitched even what he could have expected. A solo blast was all he gave up, and he powered the Yankees to a Game Five at home. And what a Game Five it was. Every pitch was important. Every pitch had fans on the edges of their seats. Just as the Tigers looked like they were going to pull away, the Yankees pulled to within one and were still threatening.

Joaquin Benoit threw some of the most exciting pitches anyone will ever get in a ball game. One missed spot could have spelled the end to the Tigers season, but he located them all, and calmly got the Tigers out of the inning, bridging the gap to Jose Valverde who hadn't blown a save all season long. And that trend continued as he closed out the series with a strikeout of Alex Rodriguez.

If that excitement was too much for you, grab yourself a pace-maker because there were two more Game Fives left to play.

The Brewers and the Diamondbacks met in the division series like twins separated at birth. These teams both have new managers, both had turned their seasons around, and both got surprisingly dominant pitching all season long. For every Ryan Braun and Prince Fielder there was a Justin Upton and Paul Goldschmidt. For every Zach Greinke and Yovani Gallardo, there was an Ian Kennedy and Daniel Hudson.

And when these twins, separated at birth, met this postseason, they showed fans the love and passion only baseball can bring. Nyjer Morgan was the fuel that powered a Brewers team full of young, dedicated players. Kirk Gibson's attitude shoved dysfunctional teammates together and turned the Diamondbacks into one of the closest clubhouses in baseball. All this translated to greatness on the field. Both the Brewers fans and the Diamondbacks fans matched each other's intensity. And like any great teams, the home games were won by the home teams.

When Game Five arrived, the fans outside of Arizona and Wisconsin didn't want the series to end. And it seemed the teams didn't either. The Diamondbacks jumped out to an early lead, then the Brewers leap-frogged in front. After squandering a bases-loaded situation in the eighth, it looked like the Diamondbacks season would be coming to an end, but they roared back to tie it in the ninth. But the never-say-die attitude and the power drawn from the passionate Brewers fans would not allow them to lose. In the bottom of the tenth the Brewers scored and propelled themselves to their first play-off series win since 1982.

Finally, the Cardinals and Phillies capped off the slew of Game Fives.

After the Cardinals were out-scored 14-3 in the last four innings of Game One and first three innings of Game Two combined, it would have been easy for the Cardinals to lay down and act as the welcome mat to the League Championship Series for the Phillies. But they didn't. The Cardinals stormed back and won Game Two.

Back in St. Louis, the Phillies took Game Three and pushed the Cardinals to the brink of elimination. But with the help of a newly dubbed "rally squirrel" who raced across home plate just as Roy Oswalt was delivering his pitch, the Cardinals forced Game Five.

Game Five was a matchup of old friends and Cy Young winners. Both Roy Halladay and Chris Carpenter were pitching on full rest and had been at the tops of their games down the final stretch of the season. The pitting of Halladay against Carpenter was like something from a movie script. These two were good friends coming up through the Blue Jays organization and both always wanted to get better. Well, they did and they faced each other in this incredible elimination game.

Halladay made two mistakes in the first inning but was dominant throughout the rest of his eight innings. On any other night an eight inning, one run performance would likely have given the Phillies the win, but Chris Carpenter was better. Carpenter tossed a three-hit, complete game shut-out. His performance can be classified as one of the best in postseason history. Now, the Cardinals move on to face the Brewers.

This postseason has lived up to everything play-off baseball should be. Friends facing each other for the right to keep playing, clutch home runs when a team seems down and out, and payrolls that don't rank in the top-five in all of baseball.

Bring on the League Championship Series.

For anyone who missed it, the last two days of baseball have been the greatest in history.  In history!  More specifically, last night was the greatest single night in regular season history.  These were games 162 for the teams involved, but there was no question, last night was play-off baseball. 

Many will argue last night's place in history, but until someone gives me a scenario greater than four teams battling for the final two play-off spots with two of those teams on the verge of the greatest comebacks in history, last night ranks supreme.  You don't need a recap, but here you go.

