WORLD SERIOUS TIME: CARDINALS-TIGERS

It shouldn't have ended that way for Carlos Delgado, but at least he's been there before when it comes to what sunk the New York Mets last night. Just like the Blue Jays all those years, it was dodgy pitching and a lack of lineup protection for the big man.

Cardinals starter Jeff Suppan, who ended up with National League championship series MVP honours after the Cards' 3-1 Game 7 win last night that sent them to the World Series against the Tigers, and his teammates were able to pitch around Car-los last night. They walked him three times, which worked for the most part since the next man in the Mets lineup, David Wright, was in a severe funk. (Wright briefly put the Mets up 1-0 with soft single to the opposite field, but for most power hitters, that's no way to get a RBI.)

Delgado might have had a chance to play the hero in the ninth inning, but he was on deck when regular Cards-killer Carlos Beltran struck out on three pitches against Adam Wainwright, the rookie St. Louis closer who looked like he was wondering if he would be able to get to bed in time to get enough sleep before his 8:30 a.m. history seminar.

Too bad for Delgado, whom most Jays fans did want to see play in World Series. This was his best chance, but whatever the reason, it was simply St. Louis' turn. (Kudos to The Cub Reporter for nailing the Cards in 7 pick. The call here was Cards in 6, but of course Chris Carpenter killed them on Wednesday the way he did the Blue Jays when he pitched for them.)

Bill Simmons was in rare form with his running diary last night. A committed American League fan, the Sports Guy sneered at this series' artlessness, its mediocrity and the fact that the Worst Game 7 Starter Ever, Oliver Perez, he of the 3-13 record and 6.55 ERA, not only got a montage from Fox after pitching pretty well and keeping the Mets in the game through six innings, but that the montage was set to ABBA's Take A Chance On Me.

Fair enough, but it was hard to turn away from this series. It was like an early-round Stanley Cup playoff series that goes the distance, with a couple of 1-0 and 2-1 games and some double and triple overtimes that leave everyone drained. The play is ragged and both teams have plenty of banged-up guys (think Albert Pujols and Scott Rolen) who are getting by on pills and needles, yet you want to watch it, since it's kind of fascinating to see a game of skill become one of attrition, and both teams are determined to play it through to the end.

In the NHL, those kind of series typically get decided by some third-line plugger popping in the overtime winner in Game 7, so here it was only kind of hitting that .216-hitting catcher Yadier Molina golfed a two-run homer out of the park in the ninth inning to win it for the Cards. Just like a hockey crowd that's seen its team eliminated in Game 7 overtime, Mets fans too seemed to sit there stunned after it was all over.

Last word on the NLCS: Suppan showed some onions by pitching out of a bases-loaded jam in the sixth inning to preserve a 1-1 tie. That was probably the series right there, when the Mets not only didn't take advantage of a Rolen error, but came away empty-handed after former Ottawa Lynx Endy Chavez's home run-saving sno-cone catch against the left-field fence.

SERIES PREVIEW

Neil Acharya and myself have conferred: The Tigers in five games -- six, tops -- seems to be the most likely outcome. As for the MVP, how does Pudge Rodriguez sound?

No idea, of course, what either manager, Jim Leyland of the Tigers or Tony La Russa of the Cards, will do about his Game 1 starter. Leyland has an embarrassment of riches -- a well-rested pitching staff that put up a 2.92 earned-run average in the AL playoffs. Lefty Nate Robertson started Game 1 in each of the first two rounds, but he's been Detroit's least effective starter in the playoffs, so the guess here is that Leyland goes with either one of his young righties, Jeremy Bonderman or Justin Verlander, then throws Kenny Rogers in Game 2 on Sunday, figuring that Rogers will be more poised if Detroit drops Saturday's opener.

Of course, he could go with Rogers in Game 1 on basis of "experience" and give the younger pitchers more rest, but Detroit will have had six days without a game -- how much more do they need?

Now, short of coaxing some of their past post-season pitching heroes out of retirement --such as 53-year-old Joaquin Andujar or 70-year-old Bob Gibson -- the Cards are hard up for a Game 1 starter. How does the notion of Jeff Weaver pitching on three days' rest tomorrow strike you? Exactly.

Anthony Reyes, who was last seen going only four innings in the Cardinals' 12-5 Game 4 loss, might be the only option among the pitchers on the NLCS roster. Reyes was 5-8 with a 5.06 ERA in the regular season. Some time in the next day, some other geek will unearth the name of some pitcher who started a World Series game with poorer regular-season numbers. (Here's one: Floyd (Bill) Bevens, a 7-13 pitcher, came within an out of pitching a no-hitter in Game 4 of the 1947 Yankees-Dodgers series.) Rest assured though, if he starts, Reyes will be right up there, or down there, depending on how you look at it.

(UPDATE: Jason Marquis, who was left off the NLCS roster, may be reactivated to pitch Game 1 for the Cards.)

It's getting too late to do position-by-position comparisons, which is just as well since it's almost redundant. The Cardinals are better in centre-field (Jim Edmonds vs. Curtis Granderson) and at the infield corners, even with Pujols and Rolen both hurting, but the Tigers are stronger everywhere else. Sorry, St. Louis, only one inexplicable upset per team.

Back with more later. Send your thoughts to neatesager@yahoo.ca.