Closing the Doors on 2014

As the clock approaches midnight on Wednesday, the doors will be closed for 2014.

It was not the year that the St. Louis Cardinals wanted and the offseason got off to a tragic start with the passing of Oscar Taveras.

All of that said, I’m proud of the work that Redbird Rants has accomplished this past season. From my time as a staff writer during 2011-12 and as an editor since December 2012, I have taken great pride in writing for Redbird Rants. One of the things that I look forward to every year is the Major League Baseball Draft. As I have in prior years, I made arrangements to interview just about every player selected by the Cardinals. There are two interviews that will be transcribed here in the next few days or so. I make no excuse for not getting them up sooner!

Through these draft and prospect interviews, I’ve gotten to learn more about the players joining the Cardinals organization. You can read all the interviews at this link.

I had the honor of interviewing ESPN Sunday Night Baseball broadcaster Dan Shulman in May when the Cardinals had games during three of the four Sunday nights that month. I was also privileged to interview Hall of Fame umpire Doug Harvey in April after reading his book.

Without a doubt in my mind, I have to say that my favorite article to put together was The Dawn of the Stephen Piscotty Era in Right Field.

There were a lot of trade rumors this season involving the Cardinals. While his name came up so many times, David Price is not walking through that door anytime soon. Neither is Troy Tulowitzki. Don’t even count on Joe Maddon replacing Mike Matheny as the Cardinals manager.

From the Redbird Rants family to yours, I wish each and everyone of you the best for 2015. May the coming year bring us another St. Louis Cardinals World Series championship!