Pujols goes BIG; Blues set to begin

As if the last week of the season wasn't enough evidence as to why Albert Pujols should be this year's MVP winner in the National League, he went ahead and made a "just-in-case" showing in last night's game 1 win over the Padres. Not only was it ANOTHER game winning hit/homerun, but it also exemplified how much PHAT Albert means to this ballclub.

I'll be completely honest, I'm happy whether the MVP goes to Pujols or Phillie's slugger Ryan Howard. I think they both deserve it and although I'm a die-hard Redbird fan, I'm still extremely stoked to see a St. Louis boy bangin' in Philly. It seems as though Howard is the real deal, folks. And I think he's legit. I understand the steroid speculation, and I think it's necessary, but I don't believe Howard has done anything wrong. When it comes down to it, this world simply occasionally creates freaks of nature, those rare athletes that seem superhuman. We're talking about two of them right now in Pujols and Howard. (See Also: Lance Armstrong, Babe Ruth, Tiger Woods, Michael Jordan, Anna Kournikova, and Ricky Bobby)

Despite Howard leading Pujols in both homeruns and RBI, he has failed to do the one thing that Pujols has done, the one thing most important: get his team to the playoffs. In my opinion this singular fact should weigh heaviest on the MVP voting, far above homeruns and RBI's. We should be considering who has lifted their team the furthest. In this case it's Albert Pujols.

Not only is he leading the Cardinals in homeruns and RBI and runs and every other big category there is in baseball, but he's doing the right things at the right times. He's sparking this ballclub.

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All the experts acted as if they were surprised that the Birds manhandled the Padres the way they did on Tuesday afternoon, but I doubt it came to much surprise around the area. This is a good baseball team and I think people understand that here in Cardinal nation. With Carpenter on the hill and a line-up that's old, but still powerful I think we can expect to beat the Padres and scare the Mets in NLCS. (Surely, we'll play the Mets right? Oh Lordy, if not...... then the Dodgers? We've went 7-0 against the Dodga's this year.)

So what happens from here? Weaver takes the mound tomorrow for Game 2. Pujols will be in the lineup. Why Weaver and not Suppan? Because Weaver doesn't know how to pitch in Busch Stadium, so we're letting him pitch in PETCO. Ideally, we could get away with another win in San Diego and have Suppan seal the deal in game 3 back home. I don't think it's far-fetched either, Weaver has been very good on the road and it looks like the Cards may have some life left in them. Weaver against Wells in Game 2. Suppan and Woodrow Wilson in Game 3. If anybody gets on, it's Carp again in Game 4.

Point of Interest: Jason Marquis made the post-season roster.