There's always next year

ST. LOUIS -- The ticket brochure for the St. Louis Cardinals' final season at Busch Stadium read "Saying goodbye has never been so much fun."

It was fun while it lasted, anyway, for a 100-win team that fell two victories short of its dream to make it to consecutive World Series.

And as the players packed their belongings Thursday at the 40-year-old ballpark where the tearing-down process has already begun, they made the most of disappointing situation.

Jim Edmonds livened up the proceedings by performing doughnuts with his truck in center field.

Game 6 loser Mark Mulder wore a T-shirt with the inscription "Whatever," which describes perfectly his baseball philosophy, as he explained.

"If I have a bad outing or even a good one, it's over with, it's done with good or bad, and move on," Mulder said. "You can't sit here and dwell on it and worry about it and get frustrated about it. You move on to next year and get yourself more prepared."

The Cardinals fell in a six-game National League Championship Series to a wild card team that finished 11 games behind them in the Central Division. They suffered an offensive letdown similar to what happened in the World Series last fall when they got swept by the Red Sox. St. Louis batted .209 in the NLCS, totaling six runs in the four losses, and going 6-for-38 with runners in scoring position overall.

Against the Red Sox a year ago, they batted .190 after entering the postseason with the most fearsome lineup in the majors. That attack was not nearly as imposing entering this postseason without Scott Rolen, and with Larry Walker and Reggie Sanders both battling injuries.

For manager Tony La Russa, it was a somewhat sour ending to a great regular season, not unlike last year. Mostly, he said, the team ran into superior pitching.

"I think there's a strong segment of our support that marks your season with not even getting to the World Series but winning it," La Russa said. "So, with that group we failed. We've got to be more realistic as an organization, and coaches and players."

Sanders had 12 RBIs in his first four playoff games, but wasn't himself after taking an awkward spill at the warning track in Game 2 of the NLCS. He went 1-for-12 with seven strikeouts in his last three games.

Walker, 38, who required four cortisone shots for a herniated disc in his neck, was 3-for-28 in the postseason and announced his retirement after the final game.

Rolen was a uniformed spectator after undergoing a second shoulder operation in late August that's expected to get him to spring training ready to go.

"I can't lift my arms, so there's not much I can do about it," Rolen said. "I couldn't control what happened, and I'm not going to kick rocks at my head about it."

Next year

Subtracting Walker, a former three-time NL batting champion, isn't the only change the team faces.

The pitching staff could face a makeover or at least some tough financial decisions. Matt Morris is due for free agency; Jason Marquis is arbitration-eligible, and the team holds options on Mulder and 16-game winner Jeff Suppan. Morris is the longest-tenured Cardinal, completing his ninth season.

"Sure, I'd love to come back," Morris said. "It's a business decision so we'll see what happens."

For now, 21-game winner Chris Carpenter is the only lock to return.

"It's tough to see the guys that aren't going to be back go," Carpenter said. "But that's the business of the game, and I'm sure when we get to spring training we'll be ready to go."

Second baseman Mark Grudzielanek, part of a tandem with shortstop David Eckstein that helped the Cardinals lead the major leagues in double plays, can be a free agent. Sanders and reliever Julian Tavarez, both of whom found a home in St. Louis after bouncing around different teams, also are not under contract for next year.

"Of course I would like to stay here," Tavarez said. "It's not fun, I can tell you that, playing one year here and one year there. I just hope they can bring me back, but if they don't, I guess I'll have to go someplace else."

The price tag has gone up for Abraham Nunez, the former utilityman who had a breakout season and found a new position at third base when Rolen missed all but 56 games with two shoulder operations,

"I want to come back," Nunez said. "If they want me back, hopefully we can get something done that's fair for them and fair for me. We'll see how this plays out."

Pretty soon, all they'll have from the last season at Busch is memories. Workers began removing seats, press box television sets, and outfield wall padding from the stadium. The wrecking ball is scheduled to start knocking down the park in about three weeks.