For the 19th time in their illustrious franchise history, the St. Louis Cardinals are going to the World Series. And any thoughts of a second straight NLCS meltdown suddenly vanished into thin air. But it wasn’t long ago, where the Cardinals were close to not even making it to face Los Angeles.
Two weeks ago, the Cardinals were, in typical fashion over the past couple years, on the brink of elimination from the postseason. In Game 4 of the NLDS, Michael Wacha pitched a near perfect 8-inning game, and Matt Holliday hit a two run blast to send St. Louis back home for Game 5, where they knocked off the Pirates thanks to a career-defining performance by Adam Wainwright.
Next came a series against the red hot Los Angeles Dodgers, who started the year 30-42, but made their way past the Braves in quick fashion in the NLDS to face the Cardinals at the next level.
After St. Louis pulled off an amazing 13-inning victory in Game 1, all three runs scored by Carlos Beltran, the Cardinals placed their rookie pitcher against Cy Young candidate Clayton Kershaw, the Dodgers’ ace. Wacha wasn’t phased a single bit, and along with his 2-0 record, he recorded an E.R.A of 0.00 in both of his starts in the NLCS, becoming the fourth rookie to win the NLCS MVP Award.
Wacha dominated the Dodgers’ in all aspects, shutting them down in Game 2 even with the bases loaded. In Game 2, Wacha only needed one run from the Cardinals to put away L.A. In the clinching Game 6, the Redbirds decimated Kershaw, with 10 hits and seven earned runs (two more were later added), and with another great closing job by Trevor Rosenthal, whose lightning fast fastball has become one of many things that has the baseball world buzzing, the St. Louis Cardinals have made it to the Fall Classic for the fourth time in a decade.
It was a turbulent start to the season for St. Louis as well. In January, the irreplaceable Stan Musial passed away at the age of 92. Later, Jason Motte and Rafael Furcal were both lost for the year due to season ending surgeries, then former Cardinals’ reliever Mitchell Boggs struggled badly for the team in the beginning, and cost the team key games, and all of this while Pittsburgh and Cincinnati were breathing down the Redbirds’ necks.
St. Louis never trailed by more than four games in the division, nor did they have a lead larger than four games, making it one of the most intense division races of recent memory.
But through every struggle, from the losing streak following the All-Star Break, to the injuries to Yadier Molina and Allen Craig, St. Louis rallied together and found ways to win. It took five games to beat Pittsburgh, and six to beat Los Angeles, but that is right down the Cardinals’ alley: In 2011, it took 5 games to beat Philadelphia, six to beat Milwaukee, and seven to beat the Texas Rangers in what many consider the greatest World Series of all time.
In the regular season, St. Louis was in the top 5 in nearly every hitting category, although they were not a major home-run hitting team. Matt Carpenter led the league with 199 hits, and despite struggling throughout the postseason, he took Kershaw to the limit in Game 6, with a memorable 13-pitch at-bat which ended with him getting a double. Beltran eventually scored him, and Shane Robinson, who has shown a lot of potential and prowess, recorded two RBI’s in the four run third inning St. Louis posted. Yasiel Puig, who has drawn the ire of the Cardinals’ organization for his outlandish and cocky attitude, committed two errors in the sixth game, both of which had major implications on the score, as he overthrew Mark Ellis, allowing Molina to score. Puig also was very quiet at the plate as well, much to the delight of the Cardinals’ faithful.
The Dodger’s only scored more than four runs once in the entire series, in Game 5 in which they halted a St. Louis attempted comeback to win 6-4 and bring the series back to the Gateway City. The Cardinals, on the other hand, only scored more than four runs twice, in Games 5 & 6. But they didn’t need massive scores to win games: the overall team effort won them the series.
With a balanced lineup, outstanding starting pitching, and a bullpen finally playing consistent ball, it’s no wonder why St. Louis won: They were the better team overall.
It is yet to be determined who the Redbirds will face in the World Series, as the Red Sox lead the Tigers 3-2, but St. Louis has history with both teams in the World Series, with a 2-1 record against both teams, although considering what Boston did to St. Louis in 2004, most of Cardinal Nation seemingly would like to see a rematch.
Manager Mike Matheny, who was a part of that 2004 team, has already come one win away from making the World Series in two straight seasons, and finally made it back this year.
The bottom line is: The St. Louis Cardinals are National League Champions, and they are only four wins away from being World Series Champions for the 12th time in history.
(Photo Credit: MLB)
