You’re sitting at the blackjack table and you’re up.
Way up.
You’re the rake, stacking chips so high the dealer has to call the pit boss for some fresh chum. They ask you to color up… twice. You don’t want to count ’em; you know the rules.
The night starts talking; you listen.
Epic has to start somewhere, so you up your bets. $10 becomes $25. $25 becomes $100.
Reality sets in, though. Good runs never last forever. Those casinos weren’t built by giving out money. And even though you’re walking through those double sliding doors into the crack of dawn a winner, you don’t feel like one.
If only you’d been able to stop while you were REALLY ahead.
+++++
The Cardinals enter the All-Star Game break 23 games over .500 and with a 2.5 game lead in the NL Central – the toughest division in baseball.
There isn’t a single – not one – team that wouldn’t trade their record with the Cardinals.
Still – it doesn’t feel as good as it should.
+++++
Maybe it was the final two games before the break. We’re all fans. And as fans it sucks coming up on the losing side of epic games. The Cardinals had optimal chances to head into the break 58-31 with a 4.5 game lead on the Pirates.
But then. You know.
Taking all that aside, though, the problems that we thought this team might encounter in 2015 are still very much in play.
- Don’t have much team power. (25th HRs | 19th SLG)
- 1B is very shaky. (2 Rangers 1B have more hits than any STL 1B)
- Bullpen depth? (Great 1H… started to show seams last week)
And while taking a methodical approach to trying to remedy any situations (no trades, calling up minor league players) is admirable, the question remains, is it feasible?
+++++
From 30,000 feet, the Cardinals first half was awesome.
But as the dealer puts the decks back into the auto-shuffler and resets the second half of the baseball season, it’s worth wondering if the Cardinals can take the deep stacks that they built up and make something epic out of 2015.
Photo: eBay
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