St. Louis Cardinals
2006 World Series Champions!
Way to go Cards!
You make us PROUD!
Here we go!
So this is for all the national disrespecters out there. I will make the case that the St. Louis Cardinals--no, not the New York Yankees or the Boston Red Sox, but rather the ST. LOUIS CARDINALS--have been the BEST TEAM IN BASEBALL over the past three years, 2004-06.
Here are the 2004-06 cumulative regular-season standings for teams that have averaged 90 wins or more:
New York Yankees 293-193
St. Louis Cardinals 288-197
Boston Red Sox 279-207
Los Anaheim Angels 276-210
Chicago White Sox 272-214
Oakland Athletics 272-214
Minnesota Twins 271-215
So the Yankees and the Cards are the two best regular-season teams over these three years, with the Yankees 4.5 games ahead.
But then add in post-seasons. The Yankees have been 9-12, the Cards have been 22-17. That puts the Yankees at 302-205 and the Cards 310-214, i.e., only a half-game behind (the Cards had an unmade-up rainout this year). If the Cards win this next game, they pull even with the Yanks in the total three-year standings.
But NOW factor in how many pennants and World Series the Yankees have won over these three years. Answer: None. Zero.
The ST. LOUIS CARDINALS, though, are the ONLY team to win TWO (2) pennants in the last three years and, with one more win, will join the Boston Red Sox and Chicago White Sox as the World Series winners.
The most wins, 310, over the past three years (seasons plus post-seasons). The only team with two pennants. The best player in baseball (Prince Albert). The best pitcher in baseball (Carp). Now they're a win away from the world championship. Hmmmm. . . .
Yes, the Cardinals stumbled a bit this regular season. They got banged up and lost significant time from big players: Pujols, Rolen, Edmonds, Eckstein, not to mention losing ENTIRELY their #2 starter (Mulder) and closer (Izzy). But now those banged-up guys are all in the line-up and producing, and guys have stepped up to fill the holes of the missing pieces. The Cards have OVERCOME their injuries and now are playing LIKE THEY'RE CAPABLE OF. The point is, this was a ONE-HUNDRED WIN team the last two years, when more guys were healthy. So this is not some fluke now, that when they're finally healthy again, the Cards could win the championship.
Oh, and one more thing, you East Coast media types: The last two World Series have featured ALL Central Division teams!!
Conclusion: If they win one more game in this Series, the ST. LOUIS CARDINALS will become the overall BEST TEAM IN BASEBALL over the past three years, 2004-06.
Go Cardinals!
I haven't followed baseball since the last strike (ex-braves fan..question: how do you know it's fall in atlanta?? a) the leaves change color, the humidity goes away, the weather cools off, the braves choke..) with ONE exception and that's the potential game 4 winner for EITHER team..I don't care who wins or loses, but it's the pressure and how teams handle it I watch in series winning games (basketball, baseball etc..)
I'm an old school guy..I think the best two teams should go to the series..best record over a season and the heck with playoffs..
Verlander dodged a bullet.
Well, I found the thread in spite of not being pinged to it.
And pinging those who have posted on WS2006 threads thus far.
The Cardinals' resident pest strikes again! Broken-bat up the third base line, Inge throws offline, home comes Molina, 1-0 Cardinals, and Eckstein on second . . .
Or is THIS the Game 5 thread? Most of that other one was from this morning. Dueling live threads?
You two guys BOTH have live threads going. Which should yield to which? Work it out.
St. Louis Cardinals
2006 World Series Champions!
Way to go Cards!
You make us PROUD!
ST. LOUIS -- It didn't take 80-plus years. It only felt that way.
The Cardinals won their first World Series championship since 1982 on Friday night, topping the American League champion Tigers, 4-2, in Game 5 of the 102nd Fall Classic. It is World Series title No. 10 in 17 tries for one of baseball's signature organizations -- the most of any National League team.
For a franchise accustomed to roosting atop Major League Baseball, the 24-year wait seemed like ages. To many fans, it surely felt every bit as interminable as the generations of longing that MLB's last two champions endured. In 2004, the Red Sox ended an 86-year drought, and last year, the White Sox won for the first time in 88 years.
David Eckstein's fourth-inning RBI groundout brought home the winning run as the Cards continued capitalizing on Tigers mistakes. Three St. Louis runs were at least partly set up by Detroit errors. Jeff Weaver gave yet another brilliant playoff performance, twirling eight innings with just four hits and two runs -- one earned. Weaver, known for postseason letdowns before this year, pitched as effectively, as consistently, as any Cardinals starter this October.
