St. Louis Cardinals Season Ends in San Francisco

There will be no World Series in St. Louis this season. 

There will be no parade down Market Street, no 12th world championship and no rematch of the 2006 Fall Classic. Monday night in San Francisco the Cardinals hopes of a repeat of 2011 were ended at the hands of the Giants. 

Just like in 1996, the Cardinals, with a new manager, had a 3-1 lead in the National League Championship series. And, just like in '96, the Cards failed to get win No. 4, losing in Game 7 in a blowout. 

The Cardinals were done in by a series of miscues and the inability to get a big basehit. But, credit the San Francisco, the Giants had to play perfect to come back and did just that. 

The loss in California closes the book on an interesting season for the Cardinals. In the first year without long-time slugger Albert Pujols and longer-time manager Tony LaRussa the Redbirds got into the playoffs thanks to a second Wild Card spot added before the season. The Cards had to beat the Atlanta Braves in Atlanta and did so, but not without some infield fly controversy. 

After beating the Braves, the Redbirds shocked the world with an incredible Game 5 comeback against the Washington Nationals. Down 6-0 in an elimination game, the Cards came back and won to advance to the NLCS.

The season would end there, however. Despite taking three of the first four games, the Cards just couldn't make it back to the World Series. 

So readers, tell us: Are you disappointed in this season? What went wrong? What changes would you like to see for next year?