As I watch the Los Angeles Angels battle the Boston Red Sox, I find my mind distracted, thinking about how I have seen many St. Louis Cardinals play their last game for the organization. This became more apparent with Walt Jocketty leaving the Cardinals today.

I can't say that I didn't think that this was going down before the season was over, especially with the Cardinals out of the running around mid September, coupled with the long running conflict that has been brewing within the Cardinals organization the past year or so. The sides were drawn, with the owners and modern statistics wonder boys versus the General Manager and his men who were already in place, one of which is Tony La Russa.

Before you think I am about to lambaste La Russa as manager of the Cardinals, I am not. This year may have been La Russa's best year as a manager. With all he went through, I would vote for him as manager of the year.

Given the injury problems the team faced, given future salary constraints that affected the Cardinals from shopping for more help, given the DUI and finishing in third place in the Central, La Russa kept the team in the race until the last month or so. I think that Jocketty and La Russa suited the Cardinals as they put a new winning face on the Cardinals after the problems the team endured after the runnin' redbird years of the 1980s.

However, as good a year as La Russa had, Jocketty had the worst of his career. It is always hard to be the World Series Champion and have everyone gun for you. Couple that with the failure of the team to lock up Jocketty to a long-term deal, which is common for a General Manager who wins a World Series.

That subtle non-move spoke volumes to me, miles away from St. Louis. I have not always supported the Cardinals moves. I seriously questioned Juan Encarnacion's ability to stay healthy or perform at a level that a championship club requires. I wondered just how well Adam Kennedy was going to be a better performer at second than Aaron Miles had been.

Jocketty gave Edmonds how much, to a 37-year-old center fielder? I never expected them to have as many injuries or as poor of a year as they had. My wife can tell you that I have a special nickname for Encarnacion, and it isn't flattering. Sure, I wasn't going to like any right fielder better than the man who played that position previously for the Cardinals, but Encarnacion?

What was worse than being right about the choices of position players, was the fact that the Cards pitching staff was two starters short of a rotation, and this became four starters short when Chris Carpenter and Mark Mulder could not return. Braden Looper did better than I thought, but once he hit the wall, his production declined horribly in the second half.

I was ridiculed at Atlanta on the 21st of July as Looper had a horrible start. We had to leave Turner Field in the 6th inning, a tragic reversal of the Confederates fleeing Atlanta hoping those Darn Yankees would chase them. There was a sea of red Northerners fleeing in horror.

This marked the first time I have left a baseball game early since I quit a baseball team in my teens. After stealing second and advancing to third on a bad throw I was pulled by the coach. This coach would become my College Algebra Instructor in High School and pick on me for quitting, trying to get me to quit his class every day.

My replacement was a kid of a school board member who was slow and was picked last in gym class. I got into an argument with the coach and told him I quit, peeling off layers of uniform and leaving them lay on the long walk back to the locker room. It was a sight that might make Steve Lyons blush.

Back to my point, the Cardinals had a rough year complicated by injuries, a player death, a manager's DUI, and large financial commitments to a few players that hinder the Cardinals ability to get a couple starting pitchers.

So with Jocketty gone, La Russa and Dave Duncan will follow suit in the next few days or weeks. Two more familiar faces that will no longer wear the birds on the bat uniform. The good news is that the Cardinals have a great manager in waiting, third base coach, Jose Oquendo. I just wish he had a better team to start his career with, instead of a bunch of pitching question marks.

Front office and management are not the only new faces in the 2008 Cardinals organization, however. I think there is a strong likelihood that we have seen the last of David Eckstein at shortstop, at least in a Cardinals uniform. This is sad, as Eckstein is the kind of player the Cardinals' management and fans love.

Given the amount of money Adam Kennedy cost the team, and the emergence of Brendan Ryan as a legitimate shortstop option, both Eckstein and Aaron Miles may not be back. Miles versatility will be missed on this team.

Also gone will be So Taguchi, as there are a ton of young outfielders in the Cardinals fold. Gone will be Preston Wilson and good riddance to Kip Wells, who never helped himself out in his short St Louis stay.

The other player I fear may be gone is Yadier Molina. The injuries he has suffered this season may be a blessing in disguise to the Cardinals, allowing them to keep Molina for a few more years. Molina has yet to hit like his big brothers, but he is quite a good catcher and really helped the Cardinals patchwork pitching staff. Plus, this year his .275 average didn't seem so bad at all. I really hope I am wrong and the Cardinals can keep Molina.

Suddenly the lyrics to a song have jumped into the front of the line of thoughts in my brain.

Come writers and critics
Who prophesize with your pen
And keep your eyes wide
The chance won't come again
And don't speak too soon
For the wheel's still in spin
And there's no tellin' who
That it's namin'.
For the loser now
Will be later to win
For the times they are a-changin'

- The Times They Are A-Changin' by Bob Dylan.

So get ready for change Cardinals fans. I think we will see a whirlwind of changes that will take us through March of next year. In the end, I think that the first decision made in letting Jocketty go was the smart one, but maybe I should listen to Dylan and not speak too soon. Time will tell.