Written in the Cards

Somehow, Chris Carpenter and the Cardinals shut the door on the mighty Rangers in Game 1, nearly won in Game 2 and historically demolished them in Game 3. I do not know how this has happened. In April, it appeared as if you might as well count out the Birds. Tony LaRussa looked like a fool for returning for one last season, and it wasn't apparent if the face of the franchise, Albert Pujols, will play more than 100 games. A month ago, we were just about to crown the Atlanta Braves as the Wild Card before some teams had even clinched their division. Somehow, the Cardinals are here. Somehow, the Cardinals aren't playing golf and watching the Series from their mother's basement. Somehow, the Cardinals' pitching staff didn't collapse after Wainwright was out for the year, back in Spring Training. Somehow, the Cardinals didn't fire LaRussa. Somehow the Cardinals's most valuable contributor is Lance Berkman, who has had trouble with staying on the field and producing. Somehow, the Cardinals escaped Philadelphia unscathed and beat their bitter rival the Brewers in the NLCS. All these somehows have left room for discussion. These last seven months have proved many points about baseball, and uncovered many myths about the national pastime. The 2011 season for the Cardinals has been a phenomenal story about defying the odds and never giving up. There were many times that the Cards could of threw in the towel and given up. Even when giving up was the easiest thing to do, they continued to fight through these hardships. If they didn't keep going when it appeared the only thing they could do was give up, they wouldn't be here right now, trying to corral this explosive Texas offense. Win or lose, this year will forever go down in sports history as the perfect example of the average baseball season, full of laughs, cries, cheers, and jeers. After this miraculous season,whatever happens it is written in the Cards.