But it won't be the Astros doing the celebrating. St. Louis can clinch the NL Central tonight with a win over a team somewhat resembling the Houston Astros.
Dave Clark:
“You know what, you don't ever want that to happen in your own backyard. It's one of the reasons why I'm playing the guys that I'm playing. We're not going to just make it easy for anyone. Really and truly that would be embarrassing to the game, and we're not going to allow that to happen.”
I can think of a lot of things about this team that are embarrassing, and letting the Cardinals dance on the pitcher's mound might actually send the message to Drayton. That wouldn't be embarrassing, that would be what they call in education a "teachable moment."
Clark continues:
“The biggest thing that I'm impressed with is that the guys aren't quitting, probably one of the easiest things to do. But they're not going to quit. They're going to continue to go out and play hard. And right now that's basically all we could ask for. But a win wouldn't hurt.”
Tejada echoes:
“I'm not quitting. I always say I respect all my fans. I respect everybody who came to see the game and wear the uniform. I've been professional all my career, and the last thing that I would do is quit.”
We didn't come out here to play tiddlywinks, son.
-Hal Smith