The Rays were nine games behind the Red Sox in the AL Wild Card chase when September kicked off.  The Cardinals were eight and a half games behind the Braves in very early September.  Both of these teams went on incredible runs to pull into a Wild Card tie heading into the last game of the season.  This set up the picture-in-picture creator's dream situation.  Four games, all with play-off implications.  The Rays were facing the Yankees, the Red Sox were facing the Orioles, the Cardinals were facing the Astros, and the Braves were facing the Phillies. 

But even with the drama leading into last night, no one could have predicted the excitement that was yet to come.  The fan bases in Boston and Atlanta will never see the beauty of last night.  I understand that.  As a Padres fan who watched that team lose a one-game play-off to the Rockies in thrilling fashion in 2007, I understand the pain of defeat will always block out the euphoria of baseball greatness. 

The Cardinals quickly put pressure on the Braves by running away with their game.  And the Braves seemed to respond.  With a one-run lead going into the ninth, they had their great rookie closer, Craig Kimbrel, on the mound.  But he blew it.  The Red Sox were leading in the seventh when rain threatened to end the game.  But after a delay of about an hour and half, the game resumed with the Red Sox maintaining their lead into the ninth.  But the Red Sox dominant closer, Jonathan Papelbon, blew it.  The Rays seemed dead in the water all game.  They were losing 7-0 until the bottom of the eighth.  Then magic happened.  The Rays scored six runs, capped by an Evan Longoria three-run home run, and headed into the ninth down only one run.  In the ninth, Dan Johnson happened.  In the 12th, Evan Longoria happened again. 

I've seen the footage of Bobby Thompson's walk-off home run to clinch the pennant for the New York Giants.  They were a team that came back from 13 games back late in August.  Until now, they were the greatest comeback story in baseball history.  I've seen Kirk Gibson's famous home run with two bad knees, I've seen Pudge Fisk waving his home run fair, Joe Carter winning the World Series, and Albert Pujols keeping hope alive for the Cardinals in 2005. 

Last night's home runs by Dan Johnson and Evan Longoria were better than any of those.  I have never been as excited in my life for a single night of baseball as I was last night.  Dan Johnson kept the excitement alive.  In the bottom of the ninth, with two outs, he stepped to the plate.  Dan Johnson?  Really?  He was batting under .200 and had one tater on the year.  It seemed like he was up there just praying he didn't make the final out that ended the Rays season.  With two strikes, he showed me he was up there to keep the Rays alive.  With a laser-shot over the right field wall, Dan Johnson placed himself in history with one of the greatest, most dramatic home runs in history.  Then, Evan Longoria topped him.

In the bottom of the 12th, Evan Longoria stepped to the plate literally seconds after the crowd made it clear that Baltimore had tied the game against Boston.  As Longoria was battling Scott Proctor, the crowd once again came to life.  The Orioles had just scored the winning run against Boston.  The Rays were at very least guaranteed a one-game play-off and maybe a Wild Card berth that night.  Longoria left little time to think about the possibilities.  Four minutes after Baltimore beat Boston, Longoria connected on another laser-shot.  This one, barely clearing the left field wall, placed Longoria on a very short list.  He became only the second player in history to clinch a play-off berth with a walk-off home run on the final day of the season.  Bobby Thompson, meet Evan Longoria. 

These last two days make me wonder if the postseason can top this.  Maybe we should end the season now.  What a wonderful chain of events that lead us to the magic and drama of last night.  Some will use last night as a call to keep the play-off format as is.  Some will still claim the season is far too long.  The fact is, the play-off format is what it is this year.  If the season were shorter, we would have had a Braves team and a Red Sox team limping into the play-offs.  This type of excitement cannot happen in football or basketball.  The NFL's season does not allow for great comebacks in the standings.  The NBA allows just about every team into their postseason. 

Now that it's all over, take a breath, forget about baseball for a day, because play-offs start Friday.  And I can't wait. 

