The Cardinals had one huge, overarching challenge back in July: preserve their winning culture in the face of mounting frustration.
They succeeded, and then some.
When the team was sitting at 44-47, the realistic goal for this season was to prepare for the next one. Maintain morale, sustain work standards, groom young veterans, convince Nolan Arenado not to opt-out of his contract, nurture top prospects — those items topped their to-do list.
The Cardinals checked those boxes and many more.
They also salvaged their 2021 season with an historic 17-game winning streak that has added more luster to the franchise’s sterling reputation.
The Cardinals secured their 14th consecutive winning season and their eighth trip to postseason play in 11 years.
That is astounding success for a mid-market franchise in flyover country.
Yes, the Cardinals got unexpected help in their playoff quest. The San Diego Padres surrendered the second wild-card slot while suffering an epic collapse.
The Cincinnati Reds seemed ready to claim that spot but they, too, fell into an extended slump. The Philadelphia Phillies dawdled most of the season and waited too long to make their push.
But the Cardinals earned every bit of their postseason opportunity.
Their culture held in the face of adversity. Adam Wainwright and Yadier Molina made sure of that. So did the newer team leaders, Arenado and Paul Goldschmidt.
“We’ve got players that believe in what we do and how we do it,” manager Mike Shildt said in the midst of the winning streak. “There’s a culture here from a long time. You mention the legacy people of Mr. (Bob) Gibson, Mr. (Lou) Brock, Red (Schoendienst) carrying through to the Chris Carpenters of the world, the group we just celebrated, 2011. Albert (Pujols), Jimmy Edmonds, (Jason Isringhausen), guys that have a heart and bleed Cardinal red, you know, that not only had their moments to sustain that organizational success but are very intentional about passing along to the next group.
“And then next group with the stabilizers in the Wainwrights and the Yadis. And now ‘Goldy’ has been here, of course (Matt Carpenter). Andrew Miller has done a great job helping those guys in the bullpen behind the scenes. Adding Nolan helps a lot. These young guys are figuring it out.”
The Padres haven’t built this sort of culture, despite spending aggressively on talent. The Reds and Phillies have enjoyed some great runs over the years, but recently they let things slide.
The Reds have reached the postseason just four times since 1996. The Phillies are battling to reach the playoffs for the first time since 2011.
Fans feared the Cardinals were headed toward such a decline. Folks quit coming to the ballpark as the team sank. They torched the squad on social media.
Shildt’s stubborn positivity did not improve the public mood. Night after night, he sifted through the wreckage of wretched failure to find positive nuggets to feed the media.
The Milwaukee Brewers put the NL Central out of reach, so Cardinals president of baseball operations John Mozeliak refused to spend his top prospects for short-term help. But he couldn’t stand by and let his the team collapse. Had the Cardinals accepted failure as their fate, as the Chicago Cubs did, rebuilding the team and regenerating fan support for ’22 would have become more challenging.
So Mozeliak, general manager Michael Girsch and Co. got busy and located lots of right-priced pitching help to bolster their battered staff.
The Cardinals pulled out of their prolonged funk, stabilized, then caught fire.
Veteran lefties Wade LeBlanc, Jon Lester and J.A. Happ arrived to prop up the injury-battered starting rotation. T.J. McFarland and Garcia came on to add reliable relief help.
Goldschmidt got hot and stayed hot. Arenado dazzled in the field and muscled up at the plate. Tyler O’Neill emerged as a multi-dimensional force.
Tommy Edman took charge as the leadoff hitter. Harrison Bader added offensive substance to his defensive style. Energetic Edmundo Sosa became an Edman-like catalyst.
The team’s winning identity emerged. With Gold Glove candidates all over the field, the Cardinals excelled at run prevention.
With more speed on the bases, they applied small-ball pressure on opposing defenses. They enjoyed a power surge, too, slugging their way through a weekend sweep at Wrigley Field to close in on their wild-card clinch.
And so here we are. The Cardinals will get their shot in the do-or-die wild-card game. Their postseason could last a few hours or several weeks, but either way, they met their summer’s big challenge.
The Cardinals reaffirmed their standing in Our National Pastime with their late charge. They will carry that success forward as O’Neill, Edman, Bader, Sosa, Dylan Carlson, Lars Nootbaar et al. apply the lessons learned.
“We’re such a storied team,” Nootbaar said. “You go out there, you see the banners every single day, you see the (retired) numbers, you see everything, you have the (2011) reunion last week. You know you’re in a baseball town. You know you’re in a storied program.”
