Does it matter when the Cardinals clinch?
With their magic number at two, the Cardinals can clinch the NL Central tonight at Houston (the Cubs play the Brewers). Based on their clinching history, should fans want them to wrap things up tonight?
Let’s look at the team’s playoff history since the wild canard was introduced. Is there a correlation between the games remaining when the Cardinals clinch and how they do in the playoffs?
| Year | W-L% | Title | Clinch Date | Games Left | Playoff Result |
| 2006 | .516 | Division | 10/1/2006 | 0 | Won WS (4-1) |
| 2001 | .574 | Wild Card | 10/4/2001 | 3 | Lost LDS (3-2) |
| 1996 | .543 | Division | 9/24/1996 | 4 | Lost NLCS (4-3) |
| 2002 | .599 | Division | 9/20/2002 | 9 | Lost NLCS (4-1) |
| 2009 | .586 | Division | 9/23/2009? | 9? | ? |
| 2000 | .586 | Division | 9/20/2000 | 10 | Lost NLCS (4-1) |
| 2005 | .617 | Division | 9/1/2005 | 14 | Lost NLCS (4-2) |
| 2004 | .648 | Division | 9/18/2004 | 15 | Lost WS (4-0) |
It would appear that no such correlation exists; after all, the two times that the team played in the World Series are the most extreme cases of games remaining. The Cardinals won the series in 2006, after they clinched on the final day of the regular season. And they made it to series in 2004 (and lost to the Crimson Hosers) after coasting to the finish line with 15 games left. They’ve made it to the league championship after winning by a large margin (2000, 2005) and a small one (1996). So the playoffs continue to appear to be a crapshoot, at least insofar as clinching date is concerned.