The Cardinals weren’t dead, but you can be sure they were buried. They choked down the stretch and almost blew a huge lead to the Astros while competing against the dismal National League.

The stink coming from the new Busch Stadium even overpowered that beautiful St. Louis smell of hops and yeast. As Uma Thurman taught us in Kill Bill Vol. 2, as long as you’re alive, you can get out of the coffin. The Redbirds have dominated the NL for the past couple seasons, clinching the division by Memorial Day and looking like the only team deserving of a shot at the American League. And I’m sorry, as much as it looks like everyone was ready to write the cardinal red epitaph, I’m telling you that they are still alive and kicking.

The St. Louis Cardinals are still the team to beat in the National League.

Understand that I said the National League, because I don’t think any of these teams are worthy of smelling the Athletics’ socks or the Yankees’ jock straps. But in the NL the meek shall inherit the earth. The horrible showing in inter-league play was no hoax; the National League is embarrassingly noncompetitive. So while baseball includes both leagues, lets talk NL.

They have really weak hitters and their pitchers are overrated because they only face strong lineups during inter-league. But, there is one team that was built to bang with the AL. The New York Mets’ line-up is the only team with the combination of speed and power to score runs against an AL opponent, which in turn allowed them to finish with the best record in the NL. Sadly enough for everyone in Queens, the Mets starting rotation is porcelain fragile and turned into the walking wounded at the wrong time.

The Mets can put in the best batting order, but with a AAA pitching staff, can they stop their opponents? I don’t think so, and while the Padres lack a 90 RBI guy and the Dodgers have a contact hitter in the clean-up spot, the Cardinals now pack a serious NL punch.

With their 3,4 and 5 hitters, the Cardinals are as good as anyone in the NL and will be able to get their runs. The heart of the Cardinals order has the contact ability and enough pop to score in a hurry, not to mention this guy Albert Pujols – he is pretty good.

Offense wins games, but defense wins championships; and unless Robinson Cano is your 9 hitter, pitching wins in the playoffs. That’s why the overwhelming NL favorite Mets are now a toss-up against the wildcard Dodgers. The Cardinals feature the best pitcher in the NL. Chris Carpenter is the reigning Cy Young winner and has the playoff experience for the Redbirds to pencil in a W every time he takes the mound. Apart from Carpenter, the Cardinals have three other serviceable starters and a decent bullpen; Mariano Rivera is still in the Bronx, but St. Louis has the arms to start right and then shut it down for the win.

Looking around the rest of the NL, the three other remaining teams can only boast the Jeff Suppans of the world, while the Cardinals have the luxury of just hoping he gives them a good six innings.

A lot can change in a short period of time. Three weeks ago the Mets were going to the World Series, a week ago the Cardinals weren’t going to make the playoffs and today, they are going to win the NL Pennant.

Ian Gold is a senior in Communications. He can be reached at [email protected]