Submitted by Terry, Nov 1, 2006 16:01

You're right on with most of your analysis of the Cardinals. They still win primarily with their multi-talented core or nucleus of players, but in addition, this year many of them were injured for a long period of time -- ask any playoff team to lose their closer, centerfielder, shortstop and # 2 starting pitcher for extended periods of the second half of the season and see how they end up coming down the stretch run.

The Cardinals got some key players back in time for the playoffs and some very young rookies and experienced pitchers came through when it counted -- and some of the fringe players/pieces of the puzzle contributed as well. Good pitching and defense makes up for a lot of other faults. That's the heart of the matter!

We should still have our core for 2007 -- hopefully we can add some more pitching to continue our run of playoff baseball.

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