"The name on the front..."

...is more important than the name on the back" - Herb Brooks (Yes I know it's hockey but it's still a team game and it applies in this case as well.)

So what brings me back into the blog-o-sphere after not being on after a month? Is it politics? Is it something rattling around in my head that I just have to get out? Is it something important? Not really, it's Cardinals' Baseball and most importantly the departure of Albert Pujols to the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. When it happened this morning and throughout the day I seriously went through all the 5 stages of grief.

Denial - Nah, nah, this is just a twitter rumor started by Buster Olney to try and jump off the Pujols bandwagon and move on to other info in MLB.

Anger - Man that greedy son of a...how many more millions does he need, ungrateful little - "maybe" 31-year-old little traitor. I hope he slips on some left out bats or one of those solid team circles in a batting circle and rips up his already busted elbow after drinking Jobu's rum!

Barganing - Alright, alright, he'll just go there for a little bit or we'll take Rollins, Furcal, maybe Buhrle or Wilson for him, it will just be more cash for us to spend on other people. Dear God just let it be a little deal we'll give him $220 million, it will be alright.

Depression - Man this sucks, where are my nachos and hot dogs? I'll eat away this pain. The Cardinals will never win another game this will be our "goat", our "curse", drag.

Acceptance - Alright, he's gone...let's move on. Now we have extra money to get some more players that will help the '12 in '12 bid. Berkman moves to 1st, Craig/Chambers/somebody goes to right, we still have Freese and Jay and Holliday we're gonna be ok. Maybe it's alright especially when it does get to the end of his career the "not so good" stage then we can still be competitive, it's going to be ok.

Here's where I settled - this one hurt. Yes, "the name on the front is more important than the name on the back" but the team is only the sum of his parts. Pujols, while not the only part, was a big part. I think part of it is that he was/is good guy, saying and doing the right things I wanted that to be a part of the team I've always rooted for. The good of the Cardinals. I wanted to be able to do that for a good 7 -8 more years. Alas that part of the Cardinals will be no more. Sure enough a new part will emerge and it will "remind us of all that once was good"

So for today, I will remember the good days when Pujols jacked majestic home runs into the St. Louis/Houston/Arlington sky. I will remember the underrated, quick grabs at first, and the pick offs with Yadi. I will also remember that he was only part of a great team that never said die last year and scrapped, fought, willed themselves to a ring last year as they did in 2006. I will wish him well, not too well, and will say thank you for what he did as a Cardinal. I will lament what more he could have done as a Cardinal and will (just a little bit) shake my head at the enormousness and absurdity of a $254 million money grab. Most of all though I will still be a St. Louis Cardinal fan and will remember "The name on the front..."