TOWER GROVE - Although it did not include a meaningful game in October and, for the first time since 1997, Rick Ankiel wasn't around for his annual plot twist, the St. Louis Cardinals close out an eventful year -- loaded with developments that cannot be contained by 2010 alone.
To offer a look back at the 12 months that were, here is a list of the top 11 events and issues that surfaced for the Cardinals. This isn't a chronicle of the best moments or a retelling of the season's highlights and lowlights. The attempt here was to find 10 things that happened that had lasting or deep impact on the Cardinals' organization. I fudged it for 2011 by adding an 11th.
Everything was up for consideration.
The angst around the Brendan Ryan trade didn't crack the list, and neither did the annual vigil for Tony La Russa's return. Some things are inevitable. In a flash of instant armchair blogging, Jaime Garcia's spring training probably deserved a sixth or seventh consideration for the list. I was also reminded this morning that the closing of Club Flip shouldn't be overlooked. It was, after all, the CBGB of the lower west side upper corner of the Cardinals' clubhouse. The 20-inning game was historical and remarkable in the moment, but did it galvanize the team as some argued the morning after? Wasn't its role in the season faded by the time Brad Penny's side gave way like a hard-rocked guitar string? Though, it did make for a cool looking scorecard, no?
Last week I asked the folks over at the Bird Land@Facebook page for suggestions about what they'll remember from 2010 and what will still resonate come All-Star break 2011. From those suggestions, and my own notes here are the 11 I came up with. Please, offer your own. Criticize these. Argue away. Or, just continue to strafe this week's defensive story with poisonous darts.
The year that was:
11. THE LUDWICK CHAIN REACTION: The Cardinals sided with their need for a new pitcher over more offense and shipped No. 5 hitter Ryan Ludwick to San Diego as part of a three-team, trade-deadline deal that brought in Jake Westbrook. The biggest question at the time was simple, What next? There wasn't an answer. But the trade of Ludwick had ripple effects beyond 2010. The deal allowed the Cardinals to finally land Westbrook, long an object of their infatuation. And, having dipped Westbrook in red for a few weeks, they convinced him to re-sign, thus cementing their rotation for 2011 before Thanksgiving and possibly for 2012. The Ludwick deal was partly hinged on David Freese's return to the lineup, which never happened, and an eagerness to turn right field over to two kids, Jon Jay and Allen Craig. Jay was hitting .383/.433/.583 at the time of the trade. He finished the season with a .244/.309/.314 line in the final 56 games. Craig found his footing in Class AAA and gave off some sparks as a September callup. But, opportunity got in the way of theirs. The last domino to fall from the Ludwick deal was Lance Berkman, a longtime rival who took less security to come to the Cardinals. To replace Ludwick in the lineup (and, yes, in right), the Cardinals signed Berkman to a one-year, $8-million deal. It's a gamble. Berkman hasn't played in the field regularly since Ankiel was a pitcher. Moreover, Berkman's sign urges the question that if the Cardinals shipped Ludwick and his arbitration-eligible $5.45-million salary to clear cash, was he really going to cost more than Berkman? Is Berkman going to produce more than he did? The ripples continue.
10. THE CONFESSION: In January, before he made his first public appearance as the Cardinals' November-hired hitting coach, Mark McGwire admitted that he used performance-enhancing drugs during his career. Suspicions of steroid use dogged him since his appearance before Congress, so it was hard to call his confession a revelation. But it did defuse a storyline that threatened to usurp the Cardinals' season. Quite simply, the circus never came to town. The mob attention expected for McGwire never manifested. There was no Tent City in Jupiter, no pitchforks waiting for him in each town he visited. He was always available and always on point, and quickly the questions fizzled. A true measure of how the story burst and then faded came at the end of the season when the Cardinals considered McGwire's return as hitting coach it was an OBP and SLG decision. Not a PR one.
