Cardinals: One Last
2017 season. Over.
Disappointed? yes.
Unexpected? not so much.
This off-season will be key. Why? See below.
Changes are coming.
Grace & Peace & Love to you all -
Matt
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Goodbye to an ordinary Cardinals team, hello to a defining offseason
Benjamin Hochman
St. Louis Post-Dispatch
One last time.
One last game.
One last viewing of an ordinary Cardinals team, one that was playing Sunday in October because the regular-season schedule spilled over September and onto the first day of the next month.
One last glimpse of the way things hopefully were, not are — acknowledging a gargantuan addition must bolster the middle of the lineup ... as well as a need for changes in the bullpen and, possibly, the middle of the rotation.
With the Cardinals missing the playoffs again, “You don’t want this to become the norm,” John Mozeliak said Sunday. “To do something different is exactly what we should try to do. … Is there room for more improvement? Absolutely.”
One last clicking of “37” or “671” to take you to Fox Sports Midwest for the broadcast.
One last Mike Shannon heh-heh-heh.
One last beep of the Busch’s Stadium ticket-taker’s device, and remember when ticket-takers used to take tickets?
One last “King of Beers” from the beer guy who calls himself “The King!”
One last drip of yellow nacho cheese onto your white something.
One last gaze of the famous names on the scoreboard, the MLB leaders, be it Josh Donaldson ... Giancarlo Stanton … Marcell Ozuna … and you wonder what those names would look like with the STL logo next to them? And then you wonder what it would realistically take to acquire them? You think of general manager Michael Girsch’s “puke point,” as he called it — “Sometimes you make an offer and you’re not sure whether you’ll puke if he says yes or puke if he’ll say no,” the GM told our newspaper’s Derrick Goold. “That’s when you should stop. You’re no longer sure whether that’s a thing you want to keep pushing.”
One last snag by Mags. The soaring super Sierra, robbing extra bases in the second inning, reminding us that the kid can change a game with his glove.
One last thwack, this one by Randal Grichuk, giving the Cards 196 homers on the season — seven guys with 18 or more, but not one slugger with more than 25.
One last waft of a hot dog that you know you shouldn’t eat, but dang it, it’s the last day of the season, so of course you should eat one (or at this point, how about even two?).
One last last “King of Beers.”
One last attendance announcement — 44,787 for Sunday (tickets distributed, not used), putting the Cardinals at 3,447,937 for the season. Only one team, the Los Angeles Dodgers, drew more fans for the season. People still come. TV money is vast. Two consecutive postseasons missed.
One last foul ball and IT’S COMING RIGHT FOR US until it veers toward another section, but you describe how you confidently and casually would’ve caught the thing on the fly, if only you had the chance.
One last hat tip to Tommy Pham, who, folks, finished third in the whole league in on-base percentage (.411).
One last ovation for pinch hitter Paul DeJong — and not an overstatement to wonder how bad things could’ve gotten without him.
One last stretch.
One last singing off-key in public.
One last “for the Caaaaaaaard-naaaaaaaaaaaaaals!”
One last “Here Comes The King” on the ol’ organ.
One last spotting Cardinal Seung Hwan Oh.
One last spotting of Eugene Koo.
One last call to the bullpen, a reminder that the Cards don’t have a closer, and whether it’s Juan Nicasio, or even Wade Davis, the Cardinals need to find a guy who’s done it before. The Cards were at their best in early to mid-August — they won eight straight! — when a healthy Trevor Rosenthal was entrenched at closer, slotting and defining the roles of others in the 'pen.
“Clearly, when you look at our bullpen and our inconsistencies with it,” Mozeliak said, “it needs to be addressed.”
One last out.
One last ball tossed to a kid by a big-leaguer.
One last peek at the peek-a-boo stance of the Stan Musial statue.
One last wondering of how things got this bad, of how big the gulch is between you the Cubs, of how talented the young Brewers are, too.
One last goodbye to Busch, which also means hello to an offseason that’ll be dramatic and defining.
One last realization, on Monday morning, that there is NO game tonight, a sobering feeling for residents of a baseball town without baseball … until the spring springs.
