The lasting image of the Cardinals’ loss in the 2012 National League championship series was the rain falling as San Francisco second baseman and series MVP Marco Scutaro held his arms out wide and looked up as if to embrace the storm.
As Wednesday’s trade deadline ticks closer, it’s worth noting that World Series winners can be forged with substantive moves at the deadline. The Cardinals’ last World Series championship, in 2011, began its run with a late-July trade that sent Colby Rasmus to Toronto and brought back a package of players that included Edwin Jackson and reliever Octavio Dotel.