We were pretty sure that when Albert Pujols left the Cardinals after the 2011 that we had seen his best years, that he was on the downhill side of his greatness.  His batting average dropped below .300 that year. His home run total was down a little but most annoying was that he led the league by grounding into 29 double plays.  He had that one wonderful day in the World Series against Texas when he hit three home runs but he was only 3 for 22 the rest of the way.

And we watched as he played for the California Angels and was never The Albert of his Cardinals days. Injuries that we started to see at the end of his Cardinals Career dogged him in California.

And when he came back to St. Louis—mostly for sentimental reasons, it seemed in the spring—we were glad to see him finish things up in the uniform in which he had had his most wonderful years.  But, be honest, who among us was expecting anything more than one old guy (old at 42 can only happen in pro sports) playing out the string in the warmth of the love of Cardinals fans and their memories?

There might even have been some thoughts in the first half of the season that Albert should retire so a younger guy could fill a roster spot and maybe add some life to the team.

At the All-Star break, it seemed that that was all there was to it.  A farewell tour for a beloved n Cardinals player.  He was hitting only .215. Only six of his hits left the yard. He had driven in only 20 runs. The Cardinals were becalmed at 50-44.

Albert got a special (again, probably sentimental) invitation to the All-Star Home Run Derby and surprised himself and just about everybody else in the opening round by out-homering the National League home run leader and top seed, Kyle Schwarber.

Maybe it was because he had made a little adjustment to his swing just before the break. Maybe it was because of the emotional uplift he got at the All-Star game in Los Angeles.  Whatever happened, Albert became The Machine again.

He came back from that high and became the Albert we remembered.  From then on he hit .323 with 18 often dramatic home runs and 48 often crucial runs batted in and the Cardinals went 43-25 to walk away from Milwaukee.

And Albert got to 700 home runs, with three more thrown in for good measure.

Somebody else is likely to win the National League Most Valuable Player Award this year, but it’s hard to think of anyone who meant more to his team in the last half of the year than Albert Pujols did for the Cardinals.

Now we have the playoffs.  In 29 National League Division Series games, Albert has hit .320. In the 37 National League Championship Series games he has played, he has hit .367 with ten home runs and 27 RBI.

And he’s feeling good going into the playoffs this year, maybe for the first time in a long time.

We have only a few games left to cherish him. But we will.  And will he give us a few more memories?  We’d be surprised if he didn’t.

And the same goes for Yadier Molina. Most games as a catcher for one team in major league history.  The eighth catcher with 2,000 hits and 1,000 home runs, tenth most hits by any catcher. The other seven are in Cooperstown, as he will be, perhaps a first-ballot admission with Albert in a few years. Nobody on a major league roster today can match his 40.3% caught-stealing percentage. Nine gold gloves.

And the playoffs are his playground, too.  In 21 World Series games, he has hit .328.

He is a commanding presence on the field, dangerous at the plate, in control of the pitches.

They will leave the game together.  We hope they go to Cooperstown together.

THE FIRST ROUND

If we look at the Cardinals starting pitching, it’s hard to see how they got here.  Miles Mikolas went 12-13.  Adam Wainright was 11-12.  Jordan Hicks was just 3-6; Steven Matz was hurt and was only 5-3.  Jack Flaherty was MIA until lately. Dakota Hudson was only 8-7. Jordan Montgomery came over and went 6-3.

The Cardinals used 28 pitchers this year.  28.  Their biggest winners were losers who accounted for only 23 of the team’s 93 wins.

But the bullpen had Ryan Helsley who went 9-1. Jake Woodford was undefeated in four appearances. Chris Stratton was 5-0. Three guys, 18-1.

That kind of thing might work out in a 162-game season.  But in playoff games?

The birds on the bat might need some rabbits in the hat on the pitcher’s mound.

ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE STATE:

There was no magic.  Only another dreary year.  But at least—-

The Kansas City Royals did not lose 100 games this year but that is not a distinction that enabled people to keep their jobs.  Mike Matheny is out as manager. Cal Eldred is gone as pitching coach. Dayton Moore has been dumped as general manager.

While the Cardinals have a tradition of winning, the Royals have built a tradition of being one of baseball’s worst teams, year in and year out.

The Royals have had winning seasons only four times in the last twenty years.  They were a .500 team in 2016 after the three-year buildup to their World Series win in 2015.  The only other winning season in that two-decade span was 2003.   They have had six straight losing seasons and they’ve lost 100 games four times in that 20-year span.

It’s been five years since the Royals saw two-million tickets sold for their games. The last time the Royals drew fewer fans was 1995.  This year was only the third year since 1981 that the Royals drew fewer than 1.3 million fans.

Could be a busy off-season on the west side.

THE DAYS DWINDLE DOWN

—to a precious few now, a few more precious days with that wonderful game and those who conclude the autumn of their years in it.

If the World Series goes to seven games, it will end on November 5.

The Kansas City Royals play the first exhibition game of the Cactus League on February 24, 2023 against Texas.  That’s only 112 days after the World Series could end, 2,664 hours (give or take a few).   The Grapefruit League opens with a full schedule the next day with the Senators against the Cardinals.

113 days.

And then we’ll be able to watch the game again, as “if…dipped in magic waters.”

But first we get to see Albert and Yadi—and maybe some others—-who, as is written in Ecclesiastes—“were honored in their generations and were the glory of their times” just a little more.