ST. LOUIS — Sometimes going into the postseason as the "hot team" cures all other pains. (Just ask the 2011 Cardinals about that.) The 2021 Cardinals are hoping that's the case this year as they head to Los Angeles for the National League Wild Card Game on Wednesday.
Since Sept. 1, the Cardinals are 23-9, with a franchise-best 17-game winning streak nestled in-between.
The walk-heavy, hard-to-watch Cardinals of June and most of July are gone, replaced by an exciting team that fans had been hoping to see all year.
For the guys in the clubhouse, the turnaround was an expected result.
"People say, 'How can you stay so optimistic about this team?' Really, it's not blind optimism. I am an optimist by nature, I think they live longer. But it's an easier team to believe in and have that faith in when I have the privilege to see behind the scenes, the dedication that takes place every day and the intentionality of this group together for a common goal," Cardinals manager Mike Shildt said after the team clinched a Wild Card berth. "And that's to celebrate the very last game of Major League Baseball."
"There's definitely been some ups and downs. We knew we had our chances," first baseman Paul Goldschmidt said. "You can't predict we were gonna win 17 in a row but we felt like we were playing good baseball. We were gonna be in it. We knew we had to go on a little bit of a run, you can't force that, but glad it happened."
For Cardinals veteran starter Adam Wainwright, who will be on the mound in the Wild Card Game in LA, the story of this season is about continuing to believe in what was built, and knowing things would eventually swing in the Cardinals' direction.
"It starts with perseverance. We had to overcome probably the worst baseball I've seen a Cardinal team play. We weren't doing anything right. We were finding ways to lose games. We'd have the lead late and blow it. We'd have the lead early and blow it. We'd have good pitching and not score. We'd have good pitching and good hitting but not play good defense. There was just something that went wrong every day. It was just understanding that we were a better team than what we were showing and we could go out there and compete with anyone when we were right and that's what we did," Wainwright said.
"Just understanding who's in the clubhouse. Understanding the talent that's in there and understanding that nobody was really playing to their capabilities. That was true of everybody in there. Nobody in that clubhouse was playing to their capabilities the first half of the season. And the last month we've been clicking pretty good. We closed on some really good teams. We had some really tough series that... FanGraphs had us at like a -400% chance at making the playoffs and we just proved everyone wrong. So we're going to try and keep doing that."
Even if the 2021 Cardinals don't go on a playoff run, they'll be remembered for the 17-game streak. But with the regular season over, nobody on the team or in the front office is thinking about that right now.
"It really is historic. Not just for the Cardinals but for baseball. The Cardinals have a great history, but this is a signature moment for Cardinal history," Cardinals Owner Bill DeWitt Jr. said. "Back in 1935, which is a long time ago, they won 14 in a row, and we blew past them and I think we'll have more to come, too."
"We're having fun, it's exciting. I'm still wearing my champagne shirt. I love having it. I'm freezing and I love every part of it. But we've got some games to win. We're planning on four more of these," Wainwright said on the field after the Wild Card berth was clinched. "We've gotta go one at a time but we're planning on four more of these. Our guys just got a taste of it. There's a couple of guys in there who have never popped before. So they're pretty excited right now. It never gets old and we're excited to get back in the postseason."
And make no mistake, after the past two seasons ended well short of the goal of celebrating the last game of the year, the Cardinals are just itching to get another shot in the postseason.
"I kind of view it like a really good steak. You have one bite of it and there's just something about... everything about a good steak," Cardinals outfielder Harrison Bader said. "And then you've got a whole steak in front of you and you want to keep eating it. That's exactly how we're doing it. We're staying hungry and we just want to keep eating."
"We feel dangerous," Wainwright said. "There's been a couple times when I start the postseason and I think, 'This team could do it.' So we've got a team that can do it. We just got to go out and execute."
The Cardinals will face one of the toughest tests baseball could throw at them in the one-game playoff.
They'll face St. Louis native Max Scherzer and the 106-win Los Angeles Dodgers on the road in a winner-take-all game Wednesday night.