Are the St. Louis Cardinals Really Better?
In each of the past two seasons, the St. Louis Cardinals have won the National League Central Division with the Pittsburgh Pirates finishing in second place. The Cardinals have a good team. They have several talented players and have a reputation for being a dominant force. In my opinion, the Cardinals deserved to win the division this season. They were clearly a better team; however, the Pirates were able to hang with them until the end. The Pirates have had back-to-back postseason berths. They are winning more games, they have a young team, and they have a lot of good leadership. The Pirates will be an exciting team for years to come.
One thing that I am wondering is if the Cardinals are really better than the Pirates. If you look at the current standings, they are better. The thing that should be factored is age. The Cardinals are not necessarily a young team. A significant number of players on their roster are in their late 20's or are in their 30's. Adam Wainwright is a dominant force for the Cardinals. The problem with him? He is 33 years old and is prone to injury. Matt Holliday is 34 and is starting to show signs of slowing down. Two key members of the Cardinal bullpen, Randy Choate and Pat Neshek, are 39 and 34 respectively. Another thing to think about is the fan base. After the Pirates lost to the Giants in the Wild Card Game, I noticed several comments from Cardinals fans that were trying to put us Pirates fans down. They were bragging about how their team is better and that the Pirates will never be able to catch them. While the fans think so highly of their team, this is truly unprofessional. Class act baseball fans are ones who wish the best for the team that won and the fans of the winning team offer support to the fans of the losing team. What I saw was the Cardinals fans bashing the Pirates fans. This is very unprofessional and very cruel. Also, how do Cardinals know that the Pirates will never be better than them? The Cardinals have an older team. The Pirates have a really young team. Players like Gerrit Cole, Andrew McCutchen, Starling Marte, and Gregory Polanco are all in their 20's and have many years of play ahead of them. Andrew McCutchen is a true leader of the Pirates and is considered one of the best players in Major League Baseball. Even though the Pirates will have some difficult decisions to make this off season, they will continue to be that great team that everyone has waited for. Even though the Cardinals have a very talented and very good team, are they really better?
I have to disagree with most of what you said. First, just because a team is old, doesn't mean it cannot be success. This is baseball, not football or basketball, there are farm systems which are filled with young prospects and up-and-coming talent. Acutally the Pirates are older than the Cardinals*. The age gap is not huge, but the Cardinals still have ayounger team. Plus, fans bash fans of other teams when they lose, it's part of sport, it is not cruel or unprofessional.
ReplyDelete*http://www.statista.com/statistics/236223/major-league-baseball-clubs-by-average-age-of-players/
You are right, but the message I was trying to convey was that I was talking about not only the team, but also the fan base as well. What I did not mention was that the Pirates have one of the best farm systems in Major League Baseball. In terms of fan base, I believe the Pirates have a better fan base. Prior to the 2013 season, Pirates had not had a winning season since 1992. I realize that the Cardinals got ripped off by the umpires in the World Series in 1985, but the Pirates players, fans, and management have endured much more struggle than the Cardinals and their fans.
DeleteAnother thing to think about is that what if it was their team that lost and we would bash them? Yeah. It wouldn't feel very good. Trust me, dude. I am one of the biggest Pirates fans there is and it ticks me off when people bash my team. I know of people who bash the Pirates for everything yet they don't know crap about the team.
DeleteAnother thing I want you to think about are the Cardinals players. It will be almost impossible to replace Yadier Molina. It will be very difficult to replace Adam Wainwright. You can't tell me that someone like Michael Wacha or Shelby Miller will reach his caliber. There is no way. I know that they are young, but they still have to prove their worth. Matt Holliday will be pretty hard to replace. Jhonny Peralta is not a true player. Once a cheater always a cheater.
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