Luvofthegame
09-21-2006, 11:45 PM
By Joe Strauss
ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH
09/19/2006
It opens in St. Louis; makes four trips to the Pacific time zone, including a first-time stopover in Oakland; and spends almost the entire last five weeks within the National League Central.
The Cardinals' preliminary 2007 schedule contains fewer peculiarities than this year's version, which offered only one off day in September and no weekend series against a winning club from the previous season. It does, however, retain the home-and-home "rivalry" with the Kansas City Royals and mixes three May games against the Detroit Tigers among an interleague rotation against the AL West. It also features less of the Chicago Cubs.
New Busch Stadium will host the season opener April 2 against the New York Mets and a trio of three-game series against the Cubs.
After spending this summer playing the AL Central (except for the Minnesota Twins), the Cardinals will travel to Oakland and host the Los Angeles Angels. Their home-and-home arrangement with the Royals allows them to miss series against the Texas Rangers and Seattle Mariners.
The Cardinals travel to Chicago only twice -- April 20-22 and Aug. 17-20 -- as the schedule provides for only 16 games between the rivals. They played 19 times this season, compared to the Cardinals' 15 games against their other four division foes. The Cubs visit new Busch on April 27-29, July 23-25 and Sept. 14-16.
Two trips to Chicago should come as good news. The Cardinals traveled there four times this season, counting a three-game series against the White Sox, and came away 2-11.
"I typically don't pay too much attention to who you play when," said manager Tony La Russa. "There's a tendency for things to look a little differently when you actually get to the series than the first time you look at the schedule. The most important thing is how you're playing going into a series."
The trip to Oakland represents the first time the Cardinals will play a regular-season game there. Tony La Russa has managed the Cardinals 11 seasons but would return as a manager for the first time since the A's fired him in
1995.
"I was pretty excited about it until Walt (Jocketty) told me not to jump to any conclusions," joked La Russa.
The Cardinals play the A's June 15-17 as the second leg of a trip that begins in Kansas City. The schedule allows the Cardinals to play within the division 27 of their last 33 games. They leave the Central time zone for nine games after Aug. 5.
With less than two weeks remaining this season, three teams with winning records are set for weekend series at Busch. The Angels (June 8-10), Philadelphia Phillies (June 22-24) and Los Angeles Dodgers (Aug. 10-12) might break the bizarre schedule feature that accompanied the Cardinals into their first season at a new facility.
The Cardinals will endure two three-city trips. The longest home stand is their last, when the Cubs, Phillies and Houston Astros are in town Sept. 14-23
ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH
09/19/2006
It opens in St. Louis; makes four trips to the Pacific time zone, including a first-time stopover in Oakland; and spends almost the entire last five weeks within the National League Central.
The Cardinals' preliminary 2007 schedule contains fewer peculiarities than this year's version, which offered only one off day in September and no weekend series against a winning club from the previous season. It does, however, retain the home-and-home "rivalry" with the Kansas City Royals and mixes three May games against the Detroit Tigers among an interleague rotation against the AL West. It also features less of the Chicago Cubs.
New Busch Stadium will host the season opener April 2 against the New York Mets and a trio of three-game series against the Cubs.
After spending this summer playing the AL Central (except for the Minnesota Twins), the Cardinals will travel to Oakland and host the Los Angeles Angels. Their home-and-home arrangement with the Royals allows them to miss series against the Texas Rangers and Seattle Mariners.
The Cardinals travel to Chicago only twice -- April 20-22 and Aug. 17-20 -- as the schedule provides for only 16 games between the rivals. They played 19 times this season, compared to the Cardinals' 15 games against their other four division foes. The Cubs visit new Busch on April 27-29, July 23-25 and Sept. 14-16.
Two trips to Chicago should come as good news. The Cardinals traveled there four times this season, counting a three-game series against the White Sox, and came away 2-11.
"I typically don't pay too much attention to who you play when," said manager Tony La Russa. "There's a tendency for things to look a little differently when you actually get to the series than the first time you look at the schedule. The most important thing is how you're playing going into a series."
The trip to Oakland represents the first time the Cardinals will play a regular-season game there. Tony La Russa has managed the Cardinals 11 seasons but would return as a manager for the first time since the A's fired him in
1995.
"I was pretty excited about it until Walt (Jocketty) told me not to jump to any conclusions," joked La Russa.
The Cardinals play the A's June 15-17 as the second leg of a trip that begins in Kansas City. The schedule allows the Cardinals to play within the division 27 of their last 33 games. They leave the Central time zone for nine games after Aug. 5.
With less than two weeks remaining this season, three teams with winning records are set for weekend series at Busch. The Angels (June 8-10), Philadelphia Phillies (June 22-24) and Los Angeles Dodgers (Aug. 10-12) might break the bizarre schedule feature that accompanied the Cardinals into their first season at a new facility.
The Cardinals will endure two three-city trips. The longest home stand is their last, when the Cubs, Phillies and Houston Astros are in town Sept. 14-23