I think only one word can describe the Cardinals winning the World Series this year: unbelievable. From being completely out of the playoff picture to clinching the Wild Card on the final game of the season, to Chris Carpenter's amazing pitching performance against the Phillies and throughout the playoffs, to Tony LaRussa's manager performance where every move seemed to work just right, to the rally squirrel, to the weather pushing game 6 back a day allowing Carpenter to pitch in game 7, and to the amazing finish of game 6 where the Rangers had St. Louis down to their final out on two separate occasions, everything seemed to go the right way for the Cardinals. As Eric Karros put it, I think we just witnessed destiny. Absolutely unbelievable.
This championship run by the Cardinals embodies everything we love about baseball, and love about sports in general. This team's season came back from the brink of death so many times it must have had more lives than the proverbial cat.
ReplyDeleteAdam Wainwright blew out his elbow before the team even had the chance to take a swing in spring training. Kind of easy to overlook now, given Chris Carpenter's post-season pitching performance(s) that took him from a St. Louis fan favorite, and elevated him to an all-time legend in the game, but Wainwright had ascended to the position of #1 ace of that staff...and he was gone before the season started.
The Cardinals had to put a player on the disabled list 17 times this year, including Albert Pujols with a broken wrist, NLCS and WS MVP David Freese, and big slugger Matt Holliday, who was still clearly hampered in the playoffs by tendon damage in his hand.
This team was 10 1/2 games out of a playoff spot in the last week of August. They were still 3 games out in the last week of the season, clinching the final playoff spot on the final day of the season. They faced elimination in four different games during the post-season, being down to not only their final out, but two times to their final strike in game 6 of the WS.
The GM was criticized for dealing a young, up and coming all-star caliber player (Colby Rasmus) out of town in exchange for a handful of "bargain bin" players...but it was the acquisition of a guy like Edwin Jackson to help give a bit of a boost to a weak rotation, the acquisition of guys like Octavio Dotel, the ageless Arthur Rhodes, and Mark Rzepczynski (who was absolute kryptonite to Prince Fielder during NLCS relief appearances), to shore up the bullpen that blew more late inning leads than any in baseball this season, that largely made this run possible.
The offense was there all year. Despite all the problems, this team still led the NL in on base percentage and total runs scored. It was the defense, specifically the bullpen that had been letting them down. So give a big tip of the cap to the front office for making the right in-season personnel moves.
Acquiring Furcal was huge too. Clearly his best days are behind him. His post-season batting performance is the worst I can ever recall for a guy who was plugged in as the leadoff hitter, but his defensive play at shortstop was nothing short of absolutely stellar. He filled what had been a gaping hole in the middle of the Cardinal infield prior to his arrival.
The Cardinals winning the WS in 2006 was a total fluke. That was an average, possibly even mediocre team with the perfect timing to have their hottest three weeks of the season come in October. This team, and this World Series Championship was no fluke, but ironically, with all factors taken into consideration, this was far more improbable than what happened 5 years ago. They were talented, but riddled all season with injury. Good, but not great because of their propensity to blow late inning leads. They added a few personnel pieces they needed and got healthy at the very last moment possible.
Tony La Russa was masterful in his managerial performance. He was often criticized in his career (admittedly by yours truly at times) for over managing games, including many criticisms in this post-season. It's impossible to argue with the results though. The in game strategy and decisions he made during this run were next to flawless. He managed circles around all three of the opposing managers he faced this October. I’m convinced this result would not have been achieved with any other skipper at the helm.
La Russa announced his retirement Monday, and I believe that's the first domino in a major changing of the guard for this franchise. It will be the beginning of the end of this era in Cardinals history. He managed St. Louis for 16 years, won 7 division titles, earned 2 wild card playoff berths, won three National League Pennants, and two World Series Championships.
ReplyDeletePitching Coach Dave Duncan is likely gone as well. He has been the unsung hero of so much of the success of La Russa managed teams. Duncan had many opportunities to go manage on his own, but stayed incredibly loyal to Tony over so many years.
I believe all of this punches Albert Pujols' ticket out of St. Louis, which I have mixed emotions about. I would love to see him stay and possibly eclipse Stan Musial as the greatest to ever wear a Cardinal uniform. The reality is, however, Pujols isn't getting any younger. To pay him 30 million dollars annually over the course of 7-10 years would be foolish. Even 20 million per year over that span is arguably not practical. St. Louis is the best baseball town in America, but they're not a New York sized market. They can't afford to make wild and rash financial decisions a-la the Yankees and just write bigger and bigger checks until something eventually works.
And truth be told, if Albert walks, then St. Louis got the 10 best years of his career and a major contribution to two WS titles from a guy who was drafted in the 13th round, #402 overall, and became the greatest player of an entire decade. Not so bad.
The Cardinals won before Tony La Russa. They won before Albert Pujols. They'll win after they're gone. That's the difference between elite franchises like the St. Louis Cardinals, and perennial clown shows like the Chicago Cubs. Winners always find a way. Losers always find an excuse. There is no better an example of this than the 2011 edition of the St. Louis Cardinals and their performance in the just concluded baseball season.
I could go on and on with more, but I’ve dominated your blog entry, so I’ll quit. It already made me split my response into two posts for maxing out the character limit! LOL. No one put it more succinctly or more accurately than Joe Buck at the conclusion of game 7 of the World Series: "What a team. What a ride."