Cardinals Win World Series

 

Absolutely stunning. There is no other way to describe what the St. Louis Cardinals did in winning their 11th World Series Championship. After coming all the way back in NL Wild Card Race to catch and pass the Braves, and dispatching of NL favorites Philadelphia and Milwaukee, and having to survive "Phonegate" in Game 5 and the ridiculous comeback in Game 6, there was no way the Cardinals would be denied last night in Game 7 of the World Series.

MVP David Freese followed up his game-tying 2-run triple and walkoff homerun in Game 6 with an early two-run double in the first inning last night to set the tone, Allen Craig followed with his series-leading third home run in the third, and the Cardinal pitching did the rest in shutting down the Rangers 6-2 in the first Game 7 of the Fall Classic since 2002.

St. Louis, which last won the title in 2006, was a team that was an underdog in every postseason series (I picked against them and was wrong three times).

"It's hard to explain how this happened," Cardinals manager Tony La Russa said.

But this team just fought through all adversity and stuck together behind their outstanding bullpen, great manager, and incredible clutch hitting up and down the lineup (Other than his incredible performance in Game 3, Albert Pujols was nonfactor in series). With contributions from Lance Berkman (former Astro who well-deservedly wins his 1st ring), Craig, and MVP Freese, this was truly a remarkable team effort that paid dividends for the Cardinals.

Unfortunately for Texas, being one strike away in Game 6 on two separate occasions and losing its second straight World Series, will haunt this team all winter long. Nelson Cruz will remember not being able to catch David Freese's ball in the 9th inning in Game 6, costing his team the championship. The bullpen will remember imploding in the World Series, after having such an amazing regular season and playoff. The lineup will remember all those base runners left on base in Game 6 and the inability to solve Chris Carpenter and the bullpen. But in the end, it ultimately just wasn't meant to be, as the Cardinals were a team of destiny not to be denied.