It’s a monumental day in Aaron Miles’ Fastball history. This is our 1,000th post since the site began on Jan. 5, 2011.

First off, thanks to each of you for reading. It’s very much appreciated. Without you, sharing our thoughts on the St. Louis Cardinals isn’t nearly as enjoyable. And we like hearing your thoughts as well — posts that generate discussion are always good.

Looking back, it’s been quite a ride over the past 26 months.

We began a month or so before spring training 2011, coming off the disappointing 2010 season, and were wondering in the very first post how to adjust to liking the newly signed Lance Berkman and Ryan Theriot after hating them for so many years. (One was easy and resulted in the LB Fan Club. We really did try with the other one … but gave up as soon as we could. Although, just a reminder: Ryan Theriot will forever be a two-time World Series champion. But let’s hope not three …)

Ah, yes, the World Series … September and October 2011 were months to remember for sure. We chronicled the thrill of the Cardinals comeback throughout the daily ups (walk-off wild pitch!) and downs — and sometimes received unexpectedly exciting attention for it.

 

We know that things continued to go exactly as they needed to, of course, which brought us to October — and to the launch of David Freese, postseason hero. Just before the World Series began, Miranda shared her thoughts on Mr. Freese in a love letter.

And look at the result of that …

 

Yes, our love letters have proven to be a popular feature. In fact, Tara’s love letter to Jon Jay in December 2011 brought about the highest traffic day ever for AMF — all thanks to a retweet from Mr. Jay himself. But that wasn’t all …

 

As for me, Edwin Jackson did respond after I wrote him a love letter …

Better than nothing, right? Although I tried my best to get Andrew McCutchen to respond to the love letter I wrote him — obviously to no avail.

 

But we did hear from our site’s namesake when he joined Twitter last summer.

Just in case you’ve put out of your mind that horrible Dodgers-Cardinals series just before things turned around in August 2011, here’s what Aaron is referring to.

 

And sometimes we hear from those not necessarily involved in baseball too …

Thanks, Bernie!

 

As mentioned above, Tara’s love letter to Jon Jay and his subsequent retweet brought about our highest traffic day at AMF. It also was one of our most popular posts. Ahead of it: the provocatively titled “Nick Punto Gets Naked” from Sept. 10, 2011. Which leads into something we’ve learned thanks to Google Analytics: searches for Cardinals players either shirtless or naked have brought much, much traffic to AMF over the past 26 months.

You might be surprised as to what’s been the most viewed, and also most searched for item, that’s brought people to the site. It’s “shirtless Chris Carpenter.” Now, granted, we do have two pictures of CC (mostly) shirtless — this one being the best (in my biased opinion, of course).

But, there you go — that is what’s brought more search traffic to Aaron Miles’ Fastball than anything else. Not that I’m complaining … although I do continue to thank Nick Punto every time I see this.

If you’re curious about what other shirtless searches have resulted in readers ending up here (admit it — you are), it’s a long and interesting list. Yes, David Freese is not surprisingly second after CC. The rest, in order following Chris and David:

• Skip Schumaker
• Nick Punto
• Lance Berkman (and it resulted in 49 visits)
• Matt Holliday
• Ryan Theriot
• Kyle Lohse
• Mike Matheny
• Yadier Molina
• Daniel Descalso
• Rafael Furcal
• Jon Jay
• Colby Rasmus
• Jason Motte
• Adam Wainwright
• Craig Kimbrel (Um, maybe you want to try a Braves blog …)
• Pete Kozma
• Scott Rolen
• Derek Holland (Really? But please check a Rangers site)
• Aaron Miles
• Albert Pujols
• Allen Craig
• Edwin Jackson
• Tyler Greene (Yes, for real)

Then there is the naked list — of which the Punto headline is the only naked thing ever to appear here. Still, people came to the site looking for (in order):

• David Freese
• Nick Punto
• Skip Schumaker
• Lance Berkman
• Matt Holliday
• Albert Pujols
• Jason Motte
• Chris Carpenter
• Craig Kimbrel (Again, ????)
• Ryan Theriot

Some of those just make me cringe … And to the person who is looking for Craig Kimbrel shirtless and naked on a Cardinals blog, the best of luck to you.

After those lists, there’s probably nothing left to say for post 1,000 — right? Other than to once again say thank you for your support and for reading. On behalf of Tara and Miranda, we sincerely appreciate it.

Now on to 1,000 more — and World Championship No. 12!

Christine Coleman is the lead St. Louis Cardinals reporter for Aaron Miles’ Fastball. Follow her on Twitter, @CColeman802, or email aaronmilesfastball@gmail.com. Also follow @AMilesFastball for the latest updates.