While the world (myself included) focuses on the Rays and their pursuit of the Red Sox, the Cardinals and Giants have made things very interesting in the National League. The Braves, much like the Red Sox have struggled to win in September. Since September 1st, Atlanta has gone 7-11, and their road doesn't get much easier with only the last three games of the season (against the Phillies no less) at home. That leaves six straight road games though. So let's look at both the Cardinals' and Giants' roads the rest of the way.

St. Louis:

The Cardinals have 10 games left and sit 3.5 back of the Braves. Six of those games are at home, and all but tonight's game against the Phillies are against sub-.500 teams.

With Chris Carpenter pitching like his former Cy Young self, Albert Pujols being Albert Pujols, and a top flight offense like the Cardinals have, the Braves may need to start panicking.

San Francisco:

All but dead a couple weeks ago, the Giants have resurrected themselves. All the sudden, the Giants find themselves just four back of the Braves. Most of the momentum is coming from the Kung-Fu Panda himself, Pablo Sandoval. After an up and down season, Sandoval is mashing the ball and even got himself a cycle at the end of last week. The Giants have a tough hill to climb though. Six of their last nine games are on the road, with three of those games at Chase Field against the Diamondbacks.

The Giants will need to rely on their pitching like they did in 2010. Tim Lincecum, Matt Cain, and Madison Bumgardner will have to carry this team if they want to return to the postseason.

The last 10 games of the season should be terrific baseball. With multiple races, each game feels like October already.

My advice to the Boston faithful: close your eyes and hope for the best. With their faces buried in their hands with silent prayers floating through their minds, the Red Sox Nation is in full panic mode. And they should be.

While the Rays are furiously banging on the Red Sox door, the Angels are politely knocking. At just 4 games back, the Angels have inserted themselves as a second layer of Wild Card competition for the Sox. The difference, of course, is the scheduling. The Rays still have three vitally important games against the team they're chasing. The Angels, probably more focused on the Rangers, have none against the Red Sox.

Over in the National League, The Beer-Makers are in a similar spot. After building what seemed to be an insurmountable lead in the Central, the Brewers are suddenly faced with an entirely surmountable lead. Up 5.5 games on the Cardinals, Milwaukee probably has little to worry about, but a streak of two or three losses could make this interesting.

Beyond that, the Braves, who once seemed destined for the Wild Card, now carry just a 4 game lead over the Cardinals and a 6 game lead over the Giants. Yes, those Giants. With no head-to-head match-ups between these teams, the standings may not change much by the end of the year, but each game becomes more and more important down the stretch.

Just a month and a half ago we all had the play-off match-ups pegged. Yankees or Red Sox host the Tigers and Yankees or Red Sox on the road to Texas. Now things aren't so clear. In case you haven't noticed, the Tigers have the second best record in the A.L. all the sudden. They have moved from a sure-fire road series in the first round to potentially hosting the Red Sox or Rays. Even more surprising is the dwindling gap between the Tigers' record and the Yankees' record. They are now only 3 back in the win column for the American League's best record. Unfortunately, they are 5 back in the loss column and you can't control losses that have already happened.

What about the National League? Well, no one is catching the Phillies. But if I told you on August 1st that in mid-September the Diamondbacks would be tied for the second best record in the N.L., would you have believed me? The Phillies were all set to host Arizona in the first round, but now may be faced with hosting a Brewers club that can be as streaky as the best (or worst) of them.

A month ago, I wrote about what a second Wild Card in each league would look like this season. While in support of the idea, I wrote at the time that it would water-down the play-offs this season. That's no longer the case. How amazingly fun would a three game play-off series be between the Red Sox and Rays? How about the Braves and the Cardinals? These would be compelling match-ups worthy of postseason baseball.

In a 162 game season it's amazing to see such swings in the standings. You'd think things would normalize and start to be clear by September. Instead, thing get even more uncertain. And I love it.

