As many of you know (or will after reading the rest of this sentence) the American Mustache Institute resides in St. Louis, Missouri, home to the world’s largest mustache: The St. Louis Arch.

It is also home to the world’s greatest baseball team: The St. Louis Cardinals. This summer, the Cardinals cleverly harnessed the power of the mustache to earn another in a long line of division titles and playoff appearances.

Unfortunately, the Cardinals got cocky and abandoned their time-tested, mustached ways. The result was a season-ending nosedive culminating in an embarrassing sweep at the hands of the Los Angeles Dodgers and manager Joe Torre, who coincidentally has a nose so big it would take the mustaches of seven normal men to properly cover it.

Listen up, Cardinal Nation! Our team may have flopped this fall, and our hopes of another championship may have been dashed, but we still have something to root for.

No, I’m not talking about whichever team is playing the New York Yankees. I’m talking about Brendan Ryan. He’s one of the nominees for The 2009 Robert Goulet Memorial Mustached American of the Year award, which if you haven’t heard recognizes the person that best contributed to the Mustached American way of life over the course of the past year.

At the beginning of this season, Ryan was a backup and spent much of his time in Cardinals manager Tony La Russa’s doghouse. For a man that loves dogs as insanely much as La Russa does, you’d think that would be a good thing. But it’s not.

However, when injuries finally gave Ryan a chance to prove himself, he made the most of it, displaying Gold Glove caliber defense and hitting for a .292 average, becoming the closest thing possible to an everyday shortstop in a La Russa lineup.

And when the Cardinal players grew mustaches this season that propelled them to the top of their division, Ryan became one of the staunchest supporters of the new look.

Sadly, many of his teammates later betrayed their Mustached-American heritage by shaving, killing not only angels in heaven but their season as well. But Ryan remained steadfast. For him, it was more than just a fad.

“I’m in it for the long haul,” said Ryan during an interview on KSDK-TV’s This Week in Cardinal Nation late in the regular season. “It’s been since a couple weeks before the All-Star break. They were grown to generate (wins). When we lost a series in Houston, everybody kind of pulled up anchor. But I kind of just dropped mine. As long as we’re doing all right I’m going to stick with it.”

Added Ryan, “I’m going to try and go with the Rollie Fingers thing here, hopefully in a couple weeks.”

Unfortunately, we never got to see Ryan’s attempt at the Rollie Fingers, as the Cardinals were bounced quickly from the playoffs in three games. But throughout the season, Ryan’s dedication to the mustache and the values set forth by his mustached forefathers has garnered him a special place among this year’s nominees for the Goulet Award.

This is why Cardinal fans everywhere need to get out and vote for Brendan Ryan as the 2009 Robert Goulet Memorial Mustached American of the Year.

It may be too late for the World Series, Cardinal fans, but it’s not too late for Ryan. Reward his dedication to the mustache and its people by casting a ballot in his name.

Sure, either Chris Carpenter or Adam Wainwright will win the National League Cy Young award. And Albert Pujols will once again be National League MVP. But those are meaningless by comparison.

This is the one we want, St. Louis. So vote Ryan, and vote often. You’ve only got three days left.