Seriously, what the hell?
I could understand if Albert Pujols stepped up and put the entire team on his back and carried them there. That wouldn't be so shocking. But it didn't happen that way. Pujols got progressively worse throughout the playoffs, and in fact had an abysmal World Series by his standards. Look for yourselves:
- Division Series: .333 (5/15) 1HR 3RBI
- LCS: .318 (7/22) 1HR 1RBI
- World Series: .200 (3/15) 1HR 2RBI
So if it wasn't Pujols, it had to be Chris Carpenter, right? He just had to pitch every day and this team had itself a chance.
Carpenter was fantastic, that much is true, but it was his two counterparts in the "rotation" who shocked everybody. Jeff Suppan went 1-1 in 4 starts with a 2.49 ERA. Jeff Weaver, who was released in Anaheim for his kid brother, went 3-2 in 5 starts with a 2.43 ERA.
Both Suppan and Weaver had better ERA's than Carpenter.
Taking Pujols' place in the lineup was Scott Rolen, David Eckstein, Jim Edmonds, and Yadier Molina. Molina was the biggest shock of them all. He hit .216 in the regular season (the lowest average for a position player to start a Series game in twenty years) but managed to hit .358 during the playoffs, including the home run that sent the Cardinals to the World Series.
So the Cardinals managed to win only 83 games during the regular season, a record that would have earned them no higher than third place in any other division, fourth place in the AL East or Central. Yet they beat a team that won 97 games (Mets) to get to the World Series and a team that won 95 games (Tigers) to win that World Series.
Did they get help along the way? Of course they did. The Cardinals share responsibilty for winning the World Series with the Tigers' free swinging hitters and errant throwing pitchers.
Was it the greatest World Series of all time?
No.
Are the Cardinals the greatest team of all time?
God, no.
Nope.
No matter what we want to say about this last few weeks, this World Series was just another example why baseball really is our greatest game. Anything can happen, and anybody can win. For the seventh consecutive season we have a new champion.
No matter what we believe about the superiority of our favorite team (in three games the White Sox outscored St. Louis 34-11 in a June sweep) or whether the Cardinals were even the best team in this World Series, there is absolutely nothing anybody can do to take away what the St. Louis Cardinals did on Friday night.
Congratulations, St. Louis, even if we still have no idea just how you did it.
2 comments:
Sadly... and you know I really hate to say it, and its something most people don't say even when it is likely true, but in this case, you just sort of HAVE to, because it is SO obviously true...
... the Cardinals did not win the world series, as much as Detroit lost it, basically defeating themselves with an absurd number of errors that led directly to winning Cardinal runs.
Sorry, but these guys did not win the world series.
Detroit beat themselves, this much is clear as day.
you know I really hate to say it
No I don't, I don't even know who you are.
Good point though. Still, Detroit's struggles at the plate probably had something to do with Cardinal pitching.
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