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Which, would you say, is more improbable: A team 7 1/2 games back of the Wild Card on Sept. 8 remaining a major factor in the race going into the final week of the season, or a 35-year-old coming off two years of clear statistical decline and signed to play the outfield for the first time in four years having a monster season?There is no wrong answer. The St. Louis Cardinals are the team, Lance B football result erkman is the player, and their shared improbability has added intrigue to what had seemed a stale National League Wild Card race mere weeks, if not days, ago.The Braves, of course, have much to do with this development. All the attention paid to the panic in Red Sox Nation has a way of masking another potentially epic collapse in Atlanta, where injuries to Jair Jurrjens and Tommy Hanson have rava football result ged the rotation and the weighty workload might be catching up with Jonny Venters and Craig Kimbrel.But the Braves are also sweating because of the call of the Cards, who are 18-6 since Aug. 25. Atlanta's once-wealthy Wild Card advantage has been trimmed to 2 1/2 games with eight days to go, and the Cardinals seem the more dangerous team of the two at the moment.To that, much credit goes to Berkma football result n, for he is the reason the Cards were able to endure an abnormally slow start by Albert Pujols, as well as the injuries that have limited Matt Holliday -- who is currently out with tendon damage in his right hand -- to 120 games."This is one of my favorite teams I've ever been on," Berkman said recently. "To help them out when things aren't going as smoothly as we hoped, in terms of injuries, tha football result t's more satisfying than any personal accolade."These are the personal accolades Berkman could tout, if he were so inclined: Among NL players, his .300 average ranks 12th, his .412 on-base percentage ranks second, his .557 slugging percentage ranks third, his 31 homers are tied for seventh and his 91 RBIs rank 11th.By any measure, that is excellent production. But when you remember the direction i football result n which his career was trending beforehand, it's nothing short of extraordinary.After nine seasons of All-Star-worthy output for the Astros from 2000-08, Berkman started to show minor signs of aging in '09, when a calf injury limited him to 136 games and his average dipped to a career low of .274. Last season, the decline was more drastic. Berkman opened the year on the disabled list following art football result hroscopic knee surgery in March, had a slow start, was dealt at the Trade Deadline to the Yankees and finished the season as a platoon player. He hit .248 with a .781 OPS on the year, both career lows for a full season.The skepticism that existed when the Cardinals signed Berkman to a one-year, $8 million contract last winter had a little to do with Berkman's 2010 performance and a lot to do with football result the Cards' intentions. With Pujols entrenched at first base, they wanted Berkman for right field -- a position he hadn't played with regularity since 2007.Naturally, Berkman has not been a dazzling defender in the outfield. Baseball-reference.com has him at minus-9 in Total Zone Fielding Runs, meaning he is nine runs below average. When he played left field in Philadelphia last week, he joked with football result reporters that he liked it because it was closer to the visitor's dugout.But the man known as "Big Puma" or "Fat Elvis" committed himself last winter to the proper conditioning required for the role, doing more sprint work as opposed to agility drills. Perhaps that's helped him return to his old production at the plate."I didn't want to blow out a hamstring or a calf," Berkman said. "I wanted to football result make sure I was in sprinter shape to play the outfield."The Cardinals, who have had no shortage of drama in the injury department this year, would be in pretty bad shape if not for Berkman's contributions. Pujols had what was, for him, a subpar first half, complete with a broken wrist that healed in shockingly rapid fashion but nonetheless cost him a couple weeks. And Holliday missed seven games a football result t the start of the season because of an appendectomy, missed 13 games in June because of a quad strain and has been out the past week with the hand issue.Who would have imagined Berkman, given all his issues last year, would be the only one of the three to avoid the disabled list and provide consistently elite production? That $8 million contract has proved to be a steal.What remains to be seen is football result how the Cards handle Berkman's next contract. They've already had discussions with him about a one-year deal for 2012, as they are attempting to sort through as many internal issues as possible before the Pujols contract conundrum comes to a head. But a report in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch on Tuesday indicated that the club and Berkman are far apart on what that one-year deal should be worth."No football result matter what people say," Berkman told the paper, "it's always about the money."Points for honesty there. Despite concerns about his age, Berkman has earned himself a healthy raise -- be it in St. Louis or elsewhere -- after taking a pay cut and turning in a 2011 season that harkens back to his Houston heyday. With Allen Craig potentially worthy of a regular spot, Berkman might be the Cards' fallb football result ack option at first, should their attempts to re-sign Pujols fall flat.For now, Berkman has been instrumental in the Wild Card charge, batting .346 with a .935 OPS in 23 games since the run began Aug. 25. And with Pujols, who is batting .423 with a 1.110 OPS in September, leading the way, the Cards might, at this moment, have as impactful a one-two punch in the middle of their order as any playoff football result contender. If Holliday makes it back this weekend, as hoped, they'll be all the more potent.For the Cards to even be labeled a contender, given their outlook just a short time ago, was, indeed, improbable. The label might yet prove fleeting, as they'll continue to need help from the Braves.But if the Cards do finish off a miracle in the final week, they'll have one of the winter's savviest signin football result gs to thank. football result
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