Think about the last time the Cardinals were really bad for any length of time. Go ahead, get to Googling. Having trouble? That is because you would have to dig back to the end of the first World War to truly find a period in which the Cardinals were consistently under .500 with little hope at the end of the tunnel. They are a team that defies all logic and theories of cyclical form in sports. While other teams struggle to reinvent themselves, or to develop an identity at all, the Cardinals just keep plugging in fuses to their organizational circuit breaker and keep the lights shining at Busch Stadium. There is just never counting the Cardinals out. They have maintained a mind numbing consistency that has endeared them to their fans for generations while in the same vain thoroughly frustrating those supporters of the rest of the National League. How do they do it?
NO TURNOVER AT THE TOP
The key to any organization is stability. Having roles defined and upheld over time allows weaknesses to be identified earlier and addressed. It also breeds a natural cohesion between those in the front office, dugout, and on the diamond. The Cardinals have had four managers in 30 years. Three of those managers are in the Hall of Fame. Whitey Herzog managed in three seven game World Series, winning one, losing another, and suffering the wrath of Don Denkinger in a third. Tony LaRussa went 2-1 in the World Series and made it to the NLCS four other times. The weak link in between them? Just Joe Torre, who would trade in his red and white for pinstripes after the 1995 season rewriting his own legacy as a manager. Current head honcho Mike Matheny has already began to carve out his own niche in Cardinals history with two NLCS appearances and a World Series to his resume, yet he has yet to hoist the Commissioner’s Trophy as of now. The thing is, he’ll get every opportunity to.
While the coaching ranks have been stable, the position of GM has been even more so. The Redbirds have had just twelves GMs in their over 100 year history and just three in the last 30. The transition from Walt Jocketty, the architect of the improbable 2006 World Champs, to current GM John Mozeliak was one that was carefully planned, vetted, and executed. There was no sense of trepidation about a regime change because Mozeliak had been around long enough to know how the team did things. Even in the most competitive division in baseball, Mozeliak has acquired the pieces through free agency, trades, and the draft that have made the Cardinals even more of a playoff staple than they were under his predecessor.
STEPPING IT UP
Injuries are a fact of life in sports. No team is immune to the injury bug regardless of their luck, quality of talent, or medical miracle workers. Take for instance the loss of Adam Wainwright early this year. Losing an ace pitcher early in the season in the fashion they did (an Achilles’ tear running the bases), should have crippled the team. Instead the Cardinals galvanized as a squad and have become the unstoppable behemoth sitting at the apex of the Major League standings. It isn’t as if they had a Wainwright 2.0 waiting in the wings either, unless you think that highly of Michael Wacha. Otherwise serviceable arms stepped up to fill in the void and you can’t say that any of the five men that have thrown the majority of St. Louis’ innings this year have been bad. Lance Lynn and Carlos Martinez are the black sheep of the bunch with 3.17 and 3.02 ERAs respectively. John Lackey has shrugged off the potential distraction of his $500K salary for the season to put forth his best year since his heyday with the Angels. Players stepping up shows a strength of character that comes from both within said players, but is also preached by the club. The pitching staff wasn’t the only one to have players emerge in an emergency.
Once Albert Pujols left town, Matt Holliday became the centerpiece of the Cardinals’ batting order. You would hope so with him making $17 million a season. Once again, when Holliday went down at the end of July, the Cardinals didn’t even bat an eye. Jason Heyward has revived his career in the middle of the order. Randal Grichuk, with a little bit of Stephen Piscotty mixed in, have filled in more than admirably for Holliday in left field. To a lesser extent, the Cards have also plugged the gap left by another injured Matt in first baseman Matt Adams. Mark Reynolds was plucked off the scrap heap this past winter on a one year deal and may have earned himself one last multi-year contract because of it. His current platoon mate, Brandon Moss, came over in a trade with Cleveland and has endeared himself by hitting home runs to take leads. Three of his four home runs since joining the Cardinals have been to break ties with one of them being a walk-off shot.
Players know that when they come to St. Louis that there is a certain expectation of them. If they are projected starters, in the lineup or on the staff, you are to do your job in all facets of the game. If you are having a bad day at the plate, make up for it with defense. If you are a bit erratic with your location, make sure you get that sacrifice bunt down to get the runner into scoring position. For players brought in as back-ups, the mantra is to always be ready. That allows the team to maintain its course when adversity strikes and it also leads to the next bullet point.
LOYALTY, BUT NOT TO A FAULT
Franchises can sometimes fall into the trap of hanging onto a player too long. They can also make the mistake of not giving a player enough of a chance to prove themselves and pull the plug on them too early. St. Louis has found that happy medium between the two. They will sign a player to a long term contract, take Yadier Molina for example, and experts will poo-poo the deal. Both sides know what they are getting into though. Molina gets rewarded for his invaluable production and leadership, but he also knows that he will have to keep a certain level of performance during the course of the pact. Once he falters, the Cardinals will not hesitate to insert his replacement.
Look no further than the closer position for another scenario in which the Cardinals will put full faith in their guy until that trust is deservedly revoked. The Cardinals always pack their pen with battle tested arms for the playoffs. They hope they have the luxury of using those guys in the seventh and eighth innings, but will not hesitate to yank incumbent closer Trevor Rosenthal if it is warranted. They’ve done it several times during Rosenthal’s tenure (Fernando Salas, Edward Mujica, Pat Neshek) as well as previous closer Jason Motte’s. Each year though, Rosenthal is re-installed as closer until he hits a rough patch.
All in all, the Cardinals are a team that just “gets it.” Like the Spurs in the NBA and the Belicheck era Patriots in the NFL, they know what buttons to push personnel wise to obtain and maintain a high level of excellence in their given sport. That is not something that ever goes away. Sure, they could have the occasional year in which the odds are too overwhelming to surmount. Just know that they’ll hedge their bets so the next time that bad hand is dealt they’ll take the pot anyway.