“How did you go bankrupt?”
“Two ways. Gradually, then suddenly.”
― Ernest Hemingway, The Sun Also Rises
Mr. Hemingway could have been talking about how the Cardinals 2025 season went from “Hell yeah!” to “What the hell happened?” I can tell you from watching baseball my entire life that it’s never just one day, game, or inning. It’s a gradual dirge of one little thing after another until you look up and see everyone above you in the standings. The Redbirds are almost there.
Exhibit One: March 31st vs the Angels
Five walks in a game happens often, but not that often. Kinda like accidentally saying “I love you” when ending a business call. Four of those walks came around to pass go and collect their $200. Our fellas lose it in extras. No big deal? They’ll get ‘em the next day!
Exhibit Two: April 1st vs the Angels (AKA the next day)
Well, well, well. Seems like there was a glitch in the Matrix. This game was lost in the bottom of the 10th. Walker hit a fly ball to right. Trout was running to his left, off balance, having to readjust before planting to throw. Donovan has to go. ABSOLUTELY HAS TO. Go for the win at home! The throw was way up the line, 3 feet high. He would have scored easily. Instead he started and stopped faster than the 1976 Ford Grenada my mom bought for $400 bucks when I was 17.
Exhibit Three: April 6th vs the Red Sox
One inch here. Two inches there. That’s all Helsley needed. But, instead, ball four, ball eight, ball twelve, ball sixteen. Four walks in the inning and a walk-off single. That was harder to watch than Charles Barkley swinging a golf club.
Take care of business in those easily winnable games and you’re sitting at a comfy 8-4, chest pumped out, looking like a He-Man doll finishing a workout at Castle Grayskull. Instead, a crummy 5-7, some also-ran.
Knicks and Bruises
It’s the small injuries that will cut you off at the knees. Nolan Gorman went down with a “super mild” hamstring strain. Anyone that has tweaked their hamstring knows that when you pull that hamstring, it can grab at any moment. Getting out of the car, walking up the stairs, pretending to dunk over someone on a door frame, any normal everyday activity. The worst part, it takes a long long time before you trust it again.
Then, Ivan Herrera goes down with a bone bruise on his left knee. This dude was going full Crash Davis at the plate to start the season. Then, see ya in four weeks. Yes, these guys are pros, but pros are humans. When your hottest hitter goes down it takes a little bit of wind out of the sails. And, that little bit of wind is what gets you past the reef. Instead, they’re stranded in some tide pools like a drunken fisherman that was too busy blasting the Pogues to pay attention to the moon.
And the Hits Just Keep On Coming
The road isn’t just bumpy ahead, it’s South City side street treacherous over the next 12 days. Phillies, Astros, Mets, before the break that is the worthless always a bridesmaid Brewers coming to town. 10 more games before they battle the Central again. You have to scrap, claw and bite your way to 6-4 in those games to get back to .500.
How can they do it? You gotta grind and take care of every single little thing you can. It starts tonight with Aaron Nola. Cut the head off that snake. Go full VanDamme and roundhouse kick the bigger, richer, and cockier Phillies from Busch to Benton Park! Remind them who the kings of the National League truly are! …I mean historically.
What can you say, it’s been a rough stretch here watching the fellas on the flatscreen. But, it’s a long long long season. Lord, it’s only April 11th and I’ve felt more emotional swings this month than I did for the entirety of my 30’s. Please, for my health, only text me if when they win!
Born and raised in St. Louis, Will Saulsbery is a multitalented writer and musician. A graduate of the University of Missouri, Saulsbery has established himself as a prominent ghostwriter, with his work appearing in top-tier publications like Forbes, Fast Company, Tech Crunch, Entrepreneur, The Observer, and The Hill. He recently Co-Authored You Wouldn’t Believe Me If I Told You: An Unforgettable Memoir of Golf, Grit, and a Blue-Collar Kid on the PGA Tour with the great Jay Delsing.
