SKIPPER SHILDTY TALKIN’ BASEBALL! “There wasn’t one guy that didn’t expect to win that game,” Cardinals manager Mike Shildt said. “Yadi gets us started with the homer, and they couldn’t have felt real comfortable over there. We just weren’t able to bring it home. We had the go-ahead run at the plate with a guy we have confidence in. So a lot of positives took place, but not enough of them.”

SHILDTY TALKIN’ BEING SWEPT IN NLCS. CLICK & CATCH IT

WASHINGTON, DC — NLCS was frustrating for our Redbirds. CARDS ON LOSING NLCS. CLICK & CATCH IT

Game 4: Nationals put up a 7-run first inning off our rookie starter, Dakota Hudson. Our Birds bit, clawed and fought very hard to peck & peck & peck at the score. Just couldn’t overcome that lead.

BTY, It’s probably how ATL felt Friday w/our 10-run first, but it was fine to be on the other end, wasn’t it?

The NLCS is over. We got beat by a very good Washington Nationals team that had great pitching and offense. No “wait till next year,” either coz that line was overdone by our Cubbie Bear friends (?) up north.

Let’s celebrate this year. Our STL Cardinals are the NL Central Division Champions! 2015 was our last championship year. That’s HUGE! Cardinal Nation is so-o-o-o proud (Ahh! It almost feels like parent-kind of proud). Seriously!

It’s time to share the wealth. Washington, DC has not been in a Worlds Series since 1933. They were the Washington Senators! Ted Williams was their manager! Seriously way back.

October baseball — that’s every team’s dream. We played till October 15, 2019. Not too shabby. Getting that parent-proud feeling again, aren’t we? Ahhh!

Pitchers and Catchers Report to Spring Training! TBD — right around Valentine’s Day, 2020. Baseball changes the meaning of that sappy holiday.

OKAY, WE LOVE BASEBALL!

YADI TALKIN’ BASEBALL TUESDAY. CLICK & CATCH IT

PAULIE D: “Felt like it kind of sped up on us,” Paul DeJong said. “I felt like the Braves series [the NL Division Series] lasted forever, and it was only five games. This one was four games, but it felt like a blur.”

GOLDY: “We weren’t able to do much,” Goldschmidt said. “It’s frustrating. But you also have to give them credit. It’s hard, and I’m walking that line. You definitely take the blame, but to not give them credit for pitching the way they did — there’s probably some middle ground. We needed to do better to win. That was obvious. We lost four in a row.”

MILLER: “It’s tough,” Andrew Miller said. “You get here and you get to play in games that have this atmosphere — it’s everything you ever dreamed of and everything you want to be a part of. The frustrating part of it is only one team wins the last game; everybody else has this taste in their mouth, and it stinks and it’s not a lot of fun. It’s something that hopefully pushes you to work hard in the offseason to get better.”

WAINO: “[The Nationals] beat us to the punch every step of the way,” said Adam Wainwright, who pitched 1 2/3 innings of relief. “Their lineup was tough. Their pitchers were tough. Their defense was great. Timely hits. There’s really nothing that we can say we beat them at. They did a great job.” WAINWRIGHT TALKIN’ NLCS LOSS. CLICK & CATCH IT

UP NEXT YEAR? CLICK & CATCH THE GOOD NEWS!