It was 112 days after Game 7. That's all. Just 112 days since the confetti floated through an October sky, and a remarkable baseball season ended with only the St. Louis Cardinals still standing.
You wouldn't think much could change in 112 days. Right?Wrong. Don't try to sell that to this team. Don't try to sell that to the 2012 Cardinals -- not on the day they finally headed back to the ballpark to begin defending their astonishing title.
The manager of the champs has moved on to what passes, in Tony La Russa's world, for "retirement." The face of the franchise -- we believe that would be some guy named Pujols -- can be located in Tempe, Ariz., this week, ready to begin work for somebody else's franchise. The pitching coach -- the great Dave Duncan -- is back in Missouri, at the side of his ailing wife.They may have been the three most powerful forces in the Cardinals' universe. But now they're gone, all three of them. And on the day that the 2012 Cardinals reassembled Sunday in balmy Jupiter, they admitted they never saw all of that coming, never envisioned how crazily their world could spin in a mere 112 days.
"I would never have thought that," said pitcher Adam Wainwright. "Never. I thought Albert was going to retire here. I think everybody did. I think he did, too. …"It was 112 days after Game 7. That's all. Just 112 days since the confetti floated through an October sky, and a remarkable baseball season ended with only the St. Louis Cardinals still standing.You wouldn't think much could change in 112 days. Right?Wrong. Don't try to sell that to this team. Don't try to sell that to the 2012 Cardinals -- not on the day they finally headed back to the ballpark to begin defending their astonishing title.
The manager of the champs has moved on to what passes, in Tony La Russa's world, for "retirement." The face of the franchise -- we believe that would be some guy named Pujols -- can be located in Tempe, Ariz., this week, ready to begin work for somebody else's franchise. The pitching coach -- the great Dave Duncan -- is back in Missouri, at the side of his ailing wife.
They may have been the three most powerful forces in the Cardinals' universe. But now they're gone, all three of them. And on the day that the 2012 Cardinals reassembled Sunday in balmy Jupiter, they admitted they never saw all of that coming, never envisioned how crazily their world could spin in a mere 112 days.
"I would never have thought that," said pitcher Adam Wainwright. "Never. I thought Albert was going to retire here. I think everybody did. I think he did, too. …""He did a great job," Wainwright said. "But he's been doing it for years. Some of these people don't know he has been doing it for years. But he's been giving speeches and leading teams for a long time. This might be his first day as the manager of a big-league baseball team. But he's been a manager on the field for quite a while."
There's still a difference, of course, between being a manager on the field and being a manager in the dugout of the defending World Series champs. A very big difference. There are going to be crises and adventures ahead that Matheny has never encountered before. Lots of them. And unlike his predecessor -- a guy who had seen, done, handled or invented pretty much everything that could possibly come along during the course of a baseball season -- there is no way to know how this manager will react.
But if folks on the outside want to watch, contrast and compare him to the last manager, that's their thing, because "I'm not using the contrast-and-compare situation," Matheny announced Sunday. "The first thing you've got to do is just be honest about who you are and what you think about things and what your expectations are, and things will play out the way they're supposed to.
"Now certainly, you're influenced by people you've been around and respected when things have gone right. But I've made it clear from the very beginning: This isn't a situation where you reinvent the wheel."
What Matheny will have to do, however, is reinvent the lineup -- because the man that lineup revolved around for the past 11 years will be doing his thing almost 2,000 miles away this season. So it will be up to Matt Holliday, Lance Berkman and the newly signed Carlos Beltran to do the middle-of-the-order mashing in Albert Pujols' absence.We've seen many middles of the order worse than that, obviously. But replacing the aura of Albert Pujols is another one of those impossible jobs that somebody now has to do.
"I don't know if there will be anybody who comes around baseball like Albert for a while," said his former hitting coach, Mark McGwire. "It's one of those things where it's such a historical career for 11 years, I wish him nothing but the best. And I hope it continues for another 10 over there in Anaheim. But it's just another thing here where the page is turned. You can't replace Albert. But I'll tell you what: Beltran has got a great track record."