9. BUSTED BIRDS: With one swing, Penny hit the grand slam that won the Cardinals the game and helped cost them the season. Penny aggravated a pre-existing oblique in that May 21st game. He didn't throw another pitch. The next day, Kyle Lohse surrendered to a forearm injury a couple seasons in the making. The Cardinals scrambled for pitchers the rest of the season, and the wear on its top three became obvious in August when the trapdoor gave way on the Cardinals' season. Like Lohse, Freese buckled to an injury that had been there in 2009, too. One ankle had to be rebuilt, another repaired and the lineup lacked depth without his bat planted in the lower half. Lohse and Freese reach 2011 cast in similar (important) roles for the Cardinals, and each has to show that when it comes to their lingering injuries there's no reason to talk about the past.
8. THE PHILLIPS AFFAIR: Reds second baseman Brandon Phillips had some mouthy things to say about the Cardinals, calling them crybabies and whiners and such. That sparked the Cardinals to an emphatic sweep of the Cincinnati Reds in Cincinnati. The series was spiked with full-on brawl that featured Johnny Cueto's violent kicks and a concussion for Jason LaRue that ended his career. The series wasn't the slingshot to a title that Cardinals envisioned. They stumbled to second after it, while the Reds surged to the postseason. But that series forever cast Phillips has a villain, Cueto has a nemesis and the Reds as a bad-blood rival. Remember when Walt Jocketty once used the word "vendetta" to describe the Reds games against the Cardinals? Now it goes both ways.
7. HONOR GUARD: The highest honor that a baseball person can achieve greeted Whitey Herzog in July, and the highest honor a civilian can receive was awarded Stan Musial this past month. Herzog, the Cardinals' beloved manager, was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame this past year. Musial will receive the Presidential Medal of Freedom in February. Both honors illustrate the power of persistence. Herzog had an influential group of Hall of Famers and decision-makers pushing for his induction through the years. Musial had Cardinals Nation. As part of their desire to increase the franchise's social-media footprint, the Cardinals rolled out the "Stand for Stan" campaign on Facebook, Twitter and the team's official Web site. That goosed politicians to again remind the White House of Musial's contributions to the country and his place as a civic icon in St. Louis. With both campaigns having been successful, it will be interesting to see what unifies the masses next. Retire 51? A number for Medwick? Or, a New Year's Day NHL game at Busch Stadium III?
6. LOSING TO LOSERS: On Aug. 14 at Busch Stadium, the Cardinals hosted the rival Chicago Cubs with Chris Carpenter on the mound opposite Carlos Zambrano. This was the pivot of the season. The Cardinals lost, 3-2, with Zambrano outpitching Carpenter and the Cardinals botching three bunt attempts. La Russa was in a luxury box serving his suspension, watching the game unravel with the fans. Colby Rasmus was also injured the game, contributing the Cardinals' offensive struggles. This game also representing a chronic and costly habit for the Cardinals: losing to losing teams. During one stretch that dropped them out of first place, the Cardinals went 3-20 against teams with records below .500, and one question facing La Russa in spring training is why that happened and how to stop it from costing them the division again. ‘Nuff said.
5. FORTUNE 400: On Aug. 26 in Washington D.C., Albert Pujols became the 47th player in baseball history to reach 400. It was the milestone swing of another historic season from the Cardinals' first baseman. He hinted at a late-season run for the Triple Crown, and he finished the year leading the league in RBIs and home runs. It was the first time in his career that he took the NL's RBI jewel, and it made him the fifth player since Ducky Medwick's Triple Crown in 1937 to complete a "career" Triple Crown in the National League. The superlatives keep coming for Pujols, who also joined Ted Williams and Stan Musial as four-time runner-ups in MVP voting. All of that sets the stage for the biggest negotiations in Cardinals' history as they attempt to sign him in the coming month to a "Cardinal for Life" contract. Whatever happens, we know what the No. 1 story for 2011 will be.
