Well fans, the Hot Stove League is upon us. I must admit, the end of the baseball season took me by surprise. I expected the Detroit - St. Louis series to go a full seven games. Little did I know that the badly limping Cardinals would all of a sudden discover a pitching staff and dispatch the upstart Tigers in five games. Yes, the outcome of the World Series was a shock to most pundits. No team has ever entered the post-season stumbling as bad as the Cardinals. Ten days before the season ended, the Cardinals led the Houston Astros by eight games. St. Louis then managed to lose eight of its last ten games, while the Astros ran off an eight game winning streak. Only a win by the Cards on the final day of the season gave them the division crown.

Limping into the Divisional Series, the Cardinals faced the Padres, a team that had surged late in the season to take the Western Division crown. Somehow, the Cardinals, battered and exhausted, managed to take the series and move on to the NLCS.

Most folks didn’t think the Cardinals had a chance to defeat the Mets, a team that had posted the best record in the National League during the regular season. Most folks, in fact, figured the Mets to sweep the series.

Someone forgot to tell the Cardinals.

Led by strong pitching performances by Jeff Suppan and journeyman Jeff Weaver, the Cards dispatched the Mets in five games and were headed for the Big Show for the second time in three years.

Detroit was heavily favored to win it all. St. Louis’ pitching staff was worn to a frazzle after the debacle during the final week of the season, the Divisional Series, and the NLCS. The Tigers were red hot after eliminating the Yankees and the Athletics and, on most peoples betting sheets, figured to win the series in five games.

Again, someone forgot to tell the Cardinals.

After dropping Game One to the Tigers, the Cardinals rallied for four straight wins. St.Louis’ World Series crown is the team’s first since 1982 and is a tribute to the importance of tenacity and grit when it comes to pressure baseball.

In retrospect, I feel it is fitting that the Cardinals won it all this year. St. Louis is, without question, the best baseball city in America. The franchise draws and attendance of over three million every year and the Cardinal fans are among the most knowledgeable and supportive in baseball. This year, the Cards played their first season in the new Busch Stadium and the fans stuck with the team through thick and thin.

As the Hot Stove League unfolds over the next four months, it will be interesting to see what kind of moves the Cardinals make in terms of their roster. This season’s pitching rotation left a lot to be desired and the offense was streaky. Of course, David Eckstein and Albert Pujols will be back. It remains to be seen whether the Cards re-sign aging centerfielder Jim Edmonds. Edmonds spent a good bit of time on the shelf in 2006 with various injuries, including a severe concussion.

Scott Roland and manager Tony LaRussa are not on speaking terms after LaRussa benched a slumping Roland during the NLCS. Roland’s bat picked up in the World Series, but his frequent injuries and his run-ins with LaRussa makes you wonder how long he will be in St. Louis.

Yes, this off-season should be interesting. What big names will change teams? Stay tuned.