I'm an equal opportunity poster.

hmm. That's funny. Only the Cardinal girl image showed up.

Unfortunately, she's the only Cardinal who has shown up lately...

Larussa pulled a bush league move walking Fielder in the 10th inning of a meaningless game with the RBI title and hitting 300 on the line for Fielder.

If Fielder had hit one more HR, he would also have tied Albert for numero uno.

On the other hand, if you figure Fielder will take more votes from Howard than from Pujols, then he might be the only reason Pujols will still get the MVP nod after going homerless since 9.9.09...

Hmmm. I'm a longtime Cardinals fan -- but I'd have to call .299-46-141 close to .328-47-135. If it comes down to it, the main difference is that Fielder didn't get his team into the playoffs...

The only things that are relevant are the things that the voters pay attention to when they decide -- and the BBWAA members have a history of paying more attention to HR, RBI and team success than other factors. When a playoff team does not have the dominant RBI batter, then they'll go for the RBI guy regardless of team success, witness Dawson in '87 when Ozzie Smith had more runs produced and led a World Series team but finished second in the MVP. The reason that Pujols is likely to prevail again this year is that there will be no uniformity among voting writers for Fielder or Howard as the other choice.

Pujols deserves the award, but the way he and the Cardinals finished removes him from the "locked in" category he once enjoyed.

P.S. -- I do think that those who vote for El Hombre will use his on-base percentage, slugging percentage and runs produced as their rationale for choosing him over the others. They might even consider fielding. But Fielder and Howard have done well enough to win the votes of partisans who otherwise might not have been able to justify marking them No. 1 on the ballot...

Carp = comeback player of the year. No-brainer, actually.

Finally after 2 missed seasons the redbirds are back in the playoffs. I can't wait for tomorrow! Hopefully we can hit the ies.

I'm off work from tomorrow afternoon 'til monday. Nothing but cold beer and playoffs for me. Top it off with Mizzou v. Cornshuckers and some Blues action, I might spontaneously combust.