A TRUE Champion

By Justin Albers
Basketballss132002@yahoo.com
CLEVELAND- In life, things sometimes go your way, and other times they don’t. In the case of the St. Louis Cardinals, everything is going against them.
A year ago the Cardinals came from nowhere to win the World Series. Okay, sure they were a division winner, but they were barely over .500 (83-78) and were completely under the radar.
Now, St. Louis is 28-34 and hanging just 5.5 games behind the division leading Milwaukee Brewers. When you see that you might say “Well what’s the big deal, they should be much better.” But that’s just it, after everything this team has been through, it would have been easy for them to fold.
Last year’s World Series pitching staff consisted of: Chris Carpenter, Jeff Suppan, Jeff Weaver, and Anthony Reyes. Carpenter is currently on the DL, Suppan throws for the Brewers, Weaver is sleepless in Seattle, and Reyes is somewhere in the minors. Wow! The Cardinals are starting relief pitchers on a nightly basis and they are still hanging in there.
Then you take a look at the position players. Both Yadier Molina and Preston Wilson have been on the DL for some time; forcing St. Louis to use a much less effective catcher in Gary Bennett. Both Wilson and Molina were a big part of the 2006 World Series; Molina even hit a huge home run in Game 6 of the Mets series to preserve the victory.
Given all of those facts, these St. Louis Cardinals are “true” champions. And Albert Pujols is the best leader there is in the majors. You never hear anything about the Cardinals complaining, or trying to throw there money at some big free agent. Don’t look now but the Cardinals are flying under the radar again; perhaps right back into the playoffs.