I was among many local bloggers and or writers that picked the St. Louis Cardinals to go to the World Series.  I believe most of them did it with a biased heart.  They were filled with hope.  Call me maybe a little guilty of that myself.  I thought there would be little drop off.  That was before injuries hit the team.  Many others felt that the Cardinals would just finish somewhere in the middle and be respectable after a Championship season.  I remember very few that thought the Cardinals would fall to let’s say Cubs level.  Whew, glad they were wrong.

From Chris Carpenter to Lance Berkman to Rafael Furcal getting injured it looked gloomy for the Cardinals many times this season.  I would have laughed if last year at this time Lance Lynn would have been an All-Star and Pete Kozma would be our starting postseason shortstop.

Let’s face it, the Cincinnati Reds ran away with the division.  By mid June that was apparent.  Tip of the cap to them for a great season.  But they lost to the San Francisco Giants in the NLDS.  Too bad, so sad.  How about those Atlanta Braves who last year missed out on the Wild Card on the last day of the season?  Well, our Cardinals beat them in their house in a one game Wild Card playoff game.  See that full story here.  What about them Washington Nationals?  They had that Stephen Strasburg ace and the phenom Bryce Harper.  Oh yeah, Strasburg was shut down and Harper slowed down late in the season and the Cardinals beat them in the NLDS.

I believe the San Francisco Giants should have an asterisk over whatever they accomplish this season.  This is because of Melky Cabrera.  I don’t even believe the National League should have gotten home field advantage in the World Series because he was declared the All-Star Game MVP.  Yes, he was suspended 50 games, but what about all the games he played illegally?  When was the last clear test he had?  I think the Giants should have to forfeit any wins that happened during that time no matter if it was 4 or 50.

Ok, back to the Cardinals.  I am proud to be part of Cardinals Nation.  I am proud to be a Cardinals fan.  I was lucky enough to attend two playoff games.  I believe that one should not go to a playoff game unless you have followed the team all year.  I am not a fan of fair weather fans.  I have good friends who fall into this category.  It irks me to no end that real Cardinals fans let these people get tickets to the games.  I can’t afford to go to a lot of games, but geesh, I am a true fan.  No fair weather here.

This was a good year.  Cardinals Nation is spoiled with their team’s success.  I am not saying anything new here.  Just remember that one of these years when they finish under .500.