With two outs in the bottom of the ninth, things looked pretty good for the St. Louis Cardinals. After all, it looked as if they were about to tie up the division series with the L.A. Dodgers.
From there, they would head back to St. Louis for two games, during which they could clinch their way into the NLCS.
But, as they say, even the best-laid plans of mice and men...
No one knows the crushing reality of an unraveling victory better than left fielder Matt Holiday. If he needs any reminders, he could look at his lower stomach, where James Loney's seemingly harmless fly ball struck him—and the Cardinals season—with a thud.
We all know the rest of the story. St. Louis was left picking up the scraps of confetti left over from their division title celebration—hardly the ticker tape gala they were looking forward to.
But when one looks at the bright side, things certainly don't look gloomy—especially in what many consider the pre-eminent baseball town in the country. In the chaos of the Cardinals collapse, it was easy to forget that Tony LaRussa's squad boasted the best player in baseball and two of its better pitchers.
All three return for 2010. And you can be sure that Albert Pujols has some dingers left in his bat after a relatively quiet postseason.
On the mound, Chris Carpenter has been one of the best pitchers in the National League for the past few seasons—and he narrowly missed out on the Cy Young Award. Likewise for upstart Adam Wainwright, whose baffling curve, fiery fastball, and slicing sinker befuddle batters from San Diego to New York.
Those three make the core of a very good team. Throw in Holiday, revitalized from rest and reflection—and the owner of a giant new contract—and you have the makings of a potent club. One more year of seasoning for a pair of youngsters will undoubtedly help.
Oh, by the way, Colby Rasmus and Brendan Ryan were already good to begin with. Imagine what another offseason of conditioning will do for their talents.
Ryan appears to be a perennial Gold Glove winner in the making, swallowing up grounders and gappers while maddening opposing fans. Rasmus has flashes of Edmonds and Beltran, but he needs to improve his batting average to be a consistent lineup threat.
So where are the question marks? Third base appears to be a problem, with only rookie David Freese to hold down the hot corner.
Who? Exactly.
The Cardinals may still be in the market for a third baseman, but as spring training begins, how many options will remain out there?
That being said, some writers are seeing the glass as half full for this team.
From MLB.com writer Matthew Leach: "On the offensive side, I believe there's much more reason for optimism. Third base was an absolute black hole for the Cardinals last year. Before they acquired DeRosa, nothing could get settled (save for Brian Barden's good month). DeRosa just wasn't that effective at the plate during his Cards tenure. I believe that given 500 or so plate appearances, Freese will quite easily outproduce what the Cards got from third base last season.
Where will this team finish? Probably in first place. The Cubs imploded in 2009, which helped the Cardinals run away with the division. Chicago may be better this time around, but they don't appear good enough to overtake LaRussa and Company. A quick glance at the rest of the division doesn't lend itself to foreseeing an upset, although the Reds could surprise people.
Expect the Cardinals to be back in the playoffs, and hopefully—for Cardinals fans, at least—without the body blow of last season's sudden exit.
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