The much-maligned Cardinals, the team that came into the World Series with the second-worst record of any pennant winner in history, played poised baseball for a solid week -- and truthfully, throughout all of the postseason. The 95-win Tigers, meanwhile, hurt themselves repeatedly.
The Cardinals have won the World Series more times than any team but the New York Yankees, breaking a tie at nine with the Athletics organization. Manager Tony La Russa, who coincidentally wears No. 10, joins his mentor Sparky Anderson as the only skippers in the history of baseball to win world titles in both leagues.
Making it even sweeter for the Redbirds was closing it out at home, in front of 46,638 chilly but delirious believers. New Busch Stadium is the first park since 1923 to house a world champion in its first year of existence, when the Yankees defeated the Giants. It's also the first first-year ballpark in the history of the World Series to see its home team close out the title on home turf, because the Yanks finished off the series at the Polo Grounds.
That's a home team that won 83 regular-season games, by the way. At 83-78, St. Louis had the worst regular-season record of any World Series winner in history. Not that it matters when you're hoisting the trophy with the 30 flags.
In fact, that difficult regular season may have prepared the Cardinals to win "The Ring," as La Russa calls it (as opposed to "a ring" for the pennant). After a year filled with plenty of tough times, the Cardinals showed poise throughout the playoffs. Tough situations didn't rattle them.
The Cards played better defense than the Tigers, and when there were miscues, the pitching bailed the fielders out more often than not. The Redbirds took better, longer, more composed at-bats. And when faced with adversity -- such as a 2-1 fourth-inning deficit in the clincher -- they responded.
In short, the Cardinals played like they'd been here before. And in many cases, they had. Eleven of the 25 players on the St. Louis active roster had appeared in at least one previous World Series. For Detroit, the number was two -- and it was evident.
Yadier Molina, a hero for much of October, started the first rally with a single. He took second on a sacrifice and third on Weaver's groundout, then scored when third baseman Brandon Inge threw away a grounder from Eckstein. The shortstop was credited with a single and an RBI, but the play likely should have been made.
Still, one run wasn't enough to put the Cards in the clear. Right fielder Chris Duncan's error put Magglio Ordonez on second base in the fourth, leading to Weaver's only slip-up of the night. On the next pitch, Sean Casey hit a two-run homer, giving Detroit the lead. Still, as they've done all postseason, the Cards responded immediately.
Molina and So Taguchi slapped consecutive one-out singles, and Weaver laid down a sacrifice attempt. But in the running subplot of the entire series, a pitcher's defense killed the Tigers. Detroit starter Justin Verlander attempted to throw Molina out as the lead runner at third, but committed a throwing error that allowed the catcher to score and put men on second and third. With the score tied, Eckstein grounded to short for the deciding run. Scott Rolen poked a two-out RBI single to right in the seventh for an insurance tally.
Ok, it's the day after and the Cardinals have won the World Series. So what? This World Series was one of the worst I have ever seen! By the fourth game, I could no longer shake the feeling that I was watching two distinctly inferior teams battling for the championship. When I tried to keep count of the number of strikes taken by Detroit batters, I was dumbfounded! And those were not tricky curve balls, but fast balls right down the plate, waist high! It was almost as if they forgot why they brought bats up to the plate! And in the field, the comedy continued without let-up. Fielders missing balls, overthrowing the first or third baseman, and stumbling and falling down in the outfield! One even crashing into the wall after his missed the ball. OMG! What the hell was this?! I had no favorites in this Series; I just wanted to watch some great baseball. But, not only was I denied that, but I was subjected to some of the worst baseball I have ever seen! Of course, the announcers carried on as if all were normal. Tim McCarver, who is pretty smart about baseball, went on and on and on about drivvel, to the point at which I had to mute my TV whenever he spoke. What he and Joe Buck failed to realize was that most of the guys watching (like me) HAVE PLAYED THIS GAME! We know a fastball from a curve ball and know a screw-up from a mishap! Helloooo! Wake up! This Series was the pits!!!
Well it's four days since the Cardinals won the World Series. Still waiting for the stories of overturned cars and fires set in exhuberant celebration. I doubt it would be the same if Detroit had won
Well it's four days since the Cardinals won the World Series. Still waiting for the stories of overturned cars and fires set in exhuberant celebration. I doubt it would be the same if Detroit had won