Resurrected Cardinals are bound for playoffs

It was a beautiful summer evening late in the regular season when he started reminiscing about a similar clear-skied, cool-breezed moment a few years back.

That earlier night at Bernie Arbour Stadium the Hamilton Cardinals were in their traditional the-end-of-the-season-can’tcome-fast-enough descent into last place and the audience in the stands reflected the complete lack of hope on the field.

So lonely were those in attendance it would’ve been quicker for the PA announcer to introduce the fans than the starting lineups.

“Oh, family and friends,” president of baseball operations Dean Dicenzo says of the folks there.

There’s still plenty of work to be done as the 2018 playoffs begin — the Cardinals kick off their post-season Wednesday night in London and play their first at home Thursday at 7:30 p.m. — but things are beginning to change. On this gorgeous evening there were maybe 250 people there. Possibly a few more.

No, it’s not nearly enough. But it’s a start.

It was just a few months ago that the decades-old franchise folded. After winning the Intercounty Baseball League title in 1978, the local side had slipped into a pattern of being the circuit’s annual whipping boy. Year after year, the losses would pile up and the chances of a revival diminished a little further.

It got silly. A few years back a star pitcher had to play catcher because bodies were so few. Another time, the manager had to catch.

But a funny thing happened on the way to the cemetery. A defibrillator in the form of a community ownership group led by the Mercanti family was placed on the team’s chest a few weeks after it had been pronounced dead and the heartbeat pulsed back to life.

Suddenly there was some cash to pay bills and buy equipment. There were voices being heard at city hall that helped sort out staffing at the park. A taping of “The Handmaid’s Tale” that had chewed up the turf forcing the production company to rebuild the lumpy infield and outfield into something far better than before. This serendipitous confluence of events somehow brought some hope. Players started showing interest in signing on. For the first time in forever, there was depth in the lineup.

There were enough pitchers in the bullpen to make the necessary relief choices without worrying about who was going to be available for tomorrow’s game.

That allowed the Cards to win 15 games this season, more than they have in a long while and comfortably more than last season’s nine. The times they came out on the short end it’d be by a couple or a few runs rather than the double-digit spreads that had became so common.

“We’re competitive with everybody,” Dicenzo says.

These are modest gains to be sure. But they’re gains. With one more win they could’ve finished fourth which is a spot that had only been a rumour recently. Two more wins and they would’ve posted their best record in a long, long time.

Best of all, the team is young. Dicenzo says most of the players have indicated they want to come back next season.

He’s even had some Hamilton guys playing on other IBL teams come up to him and ask about joining the Cardinals next year. For the record, that has never happened before.

“It’s better,” he says. “I wouldn’t say it’s 100 per cent better but from a competitive state we’re in a lot of games.”

Now they get the real test with the playoffs.

The first three times they squared off with London this season, the Majors won. But the last time out, Hamilton took it. It offers another whisper of hope. Maybe there’s a playoff series victory in this group.

Ask Dicenzo when was the last time they won a playoff round and he’s stumped.

“Geez,” he says. “None when I was involved.”

He throws out 2013 as a possibility. That wasn’t a terrible season.

Quick check and ... Nope, no series wins that year.

He calls manager Dean Castelli from the third-base-coach’s position to ask if he can remember the last one. He’s out of ideas, too. Maybe 2002 when the franchise went to the final under the name Hamilton Thunderbirds, he offers.

Probably. Point is, it’s been a long while. Yet they have a chance to change that this week.

A series win wouldn’t just be exciting but Dicenzo says it would change the trajectory of this organization going forward. Get the good taste of winning one and those players will definitely come back. More will want to be part of it.

And perhaps next year the crowds will push 500 or higher.

“That’d be nice,” he says. “If we won a series, I’d be ecstatic.”