Giants and Cardinals Prepare to Play the Most Loathsome NLCS in World History
By John Stolnis
Like most Phillies fans, I have a hard time letting things go.
Things like this…
Or this…
And this…
And finally, this…
These moments from the 2010 and 2011 playoffs are why most Phillies fans despise both the San Francisco Giants and the St. Louis Cardinals.
So it would only stand to reason that these two teams, the two clubs that have knocked the Phils out of the playoffs the last two years, would be playing in the NLCS in 2012.
Let’s all go stick our heads in the oven now, shall we?
I love baseball. I love everything about it. I love the strategy, the drama, and the excitement of baseball, especially in October.
But it’s going to be very hard for me to watch this National League Championship Series.
I’ll do it, but only because I have to.
For a while there, it seemed like it was going to be the Washington Nationals in the NLCS against the Giants. And while the Nats and their fans have been a bit of a pain in the butt this year, much of it can be attributed to the excitement of finally having a winning team and their inferiority complex in relation to the Phillies.
The Nationals would have been a far more palatable choice to watch in the NLCS than the hateful Cardinals.
Seriously? Again? Where are you, baseball angels? Mandatory Credit: Joy R. Absalon-US PRESSWIRE
Unfortunately, Washington coughed up a 6-0 lead and gave up four runs in the ninth inning to the miracle Cards and lost Game 5 of their NLDS, 9-7.
Trust me Nats fans. This loss will scar you. It will stay with you forever. We’ve got the scars of our own tortured history if you want to see ’em.
So, thanks to Drew Storen’s choke job in Game 5, we’re now saddled with watching the two teams we least wanted play for a trip to the World Series.
What’s funny is, aside from the fact that both teams ended the Phils’ season last two years, there really isn’t an unlikeable guy on either team, especially now that Tony LaRussa is no longer the Cardinals’ manager and Brian Wilson is injured and not on the San Francisco roster.
Buster Posey is a flat-out stud. Mandatory Credit: Andrew Weber-US PRESSWIRE
On the Giants, there’s Buster Posey, Hunter Pence, Angel Pagan, Pablo Sandoval, Matt Cain, Madison Bumgarner and Tim Lincecum. There’s not a bad guy in the bunch there.
The Cardinals are loaded with extremely competent young hitters like Allen Craig, John Jay, and David Freese, with Carlos Beltran, Yadier Molina, Matt Holliday, and Adam Wainright providing veteran experience.
Aside from Chris Carpenter, who just bugs me despite being Roy Halladay’s bestest friend in the world, is there really a single player on the St. Louis roster who anyone can objectively not like?
Both teams have shown grit, hustle, competence, and a never-quit attitude that is simply uncanny. Really, what is there hate?
Yet hate them we do. Bitterness has crept into the souls of all Phillies fans, breeding a festering cauldron of loathe-fulness and scorn against all who cross us.
And it’s not just us. I guarantee that every Nats fan in existence will always have a special place of disdain in their hearts for the Cardinals. It comes with the territory.
The Giants and the Cardinals have broken our hearts, and that wound is still fresh.
And now we have to watch these two evil franchises prosper. We have to watch them play for a spot in the World Series.
Sometimes, life just isn’t fair.
Right, Nats fans?