#5/6 Seeded Teams

#5 1993 Houston Astros

Original Season Record: 85-77, .525, 3rd place, NL West

Star Attractions: The `Killer Bs powered the offence with 1B Jeff Bagwell leading the team with a .320 average, a .388 on-base percentage, a .516 slugging percentage and a .903 OPS.  2B Craig Biggio led the team with 21 HR, 41 2B and 98 runs scored.  Houston also had a tremendous 1-2 punch in their starting rotation with Mark Portugal going 18-4 with a 2.77 ERA and Pete Harnisch going 16-9 with a 2.98 ERA.

Also Featuring: The Astros were front-loaded with superstar talent, but the supporting cast was considerably lacking.  Xavier Hernandez took over the closer role in the bullpen after Doug Jones struggled early, notching nine saves with a 2.61 ERA in 96.6 innings.  LF Luis Gonzalez hit .300, led the team with 20 SB and was 2nd with 82 runs scored.

Potential Pitfalls: The depth beyond the stars was middling at best causing the offence to be in the bottom half of the league in runs scored, and even though the pitching staff was 2nd in the NL in ERA, it was top heavy with depth starters Doug Drabek and Greg Swindell combining for 31 losses and the team saves leader having a 4.54 ERA. 

#6 1977 St. Louis Cardinals

Original Season Record: 83-79 .512, 3rd place, NL East

Star Attractions: There are no true stars on this team.

Also Featuring: SS Garry Templeton led the league with 18 3Bs, led the Cardinals with a .322 average and was 2nd on the team with 28 SB - despite also leading the league with 24 CS.  Lou Brock led the jackrabbit Cards with 35 SB. while catcher Ted Simmons led the team with both 21 HR and 94 RBI.  Bob Forsch won 20 games with a 3.48 ERA to lead the pitching staff.

Potential Pitfalls: The Cardinals were a gambling offensive team, leading to 112 CS (almost as much as their 134 SB) and they had the 2nd fewest homers of any NL team.  While their pitching was pretty good overall, their closer by committee bullpen strategy was also loaded with risk with two of their primary closers having ERAs of 4.38 and 4.70 respectively.