It’s always darkest before the dawn, or some useless crap.

Cardinals fans love their team. They’ll do anything to trumpet their accomplishments and downplays their shortcomings. That’s called being a good fan. The best fans? Well, I’ll leave that to someone else to dissect. Being a “fan” isn’t the insulting barb most of the BFIB writers intend for it to be, so I’ll lump myself right in there with everyone else. I’m a big fan, and here are some good reasons to feel upbeat about this team and this season.

  • The Cards have now demonstrated they can win extra-innings games.
  • They’ve shown that after the 6th inning, the game isn’t necessarily over. In particular, lucky number seven seems to be on their side.
  • Maybe it happened a little too late, but they can hit homeruns. To be more precise, they can hit them at an alarming pace, but only in October.
  • Shelby Miller figured it out late this season. That bodes well for next season.
  • Lance Lynn shed his various nicknames and became a lights-out pitcher.
  • Jon Jay silenced his detractors with a remarkable season, and an even more incredible postseason.
  • Wainwright had another 20-win season, and in his last appearance of the year, he was strong.
  • Wong found his stride in the big leagues.
  • Peralta proved not to be a bad investment. His above-expected defensive skills complimented his bat quite nicely.

That’s the shortlist I can think of with no preparation. That’s a pretty impressive list of feats for a club in one season. Do you want to feel sad about this team not making it to the big dance? Me too. It’s the tragedy of sports. There can only be one winner in the end. While the Cards make it deeper into postseason than almost any other team on a consistent basis, they’re far from perfect. This year, they fell short of the goal line (no pun intended). They’re still a fantastic team that has fewer offseason issues to work through than they had one year ago at this time. I’ll take that deal.

As for the short remainder of this year’s MLB season? I follow the old adage “my enemy’s enemy is my friend.” To that end, Go Royals!

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