La Russa’s card tricks keep St. Louis afloat

It was the middle finger, of course, as though the baseball gods were pulling some kind of a joke at the expense of the St. Louis Cardinals.

Here you go, boys. Let’s see you handle this one.

Oh, that was only the beginning, the pop on starter Adam Wainwright’s right bird that sent him to the disabled list. Next to come up lame was Albert Pujols, only the National League’s best hitter, with a strained left calf that put him on the DL for at least three weeks. Then pitcher Todd Wellemeyer getting battered around after missing a start with elbow pain, the two perhaps intertwined. Followed by former Cy Young Award winner Chris Carpenter complaining of pain in his own elbow on the way back from Tommy John surgery.

And still, here they are, the Cardinals, the little team that could, sporting the NL’s second-best record halfway through June with a makeshift lineup and thrown-together rotation. No longer can it be passed off as an illusion. The Cardinals – when healthy – are legitimately a good team, enjoyable to watch, easy to root for, the antithesis of what pundits, yours truly included, figured they’d be.

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I am a devout Cardinal fan and I must say I agree with the article! With the injuries the Cardinals have, I am amazed in the fact that they are playing good ball.