Dark Bilious Vapors

From today's Billy-Ball newsletter:

JUST ONE SWING
It took just one swing last night to remind us why Albert Pujols is baseball’s greatest.

It took just one swing to remind us why we play 9.

It took just one swing to make it worthwhile to stay awake until the final out.

It took just one swing to show how the St. Cardinals won more games than any other team in the bigs, this past season

It took just one swing to show Brad Lidge that pitching in the post-season is very different from closing in the regular season.

It took just one swing to change First Mother Barbara Bush’s singing from “day-o” to “uh-oh.”

It took just one swing to bring back memories of the Houston collapse against the Phillies in the 1980 NLCS.

It took just one swing to ruin the 45th birthday party for the Houston franchise.

It took just one swing to make certain that the Cardinals still did not have a four-game losing streak this season.

It took just one swing to remind everyone of the phrase “Houston, we have a problem.”

It took just one swing for lip readers to see Andy Pettitte say “Oh, my gosh!”

It took just one swing to reduce the riotous volume from baseball’s loudest venue to the silence of a morgue.

It took just one swing to send the White Sox back to the scouting reports for both teams.

It took just one swing to stun the 2,000 fans watching the game broadcast being projected on the wall of a Houston downtown office building.

It took just one swing to keep the wrecking ball from Busch Stadium, for at least one more day.

It took just one swing to remind us of the mantra, “It ain’t over ‘til it’s over.”

It took just one swing to put the champagne away and pack it up to be sent to St. Louis.

With all due homage to Doris Troy:
Just one swing, that's all it took
Just one swing, that's all it took
Just one swing, that's all it took

With two outs and nobody on in the ninth, the Cardinals' chances of winning
that game were down around 0.6%. That means that their LCS-winning percentage
was around 0.18%. Even after Eckstein and Edmonds, the chance of winning was
only about 3%, for an LCS-winning chance of 1%. Albert Pujols single-handedly
made a thirty-fold increase in the Cardinals' chances of winning the pennant.

     Win DS   Win CS   Win WS    Yesterday
CWS 100.0000 100.0000  54.2665   
LAA 100.0000   0.0000   0.0000
NYY   0.0000   0.0000   0.0000
BOS   0.0000   0.0000   0.0000
STL 100.0000  29.4463  14.0032   Won 5-4, trail series 3-2
ATL   0.0000   0.0000   0.0000
SD    0.0000   0.0000   0.0000
HOU 100.0000  70.5537  31.7303   Lost 5-4, lead series 3-2

Len on 10.18.05 @ 09:38 AM CST