Cardinal: Second place in the League of Nations wild card
Record: 90 wins and 70 losses
Coach: Mike Shildt
Playoff history
Many fans know that the Yankees are the team that has won the most world series titles in major league history, but it is not necessarily clear that it is the second most numerous, and it is the protagonist of this article, the Cardinals. As a century-old store, cardinals have won the World Series 11 times, beating the Giants and Dodgers, ranking first in the League of Nations.
The first peak in Cardinal history came in 1926, when legendary second baseman Rogers Hornsby, who also served as head coach, led the team to victory over the indomitable Yankees to win the first World Series in team history.
In the new century, the Cardinals welcomed Albert Pujols, the "cyborg" known to fans. This heavy artillery, which has outstanding both striking ability and long-throw ability, is even more difficult to stop in the playoffs, and under his leadership, the Cardinals have twice won the World Series championship without being optimistic.
In 2006, the Cardinals only advanced with a record of 83 wins and 78 defeats, but defeated the powerful tigers to win the championship. In the 2011 Cardinals' World Series against the Rangers, they wrote the words "undead bird" into the team's DNA.
After the 2011 season, Pojols left for Los Angeles, and although the Cardinals failed to win the World Series again, they remained regulars in the playoffs, with their best result reaching the World Series in 2013, eventually losing to the Red Sox as runners-up.
The road to advancement
The Cardinals in St. Louis have a reputation for baseball throughout major leagues, with local fans and media far less demanding than the big markets of New York or Boston, but more patient.
Cardinals fans are also far more loyal than fans of other small-market teams, and even if the team is not performing well, they are happy to go to the stadium to support the team.
Because of this, the management of the Cardinals also repaid the favor, and did not hesitate to open the wallet and introduce star players for the team. Since entering the 21st century, the Cardinals have almost never seen a complete rebuild, and they have only one season with a winning percentage of less than 50%.
However, at the beginning of the season, the performance of the Cardinals, who were originally optimistic about the impact on the National League Central Zone championship, was a big surprise. By the end of July trade deadline, they had a 50% win rate, and the divisional ranking had been outdone by 9.5 games by the Brewers and seven games behind the Priests in the wild card rankings.
At the end of July, baseball writers were debating whether the Cardinals should tear down and rebuild and operate in the marketplace as sellers. But surprisingly, the Cardinals stood still, making almost no eye-catching deals except for Jon Lester, a veteran whose self-blame score was 5.02 at the time.
For the Cardinals' calm before the trade deadline, industry insiders speculate that the Cardinals intend to keep the core players in the lineup, make repairs in the offseason, and strive to return to the ranks of the playoffs next year.
The development of the matter until Sept. 7 confirmed this speculation, after losing that day, the Cardinals trailed the second-place Padres in the wild card, and in the wild card rankings, the Philadelphia and Reds were ranked ahead of them, and the Probability of the Cardinals advancing to the playoffs given on some sports websites was less than 5%.
However, everyone underestimated the tenacity of the undead bird, and from September 11, the Cardinals won consecutive victories, playing the longest wave of 17 consecutive wins in the history of the team.
At the same time, the padres and reds were in a slump, tragically overtaken, and finally the imposing Cardinals locked the second wild card seat of the National League on September 28, local time, and once again reached the playoffs.
Facing such a outstanding Cardinal in a wild card battle, even an opponent who has already won a hundred victories does not dare to take it lightly.
Team star
Paul Goldschmidt
Goldschmidt, who has just celebrated his 34th birthday, is not old and carries the team forward in a fiery state. For the sixth time this season, he made at least 30 home runs.
Will the third-best-ranked Player in the League of Nations total numbers of hits this season win back his first World Series title at the end of the season? We'll see.
Nolan Arenado
As an offseason heavyweight reinforcement, although Arenado's strike rate was lower than the career average, the overall performance still met the team's expectations.
He reached season milestones of 30+ home runs and 100+ RBIs this season. He will also be part of the core stick with Tyler O'Neill, who has played a career year this season, to escort Goldschmidt in the playoffs.
Adam Wainwright
No one expected that Wainwright, who has turned 40, is still the most stable pitcher in the Cardinals. In the game on September 28, local time, Wainwright won the second most wins in the major league and locked up a playoff spot for the Cardinals.
This season, Wainwright has finished second in the National League in terms of wins and pitches, an unquestionable trump card performance. In the 2006 World Series, he helped the team win as a Terminator.
But in the 2011 myth of the undead bird, Wainwright was a cheerleader for a whole season because he underwent surgery to restructure his elbow ligaments. This year, he will have the opportunity to make up for the regrets of 10 years ago as a starting pitcher.
Team short board
The Cardinals' strengths this season are their speed and defense, but both the team attack index and the team's SELF-defeating score are only in the middle of the league rankings, and there is nothing remarkable about it.
The main reason they were able to reach the playoffs in the final month was because they played the hottest form in the most critical moments.
Compared to the teams with the hard power and talent above them, how long the Cardinals can maintain this spirit and hot feel in the playoffs will be the key to their playoff fate.