ST. LOUIS — In the National League, at least, there is little question about which franchise has been the best of the 21st century.
It’s the same one that was the NL’s best of the previous century.
With their 9-0 demolition of the Dodgers in Game 6 of the NLCS on Friday, the Cardinals will have a chance to become the first team of the new century to win three World Series. The franchise has won four NL pennants over that stretch.
“We’ve been fortunate to be in an organization that winning is a tradition, winning is an expectation,” manager Mike Matheny said.
“We start talking early on about the history and the championships, the great players who have been through here and people who have made their mark on this organization and in the game. So we take a lot of pride in trying to carry ourselves like a championship club.”
The Cardinals won the 2011 World Series, beating the Rangers in seven games after winning an epic Game 6 on David Freese’s home run. In 2006, the Cardinals beat the Tigers in five games in the World Series. But the Cardinals were swept in the 2004 World Series, ending an 86-year world championship drought for the Red Sox.
Carlos Beltran, who will be playing in the first World Series of his 16-year career, cited the Cardinals’ winning tradition as a reason he signed with the club following the 2011 season.
“To be part of this organization for these two years has been great,” said Beltran, who played for a Cardinals team that lost Game 7 of the NLCS to the Giants last season. “It’s allowed me to understand how they do things, get to know the guys and how they think and the way they handle the situation. They’re very professional in the way they do things.”
Tony La Russa managed the Cardinals to their last two championships but retired following the 2011 season, handing the reins to Matheny, a former catcher with the club, to make the transition seamless.
But it also helps to have a farm system that has produced the likes of Michael Wacha, Joe Kelly and Shelby Miller, the foundation on which the Cardinals empire is built. In the bullpen, the Cardinals have explosive, young arms in Trevor Rosenthal and Carlos Martinez.
Wacha, named MVP of the NLCS after pitching 13 ²/₃ scoreless innings over two starts, said the competition among pitchers in the team’s minor league system just to get noticed raises the entire level of play.
“We have a ton of rookie pitchers up here and it’s fun to watch them,” Wacha said. “Whenever I got called up, I felt like I had to hang with these guys.”
Matheny’s faith in his young pitchers has been rewarded this postseason, led by Wacha’s dominance.
“It’s not that they’re just here and they’re young, but we’re putting them in big situations and they’re doing the job,” Matheny said. “We’re very proud of what they’ve been able to accomplish. We’re also very clear that we’ve still got a long way to go. We’ve got one more step, and that’s a big one.
“They’ve got to keep their head down and not buy into too much of the hype here. We’ve got some work to do. But also you’re looking at the future. We’ve got an opportunity to watch some pretty bright stars continue to shine.”