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10 Wishes for a Better 2017 in St. Louis Sports

By Patrick Karraker

Jun 16, 2015; Kansas City, MO, USA; St. Louis FC fans show their support with a banner during the second half of the match against Sporting KC at Sporting Park. Sporting KC won 1-0. Mandatory Credit: Denny Medley-USA TODAY Sports
Jun 16, 2015; Kansas City, MO, USA; St. Louis FC fans show their support with a banner during the second half of the match against Sporting KC at Sporting Park. Sporting KC won 1-0. Mandatory Credit: Denny Medley-USA TODAY Sports /
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Mike Matheny St. Louis Cardinals
Oct 2, 2016; St. Louis, MO, USA; St. Louis Cardinals manager Mike Matheny (22) salutes the fans after the final game of the season against the Pittsburgh Pirates at Busch Stadium. The Cardinals won 10-4. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Curry-USA TODAY Sports /

3. A Return to the Playoffs (At the Least) for the Cardinals

First off, let’s get this out of the way: the expectation that a Major League Baseball franchise should go to the playoffs literally every single year is simply unreasonable, especially in the age of revenue sharing, and the insistence upon the team being in the League Championship Series and/or World Series every season is downright crazy. That’s not to say that shouldn’t be the constant ideal of a franchise–they should be striving their hardest to make the playoffs and succeed every year–but making the postseason year after year without hitting a bump in the road just doesn’t happen.

With that said, the Cardinals need to make the playoffs in 2017. The insane success that the team enjoyed from 2011-15 shot the fan base’s expectations through the roof to the point where heads are going to be called for if the Cards don’t bounce back this season. Now, if you ask most fans of baseball’s 29 other clubs, they’d probably be pretty hopeful about the coming season after finishing just one game out of a playoff spot the previous year (let’s not forget that the Yankees, who were the spitting image of success for so long, have played in just one postseason game–a Wild Card game that they lost to the Houston Astros–over the past four seasons).

In Cardinal Nation, however, that’s now reason for worry, and if the Cardinals don’t give the Cubs a run for their money in 2017, the franchise will be forced to take a serious look at the way things are done. Thus, the perfect way to calm spirits would be to return to the postseason, ideally with at least one series victory.

The addition of Dexter Fowler should pay dividends, and the Cards will be hoping for bounce-back seasons from Randal Grichuk, Kolten Wong, and Jhonny Peralta. The Cubs may be easier to contend with than many people believe them to be right now, considering that they’ll be coming off a World Series hangover, lost Fowler and Aroldis Chapman, and don’t currently possess a proven fifth starter. But with the Pirates still lurking and the Brewers likely to bounce back a bit next season, it should be a very interesting NL Central race.

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