Unbottled

Okay, so the Cardinals won in five. Sweet victory for anyone waiting and hoping since 1982, who suffered through the 1970s, Steve Swisher, Vern Rapp, Gary Templeton, Don Denkinger, and all of the post-season let-downs of the last decade.

Sorry Stu, Steve, Joel et al. Your Tigers just ran out of gas and “lost the bottle,” as they say. It was like the hot new Grade 1 band at the World’s dropping sticks, missing attacks, chanters falling out, pipe bags and heads bursting. Chalk it up to lack of experience, but know that Detroit will be good and better for many years.

Leyland taking the full blame is extraordinary: a pipe-major has to assume that pipers will properly hemp their instrument and play on auto-pilot when they hit the field. Not a dang thing he can do if they don’t execute like they have been trained and know how to.

“Bottle” is something that cannot be taught, but can only be learned through experience. But Cardinals fans’ bottles have been corked up for decades, and how sweet the champagne rain was early this morning.