St. Louis Cardinals Comfort Zone

The St. Louis Cardinals are in their third round of the National League playoffs. They are in their third elimination game. They have had their opponent one game away from elimination three different times and failed to advance. Should the defending World Series champions trail in the ninth inning or later of tonight’s Game 7 of the National League Championship Series and be down to their final strike, it would be the third time in the past year the Cards have had their backs against the wall.

THE CARDINALS ARE DOOMED, OR ARE THEY?

In a vacuum, the Cardinals journey in the National League Championship Series looks like wasted opportunities and an omen of doom. St. Louis takes advantage of a light hitting Giants lineup and puts San Francisco into a 3-1 hole with their two best career postseason pitchers, Adam Wainwright and Chris Carpenter, on the hill for Games 5 and 6.

Barry Zito and Ryan Vogelsong, taking the hill for the Giants in those games, respectively, have their best outings of the postseason at a time when they could ill-afford anything but their absolute best. Now the Giants have their ace, Matt Cain, at home matching wits against the Cardinals best starting pitcher in 2012, Kyle Lohse. Lohse has pitched well in the 2012 playoffs, but has been frequently touched up prior to this year.

Don't get too excited! 3

NINE LIVES

Baseball is not played in a vacuum. Regarding the St. Louis Cardinals recent postseason performances, they appear to have an advantage when their backs are against the wall. Being on the edge of the postseason cliff is beginning to appear like a walk in the park for this team, like they don’t wake up until their season is about to be ended.

This is the same Cardinals team, last season, that was 8½ games back of the Atlanta Braves for the (only) Wild Card spot at the beginning of September. This is the same Cardinals team that trailed the heavily favored Philadelphia Phillies two games to one in the best-of-five 2011 National League Division Series only to rally and win Game 4 at home then go on the road to nip the Phillies, 1-0, in the decisive Game 5. This is the same Cardinals team that was down to its final strike of the season twice in Game 6 of the 2011 World Series, trailing the Texas Rangers three games to two, only to win in extra innings and rout the Rangers in Game 7.

The good fortune extended to 2012, beating the Atlanta Braves in Atlanta in the Wild Card game then coming back from a 6-0 deficit in the deciding Game 5 of the NLDS to beat the Washington Nationals. In short, during the past two postseasons the Cardinals have played in five playoff rounds prior to this NLCS, been one game away from elimination six times, down to their final strike in four at bats, and have safely reached base, survived the elimination game, and won the series each time.



Ask Jayson Werth of the Washington Nationals about dancing on the Cardinals' grave prematurely. 2

WHAT’S PAST IS PAST

While the Cardinals have a track record of surviving the pressure cooker, the only relevant performance, right now, is their performance tonight. Matt Cain vs. Kyle Lohse at AT&T Park in San Francisco is a matchup that would appear to ever so slightly favor the Cain and the Giants. Cain has not been lights out in the playoffs while Lohse (by and large) has been, but Cain has never been rocked while Lohse has only made it to the seventh inning once in his three starts. This means the Cardinals touch and go bullpen will have to come into play.

These dynamics play into the hands of the home team, which gets the final at bat if necessary and has, from top-to-bottom, a better pitching staff. The Giants bats, often flaccid during the regular season, have risen to the occasion this postseason. The Giants know about having their backs against the wall as this will be their sixth game during this postseason in which the Giants have had to win or go home. The scales are very close, but the tipping factors all appear to tip the Giants’ way.

That’s why they play the games. The Cardinals have a longer and deeper recent history of bending in the postseason. Until they break, I expect the Cardinals to win this battle of the last two World Series champions.

Advantage: Cardinals

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The Daily Hat Trick is sponsored by Sports N Stuff. For great deals on jerseys, shirts, cologne, and other guy stuff, visit http://www.sportsnstuff.biz/.

1) Image splices from images from www.dailydiscounttrophies.com and www.zimbio.com
2) Image from www.star-telegram.com
3) Image from www.foxnews.com

Hat Trick Fam's Choice - Top 10 Chick Pics

To the surprise of...nobody...the Chick Pic feature in the Hat Trick introduced this past spring has gotten the biggest response of any regular entry on this blog. Let's face it, sports is a male targeted topic. Beautiful women are male targeted visuals. Even guys who don't get overly excited about sports have their attention spans widened when beautiful women are involved in sports, no matter how loosely.

Thank to the super awesome features of Google's Blogger application, it is incredibly easy to see which pictures you wolves out there like the most. Through July, 2012, here are the top 10 chick pics of the year. 

#10 University of Kentucky Cheerleaders

On their way to winning the NCAA Men's Basketball championship this past April, the Hat Trick posted a photo of four members of their cheerleading squad hanging out and having a good time. Clearly, you guys had a good time watching them have a good time. I think they had a better time in New Orelans just days after this was posted.

UK cheerleaders: a picture of togetherness.

#9 Danica Patrick - May 7, 2012

Danica Patrick is a bad ass. I love it! The good ol' boys of NASCAR, apparently, didn't know what was coming when Patrick left Indy Car to devote her full-time energy to stock car racing. Perhaps Sam Hornish, Jr. thought he could pick on and intimidate pretty little girls in a man's game. He was wrong!

This picture was a tribute to Mrs. Patrick, literally, sticking it to the man, specifically Hornish.

Too bad she can't compete in this gear. I'd never miss a race on television!

