Yes, the St. Louis Cardinals have done it once again. After it had seemed that the NL Central was all wrapped up and Milwaukee was running away with first place, the Cardinals once again turned the division on its head. The Cardinals, who currently sit atop the division with a 5-game lead, have gone 7-2 in the month of September. If you go back into August and look at their last ten games, they are 8-2 in that span. This Cardinals team is in the process of doing something truly special, as it appears that they are going to take off with this division and not look back.
This is not the first time that a Cardinals team has gone on an astounding comeback run like this. In fact, it seems like it’s every year that the Redbirds pull off a miracle comeback. Whether it be in the postseason race, a playoff series or just one playoff game, the Cardinals have been the “comeback kids” year in and year out. It does not matter what players they lose or gain; they have lost big contributors such as Albert Pujols, Skip Schumaker and David Freese, only to have players like Matt Adams and Matt Carpenter step into the spotlight and become x-factors for their team. Player losses don’t seem to affect them, and neither do managerial changes. After Tony La Russa stepped down from managing, Matheny came in as a first-time MLB manager and led the Cards to a NLCS appearance in his first season.
So what is it that keeps the Cardinals driving forward with these incredible seasons, even when they lose the cornerstones of their organization?
One of the biggest reasons St. Louis has been so good throughout controversy and coming from behind is their ability to persevere in tough situations, and win tight games. The clubhouse must have a “never say die” attitude, because they do not stop fighting and do a great job of holding on in tight games. Since 2011, the last year that the Cardinals won the World Series, they have had a total record of 94-85 in one-run regular season games. Their one-run game record shows their ability to fight it out in tense moments.
That toughness and ability to fight games out that go down to the wire is something that the Cardinals have of course been known to do. Going back to the 2011 season, who can forget when they started off as a wild card team and worked there way to the World Series, eventually winning the series after being down to their final out (and final strike) time and time again? That season, they became the first Wild card team to win the World Series since the Boston Red Sox in 2004. They were the underdogs, and that is the role that St. Louis thrives in. It’s no surprise that they were in that role once again this year before making a miraculous run at the division lead.
Love them or hate them, you have to admit that the St. Louis Cardinals have made some of the most exciting moments in baseball history due to their miracle comebacks.
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