4. ACE HIGH: For the first time in his career, Adam Wainwright won 20 games and for the second time in two years he was outdone for the Cy Young Award. He did not, however, leave the season empty-handed. Wainwright's second-place finish in the NL vote triggered a $21-million, two-year option at the end of his contract. If he finishes this season healthy (i.e., not on the DL), the Cardinals will have themselves a bargain for 2012 and 2013. In 100+ starts since July 2007, Wainwright's 2.68 ERA is better than any other starter in the majors, besting Roy Halladay, Tim Lincecum and Felix Hernandez. He is arguably the best pitcher in the division, and 2011 likely marks the year he arrives, as Carpenter suggested in 2010, as the Cardinals' ace.
3. WHAT'S EATING COLBY RASMUS?: It was probably the biggest news story of the second half of the season as Joe Strauss, the Big Kahuna of baseball writers, reported that center fielder Rasmus had requested a trade during the season. Rasmus' restlessness was obvious, but that it reached a breaking point for the kid slugger was striking. What followed was a denial that sucked in some outlets and then, later, a potential reconciliation, one that still seems wobbly. Rasmus and La Russa each insist they can get along. Spring training will offer the first caucus. There was a subplot, however, that was just as interesting. With pointed comments, Pujols interjected himself into the squabble and expressed that Rasmus should be happy or move on ("You never know with him," Pujols said). That same day and again later, Pujols pulled Rasmus aside for some lengthy talks. According to both players, they were not one-way conversations. Rasmus later described how he felt the clubhouse open up to him after those conversations. What could have turned sour and left a young, talented player frozen out and packaged for a move may prove to be a turning point. That remains to be seen. What's clear is Rasmus' potential. His .859 OPS led all center fielders who had enough plate appearances at the position to qualify for the batting title, and that is worth keeping around.
2. THE NEW ORDER: It may not have delivered the drama of Rasmus' trade request or the agony of the injuries, but it was news that was both meaningful in what it acknowledged and what it changed. The Cardinals shifted their front office, promoting John Vuch to farm director and splitting VP Jeff Luhnow's responsibilities. Two of GM John Mozeliak's most-trusted advisers were shifted to new roles, including Matt Slater moving his family to St. Louis to be around the office more often. In addition to Vuch being installed atop the farm system, Mozeliak has a special assistant there to help Vuch, and the Cardinals have decided to fill the field coordinator position left open the last several years. That role serves as a quality control for development, using a coach to oversee fundamentals and teaching at all levels. Since, two members of Mozeliak's front office, including assistant GM John Abbamondi, have been offered promotions with other teams and left. The original moves were a tacit acknowledgement of the ongoing friction between the minor-league side and the major-league staff, and the bridge built to Dave Duncan and other coaches is a result of the changes. (One of Vuch's first meetings as farm director was with the major-league staff.) They were also a reorganization that will start showing its results in 2011. Drafting is only the beginning for a prospect. Development matters, too.
1. HOLLIDAY SPENDING: The biggest development for the Cardinals in 2010 was also the biggest contract (so far) in Cardinals history. Matt Holliday agreed to a seven-year, $120-million contract last January that is the richest the franchise has ever completed. A big-money player for the first time in his career, Holliday then went out and had one of the best seasons of any outfielder in the NL. He's the first teammate to have a higher average than Pujols in Pujols' career, and Holliday won the Silver Slugger award. Holliday was the only outfielder in the NL to rank in the top 10 in average, on-best percentage and slugging. The year ends with Holliday making another move. Holliday, embracing the role as a franchise fixture, has brought his family north to call the St. Louis area home.
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Now, go ahead. Offer up some others. Agree or argue with the ones above. Most of all, enjoy the weekend ahead and thanks for letting me pop in for a brief break from my winter hiatus here. The blog will return to regularly scheduled programming next week. Happy New Year.
Pitchers and catchers report in 45 days.
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