Anyone who has ever played, watched, or coached Little League baseball knows that every player plays every position for the most part. Position players are often called from their position to pitch and pitchers are sent from the mound to the field. This generally carries on through travel leagues, AAU ball, and high school. In some cases, pitchers and position players are interchangeable even in college.

Yet somewhere between amateur baseball and professional baseball, It is widely assumed that pitchers lose the ability to hit. Once these pitchers start their professional careers, the opportunity to hit is greatly reduced. They are almost exclusively used for what they've been paid to do. But in reality, many of these pitchers can still hit.

To make it to the Major Leagues, players clearly have athletic talent. They retain the ability to do all the things they did in Little League, high school, and college. So why is it pitchers who lose the ability to pitch aren't converted to position players more often?

I'm not under the delusion that all pitchers have a natural, extreme athletic ability, but it has been shown time and again that there are pitchers who have enough talent to play elsewhere on a baseball field. Adam Loewen of the Toronto Blue Jays proved that once again yesterday as he made his debut in right field. Three years ago his pitching career was over due to injury and he was on his way to being out of the game altogether. But he committed and made the decision to try and comeback as a position player. Rick Ankiel did the same thing with the Cardinals, and he is continuing that resurgence with the Nationals. And there are others with the athletic ability to make such a transition.

Carlos Zambrano could if he needed. Mike Leake of the Reds can swing the stick too. Arizona's Micah Owings is constantly used as a pinch hitter. Then there's Dontrelle Willis. That's where our story really begins.

With his unorthodox delivery and his knee-buckling pitches, Dontrelle Willis quickly made a name for himself in Florida. The D-Train. He just missed capturing the National League Cy Young in 2005 with 22 wins, 7 complete games, and 5 shutouts. He led the league in each category, but finished second in voting to Chris Carpenter. Willis would go on to one more decent season before he seemed to lose his ability to get outs. He joined a small but notable group of pitchers to develop the yips, or a mental block causing pitching failure.

After posting no worse than 3.25 walks per 9 innings, Willis began to lose control of the strike zone in 2006. Here are his BB/9 ratios for each year from 2006 on:

2006: 3.34
2007: 3.81
2008: 13.13 (spent much of the year in Triple-A, so this is a small sample size)
2009: 7.49
2010: 7.68
2011: 4.34

During this period of control loss, Willis has struggled to remain a Major Leaguer. His 0-5 record with the Reds this year isn't helping any. But maybe his bat can.

He's already proven he can hit reasonably well. In 383 at-bats, Willis has a triple slash of .243/.287/.376. He has 9 home runs in that time as well. With his focus directed toward hitting rather than pitching, there's no reason to believe he can't build upon those numbers as well. Just take Rick Ankiel for example.

Prior to Ankiel's mysterious loss of control on the mound, he had 87 at-bats. He triple slashed .207/.276/.310 with 2 home runs. Numbers that are very much in line with Willis's considering the far fewer at-bats Ankiel had. Since converting to a position player, Ankiel has performed above average. He has 61 home runs, 373 hits, and 132 walks in the six years of full time position player duties. He has also accumulated 5.9 WAR during that time, proving he is better than replacement level since converting.

Dontrelle Willis is a gifted athlete, more so in my opinion than Rick Ankiel. Rather than let him waste away as a pitcher, some team should give him a chance to play the field. Let him hit, and let him prove his worth elsewhere. Otherwise, Willis will likely find himself out of the league very soon.

The Brewers have a 10.5 game lead over the Cardinals, a 13 game lead over the Reds, and a 17 game lead over the Pirates.  All season long, the run away division seemed to be the National League East with the Phillies dominating and the Braves bringing up the Wild Card.  Now, the Braves are 6 games back and at least within striking distance.  The Brewers, on the other hand, have opened up a virtually insurmountable lead.

