I've struggled to find anything meaningful to say about the Cardinals 2012 season in retrospect, but I know I'm sad to see baseball over for the year. I wasn't all that surprised that the Giants stormed back to take the series. It's happened before and it will happen again. A 3-1 series lead in baseball is rarely safe. This team is its own proof that a solid team can get hot at the right time and overcome anything, even when Ryan Theriot is on the team. The Cards are positioned very well in the future and should be a contender for years to come if they stick to a similar payroll, which they should be able to do considering their usual high attendance and far reaching fanbase. That recent World Series ring doesn't hurt, either.
That's not to say I'm not a little bit disappointed. This team, absent its longtime MVP first baseman, actually felt like they would and should be better than the previous team. The stats bear this out, too, even with some of the injury issues they faced. (Every team gets their share of injury woes.) But as we've seen in past years (think 2004), the best teams don't always win the title. The Cardinals had two vastly superior teams fall in the playoffs in just the past decade. Last year's team was good, but their record didn't reflect it. It took a perfect storm (sorry) of a late season hot streak coupled with the Braves collapse to even get that team in the playoffs. This year's team was better, and their record still didn't reflect it.
These cards came over to me by way of The Angels, In Order. See, I bet you made it all the way through this post without realizing it was trade post. Bat relics are legit, right? I didn't hear about fake bat parts making their way into cards, but who knows.
i know what you mean. bat relics have stepped up in my collection as well because they are not rumored to be fake.
ReplyDeletehowever, i still appreciate a well-designed jersey relic for what it is - and i tell myself that mine are legit.