Astros - Cardinals Update

By Marshall Adesman

David Eckstein is a gnat, a pest. He stands just 5'6", and when there's a conference on the mound it looks like the batboy has somehow been allowed onto the field. He's one of those guys who certainly has some baseball ability but he has even more desire, and it is the latter that fuels the former. But this National League Championship Series is heading back to St. Louis, and the man most responsible for that is David Eckstein.

Sure, Albert Pujols hit the dramatic ninth-inning home run that turned a 4-2 Astro lead into a 5-4 Cardinal win. But let's not forget the set-up: Brad Lidge, one of the best closers in the game, was on the mound for Houston at the end of Game Five and he quickly retired the first two men he faced. He needed just one more out, one more out to send this Houston franchise, which played its first game in April 1962, to its first-ever appearance in the World Series. All he needed to do was get one more batter, and that batter was David Eckstein.

Eckstein hit one into the hole on the left side for a hit. The Cardinals still had a breath.

Jim Edmonds drew a walk, which brought up Pujols, and he hit a hanging slider halfway to Oklahoma. Just like that, this series had a focal point and, at the very least, a sixth game.

(Those ninth inning pyrotechnics also made a prophet out of me. You may recall that I said neither team would sweep the games played in Texas. The Astros were about to cloud my crystal ball when Pujols hit his bomb; I appreciate the assist, Albert!)

While everyone is going to remember that Game Five ninth inning, I am here to remind you that, up until that point, the series continued to be one for the purists and lovers of small-ball. Considering what happened in Minute Maid Park this week, last weekend's games at Busch Stadium were an absolute rout, as St. Louis won the opener 5-3, then Houston came back to win 4-1. All three games in Texas were one-run affairs, with pitching (of course!), defense and timely hitting all important. On Saturday, Roger Clemens did not display the velocity or the location of the Rocketman we've been watching for the past twenty years, but he toughed it out for six innings. He was pretty much matched pitch-for-pitch by Matt Morris, but in the end it was an opposite-field homer by Mike Lamb, an error by St. Louis' third-string third baseman Hector Luna, and a powerful two-inning relief outing by Chad Qualls that tipped the balance to the Astros by a 4-3 score. The Sunday game saw both managers throw their fourth starters, which might make you suspect a high-scoring game; instead, the final was a Christy Mathewson-like 2-1 game. The two clubs combined for just eleven hits, nine of them singles. Jason Lane hit a home run for Houston, St. Louis' second pitcher, Jason Marquis, made a key error that led to what proved to be the winning run for the Astros, and centerfielder Willy Taveras ran almost to the next county to haul in a drive that would have put the Cardinals ahead, but the key man on the field was a guy whose name was found only in small print. Home plate umpire Phil Cuzzi affected the way the game was played and managed all day, and eventually interjected himself in a negative way. Players and managers can be fined for saying the officiating was terrible, but what's Bud Selig going to do to me, break my fingers? So let me tell you that this man called extremely low pitches strikes all day. Now, to be fair, he called 'em for both sides, but his strike zone was more liberal than Michael Moore. When he rang up Jim Edmonds on a pitch that was high and inside, Edmonds protested and got tossed, and he was followed moments later by an extremely angry Tony LaRussa. The best umpires are the ones you never even notice, but this man was most definitely noticed on Sunday. Here's a tip for Mr. Cuzzi: no one paid a penny to watch you work. This wasn't just another ballgame, this had pennant implications. If I were the Commissioner, I would discipline Mr. Cuzzi once this series is over.

And playing with just one last out, it sure looked like it was over on Monday until Lidge hung a slider to Pujols. While baseball does not overwhelmingly favor the home team like, say, basketball, let's not forget who always gets the last at-bat. The Cardinals are going home and they have to be flying almost without an airplane after their dramatic victory, which should give them some momentum. The Astros still would seem to have the edge on the mound, with Roy Oswalt and Clemens scheduled to go against Mark Mulder and Morris, but the finale of Game Five could permeate the psyches of both teams. Think that's a crock? Well, after Bill Buckner booted that ground ball in the 1986 World Series, did anyone outside of New England think the Red Sox could actually rebound to win Game Seven? The Astros will have a tough chore, attempting to wipe out Monday night's result, and it will be interesting to see if they can succeed where other teams have historically failed. And they will also need to remember to pay attention to the David Ecksteins of the world.