Seeing Red Finding balance in life as an individual is a difficult thing. Really difficult. And I should know, but I applaud those that have found it.

To extrapolate a little further, the same goes for building a team.

Wednesday's episode with Scott Spiezio reminds me of a time in Cardinals past, say around 1979 and 1980. I was still young and impressionable back then, and I just remember the lineup that team had--.300 hitters, scoring lots of runs. Of course, their pitching staff was pathetic and so they were involved in a lot of high-scoring games that they mostly lost. I thought that if the Cards could only get some balance by finding a decent pitcher or two and keep that offense, they could be really good.

Turns out there was more.

After Whitey Herzog was hired to replace the easygoing Ken Boyer as manager in the summer of 1980, he took a little time to view his team from up close and then told his boss, Gussie Busch, that he had a bunch of self-centered backstabbers that he needed to get rid of if the Cardinals were to ever win anything. Whitey went to work, and although the subsequent Redbird teams were not as flashy offensively, they had a little bit of everything----uh, balance. And they were a team of classy guys who had each other's backs.

It was little wonder that the 2004 Cardinals won 105 games. Talented team, 3 MVP candidates, enough starting pitching, solid bullpen, great defense---and a great bunch of character guys: Edmonds, Rolen, Reggie Sanders, Tony Womack, Larry Walker, Woody Williams. Not coincidentally, they're all gone now. And the team that won it all in 2006 was also chock full of leadership and character.

Now the Cards are at a crossroads. They're in the rebuilding phase, whether anyone there wants to admit it. And based on the headline moments of the last year, they also need to be in the rebuilding phase of their team image. And releasing Spiezio without the announcement of needing to wait for "due process" was needed, whether fair to Spiezio or not. This is a team that has generated a lot of negative headlines in the past 12 months---the message needs to be sent to Cardinal Nation that having winning character is at least as important as building a winning team. For now.

I'll be on my way now, in search of my own elusive (and in my case, illusive) balance.......... ¶ 10:26 PM