WEDNESDAY. OCTOBER 12. 2005
2005
SPORTS
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN 5B
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A little friendly competition
MLB
Houston Astros outfielder Luke Scott shags balls during the team's workout on Tuesday in St. Louis. The Astros will face the St. Louis Cardinals in Game 1 of its National League Championship Series today.
BY PAUL NEWBERRY
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
All right! Let's have some fightin' words between these obviously bitter rivals.
ST. LOUIS They are members of the same division. They're perennial playoff teams. And they're meeting for the second year in a row with a trip to the World Series at stake.
"They run a classy organization over there," said Lance Berkman of the Houston Astros. "We have a lot of respect for them."
Hmm, maybe we'll fare better at stirring things up in the opposing clubhouse.
"They're a good bunch of guys," said David Eckstein of the St. Louis Cardinals. "It's hard to dislike them."
Thud.
Clearly, this isn't Middle America's version of Yankees-Red Sox. In fact, it's not even close to being the best rivalry in the NL Central — the Cardinals-Cubs.
"That's at a different level because of the fans," Eckstein conceded. "I don't know that you'll find a Cardinals fan who says he hates the Astros more than the Cubs."
But, when it comes to performance on the field, the Cardinals and Astros have risen to the top of the senior circuit.
They're back for the first NL championship series rematch in 13 years, which begins with Game 1 tonight at soon-to-bed demolished Busch Stadium (a new stadium, set to open in 2006, is rising next door).
"It's a classic from a baseball standpoint," Cardinals manager Tony La Russa said. "Maybe you don't get as much passion from the fans during Cardinals-Astros as you do for Cardinals-Cubs.
But we're building a pretty good passion base for our fans and for each other because we play so much."
Indeed, there are many similarities between the teams.
Both have deep starting rotations. Both have dominating closers. Both have versatile offenses that can go long or manufacture runs when the situation calls for it. And both are making a habit of playing in October.
St. Louis has six playoff appearances over the past decade, reaching the NLCS four times and the World Series a year ago with a seven-game victory against the Astros.
Houston is making its sixth playoff appearance in nine years and looking to reach the World Series for the first time in franchise history. The Astros made a breakthrough last year by escaping the opening round. They knocked off the Braves again this year, advancing with an 18-inning win Sunday — the longest game in postseason history.
The Cardinals stayed alive when Jim Edmonds hit a game-winning homer in the 12th inning of Game 6.
The Cardinals followed up last year's NL pennant — the 16th in franchise history — by going 11-5 against the Astros this season on the way to 100 wins and a runaway victory in the Central Division.
"It's not really going to be
a rivalry until we start beating the Cardinals a couple of times," Astros manager Phil Garner said. "When they go home mad, then it will be a rivalry. Right now, it's kind of one-sided."
But he acknowledges the parallels between the teams, right down to the makeovers both underwent since their first meeting in the NLCS, changes brought on by frail health and monetary
decisions.
"On the field, it's a classic," La Russa said. "We play the game the same way."
OK, so Astros-Cardinals doesn't qualify as a rivalry in the classic sense — there's just not enough trash-talking.
"It may not be intense in the stands, but it's intense on the field," Berkman said. "It's not a rivalry of hatred. It's a rivalry of mutual respect."
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