On Thanksgiving 2005, Cardinal followers have much to give thanks for.

I’m not going to go into the big stuff, such as having one’s health, for those of you who do, or having a wonderful family, for those of you who do, or having a knockout wife, like mine.

Just keeping it between the lines, as Redbird fans, we’re in a period of heretofore unknown bounty.

In the last ten years, the Cardinals have gone to the postseason six times, something they’ve never before done, and, more recently, they’ve been there in four of the past five seasons. In today’s four-team-per-league postseason format this isn’t quite as high an achievement as making the postseason five times in nine years from 1926-34, or four times in five years from 1942-46, back when just one NL team made the “playoffs." But still, only the Braves and Yankees have been there as much as the Birds over the past decade. Even though the World Series win has eluded the Cardinals, playoff baseball---something each year 22 teams and their fans don’t get to experience---is exciting, and for the Birds’ recent run we should be thankful.

The Cardinals have the best young hitter in baseball, Albert Pujols. In 2005, in his fifth season, Pujols had his third-best batting average, fourth-best slugging percentage, and fewest doubles and runs batted in his career… and he won the NL Most Valuable Player Award at age 25. No other team in baseball but the Cardinals has Albert Pujols. For that we should be thankful.

The Cardinals are in a period in which they routinely have, or have recently had, the league’s best player at three or four different positions. Whether it’s Pujols, or Edgar Renteria in 2003, or Scott Rolen in 2003-04, or Jim Edmonds in this millennium, or even Chris Carpenter in 2005, when the Cardinals play, you get to see some of the absolute best players in the game. They don’t have that in Kansas City or Tampa Bay. For these players, we should be thankful.

The Cardinals have a management team in place that has made a commitment to winning. Even though they play in a “small market,” the team had a 2005 payroll of $92.1 million---third-highest in the NL behind the Mets and Phillies, and sixth-highest in all of baseball. Drawing 3.5 million fans has something to do with that, obviously, but the Cardinals have rewarded a loyal, knowledgeable fan base by delivering a product worth coming out and rooting for. And that’s not just a function of payroll—it’s also the product of smart decision-making by the front office. Rarely have the Cardinals been saddled with an albatross of a contract---just the Tino Martinez deal---and with shrewd and timely acquisitions, Jocketty & Co. have consistently replenished talent to go forward. They haven’t had that in Pittsburgh and Cincinnati. For the Cardinals’ ownership and front office, we should be thankful.

And while I have mixed feelings about the new stadium----okay, I hate to see Edward Durell Stone’s magnificent concrete structure coming under the wrecking ball---the fact that the Cardinals will now have a state-of-the-art facility (even if it is in the absurd form of a building designed 80 or 90 years ago) as a new playground for them and their fans can’t be a bad thing. Imagine going to home games in Tropicana Field or the BaggieDome. For Busch Stadium III, we should be thankful.

And there’s this crazy internet, and cable and satellite TV---where, as fans, would we be without them? I live in Boston, yet I can follow the team to a degree unimagineable as a kid growing up in St. Louis in the 1970s. I can instantly commune with like-minded individuals (and some not so like minded) throughout the country, the world! We are drowning in a sea of information, and I for one, wouldn’t want it any other way. For modern technology, we should be thankful.

And for each of us, there are hundreds of little things about the game and the team and our experiences with them---maybe a memorable Mike Shannon home-run call, or a captured foul ball, or a beer in the bleachers with a best friend---that are the fibers of the fabric of our love for baseball and the Cardinals. And for all of these, we should be thankful.