As I write this my beloved St. Louis Cardinals are playing their final day of the 2015 Major League Baseball season. The Cards have clinched the toughest division in baseball; the National League Central and have won 100 games with two left to play. That has guaranteed the Birds home field advantage throughout the playoffs. (Except for the World Series in which home field advantage is decided by MLB's inane policy of which league wins the All-Star Game).
The Cards lost their best pitcher at the start of the season, were without an all star catcher for several months, lost their best outfielder on two occasions of more than a month each and had each player on the infield each miss several weeks of playing time. Still, they were resilient and never quit coming after their opponent game after game after game.
My thought is the glue that held this team together throughout the year was manager Mike Matheny. Matheny is in his fourth year with the Cardinals and each year has gotten the club into the post season. Without Matheny's leadership and the strength of the Redbirds farm system they would have been hard pressed to be a contender. Yet, here they are on the final day of the regular season with 100 wins. I don't have a vote for manager of the year but if I did it would go to Matheny.
Good luck to Mike Matheny and the Redbirds as they start their playoff hunt this Friday against the winner of the Cubs and Pirates wild card game.
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