However great it may be, though, it isn't Albert Pujols' track record. And there will be no duplicating Pujols' immense presence on and off the field -- not by Beltran, not by anyone on this roster.So it's astonishing how little mention you hear of Pujols' name in this camp. For that matter, it's astonishing how little trace you can find that the guy ever even played for this team.A year ago, outside Roger Dean Stadium, you could find a gigantic sign reminding passers-by that this was the spring home of the Cardinals. And whose photo was stamped all over that sign, 30 feet high? Albert Pujols' photo. Of course.
Twelve months later, it's Adam Wainwright's picture that can now be found in that same spot. Wonder why that is? And in the main lobby of the stadium, where a huge panoramic shot once hung of Pujols at bat in this park, there is now just an empty wall, painted over to remove all trace that any sort of photograph once hung there.
In some ways, the wiping out of Pujols' once-powerful image, literally and figuratively, seems a little harsh. But in other ways it's a reminder that this is a team that can't afford to spend much time this spring basking in what it's already done. The champagne party was 112 days ago. Now it's time to move forward.
"I think that should be over with by now," Carpenter said. "This is a new year. Yes, it was exciting to win. Everybody, I think, will deal with it in different ways throughout the spring. But our goal is to start preparing for 2012 and getting back to the postseason, just like we do every single year.
"So your goal and your focus," Carpenter said, "had better be on 2012 and not on the past, because [if you're focused on the past] you're going to overlook some things."But whatever their focus, whatever their goal, whoever shows up on their opening-day roster, what lies ahead for this group is still impossible to say. That's true of any team in the first week of spring training, naturally. But it's especially true of this team.
To picture the Cardinals without the irrepressible La Russa has long seemed unimaginable. To envision the Cardinals without the indomitable presence of No. 5 in the three-hole in the lineup has long felt just about incomprehensible. To grasp this pitching staff without the deft touch of Duncan has been nearly as unfathomable, too.But now it's time to start imagining. It's time to begin comprehending. And it's time to play baseball, no matter who's here, no matter who's gone. In a mere 112 days, the earth has spun these Cardinals into a new time and place. Now it's the job of this team to prove that the men who remain can be just as powerful a force as the invisible men who are now, stunningly, nowhere to be found.
You wouldn't think much could change in 112 days. Right?Wrong. Don't try to sell that to this team. Don't try to sell that to the 2012 Cardinals -- not on the day they finally headed back to the ballpark to begin defending their astonishing title.
The manager of the champs has moved on to what passes, in Tony La Russa's world, for "retirement." The face of the franchise -- we believe that would be some guy named Pujols -- can be located in Tempe, Ariz., this week, ready to begin work for somebody else's franchise. The pitching coach -- the great Dave Duncan -- is back in Missouri, at the side of his ailing wife.They may have been the three most powerful forces in the Cardinals' universe. But now they're gone, all three of them. And on the day that the 2012 Cardinals reassembled Sunday in balmy Jupiter, they admitted they never saw all of that coming, never envisioned how crazily their world could spin in a mere 112 days.
"I would never have thought that," said pitcher Adam Wainwright. "Never. I thought Albert was going to retire here. I think everybody did. I think he did, too. …"It was 112 days after Game 7. That's all. Just 112 days since the confetti floated through an October sky, and a remarkable baseball season ended with only the St. Louis Cardinals still standing.You wouldn't think much could change in 112 days. Right?Wrong. Don't try to sell that to this team. Don't try to sell that to the 2012 Cardinals -- not on the day they finally headed back to the ballpark to begin defending their astonishing title.
The manager of the champs has moved on to what passes, in Tony La Russa's world, for "retirement." The face of the franchise -- we believe that would be some guy named Pujols -- can be located in Tempe, Ariz., this week, ready to begin work for somebody else's franchise. The pitching coach -- the great Dave Duncan -- is back in Missouri, at the side of his ailing wife.
They may have been the three most powerful forces in the Cardinals' universe. But now they're gone, all three of them. And on the day that the 2012 Cardinals reassembled Sunday in balmy Jupiter, they admitted they never saw all of that coming, never envisioned how crazily their world could spin in a mere 112 days.
