Hatred brewing in St. Louis

One of the postseason’s prime attractions is the passion with which games are played, the meaning behind every little moment, the way emotion and the stakes build by the day.

Those elements often make even mundane matchups extraordinary ones, and are why the playoffs in any sport are usually so entertaining. And then when a contentious backstory can be thrown into the mix, a volatile ingredient that can lead matters into unexpected places, things turn up another level.

For proof of that, think back to Game 2 of the 2000 World Series, when Yankees right-hander Roger Clemens infamously hurled a bat shard toward Mets catcher Mike Piazza, an explosion of pent-up emotion stemming from a beanball incident between the two earlier that summer.

The Yankees claimed the championship in five games over their crosstown rivals, but the signature moment of that Series remains the way an enraged Clemens flung the remains of Piazza’s broken barrel toward his stunned opponent.

That memory comes to mind as Game 3 of the National League Championship Series between the Milwaukee Brewers and host St. Louis Cardinals approaches on Wednesday night.

Starting for the Redbirds will be Chris Carpenter, who when he last faced the Brew Crew tossed a four-hit shutout Sept. 7, and engaged in a verbal sparring match with the controversial Nyjer Morgan after a ninth-inning strikeout that prompted both benches to clear.

The dislike between Carpenter and the Brewers is so intense that when asked about it before the NLCS began, even the mild-mannered Zack Greinke couldn’t dodge the subject, noting his teammates "think his presence, his attitude out there sometimes is like a phony attitude. And then he yells at people. He just stares people down and stuff."

So with personal animosity between competitors adding to the huge stakes that will be in play as the best-of-seven series tied 1-1 shifts to Busch Stadium, Wednesday’s contest will be a fascinating one on many levels.

Already Morgan, who earlier this season referred to Cardinals slugger Albert Pujols as "Alberta" on Twitter, has had to watch the first baseman take control of Game 2 with a homer and three doubles in a 12-3 Game 2 rout.

Watching Carpenter – whom he accused of yelling an expletive following his strikeout in that Sept. 7 contest, prompting him to take steps toward the mound – deliver a follow-up act to Pujols in Game 3 would be another emotional blow for the Brewers, and a boon for the Cardinals.

Coming off a 1-0 shutout win over Roy Halladay and the Philadelphia Phillies in a decisive fifth game of the NL Division Series, Carpenter can put his team in the driver’s seat with Games 4 and 5 to follow in St. Louis.

He was 2-2 with a 3.86 ERA over four starts this year against the Brewers, losing the first two before beating them 5-2 on Aug. 11 and again in that fateful contest a month later.

The Cardinals, for their part, have been trying to tone down the talk, even though the dislike with the Brewers is clearly a two-way street.

Following the Sept. 7 contest, Cards manager Tony La Russa credited Morgan for the season he was having before adding: "He’s close to the edge as far as creating problems. It takes away from player he’s been for them, or wherever he’s been, with his fuse being so short and actually looking for things to instigate. I hope he gets a clue."

But since the NLCS started, he’s calmed things down, describing the bad feelings between the teams as one common to any rivals who meet so often.

"We’re both interested in the outcome and sometimes sparks fly," he said last week. "I think the idea is to play the game. There’s a lot at stake. And there isn't anything that happened last year, this year, that wasn’t explainable just because that’s baseball."

Carpenter, too, wouldn’t bite on Greinke’s comments, saying, "why Zack thinks there’s a problem, I’m not sure." He later praised the Brewers by adding, "they all run hard, they all play hard, I have a ton of respect for them. I have no issues with any of them."

That’s some pretty bland stuff for public consumption, but that’s OK since the real spice doesn’t lie very far beneath the surface, and when it breaks through, things could get very, very hot.

Shi Davidi is the MLB Insider for sportsnet.ca. Come back to read his insight and opinion regularly.