El Birdos 2!

It has happened before. In 1966, the Cardinals sent Ray Sadecki to San Francisco for Orlando Cepeda. Cha Cha paid huge dividends in '67 and '68, as El Birdos split those two World Series, beating the Red Sox and losing to Mickey Lolich.
It has happened again. Albert Pujols carried the Cardinals to the postseason with a brilliant season, his best yet. And that's saying something. But The Great Pujols has been just pretty good since the regular season, as he occupies Cepeda's first base. The hitting star of the NLCS hasn't been Albert. Nor Scott. Not Jim. Nor the dark horses, Duncan or Encarnacion or Wilson. Not the sparkplug, Eckstein.
Yadier Molina.
The Best Catcher In The National League doesn't hit. He doesn't have to. The Cards have long preferred a backstop that handles the pitching staff. Simba was the exception in the 1970's. Ted Simmons knew what to do at the plate as well as behind it. (Someone, Anyone, explain to me why Simmons isn't in the Hall of Fame?) Tim McCarver in ancient times, Tom Pagnozzi in the '80s and Mike Matheny to start the 21st Century all fit the bill. On Charlie Steiner's excellent XM Radio program, Baseball Beat, Yadi was described as "worse than the pitchers with a bat" in his hands.
And still.
Yadi hasn't just guided the Cards' very average pitching staff through a spectacular performance (with the exception of the Game 4 collapse), he has been the offensive star. How about .348 with 2 homers and 6 RBI? (And no, I checked twice, those aren't Albert's numbers.)
This is precisely the great thing about postseason baseball. Dusty Rhodes (No, not him; the one who played for the NY Giants) becomes a folk hero. Gene Tenace materializes as though beamed in from the Starship Enterprise. Some infant named Andruw Jones becomes the youngest player to homer in his first World Series at bat in 1996. And that doggoned Mickey Lolich launches what became, after the 1968 World Series, a very fine career.
Yadier Molina took the St. Louis Cardinals to the World Series. And not just with his glove, arm and game-calling, although they were all on awesome display. He brought his bat to the National League Championship Series!
Adam Wainwright caught a flying Molina after the called strike three to Cardinals killer Carlos Beltran, of all people. The team should return the favor, and carry him on their shoulders all the way home. He certainly carried the rest of them for the last week.
El Birdos Live! Viva El Birdos!