Thinking back to 2011, yeah, that St. Louis Cardinals season sticks with me. It wasn’t just about baseball, not really, not for me anyway.
I remember starting that year feeling kinda stuck. Had this project I was pouring myself into, felt like I was getting nowhere. Just constant setbacks, you know? Felt like I was digging a hole instead of building something. Honestly, I wasn’t paying super close attention to the Cardinals at the start of the season. Baseball was just background noise mostly.
Then things started getting weird. Late August, September… everyone was writing them off. Way behind in the Wild Card race. Looked totally dead in the water. But they just kept… winning. It was strange. I started checking the scores more often, then actually watching games. It was like watching a slow-motion miracle.
My own stuff was still a mess. Felt like quitting almost every day. But watching the Cards claw their way back, game after game, it was… infectious? Hard to explain. They weren’t supposed to be doing this. Experts said impossible. Yet, there they were.
That Playoff Run Was Nuts
Then the playoffs started. Beating the Phillies, the Brewers… every series felt like they were pulling a rabbit out of a hat. You just couldn’t believe they were still standing. It got pretty intense in my living room, I’ll tell you that much. Just watching them refuse to lose.
And then Game 6 happened. Man. Against the Rangers. Down to their last strike, twice! David Freese hitting that triple to tie it, then the homer later to win it… I was just sitting there, stunned. It sounds corny, but watching that, seeing them literally refuse to accept defeat when it was staring them in the face… it hit different.
It made me look at my own frustrating project. Made me think, okay, maybe just giving up isn’t the only option. Maybe you just gotta keep taking swings, even if it feels hopeless. Doesn’t mean you’ll hit a home run, but you gotta try, right?
They went on to win Game 7 and the World Series. It was an amazing thing to witness.
Did it magically fix my own situation? Nah, life doesn’t work exactly like a baseball game. But it definitely shifted my perspective. Gave me a bit of a kickstart to keep plugging away, try different angles, not just throw in the towel. It’s just a strong memory, you know? That feeling of watching something impossible happen. Sometimes you need that reminder.
