Is It Inevitable?

What are you looking at? I didn't go anywhere. You went away! It was you!

I'm starting to wonder if we're facing the inevitable World Series rematch come this October. Last season's series between the Cards and the Rangers was so thrilling that you wouldn't ordinarily expect the teams to meet up again. Nearly everyone expected the Rangers to repeat as AL champs this season, however, and they've held up their end of the bargain so far. The Cardinals recently snapped a four game losing streak but I definitely feel that they have the offense and pitching to make it back to the Series again. Of course, you wouldn't have to look past last September to see a time when several teams' lofty expectations were turned upside-down in just a few short weeks, so you never know. It's only mid-May.

I bring this up because I'm showing off some cards I received from Play at the Plate. I've probably received the largest total number of packages from the Rangers fan than anyone else I know, and that probably even includes friends and family members.

I keep forgetting that Tony La Russa is no longer managing the Cardinals, or anyone for that matter. If you asked me who the St. Louis skipper was and gave me less than 3 seconds to answer (or caught me in a less than sober state) I probably would reflexively say La Russa and start grumbling about his surliness. But I can't discount the fact that he was a winner, and brought many wins (and multiple rings) to the Redbirds in his 16 seasons in the dugout.

More Ozzie cards for me! I really need to get to work on my want lists.

Edgar Renteria might finally be done as a baseball player, but it's never completely clear when someone is retired these days.

I've never seen this set before. Weirdness. It's a Standing "O" apparently, but not an actual O.

Skip Schumaker can be a polarizing figure, both among the Cardinals loyalists and the baseball card fans in 2012 who have to deal with that squirrel card. He does seem to have a knack for pulling a key base hit out of thin air from time to time and he's one of just three players that were on the 40-man roster for both World Series wins.

A shiny gold card of a Gold Glover.

These last two cards will pay a nice tribute to the end of J.D. Drew's career. I always appreciate bat cards as there seems to be far fewer of them than the jersey cards. And, personally, I'd rather own a piece of a equipment used in a game than something a dude actually wore for some reason.

It's amazing to think that in 2002, St. Louis fans probably didn't have any idea who the star of their team would be for years to come and probably thought it might still be J.D. Drew, even after an astonishingly great rookie season from their now former first baseman.