How did this all happen?  On August 1st, the N.L. Central standings looked like this:

Milwaukee: 60-49
St. Louis: 57-21 -- 2.5 GB
Pittsburgh: 55-52 -- 4 GB
Cincinnati: 54-55 -- 6 GB

Since then, all Milwaukee has done is have one of the all-time great months.  In August, the Brewers have gone 20-5, scored 131 runs, and only gave up 77 runs. The National League records for wins is 29, held by the New York Giants.  While the Brewers won't be able to reach that total, they still have three more games this month.

While the Brewers have been winning, everyone else has been losing.  The Cardinals went 12-13 in August so far, the Pirates went 7-18, and the Reds went 12-11.  What's probably more frustrating for the fans is that each of these three teams added pieces at the trade deadline in an attempt to compete for the division. 

The Cardinals traded away Colby Rasmus but picked up Edwin Jackson.  The Pirates added Ryan Ludwick and Derek Lee.  The Reds traded Jonny Gomes to the Nationals for cash, outfielder Bill Rhinehart, and pitcher Chris Manno. 

Meanwhile, the Brewers stood pat for the most part.  They did trade Erik Komatsu for Jerry Hairston Jr., and they traded Wil Nieves for cash.  Hardly moves designed to bolster their line-up or change their make-up.  The Brewers gelled as a team while other teams were adding new pieces.  They rallied around each other, the players they had battled with all season long, and put so much ground between the Cardinals and themselves that they are almost a lock for the play-offs.  In doing so they now own the third best record in all of baseball. 

So even though the race is all but over, we can delight in the dominance of the Milwaukee Brewers.  We can revel in their success.  Or we can hate their fortune.  That's what baseball is all about. 

If any of you have read my blog you know my first true article was about Albert Pujols and his production leading to higher expectations. I wrote in that post that I felt Pujols would hit and get a lot closer to the Pujols we all have come to rely on.

Well, he has. But the articles about Pujols' down season continue. If you're an ESPN Insider, you can read one article here. If not, you can catch an article here or here.

I'm all for advanced metrics. As many of you know, I utilize them often in my posts. However, there comes a point where common sense must take over. There comes a time to put down the calculators (or abacuses for our old school friends) and take a look at what Pujols has actually done this season rather than what he did last season. His numbers last season are arbitrary. They mean nothing to the Cardinals' season this year. They mean nothing to Pujols.

Pujols' batting average ranks him 27th in the National League out of 73 players. Not a mind-numbingly good position, but not a horrible one either. He ranks first in home runs and 7th in RBI's. Pujols is 10th in slugging percentage and 12th in OPS. The bottom line is this; Pujols isn't a bottom feeder, and he's not bringing down the Cardinals' season.

Now, I will breakout the mathematics again and breakdown what some of these numbers actually mean. Pujols is 18 RBI's short of the National League lead. He is 52 points short of the lead in batting average and 49 points short in slugging percentage. He is 104 points behind on OPS.

But in terms of actual production, what do those numbers mean?

With his current number of at-bats, Pujols needed 22 more hits to rank number one in batting average. That's 22 more line drives that aren't caught, 22 more bloops that find grass, or 22 more seeing-eye singles. There are any number of ways Pujols could have gotten those hits, but nevertheless he was 22 hits shy.

Pujols only needed 20 more total bases to be leading the N.L. in slugging percentage with his current number of at-bats. That equates to five more home runs, seven more triples, 10 more doubles, 20 more singles, or any combination in between.

The above two stats leads to OPS along with walks and hit by pitch.

It's easy to look at the numbers, compare them to seasons past and call this season a slump for Pujols, but when we are talking about 22 more hits or 20 more total bases, there's not much separation between the "Pujols of old" and the "Pujols of new."

While I understand his numbers are not on pace with his career average, he is still going to maintain his consecutive streak of years with 30+ home runs and 100+ RBI's.

Pujols might not be the best player on his team this year with Lance Berkman's numbers, but he's still the best player in the league. His mildly reduced performance this year is not the difference between first and second place.

Let's give Pujols a little more time before we all jump off the "decreased productivity" bridge.

