Hey I found this in a file called Sabotage. It looks like some sort of clue…

06-06-06

What better day to blog about Pujols being hurt? Perhaps this is cosmic karma coming back around to all the Cardinal fans who secretly rejoiced when the Cubs lost Derrek Lee to injury. Whatever the case, its most certainly bad news for Cardinal fans.

Albert Pujols has hit the DL for the first time in his career. In the middle of his chase for history, Albert’s body gave out. Apparently the Cardinals were heavier to carry than we thought. The affect is obvious. We lose the heart of our order, the one person who strikes fear into every pitchers heart. We lose our top scorer, our top RBI man, and a huge chunk of our power.

However, there might also be less obvious affects of this injury… The first, the Cardinals might no longer have the confidence of being able come from behind. Without Albert’s big bat in the lineup, players may grow to doubt their ability to win without him, a prophecy which almost always fulfills itself.

Or, the Cardinals could rally. With Albert gone, the rest of the lineup will realize they must step up. Jimmy and Scotty will know more is needed from them and rise to the occasion. Maybe Encarnacion will finally come around and begin to produce in clutch situations. Maybe we will get more small ball out of the top of the lineup and see more agression in Tony’s moves. If Albert’s injury does not linger, he could return to a lineup that would certainly welcome him back, but would no longer be relying on him to win ballgames.

Sure Albert’s injury could be damning. The Cardinals could flounder in self pity the way the Cubs have since losing Derrek Lee. However, I refuse to believe any team coached by Tony LaRusa would be allowed to lose faith. Tony knows how to win ballgames whether its by the brute force of home runs, or the scrappy squeeze-play-calling small ball that spills over to attitudes on defense.

So, just as we must wait to find out how long Pujols will be out, so too must Cardinals fans watch and wait to see how the Cardinals will respond to the loss of their MVP.

Now, let me take a moment to pimp a couple of other sites. I enjoy both of these sites immensly and you might too. The first is The Wicked, a web-based riddle game. I must warn you that if you at all enjoy riddles, clues, or puzzles, you will be nearly istantly addicted to this game. The second site is realSabotage. Sabotage is a new reality show that is currently accepting applications to its casting call. The game itself will be part Mission Impossible, part Sherlock Holmes, part Oceans 11. There apparently is also going to be a contest in the spirit of The Wicked that will award winners an automatic pass into the semi-final round of interviews to appear on Sabotage. I hope you enjoy these sites as much as I did.