Last Friday night, the World Series finally ended, at Busch Stadium, when the St. Louis Cardinals won game 5, with a score of 4-2. David Eckstein was named MVP of the World Series, and I must say, what an interesting season!
This was a season that was lackluster at best. They even clinched the NL Central with a loss, and only Atlanta's defeat of the Astros got the Cardinals in. Hell, can you ever imagine Busch Stadium full of fans doing the tomahawk chop?
I was a little more optimistic that the Cardinals in the postseason, predicting that they would get past the Padres in the division series, but have low chances of getting past the Mets in the NLCS, because the New York team just had the National League's best regular season record. When I saw the first two games at Shea split, I thought "eh, not so bad, but what about Busch?" STL ended up with 2 of the next 3 at home - almost as if the home team won every game. This would prove to be true with game 6 at Shea. But game seven came, and it went down to the end. The hero? Yadier Molina. Molina who? Ninth inning. I would't exactly say the Mets imploded, since an otherwise Scott Rolen HR was barely caught, but the Metropolitans lost some key guys... The improbable had finally happened. My naysaying friends were stunned.
Now the World Series, and the Detroit Tigers, who bumped off Oakland in four games, were the media's favorite in this series. You've got several young guys, like Justin Verlander and Jeremy Bonderman, along with a veteran in Kenny Rogers (pine tar, not roasted chicken), some good defense. Oh, and Sean Casey, who was slumping with the Reds in 2005, although a fan favorite in Cincinnati. He'd be traded to NL outhouse Pittsburgh, albeit his hometown, and then to the quickly up and coming Tigers. And of course, the self-described 'hard-ass' that is Jim Leyland.
On the other hand, you've got 2005 NL Cy Young winner Chris Carpenter, a powerful Jeff Suppan, and an improved Jeff Weaver. Hungry fans who've waited 24 years, and a hungry Tony La Russa. David Eckstein, while short, is fast on his feet, Jim Edmonds still plays great defense, and Scott Rolen is healthy and playing this time around. You also have the iconic Scott Spezio available.
And Albert Pujols. While it seemed #5 was cold this postseason as a hitter, great defense by Albert and teammates made up for it. And the Tigers and their pitching staff made some bad errors that the Cardinals were able to take advantage of. The Tigers' only win had something to do with pine tar... But now, it's the Cards fans who've been dancing in the streets, after what I think has been an awesome comeback.
Some may say that a loaded team is expected to dismantle some after being so successful, because of the stars wanting dramatic salary increases -but think about what would have happened if they didn't go this far? Congratulations, Redbirds!!! Your hands are full of rings!
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