It's 10:30 AM.  You just woke up with the biggest hangover after an all night rager, and you find the girl you thought was pretty isn't quite so pretty the next morning lying next to you.  What do you do?

You never talk about it again.

That's what it seems the world is doing with the Pittsburgh Pirates.  It would seem America's feel good story of the year has turned into nothing more than another case of beer goggles for most people.  The Pirates, losers of five straight, find themselves deep in third place, six games back of the Brewers.  They are sitting on an even 54-54 record, and would seem the lightest of breezes could knock them back to a 19th losing season.

But all that said, the Pirates are still alive and kicking.  At least for now.  I have counted the Pirates as not only a team that will have a winning record at year's end, but will contend in the division.  Teams can go through a bad stretch.  Even the best ones lose multiple games in a row.  The problem with the Pirates is that while so much of this country was all-in on the Pirates bandwagon, the same people were silently waiting for them to fall.

That's why no one is writing about a team that was formerly sitting in first place but lost five straight games to drop to third.  No one is talking about a team with 18 straight losing seasons who had us all convinced that streak would end.  No one is even thinking about what this means for a franchise so deep in losing, an entire generation has been lost. 

I'm not sure what's worse, to have the doomsday prophecies come out in August, or to be ignored.  Either way, the Pirates are not done.  They have enough talent to carry them to a winning season.  Maybe not a division title, but a winning season nonetheless.  The fact is, the Pirates have no choice but to finish this season above .500. 

I'm not sure the city of Pittsburgh can handle being led on most of the season only to be turned away into the October cold with nothing but the memories of another losing season.  The Pirates were buyers at the trade deadline for the first time in years.  They have drawn more fans to both the park and the television.  They appeared on ESPN for the first time since 2002.  They simply cannot finish this season with a losing record. 

I choose to keep my beer goggles on.  I choose to maintain the same beliefs now that the Pirates are in third place that I did when they were in first place.  They have good pitching, play solid defense, and manufacture runs.  For a team with a low payroll and limited offensive power, those qualities usually lead to success.  So don't worry Pittsburgh, you're still the same team I met at the bar last night, and I'm not ready to run out and forget you. 

The smell of brats and beer wafted gently through the concourse, through the stands, and into the Milwaukee sun.  The sound of children laughing, men reminiscing, and line-drives flying pulsed through a near sellout crowd.  The thrill of the Brewers sixth straight win was not lost on anyone in Milwaukee, but it was lost on the rest of the world.

As the chirping of Blackberries and iPhone's drowned out the sounds of baseball with the sounds of trade rumors, as the news on the hot stove simmered so loud people couldn't hear the games, the Brewers quietly built themselves a 2-game lead in the central, stole Pittsburgh's magic slipper, and all but delivered a knock out punch to a punch-less Reds team.  Quietly, without fanfare (except those Brew Crew faithful), they swept the Cubs and they swept the Astros.

Now, two games better than the Cardinals and four and a half games better than the Pirates, the Brewers must contend with results.  They must contend with being 11-games over .500 for the first time this season, with leading the division once again after squandering it away and finding themselves in a three-team race, and they must contend with the trades.  As the Brewers have been doing a crazy little thing called winning, other teams were wheeling a dealing.

The Pirates, in the midst of being punished by Philly over the course of three games, picked up some offensive help in Derek Lee and Ryan Ludwick.  Both hope to reinvent themselves in a hitter's park.  The Cardinals added five players in July trades including Rafael Furcal from the Dodgers.  In a move designed to increase on-base percentage and generate offense ahead of Pujols and Berkman, the Cardinals sent Double-A player Alex Castellanos to the Dodgers.  And so the puzzle pieces have been laid out.  It's up to the teams to make them fit.  It's up to the players to make it stick.

The Brewers in the mean time will continue to rely on Ryan Braun and Prince Fielder, monster home runs and come from behind wins.  They will continue to kick, scratch, and bite their way towards a National League Central Championship.  The other teams may get the headlines, but the Brewers will let their wins do the talking and go quietly into the night (or day in today's case).