If you are a St. Louis Cardinals fan you are sensing a little deja vu all over again given the quality of play overall by the Cards so far in Division Championship play. Chris Carpenter struggled on the mound during game one but Wainwright was nearly flawless through seven innings and pitched himself out of a jam in the eighth inning of game two. The bats and the defense, however, remind me of the painful performance against the Red Sox when they swept the Cards in the World Series.
Matt Holliday, who led his Colorado squad to championship play a few years back and is a big reason why the Cards won their division, drove an early home run over the fence to put the Cards on the board in game two. Later, to the shock and horror of Card fans all over the country, Holliday, no Jim Edmonds, ran up on a fly ball to left field, lost the ball in the lights, at the last minute inverted his glove, missed the ball, and then stumbled to the ground like a little leaguer. What should have been a game ending catch ended up prompting a Dodger rally that completely neutralized the stellar performance of the Cards ace pitcher. The result is the Cards are now down two games to none as they head back to St. Louis for Saturday’s game three of the series. They have to win three games in a row or face elimination from post season play.
The problem with Holliday’s error is not the fact that he made the error and possibly cost the Cards the World Series (a little too dramatic right?), it’s the fact that the media and sports channels keep replaying the outfielder’s baseball folly over, and over, and over again. I mean, how many of us would like to have our mistakes viewed by millions of people to begin with and then replayed until we are made into a Chevy Chase caricature of ourselves?
Like Holliday, we all make mistakes. The Devil loves to throw it back in our faces over and over again to keep us defeated and to stop our potential and success in the future. The key for Holliday (and for us), is to shake off the mistake, put the uniform back on, get back out there, knock some more balls out of the park, catch the ball next time, and bring home the championship. I’ll be watching and rooting for him just like I know Jesus is rooting for me and you.
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