The St. Louis Cardinals clinched the NL Central pennant for the fifth time in the last decade on Sunday after the Pittsburgh Pirates’ 4-2 loss to the Cincinnati Reds. The Cards will return to MLB’s postseason for the fourth consecutive year as they look to win their 12th championship in franchise history.

Here are 17 awesome things about the Cardinals:

1. Perennial excellence

The Cardinals have become this era’s answer to the Yankees of the late 1990s: They’re always good and they seem to always have more good players on the way, so baseball fans everywhere outside St. Louis now hate them. But it’s a testament to their management that they’ve established themselves as perennial contenders.

2. Adam Wainwright’s curveball

Wainwright doesn’t draw as much national attention as Clayton Kershaw, but he’s been fantastic whenever he has been healthy in his career. His big curveball is one of the game’s best pitches, and Wainwright seems to appreciate that: He tweets under the handle @UncleCharlie50, a reference to a wildly underused nickname for the pitch.

3. Their logo

Cardinals perched on a baseball bat. It’s clever without being too clever, and dignified in a way that still appeals to young fans. Good logo. Good work.

4. Pedro Martinez will say “Wacha Wacha”

Pedro Martinez is a delightful human person, rarely more so than when he sings the praises of young Cardinals starter Michael Wacha with a “Wacha Wacha!” Wacha has struggled with injuries this season, but here’s hoping he makes a postseason appearance so we can hear Pedro celebrate it.

5. No bad contracts

It’s hard to say if it’s the product of good scouting or good luck, but not many teams with nine-figure payrolls have as few albatrosses on their books as the Cardinals do. Matt Holliday’s massive deal looked questionable when he signed it before the 2010 season, but Holliday has stayed effective as salaries have skyrocketed around the league.

And the Cards raised eyebrows by handing Jhonny Peralta a four-year, $53 million deal after his 2013 Biogenesis suspension, but Peralta has had one of the best seasons of his career in his first year in St. Louis.

6. Yadier Molina’s defense

Arguably no catcher in baseball has a better reputation for all phases of the defensive game than the Cardinals’ stalwart. He has a great arm, he’s aggressive without being foolish, and he’s known as one of the best in the game at handling a pitching staff.

7. Yadier Molina’s neck tattoo

Molina also pulls off a neck tat, which isn’t easy.

8. Toasted ravioli

The Missouri culinary scene is best known for Kansas City’s excellent barbecue, but don’t sleep on this St. Louis staple. Supposedly former Cardinal and longtime broadcaster Joe Garagolia’s older brother Mickey was the first to ever eat a toasted ravioli. Unclear why it hasn’t caught on elsewhere.

9. Pat Neshek’s autograph collection

The Cardinals’ sidearming setup man arrived to the All-Star media sessions this year with a pocketful of baseball cards he hoped to get signed. He has collected hundreds — including a ball signed by Babe Ruth. On his personal website, Neshek offers one-for-one trades of his own autographed cards for those signed by any other Major League player.

10. The handsomest fan

St. Louis native Jon Hamm can rattle off names of Cardinals stars from the mid-1980s, but don’t look directly in his eyes while he does it or you’ll be too mesmerized to hear a single word.

11. Also, Nelly

No one reps St. Louis harder than Nelly. He is also Nelly the world’s foremost expert at randomly inserting his name in the middle of sentences.

12. Trust in the bullpen

Though typically good, the Cardinals’ bullpen was about middle of the pack in the National League this season. But not for lack of trust in each other, apparently.

13. Matt Carpenter’s conquistador game

The above split shows Matt Carpenter with 15th century Spanish explorer Hernando de Soto. They only kind of look alike, as Carpenter looks more like a conquistador in general than any specific conquistador. It’s hard to say exactly why, but he definitely does. de Soto stands in above because his was the first European expedition to “discover” the Mississippi.

14. Matt Holliday recovered from this

Sorry, but there’s never going to be a list of Cardinals stuff here that doesn’t include the above GIF. Good for Holliday for having the physical and emotional wherewithal to overcome it.

15. A very versatile third-base coach

Former Cardinals manager Whitey Herzog deemed Jose Oquendo “the Secret Weapon” during his playing days because Oquendo could (and did) play every position on the diamond during his career. He even caught an inning, and he pitched on three different occasions. Useful guy to have around.

16. Dirty jobs

Mike Matheny’s had a lot of success in three seasons as Cardinals manager, but that doesn’t mean he’s above any task. During spring training, he raised the stakes on an intrasquad game by making the losers responsible for cleaning up the clubhouse. Then he took it upon himself to clean the toilets.

17. This Stan Musial statue

The Cardinals know how to honor a franchise legend: A statue of Stan Musial has been outside their home park since 1968. It’s inscription is a quote attributed to former commissioner Ford Frick, “Here stands baseball’s perfect warrior. Here stands baseball’s perfect knight.”