Baseball's current villains lack the elegance of past Cardinals powerhouses

The 2024 World Series features a clash of two of baseball's titans. The New York Yankees and the Los Angeles Dodgers didn't make it to baseball's biggest stage by accident; both teams contain star-studded rosters. As two of the sport's most liberal spenders battle for supremacy, it's clear that the Dodgers have knocked the St. Louis Cardinals off their perch as the most despised team in the National League.

But as the brutish Dodgers shove aside other teams in their quest for a dynasty by throwing money at their problems, it's worth pondering the unique and graceful way that the Cardinals were able to hold the role as the National League's most hated team for several decades while still garnering begrudging respect from opposing fans.

The Cardinals were on the cutting edge of analytics in the 2000s and early 2010s. In a sport where every front office is trying to find the next advanced stat to help their team gain an edge, the Cardinals led the pack. They had a pitching coach in Dave Duncan who possessed a knack for developing journeyman pitchers into rotation stalwarts for the team, and their shrewd draft choices continually replenished their farm system, allowing the team to continue succeeding despite roster turnover. The Cardinals were routinely among the teams with the most homegrown talent in the major leagues.

They didn't neglect looking outside of the organization, of course; for as much flak as John Mozeliak receives now as the team's president of baseball operations, he was firing on all cylinders earlier in his tenure with the acquisition of Matt Holliday in 2009, along with the Colby Rasmus trade in 2011 that helped the Cardinals win the World Series.

The Cardinals' consistent success infuriated opposing fans, who deemed it "devil magic" and "pixie dust." But the Cardinals stayed true to what worked for them and always instilled "The Cardinal Way" throughout all levels of the organization. Cardinals fans latched onto the philosophy, just as they embraced the moniker "best fans in baseball" that had been bestowed upon them by players in the past.

Cardinals' constant success infuriated fans in 2000s...but you had to respect them

Finally, in 2016, the most reviled team in the National League provided ammo to long-suffering opposing fans when scouting director Chris Correa was found to have illegally accessed the Houston Astros' player personnel database. The Cardinals became league pariahs as the scandal rocked the baseball world. Unbeknownst to fans at the time, this fiasco was an unofficial end to the dynasty that the Cardinals had built for themselves.

Much has been written in recent years about how the Cardinals' fall from grace came about, but when the Cardinals were at the forefront of the league, they stayed at the top by relying on wits, guile and, yes, a few bucks to help them along. There are currently teams that are embarking on the technological side of the sport to make up for payroll limitations — the Tampa Bay Rays and Cleveland Guardians come to mind — but they have yet to claim recent championship berths for their efforts.

The Dodgers are now the Goliaths of the National League, but their trek to reach that summit was fueled by spending for established superstars more than it was by developing their prospects. With Shohei Ohtani's ridiculously structured contract and the Dodgers reportedly interested in acquiring Juan Soto, baseball supporters' hatred of the team will grow deeper as the Dodgers continue to splash the cash. Cardinals fans can feel lucky that for much of their time as the envy of the league, the Cardinals put their noses to the grindstone and honed their craft in a way that earned them respect from opposing fans. It's easy to field a winner with a boatload of money; what the Cardinals managed to do for nearly 20 years was much more difficult and far more worthy of praise.