It's been 19 months since my first post on InsideSTL. It's been 36 months since the Cardinals played meaningful baseball in October. And if you think I'm letting those dickbag Astros fuck up my "Cardinals Clinch the NL Central" post, then go suck an egg, asshole.


2009 wasn't supposed to be like this. Coming off one of the best seasons in franchise history, the Cubs seemed poised to take a stranglehold on the NL Central. I mean they were going to have Rich Harden for a full year, D. Lee was finally fully healthy. Hell, even the Milton Bradley signing had some merit at the time. The Cardinals? Well the Cardinals went out and got Trever Miller. At one point I believe that the team petitioned to officially change it's name to "We've got Albert Pujols, come spend your money, stupid motherfuckers!", but rescinded it just before opening day.


But May came and went. And guys like Brian Barden and Joe Thurston were seemingly holding their own. Through the month the Cardinals were the best team in baseball... but those like myself not honking the franchise dong wondered aloud just how long it could last.


Answer? Not very.


May gave way to June and June brought Mendoza line humping averages and another injury to the starting ace, Chris Carpenter. The fans were calling for reinforcements. The Cardinals were calling Chris Duncan's number. Every night. I'm fairly certain that the reason we all love sports so much is because we remember this point in the season where we were pretty much primed to throw in the towel on another year of un-fucking-believable baseball from Albert Pujols and wonder if maybe, just maybe, the Cardinals didn't care about winning anymore.


Then a funny thing happened on the way to fall.


They grew a sack. They pushed all in. They called our bluff and jammed a middle finger right in our face and told us to toss off.


While we clamored for Brett Wallace to pass go and head straight for the majors, the Cardinals decided to trade Chris Perez for Mark DeRosa. Next a Chris Duncan trade for Julio Lugo. But wait, what's this? Matt Holliday? Matt Fucking Cardinal Killer Holliday? John Smoltz, too? Why not! In the course of a month, the Cardinals transformed right before our eyes from a mid-level also-ran into a serious contender for a World Series title. This wasn't supposed to happen. They were supposed to suck. They were supposed to be disappointing.


No one is harder on this team than I am. I've pissed and moaned on this site and others pretty much non-stop for the past 3 years about everything. From manual flushers on the urinals to Bill DeWitt's overarching plan for the team. And today, I'm here to say, that I couldn't be more excited for October.


Congratulations to everyone involved, no matter how big or small, in the Cardinals clinching the NL Central.


Now it's time for the real fun to start. 11 wins for 11 championships. It's 11 for 11.


Aaron Hooks is managing editor at CardsDiaspora.com & a featured columnist for Bleacher Report. He writes every Thursday for InsideSTL. Follow him on Twitter.