Wednesday, October 09, 2002
Emotion carries Cardinals into NLCS
The Associated Press
ST. LOUIS — The reminders of Darryl Kile are everywhere at Busch Stadium. No St. Louis Cardinals victory celebration is complete without his jersey. A black flag with the initials D.K. and his uniform No. 57 flies high above the top of the stadium.
“I look up at that flag every day,” center fielder Jim Edmonds said.
Take a hard left a few steps inside the clubhouse door and there's a huge portrait of the former 20-game winner and inspirational team leader, who was found dead in his Chicago hotel room on June 22 at age 33. His locker stall is still filled with baseball apparel.
When the Cardinals clinched the NL Central, Edmonds punctuated the postgame celebration by spraying Kile's jersey with champagne.
When they wrapped up their first-round sweep of the Arizona Diamondbacks, pitcher Matt Morris carried the jersey to the team hug near second base. And a photo of MVP candidate Albert Pujols holding the jersey graces the cover of the Cardinals' postseason media guide.
Every Cardinals cap has been adorned with Kile's initials and number for months. There's a huge, white 57 on the glove of Dave Veres, a close friend who played with Kile on three teams.
Kile's death came only four days after longtime broadcaster Jack Buck died, leaving the team with heavy hearts for weeks.
“There's enough symbols around, so it's obvious what he means to us and what Jack means to us,” manager Tony La Russa said.
Yet this team is riding more than pure emotion as it prepares to open the NL championship series against the San Francisco Giants on Wednesday night. The Cardinals won 97 games in the regular season and had a $75 million payroll well-stocked with stars long before the arrival of third baseman Scott Rolen.
He signed a $90 million, eight-year contract last month, but is likely out for the entire series after spraining his shoulder against Arizona.
Still, the loss of Rolen probably isn't the crushing blow it might be to another team.
“I don't think we really care about what the perception is,” first baseman Tino Martinez said. “We know we've got a good team and a bunch of good players and we know how to win.”
Fernando Vina, who was 9-for-15 in the division series to spark the Cardinals, led NL leadoff hitters with 54 RBIs and could be in line for a second straight Gold Glove at second base.
Edgar Renteria broke an 81-year-old franchise record with 82 RBIs at shortstop.
Pujols is the first player in major league history to begin his career by batting .300 with 100 RBIs and 100 runs his first two seasons.
Morris, who will oppose Giants lefty Kirk Rueter in Game 1 on Wednesday night, has won 39 games the last two seasons.
And on and on.
The Cardinals lost five of their first seven games after Kile's death and dropped a season-worst seven in a row from July 31-Aug. 7. Then, the talent took over. St. Louis won 21 of its last 25 in the regular season to pull away from the Houston Astros in the NL Central, and has won 24 of 28 overall heading into the NLCS.
La Russa said it's wrong to think the Cardinals are on such a roll because they've dedicated themselves to winning it all for Kile. What's most important for the manager is that his team, win or lose, give a consistent effort. The last few weeks he's often used the word relentless.
“For a while there I thought we wouldn't win enough games and people would have thought it would be disrespectful because we didn't honor them,” La Russa said. “The only way you can honor him is just trying your best.
“It's been tough to get that level of professionalism with these guys because they were really sad, but they've gotten there.”
Now, as important as Kile's memory has been to the Cardinals, players say they're just doing their jobs.
“You don't think about it when you're playing, at least you try not to,” Edmonds said. “We're not trying to do something because of him, we're doing what we're paid to do and what we're supposed to do.”
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Emotion carries Cardinals into NLCS 
