The end of the 2007 season has come and gone for the St. Louis Cardinals, and we can all pretty much agree that that's a good thing. It's time to stock up and reload for 2008, 2009 and beyond. But for now, here's what the Cards did right (and wrong) in the 2007 season.
Team MVP: What player did the most to keep his team competitive all season? In a close race between Albert Pujols and Adam Wainwright, Prince Albert wins out due to the fact that position players almost always get prevalence over pitchers in MVP consideration. Pujols had more playing time to affect the team on the field, and, after April, he sure did.
Team MDP (Most Disappointing Player): Adam Kennedy takes this one slightly ahead of Anthony Reyes. Although Reyes was expected to have a big year coming off a World Series victory, the topsy-turvy fashion he was utilized would have hurt anyone's performance. No, Adam Kennedy was the most disappointing player. He ended with the lowest batting average of his career (.219) and wound up on the DL. Oh boy!
Most Surprising Player: Rick Ankiel's remarkable comeback makes him the Most Surprising Player, even though he didn't play until late August. Rick busted onto the Cardinals scene after dominating in Triple-A, and his power stroke didn't stop there: he hit 11 home runs in only 47 games. Ryan Ludwick deserves some mention here also, putting up numbers similar to Chris Duncan and above-average defense.
Biggest Meltdown: Tony La Russa's public reprimanding of Brendan Ryan for a swung-at 3-0 pitch late in the season not only damaged Brendan's reputation but also was caught by TV cameras enough to make ESPN highlights.
Most One-Dimensional Player: Even though he only played 21 games with us, Russell Branyan ended the season as the most one-dimensional player on the Cardinals team, sporting a big bat and little else. Ironically, he ended his time with the Cards with one home run and a .188 BA. The average we were expecting, but the lack of power? Not so much.
Best Reliever: Although he ended the season with a higher ERA than Jason Isringhausen, Russ Springer, and Troy Percival, Ryan Franklin was the best reliever for his work through the first half of the season. At the All-Star break, Ryan had a sparkling 1.23 ERA and had been the go-to man in numerous situations in the 7th and 8th innings. He ended up recording 80 innings with a 3.04 ERA, including ranking 7th in the NL in holds (25).
Most Exciting to Watch: Chalk another one up for Rick Ankiel, who possessed the uncanny ability to grab your attention every single time he walked up to bat. This was partly because he had the ability to hit one out every single at-bat, as demonstrated in his first game back with the Cards this season.
Most Anti-Climactic At-Bat: Tony La Russa's election to bat Aaron Rowand over Albert Pujols in what was quite possibly the most important at-bat of the All-Star Game makes Albert Pujols the hard-luck winner of this award. Pujols' no-show spurred some frustration from El Hombre himself after the game, and who could blame him? Best player in baseball, or overrated, mostly average outfielder? Hmm...
Best In-Season Acquisition: Joel Pineiro, although subject to debate over his new contract, came onto the scene from the Boston Red Sox and made a difference as a starter, sporting a 6-4 record and 3.96 ERA with the Cards. The fact that the Cards gave up virtually nothing to get him makes this the best acquisition of the season.
Biggest Reason Not to Watch the Games: There was plenty of reasons not to watch the Cardinals games this season, but Kip Wells was the single biggest reason to turn the TV off. Kip still got plenty of playing time well into September despite carrying an ERA that hovered around 6 for the majority of the season. When Kip was on, he was good, but when he was bad, he was really, really bad.
Most Underrated Player: Adam Wainwright emerged as the ace of the rotation after emerging as the best reliever last year. This guy has done pretty much everything, and done it well, yet we still don't talk about him the same way we talk about the other stars on the team. His humble attitude and sheer competitiveness make Adam a fun player to watch and root for.
Biggest Reason to Get Excited for Next Year: Although there is a lot of negativity going around cyber-Cardinal Nation, the Cardinals are still the Cardinals and still have players capable of playing at the highest caliber. It seems like many forget that in 2006 we didn't have the greatest roster or the greatest chances of winning, but look where that got us. My point is you never know what's going to happen next year, just like you never know which team will get hot in the post-season. No one picked the Rockies to be where they are, no matter how much people analyzed the team. We can be as critical of this team as we want, but being cynical is not the answer. I refuse to get down on 2008, because I know in this game of probability, anything can happen.
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