This GIF Pretty Much Sums Up the Cardinals’ Game 1 Performance

Image Credit: @BuzzfeedSports

Care of the internet-manufacturers at Buzzfeed Sports, here is the GIF-as-metaphor. Watch on loop as pitcher Adam Wainwright and catcher Yadier Molina both go for the same ball and then suddenly, simultaneously decide that the other has got it. Voila: an Angels-in-the-Outfield-esque moment wherein the easy pop-up fly drops directly between them.

The Cardinals uncharacteristically made Game 1 easy for the Sox Thursday night, handing them an 8-1 victory with a combination of comically bad fielding, rough pitching, and an adversary that was on its game. All of this is on display here (save the adversary. Sorry, Stephen Drew, you just got lucky.) This mess didn’t even count toward the three errors the Cardinals racked up Wednesday night. Drew was credited with a hit!

But let’s not get ahead of ourselves. That was just Game 1, and Cards fans still hold out hope. “They saw the beast; now maybe they can do something about stopping it,” writes St. Louis Post-Dispatch columnist Bernie Miklasz. “You see, this is also the Cardinal way. They goof up, and bounce back. How many times did we watch them through these maddening cycles? ”

Indeed, if the Cardinals are just trying to set themselves up to recreate the plot arc of a Bad News Bears or a Big Green or some other inspiring kid sports movie about a ragtag gang of bumbling dudes with heart who somehow pull it of, they’re certainly on track. All they need is a makeover montage.