The St. Louis Cardinals’ remarkable success this season can be attributed to many factors. They’ve had surprisingly solid starting pitching, powerful bats featured in their lineup, and some would say, the curse of the Billy Goat, which continues to rule over the fate of the Chicago Cubs plays a dominant role. But I think we can look beyond those factors.

Tony LaRussa’s ball club isn’t like most major league ball clubs. With the Cardinals, effort is never an issue. LaRussa has preached hustle and hard work to his players, and it’s been demonstrated on the field. Everybody in the league has taken note of Cardinals, not just because of their impressive win-loss record, but because of the way they play the game.

The Cardinals’ breed of baseball is more substance than style, but I’m sure St. Louis players could care less about making SportsCenter anyway. When your goal is to win a world championship, you check your ego at the clubhouse door. You sacrifice in the name of team. And you do whatever it takes to get the job done.

Although the Cardinals’ stars frequently do appear on late-night sports highlight shows, they seem to shy away from the limelight. For the St. Louis stars, getting a victory is much more important than getting recognized. The Cardinals’ “Big 3” of Pujols, Rolen, and Edmonds personify Cardinals baseball and are examples of LaRussa’s philosophy in action. As starting pitcher Chris Carpenter said, “It all starts with the stars. [They] never take a pitch off.”

Albert Pujols

Perhaps the most talented of the three stars is 24-year-old Albert Pujols who plays with an unusual amount of maturity for someone his age. For the last two seasons, the humble and soft-spoken Pujols has been the bridesmaid to Barry Bonds in the voting for National League Most Valuable Player. Because of his rather modest nature, he’s been somewhat underappreciated by the people who cast the votes for MVP. As baseball writer Tom Verducci once wrote, Pujols’ humility “may cost him some votes, but it sure earns him respect.”

Like Pujols, Scott Rolen and Jim Edmonds play hard and refuse to draw attention themselves. Rolen, in particular, has earned the respect of his peers. At the 2004 MLB All-Star Game, ESPN went around asking players who best epitomized the notion of “playing the game the right way?” Not surprisingly, almost everyone mentioned Rolen’s name. Teammate Albert Pujols, who many players also commended for the way he plays the game, has said that “More than anything…[Scott Rolen’s] value is in the way he plays, which he does sincerely.” Without a doubt, Scott Rolen is one of those special players that any manager would love to have on his team. However, there are some who believe that the same can’t be said of Rolen’s teammate—Cardinals’ centerfielder Jim Edmonds.

Jim Edmonds

When he played for the Angels, there were people who criticized Edmonds for making routine plays seem spectacular. But it just wasn’t the way he played that annoyed people. It was also his attitude. Former Angels teammate Gary DiSarcina was once quoted as saying, “I was disgusted with how he acted sometimes.” Not every one of Edmonds’ teammates, of course, shared DiSarcina’s disgust. Former teammate Troy Glaus has said, “[Jim Edmonds] will do anything to help you out. He’s a great, great teammate.” I know the term “misunderstood” is far too often used to justify the seemingly self-centered behavior of pro athletes, but I believe Jim Edmonds truly is “misunderstood.”

On July 19th, when the Cubs and Cardinals squared off at Wrigley, Chicago pitcher Carlos Zambrano plunked Jim Edmonds in the leg with a pitch. How did Edmonds react to getting beaned? By calmly walking to first base and hitting a home run off of Zambrano the next time at bat. How did Zambrano react to giving up a homer to Edmonds? By telling Edmonds to: “Run the bases, [and] don’t try to be cocky.” To which Edmonds later responded after the game by saying: “They’ve got a guy making gestures on the mound, pointing at people, and someone hopping to first base…but I’m the one who’s not professional.” I suppose professionalism is merely a matter of perspective. I watched the game and Edmonds did in fact seem to pose at home plate as he watched his home run ball leave the park. But he really didn’t pose any longer than Barry Bonds normally does when hits a homer. And he certainly he didn’t do any of those rabbit hopping shenanigans that Sammy Sosa is so famous for. Still, there’ll be people who will cite that incident as another example of Edmonds’ acting disgracefully. Nevertheless, I think Jim Edmonds made a good point about what it means to be a professional. There are many popular players in the league who like to smugly stop to admire their own work that never get criticized for actions. Yet when Edmonds does the same thing, people criticize him.

At any rate, I doubt that Edmonds would be playing for the Cardinals if he were such a showboat. Ever since Walt Jocketty became the Red Birds’ GM in 1995, St. Louis has gone out of their to way bring in (I’m quoting Peter Gammons here) “franchise players who are franchise people.” If you were to go up and down the Cardinals’ roster, you’d find that Jocketty has assembled a team of guys who are not only great players but also great people; great people who are willing to adhere to the Cardinal rules: play hard, be humble, and respect the game.