Here's a sobering statistic. ESPN's Jayson Stark asks if the Cardinals are done.

"Of the 96 playoff teams in the wild-card era, only one -- the 2005 Astros (19-32) -- headed into June as many games under .500 as the Cardinals are now."

Let's compare. Those 2005 Astros had Clemens, Pettite, and Oswalt. The 2007 Cardinals have Looper, Thompson, and Wellemeyer. Like their chances?

Earlier this week, Jeff Gordon threw in the towel and says it's time to look forward to 2008.

I'm not ready to give up -- yet.

Yes, the prognosis doesn't look promising. Beyond the lethargic play, struggling bats and poor pitching, there's a mounting rash of injuries: Chris Carpenter's bad elbow, Yadier Molina's banged-up wrist, and Chris Duncan's bum knee.

But it's still too early in the season and the division is entirely too weak. For as bad as the season has been, the Cardinals are only six-and-a-half games behind the Brewers and only five out on the loss side.

As Al Michaels once said, "do you believe in miracles?"

Update: The Cardinals wake up this Saturday morning and find themselves alone in second place in their division. Ah, the wonderful advantages of the NL Central.

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A few updates on some Cardinals players. The aforementioned Duncan could have a bacterial infection in his knee. See here for an explanation of what that could mean.

Anthony Reyes is taking the Frank Sinatra route -- he wants to do it his way, at least according to this second-hand report.

Rick Ankiel now has 12 home runs and 40 RBI.

It was one month ago tomorrow that I raised the question about Ankiel.

Scott Rolen makes Jeff Passan's "all-overpaid team". Ryan Franklin is on the most underpaid squad. A few other former Cardinals are on those teams, as well.

Rules of the jungle

There's an old joke that economists tell that illustrates marginal advantage. I don't remember exactly how it went but it's something like this.

Two guys are hiking in the woods and have a conversation about what they would do if they encounter a wild animal.

"I would run, of course," one says to his buddy. "But you're not that fast," says the other.

"I don't have to be," says the first. "I just have to be faster than you."

Watch this amazing video to see a real-world demonstration of that principle. Keep watching -- because the conditions change. Eventually, the hunters become the hunted.