"In St. Louis sports, 2011 was The Year of Change.

"Changes" was the name of a David Bowie hit record in the early 1970s. But given the cataclysmic shifts to our sports landscape, I'm thinking of another song: The Ramones' "Gimme Gimme Shock Treatment."

It was a crazy, volatile, giddy, unnerving, spectacular and scary 12 months of nonstop action-adventures. There was a shocking departure, a stunning retirement, blockbuster trades, a jumping of conferences, sudden firings, daring comebacks, a scurrying rally squirrel, happy flights, bullpen-phone madness in Texas and a delightfully unexpected championship. It wasn't a year for the faint of heart; the freaked-out moth had the right idea in seeking shelter in Matt Holliday's ear.

Albert Pujols defected to Los Angeles to join the Angels, giving up the unconditional love and support of Cardinals fans in exchange for money. Pujols no longer wears the halo in St. Louis. There's no truth to the rumor that his Westport-based restaurant will be renamed Pujols 254. (As in $254 million.)"