Coming back from St. Louis last Sunday, somehow the car radio ended up on KTRS. Rooney and Shannon were on, discussing with the hosts the Cardinals' then-recent play. As you may recall, the Cardinals had finished a 7-2 homestand, and the consensus on the radio was the record accurately reflected their performance. The pitching had improved, the fielding was sharp and the key hits were coming. Prosperity wasn't around the corner, because it was already here.

It wouldn't be that simple, as the Cardinals are returning home from a 2-5 road trip featuring a dizzying array of means of losing. First, there was Ramon Ortiz of all people carrying a no-hitter into the ninth. Two days later, the Cardinals overcame a rare off-game from their ace Chris Carpenter, fighting back to take a ninth inning lead, only to see Jason Isringhausen blow it with his all-to-common wildness. Isringhausen was nice enough to admit after the fact that he probably shouldn't be out there. Two days after that, Anthony Reyes got smoked and the Cardinals could manage only one run off Livan Hernandez. Reyes then stated he's got a tired arm, meaning Jason Marquis will pitch on short rest (the difference between 2006 and 2005 is...). Next, Brandon Webb manhandled the Cardinals for the second near no-hitter in six days. Finally, Sunday we witnessed what Joe Garagiola -- the Joe Garagiola -- described as Ringling Brothers defense, followed by a non-closer bullpen meltdown.

In other words, I can't blame that on Marquis, Mulder, Weaver or Ponson.

It's old ground, but after last weekend's optimism, it bears repeating: This team is mediocre. When the Cardinals are down by two in the ninth, and Skip Schumaker is leading off and Aaron Miles is pinch hitting for So Taguchi (couldn't Chris Duncan watch those Sosa homers just as well?), then now we know many holes it takes to fill the Albert Hall. They don't pitch well, they don't hit well and they don't field well, and that's not going to change over the next month.

With that in mind, I suppose it's not surprising that Joe Strauss is looking towards the offseason. LaRussa and Jocketty provide all manner of good sound bytes in this article. Take this for example:

"At some point in the near future, the fans and the media are going to want to see someone new and fresh," La Russa said. "The fact that we've been successful has prolonged our tenure with the Cardinals. And it's true the things I'm closer to would be my relationship with the players and the trust of ownership and the front office. But there's another side."

Added La Russa: "Whether it's this year, next year or the year after that -- at some point, enough's enough."

What the hell does that mean? Or this:

"We try to find top-of-the-rotation starters every year," Jocketty said. "But they are hard to find. That's why this season we addressed the offense..."

OK, I'm trying to move past cynicism. It's still discouraging to read that the theme of the upcoming offseason is flexibility, since that's just another way of saying they're desperate for top-flight talent. I suppose it's a good thing that the recognition is there, but it's not clear what the Cardinals can do to find that talent, and if DeWitt is serious about the need to retain prospects, then it's not clear that this is the group to do it.

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It is September 11th. I don't have any deep thoughts to add, but I will suggest reading Gary Smith's lengthy article on Pat Tillman, and if you're ever east of Pittsburgh, then you want to visit the Flight 93 Memorial.