#8 Marlins Mermaids

Miami is a different kind of place. There are 30 MLB teams, so the Marlins may not be alone, but I am unaware of any of Major League Baseball team with a cheerleading squad. Since moving to the new Marlins Park, the team has been renamed the Miami Marlins Energy Team. I have got to catch a series if I am ever in South Beach during the summer!

This is a team from a past season, but you get the idea.

#7 Shonna, (Oklahoma City) Thunder Girl

Late in the 2012 NBA regular season, Metta World Peace of the Los Angeles Lakers delivered a vicious blow to the head of Oklahoma City Thunder sixth man James Harden. It was the talk of the sports airwaves for several days. I suggested that a visit from this lovely Thunder Girl (dance team) member, Shonna, could raise Harden's spirits.

Seeing her could probably raise more than Harden's "spirits", but this is a family show!

#6 Danica Patrick - July 12, 2012

I don't need my arm twisted to post pictures of NASCAR driver Danica Patrick to the Hat Trick. She is far and away my personal #1 hottest female athlete. The excuse I used, which you readers appeared to approve of, was her appearance at the 2012 ESPY awards, by ESPN. I could talk about how Mrs. Patrick is every man's perfect combination of beauty, personality, and bad ass-ness. But why tell you when I can show you?

♫ "Beautifu-ul! I just waant you to kno-ow...you're my fav-vorite gu-uhrl! (Oh! Uh oh ohh! Yeah! Yeah, yeah, yeah!)" ♪

#5 Adrienne Williams Bosh

Chris Bosh of the Miami Heat and his wife, Adrienne, had their first child together during the past season. While I don't understand the mechanics yet (Bosh is 6'10" and his wife is barely five feet tall), I understand why Bosh will either be having more children or practicing the act of making them in the near future.

See, I don't think (the almost seven foot tall) Bosh could join her in the tub unless their tub is more of a miniature swimming pool.

#4 Keri Hilson

For a short time, there were rumors circulating about NBA star Kevin Durant dating singer Keri Hilson. Those rumors proved to be false; Ms. Hilson has been engaged for quite some time, not to Durant. Still, the curiosity of the readers made the pictures posted of Ms. Hilson #4 among the chick pics.

I wouldn't blame The Durantula for trying!

#3 Chelsea Cain

Your searches to get a look at San Francisco Giants pitcher Matt Cain kissing his wife, Chelsea, after pitching a perfect game restored some of my faith that guys, as a whole, aren't a bunch of skin seeking wolves who only want to look at a woman in a bikini or a provocative pose. Then again, I have no idea what you guys expected to see before opening the link.

Most of our chick pics aren't so wholesome. This one could not be anything but.

#2 Nikki Sapp on June 13, 2012

You people just kept coming back for more! So much that I mistakenly thought you guys wanted to read my analysis of the NBA playoffs or some profound sports social commentary I made. WRONG!

In the words of the late Tupac Shakur, I ain't mad at cha!  And I don't blame ya, either! So I figured you all would want an encore to the Nikki Sapp pictures from the prior week. I was right. 

I would say you guys broke my heart if I weren't as guilty of take a peek for the second time...or the third...or fourth!

#1 Nikki Sapp on June 8, 2012

First and foremost, let me say that this is a little misleading. While the Hat Trick did not start the Chick Pic section as a regular entry until this past March, we have posted pictures of beautiful women. The number of times you, the readers, have reached the Hat Trick looking for pictures of Tigers Woods' ex-wife, Elin Nordegren, and Lucy Pinder & Erin Drewes (rumored to have been dating Tim Tebow) dwarfs every last one of the chick pics referenced in this posting. However, those pictures were posted prior to the Chick Pic becoming a regular piece here.

Second, Miami Heat Head Coach Erik Spoelstra may be the most criticized championship winning coach of this decade. However, you guys admire something about him, his lady! I can't say I blame you. She...is...FINE! Still, Nikki Sapp made both #1 and #2. So just remember that while you may have a problem with how Spoelstra manages his bench, none of you would complain if you woke up one day with his situation in the bed!

Don't hate the player; hate the game!

Don't forget to vote in the fan polls!

To advertise with The Daily Hat Trick, or to submit a guest column, please contact the editor at eric@thedailyhattrick.info.

The Daily Hat Trick is sponsored by Sports N Stuff. For great deals on jerseys, shirts, cologne, and other guy stuff, visit http://www.sportsnstuff.biz/.

All images from prior editions of The Daily Hat Trick, citations therein.

Retweet of the Day - June 14, 2012

Today's retweet is from The Fake ESPN ‏(@TheFakeESPN). Unless you have avoided all sports media today until now, you are aware the Matt Cain pitched a perfect game against the Houston Astros last night. It was only the 22nd perfect game in the history of Major League Baseball.

Apparently, some fans are more knowledgeable than others, according to The Fake ESPN. Here is the Retweet of the Day.


""Who did Matt Cain combine with on his perfect game?" -Mariners Fans"

And I thought Eagles fans were hated....

Image from www.3sportsmonkeys.com

Matt Cain's Wife...

...Chelsea Cain, giving him a big kiss after his perfect game against the Houston Astros last night, the 22nd in Major League history. Sorry fellas. Today's chick pic is PG rated.

Some moments are too rare and priceless to turn in to a "sex sells" opportunity.

Image from www.tumblr.com