The Cardinals clinched the NL Central on Friday with their win over the Cubs, holding off the Pirates and Reds in a close and tough race. They’ll head to the playoffs for the third consecutive season, and look to win their third World Series title since 2006.

Here are 15 awesome things about the St. Louis Cardinals:

1. Their offense

The Cardinals lead the National League in runs scored and runs per game by a wide margin, and they’re second to only the Rockies in team OPS. They do it with depth, with five regulars boasting on-base plus slugging totals in the league’s top 20.

2. Adam Wainwright’s control

Adam Wainwright has walked only 34 guys across 236 1/3 innings through Friday, good for the league’s best walk rate. Complementing a fastball he can put wherever he wants, his big curveball freezes hitters as it dives into the zone.

3. Adam Wainwright’s appreciation for good barbecue

Wainwright’s dedication to barbecue is nearly as impressive as his pitching. In April, he said that bad barbecue makes him “want to fight somebody.” If his Cardinals face the Braves in the NLCS, he should check out the ribs at Fat Matt’s, pictured above. Trust me on this one, Adam Wainwright.

4. An excuse to post Ozzie Smith highlights

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0iDTsCSaXgU

Remember the stuff Ozzie Smith did? No? Well, the Cardinals clinching a spot seems as good a reason as any to post some highlights. The guy was unbelievable. He’s one of many Hall of Famers with Cardinals ties.

5. Carlos Beltran

Speaking of Hall of Famers: Beltran now has at worst a borderline case for Cooperstown as he continues to produce big offensive numbers into his late 30s. After multiple knee surgeries, he’s not the defensive outfielder he once was. But Beltran is the all-time leader in postseason OPS among players with at least 100 postseason at-bats.

6. Yadier Molina’s arm

The best of the Catching Molinas and the only Major Leaguer in history named Yadier, Molina has finished in the Top 3 of caught-stealing rate eight times in the past nine years. And that’s despite his reputation, which keeps all but the most daring base-stealers anchored to first.

7. The Cardinals Way

St. Louis’ farm system seems to churn out versatile, big-league ready players nearly every season. They owe some of their success to an organizational policy and handbook they call The Cardinal Way, which emphasizes the skills required for Major League success across the system. For more, listen to Will Leitch’s podcast with beat writer Derrick Goold.

8. Matt Adams’ power

When starting first baseman Allen Craig went down with a foot injury earlier this month, the Cardinals turned to slugging bench bat Matt Adams for regular play. Adams has eight home runs in 80 plate appearances this month. Not a lot of teams have guys who hit like Adams in reserve.

9. Their non-traditional leadoff man

Typically, leadoff roles are reserved for base-stealers, and Matt Carpenter is not that. But Carpenter gets on base at a great clip, by far the most important skill for a leadoff hitter. No team in the National League has had fewer steals from its leadoff men, but only the Reds’ first hitters have reached base more frequently.

10. Joe Kelly’s dance moves

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DTHrHt2-ZZs

Kelly is one of many young Cardinals arms that seem to be effective in whatever role they’re serving. You might even say he’s flexible, as evidenced by his skills on the dance floor.

11. The nerdiest nickname

Baseball-reference, which is more or less infallible, says center fielder Jon Jay’s nickname is “The Federalist,” a reference to the work of founding father John Jay. It’s hard to imagine anyone actually using it, like, “Hey, ‘The Federalist,’ hand me some sunflower seeds.” It’s not that type of nickname. But it’s still a pretty good kind.

12. Matt Holliday survived this

It’s hard to imagine the physical and psychological strength a man would need to endure what Holliday did in the 2009 postseason and move forward with his career. And yet the Cards’ left fielder did, and he’s good despite the obvious emotional peril he must suffer every time some fool revives this GIF in the middle of a list of awesome things about the Cardinals.

13. Their pitching depth

The Cardinals lost starter Chris Carpenter to injury before the season even started, lost closer Jason Motte just before the season started, and lost starter Jaime Garcia for the year before the end of May. But since they always seem to have a host of young arms ready to step in, they recovered. Shelby Miller looked like a Cy Young candidate at times early in the season before slowing down in the second half. Rookie Michael Wacha has a 1.72 ERA in five September starts.

14. The support of Nelly

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IRs22MbhC1Q

Lots of teams have celebrity fans, but only the Cardinals have Nelly. This man is the mayor of Nellyville, people. Also, he’s probably the best ever at randomly Nelly inserting his name into the middle of sentences.

15. A storied franchise that’s not the Yankees

The Cardinals’ roots date back to professional baseball’s earliest days in the 19th century, and the club has won more World Series than any franchise that’s not called the New York Yankees. Their Hall of Famers include Bob Gibson, Dizzy Dean, Rogers Hornsby and Stan Musial, pictured above.

(GIFs via MLBGIFs, Fangraphs and Gamereax.)