Beating Cardinals with Cardinals

The first thought I had when I heard the Reds picked up Jim Edmonds from the Brewers was "I wonder why the White Sox didn't deal for Edmonds when the trade for Adam Dunn fell through.

But next of course I thought of the Cardinals of the 2000s. In the 2004 NLCS, Pujols may have been the Series MVP, but it was Edmonds and Rolen who supplied the dramatic homers.

Edmonds hit the walk off homer in the 12th inning of game 6 to tie the series and Rolen's 2 run homer off Roger Clemens in the 6th inning of Game 7 gave the Cardinals the lead that they wouldn't give up.

And in the 2006 World Series, Rolen batted .421 with an OPS of 1.213 and Jim Edmonds got a key go ahead double in the critical Game 3 of the World Series.

Now these huge Cardinals heroes have one duty... take down the Cardinals.

It is an ingenious strategy... get guys who are not intimidated by the Cardinals.

"Am I afraid of the Cardinals recent success? We ARE the Cardinals recent success."

It will be interesting to see the Cardinal fans reaction. The supposed nicest fans in the game will see some of their own trying to beat them.

If the Reds get Pujols, I'll be impressed.

I can't help but feel partially responsible for the brawl tonight

I thought it was fun that Brandon Phillips wants to get the Cardinals' goat.

Why not put a little electricity into a potential rivalry. I mean have the Cardinals and Reds, two of the oldest franchises in baseball, EVER been considered rivals?

Why not start now?

What I DIDN'T expect is to see an all out brawl in the first inning.

But I guess that's what a rivalry is like. It's bad blood. It's "I want to beat you because I don't like you."

I tell you something I found very interesting... not that Brandon Phillips got under the Cardinals skin or that LaRussa and Dusty Baker were at each other (there is no love lost between them.)

It was Scott Rolen going after Chris Carpenter.

Carpenter said something to Dusty that got an f--- you from Baker.

And then Rolen, who earlier was trying to be a peacemaker, went right after his former teammate and fellow 2006 World Series winner.

So Rolen, the former Cardinal and current Red, is smack dab in the middle of this rivalry. And to quote Darth Vader in Return of the Jedi... There is no conflict!

They play tomorrow, 9:30 AM Pacific time, and three more times in September.

This could be good folks.