I’m as sure of the St. Louis Cardinals winning the National League Central Division title as I was they were not going to win in 2004.
I was wrong last year. Don’t think that will happen this go ‘round.
However, recent history proves that the smooth path to the postseason will suddenly be marked with potholes, roadblocks and insurmountable challenges.
After back-to-back World Series appearances in 1967 and 1968, the Cardinals were still the class of the National League East in 1969. Not only were the Redbirds the best team, they had the pitiful New York Mets and Chicago Cubs to beat up all season in this, the first year that there would be National League and West divisions. Oops. The Cardinals never hit stride and were never in the hunt to win the division. The Mets miraculously caught the Chicago Cubs in September and went on to shock the Baltimore Orioles in the World Series. The Cards watched history from home, finishing 13 games out of first place.
As a young sportswriter in 1983, I was sure the Cardinals would win the National League East title. After all, they were defending World Champions.
But Keith Hernandez wore out his welcome because of drug use and was traded to the New York Mets. A September swoon launched by a 13-game road trip left the Cardinals in fourth place when the season closed. Despite stealing 207 bases, fielding two Gold Glove winners in Willie McGee and Ozzie Smith, respectively, and Bob Forsch’s second career no hitter, the Cardinal closed a distant 11 games behind the Philadelphia Phillies.
If that’s not a reason for concern in 2005, the 1986 season definitely could be.
Like last year’s Redbirds, the Cardinals had the best team in baseball in 1985. Whitey Herzog’s Cardinals pitched, hit, stole bases, made great plays and thrilled a nation during a summer of magic. Then, there was “the call” in Game Six of the World Series in Kansas City. The Cards failed to show up for Game Seven and a tremendous season was left in ashes.
In 1986, vengeance was ours, said Cardinal Nation, and so was the division flag.
Two months into that season, the Cardinals had the worst record in the National League. Two months after that the Redbirds were struggling to reach .500, and the Cardinals would finish third in the division behind the eventual World Series champion New York Mets.
Once again in 1987, the Cardinals reached the World Series. Once again, the Cardinals were within a few outs of the World Series title. Once again, they fell short in a dramatic Game Six and couldn’t come through in Game Seven. Jack Clark and Terry Pendleton were helpless as they sat in the dugout with injuries, and the Cardinals’ valiant effort fell short.
So, the 1988 spring training rolls around and look who is at third base n worthless Bob Horner. Jack Clark departed as a free agent, thanks to the stingy Anheuser-Busch owners, and the Cards would draw no closer than six games of the division lead. They would end up in fifth place, almost 20 games behind the hated Mets.
The Cardinals now find themselves as favorites to win not only the division, but also the National League title.
Other seasons of hope following World Series losses have gone sour because of injuries, bad trades (Curt Flood for Rick Wise in 1969 and Tommy Herr for Tom Brunansky in 1988) and, quite frankly, better teams (Mets in 1986).
The Cardinals are and deserve to be the team to beat in the National League Central Division.
But I also know that history often repeats itself and the Cardinals could find themselves looking up at another team when the season ends in September. Sometimes, pardon the pun, it’s just in the cards.