Or what? Saint Louis was the top team with a winning percentage of only .516. All the other divisions had 2 or 3 teams with better, even much better, records. What's up with that? Was the NL Central just especially tough, or maybe did the Cards just peak at the right time???
2007-01-25 13:38:06 · 12 answers · asked by scott 3 in Sports ➔ Baseball
The NL Central is incredibly weak. One thing people may not realize is that the Playoffs are about teams that are hot. The Cards werne't necessarily hot at the end of the season, but they won the games to get in. Then you also have to look at how weak the NL really is. Don't forget that the Padres don't have the pitching staff for a series. Everyone thinks the Central was tough when it really wasn't at all. The Cardinals started to peak at the right time and then they got on a hot streak and played continuous baseball. The New York Mets also had several key pitching injuries such as Pedro Martinez and El Duege. Those losses were huge. Then you have to look that the Tigers took a long time off and the Cardinals were hot. Also once you get to a final battle it doesn't matter which is better of NL or AL it comes down to who wants it more, whos on fire, and who is willing to play harder for it.
2007-01-25 15:18:23 · answer #1 · answered by Hoss 6 · 0⤊ 2⤋
The fact is the NL central has some of the most competitive teams in baseball. The year St. Louis won, the Astros were still in contention, the Reds were tearing it up until the last month, and the Pirates had been solid in their division. Neither were able to dominate. Also, the division was mired by ineffective players. Jacque Jones and Juan Pierre were mediocre for Chicago at the plate. The Cardinals lost Jim Edmonds and other offensive pieces, relying only on Pujols. The Cardinals also lost 7 of 8 games going into the playoffs. The Astros could not score more than two runs a game. In the end, I believe the better team won the World series.
2007-01-25 14:53:28 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
2006 Cardinals. Their division stunk that year, they only went 83-79. They had 7 game losing streaks 3 times in the season. And they only had the 14th best record in baseball. The worst in baseball history. The 87 Twins had a bad division too, they won 2 more games than the 2006 Cardinals, but there were only 4 divisions at the time and with 7 teams in each, so it's a different era so to speak. Plus only 4 teams total made the playoffs back then as opposed to 8 teams today. 2006 Cardinals were way worse than the 87 Twins.
2016-05-24 00:21:03 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
I don't know if the NL Central tougher than the rest of the baseball divisions, but the teams in the same division are pretty comperable in talent makeup save for the Pittsburgh Pirates hence the mediocre records to contend and win the division.
2007-01-25 14:50:11 · answer #4 · answered by davester1970 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
That's what baseball is.
You can't tell who's better when you match any team because they ALL have a losing and winning game against each other. People say the Yankees are the best, well, they lost game didn't they?
Anything can happen within a 162 game season. Look at the Twins, who would have thought they were going to win there division, and the tigers, who would have thought they'd even do good? And White Sox, who would have thought they were going to stink last year?
This is baseball and anything can happen.
2007-01-25 15:56:26 · answer #5 · answered by ? 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Don't take any credit away from the St. Louis Cardinals, i mean it. They played hard and proved to be the better team. Also the American league teams other than the Yankees were quite young and did not have enough post season experience. Look at the CArds and you see, Carpenter, Suppan, Pujols, Rolen etc., they are all veterens and have expierence.
2007-01-25 13:47:37 · answer #6 · answered by pintsizedpedro 1 · 1⤊ 1⤋
Maybe the best teams have the worst record because of having to play each other so often. Look at college football. Was Florida lucky, or did they just play better teams than Ohio State.
2007-01-25 13:56:04 · answer #7 · answered by nightracker303 2 · 0⤊ 1⤋
I wouldn't read anything into it. Anyone who knows probability realizes that the playoffs are a crapshoot, given their tiny sample size as compared to the 162-game playoff schedule.
The Cards weren't the best team in baseball in 2006, but they were the best team in October of the year.
2007-01-25 14:44:52 · answer #8 · answered by Craig S 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
all the pieces fell into place
the rest of the NL was weak, so it was easy to get to the WS
the tigers played like 6th graders in the WS and handed it to the cards
2007-01-25 19:44:00 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Its because it the most competetive division
2007-01-26 00:23:21 · answer #10 · answered by nas88car300 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