"I would never have thought that," said pitcher Adam Wainwright. "Never. I thought Albert was going to retire here. I think everybody did. I think he did, too. …""He did a great job," Wainwright said. "But he's been doing it for years. Some of these people don't know he has been doing it for years. But he's been giving speeches and leading teams for a long time. This might be his first day as the manager of a big-league baseball team. But he's been a manager on the field for quite a while."
There's still a difference, of course, between being a manager on the field and being a manager in the dugout of the defending World Series champs. A very big difference. There are going to be crises and adventures ahead that Matheny has never encountered before. Lots of them. And unlike his predecessor -- a guy who had seen, done, handled or invented pretty much everything that could possibly come along during the course of a baseball season -- there is no way to know how this manager will react.
But if folks on the outside want to watch, contrast and compare him to the last manager, that's their thing, because "I'm not using the contrast-and-compare situation," Matheny announced Sunday. "The first thing you've got to do is just be honest about who you are and what you think about things and what your expectations are, and things will play out the way they're supposed to.
"Now certainly, you're influenced by people you've been around and respected when things have gone right. But I've made it clear from the very beginning: This isn't a situation where you reinvent the wheel."
What Matheny will have to do, however, is reinvent the lineup -- because the man that lineup revolved around for the past 11 years will be doing his thing almost 2,000 miles away this season. So it will be up to Matt Holliday, Lance Berkman and the newly signed Carlos Beltran to do the middle-of-the-order mashing in Albert Pujols' absence.We've seen many middles of the order worse than that, obviously. But replacing the aura of Albert Pujols is another one of those impossible jobs that somebody now has to do.
"I don't know if there will be anybody who comes around baseball like Albert for a while," said his former hitting coach, Mark McGwire. "It's one of those things where it's such a historical career for 11 years, I wish him nothing but the best. And I hope it continues for another 10 over there in Anaheim. But it's just another thing here where the page is turned. You can't replace Albert. But I'll tell you what: Beltran has got a great track record."
However great it may be, though, it isn't Albert Pujols' track record. And there will be no duplicating Pujols' immense presence on and off the field -- not by Beltran, not by anyone on this roster.So it's astonishing how little mention you hear of Pujols' name in this camp. For that matter, it's astonishing how little trace you can find that the guy ever even played for this team.A year ago, outside Roger Dean Stadium, you could find a gigantic sign reminding passers-by that this was the spring home of the Cardinals. And whose photo was stamped all over that sign, 30 feet high? Albert Pujols' photo. Of course.
Twelve months later, it's Adam Wainwright's picture that can now be found in that same spot. Wonder why that is? And in the main lobby of the stadium, where a huge panoramic shot once hung of Pujols at bat in this park, there is now just an empty wall, painted over to remove all trace that any sort of photograph once hung there.
In some ways, the wiping out of Pujols' once-powerful image, literally and figuratively, seems a little harsh. But in other ways it's a reminder that this is a team that can't afford to spend much time this spring basking in what it's already done. The champagne party was 112 days ago. Now it's time to move forward.
"I think that should be over with by now," Carpenter said. "This is a new year. Yes, it was exciting to win. Everybody, I think, will deal with it in different ways throughout the spring. But our goal is to start preparing for 2012 and getting back to the postseason, just like we do every single year.
"So your goal and your focus," Carpenter said, "had better be on 2012 and not on the past, because [if you're focused on the past] you're going to overlook some things."But whatever their focus, whatever their goal, whoever shows up on their opening-day roster, what lies ahead for this group is still impossible to say. That's true of any team in the first week of spring training, naturally. But it's especially true of this team.
To picture the Cardinals without the irrepressible La Russa has long seemed unimaginable. To envision the Cardinals without the indomitable presence of No. 5 in the three-hole in the lineup has long felt just about incomprehensible. To grasp this pitching staff without the deft touch of Duncan has been nearly as unfathomable, too.But now it's time to start imagining. It's time to begin comprehending. And it's time to play baseball, no matter who's here, no matter who's gone. In a mere 112 days, the earth has spun these Cardinals into a new time and place. Now it's the job of this team to prove that the men who remain can be just as powerful a force as the invisible men who are now, stunningly, nowhere to be found.
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