Fan_In_NY wrote:For people killing the Twins and their "homefield" advantage, if Rangers fans discounted the Cards world series last year because of homefield, how would you take it? Cards were a wildcard team with a much worse record...
I'd say that the way MLB awards home field is admittedly still flawed, and they have a valid gripe.
I'd also tell them to wait 25 years and their luck with home field advantage in the World Series might even out during that time. One series is a small sample size.
1996 was probably the worst. I was too young to really remember 87 and prior so it was the first playoff appearance for me after being crappy seemingly forever. I was 13 and at my peak of truly idolizing the players. To lose in such demoralizing fashion was tough to take.
2004 definitely sucked after all of the other disappointments of LaRussa's early tenure. It was the first and only time I fully expected the Cardinals to win at the beginning of the playoffs . After such a dramatic NLCS win to come out and completely lay an egg in the WS and let the Red Sox break their streak hurt pretty bad. It made me wonder if we would ever win one in my life.
But if I'm being completely honest, I was in college from 01-05 and didn't care nearly as much about baseball for that stretch. I still followed, but I had a lot more things to divide my attention. It wasn't until 2006 that I really started watching all the games again. GRB was a pretty big factor in that.
Losing the '85 Series, especially the way we did, is about the only time I've taken a loss for an extended period of time. It really took me all winter to get over that one - and then to have the team stumble out of the gate so badly in '86 just made it worse. '87 for me felt like a redemption year, despite losing the Series.
For a shorter period of time, though, I'd say July of 1990 may have been the worst... being no-hit by Valenzuela, and then Herzog quitting as manager.
1996 was the first year I followed the Cardinals, when the Oakland gang came over, but I followed them as a passing interest. I was an A's fan as a kid and idolized the Bash Brothers and those teams. I wasn't following baseball a ton though, as like alot of people, I was disillusioned by the strike. So, there was no pain when they lost the NLCS beyond "dang. I wished LaRussa would have gotten to another series. That woulda been cool." I can't claim to be emotionally invested in 1996. I probably watched 5 Cards games all year that year, all in the postseason.
I consider my beginning year as a Cards fan 1997 when McGwire came over. Became a real Cardinal fan when I attended my first game in 1998 and never looked back. 2000 and 2001 sucked but as an out of towner, I probably watched 15 games a year when they were on tv.
2002 was the first time it really stung. That was the first year I had MLB Extra Innings and followed almost every game. After the death of Kile, I thought that team just had to win the pennant and probably the world series. When they didn't, I remember just being dejected and not wanting to think about baseball for months. Then, when it looked like the Cubs were going to reach the series in 2003 it made it that much worse. Thank god for Bartman.
2004 was bad, but that team reached the series. That was their legacy and that is painted on the dugout to this day. They will always be remembered as NL champions. That 2002 team deserved to be remembered, but are a footnote to the 2004, 2006, and 2011 teams. It's a shame.
2004 was really hard to deal with, 2005 was pretty bad also in part because you hoped they would at least come through to make up for the year before.
I kind of would prefer MLB would go back to rotating homefield in WS between the leagues every year, it would still be a random draw on who would get homefield but at least it wouldn't be based on some arbitrary exhibition game that has nothing to do with what an indiividual team accomplished during the season.
JoeMcKim wrote:2004 was really hard to deal with, 2005 was pretty bad also in part because you hoped they would at least come through to make up for the year before.
I kind of would prefer MLB would go back to rotating homefield in WS between the leagues every year, it would still be a random draw on who would get homefield but at least it wouldn't be based on some arbitrary exhibition game that has nothing to do with what an indiividual team accomplished during the season.
To be fair, a random draw doesn't have much to do with what an individual team accomplished during the season, either.
I've got no issue with the All Star game thing, but I'd prefer that home field be determined by interleague records.
JoeMcKim wrote:I kind of would prefer MLB would go back to rotating homefield in WS between the leagues every year, it would still be a random draw on who would get homefield but at least it wouldn't be based on some arbitrary exhibition game that has nothing to do with what an indiividual team accomplished during the season.
I want that just so the tagline for the All Star game can be "This time it doesn't mean anything."
