Crimson Celebration: Cardinals Bring Victory Back to Missouri
Miranda Wycoff/Muleskinner
Issue date: 11/2/06 Section: Opinion
- Page 1 of 1
"Go Crazy Folks Go Crazy!"
The beloved St. Louis Cardinals have finally brought a World Series Championship back to St. Louis.
The last time that happened, my parents were on their honeymoon.
It has been 24 years since St. Louis and the rest of the Cards fans got to celebrate America's pastime in such a way.
What made it even more special is that the Cards won it in St. Louis.
What a way to inaugurate a new stadium.
They did not make for particularly heated baseball and win it in six or seven games by taking the series back to Detroit.
They did it in five games and ended in a sea of red, with the greatest fans in baseball cheering for them long past the last out of the match.
Many have pointed out the mistakes Detroit's pitching staff made to ensure the win for St. Louis. But they have failed to mention the Cardinals in this year's postseason; were the Cardinals that St. Louis fans knew they were capable of throughout the regular season.
Probably what makes this win so sweet to St. Louis fans is that no one thought it would happen.
Many of us knew it could, but with the lack of motivation the Cards finished the regular season with a World Series win seemed like a long shot.
But this postseason, everyone stepped up.
Rookies, fill-in closers, injury-prone players, the catcher that couldn't hit, etc.
Pujols didn't put up the numbers we expected out of him because he simply didn't have to.
It was a team effort from the bottom up.
The rookie starting pitcher, Anthony Reyes, began the Series in what everybody hoped just wouldn't be a blowout.
But it turned out it was…just not the blowout Cardinals fans were afraid of.
Reyes pitched eight and one third innings, and after a rough stint in the first, he was practically un-hittable.
Not only did Reyes pitch lights-out, but also the Cardinal's bats came alive. That was the beginning of the end for the favored Tigers.
It looked a little rough the next night when Detroit starter Kenny Rogers pitched, but most of the country chalked that up to the pine tar all over his pitching hand. (Just check out the poll at espn.com…the entire country is blue, minus Michigan).
But the Cardinals went back to St. Louis and won the championship at home.
I think Tony (LaRussa) said it best when a reporter said he had coached better Cardinals teams over the years, "It's the team with the championship ring on their finger that is the best," LaRussa said.
The beloved St. Louis Cardinals have finally brought a World Series Championship back to St. Louis.
The last time that happened, my parents were on their honeymoon.
It has been 24 years since St. Louis and the rest of the Cards fans got to celebrate America's pastime in such a way.
What made it even more special is that the Cards won it in St. Louis.
What a way to inaugurate a new stadium.
They did not make for particularly heated baseball and win it in six or seven games by taking the series back to Detroit.
They did it in five games and ended in a sea of red, with the greatest fans in baseball cheering for them long past the last out of the match.
Many have pointed out the mistakes Detroit's pitching staff made to ensure the win for St. Louis. But they have failed to mention the Cardinals in this year's postseason; were the Cardinals that St. Louis fans knew they were capable of throughout the regular season.
Probably what makes this win so sweet to St. Louis fans is that no one thought it would happen.
Many of us knew it could, but with the lack of motivation the Cards finished the regular season with a World Series win seemed like a long shot.
But this postseason, everyone stepped up.
Rookies, fill-in closers, injury-prone players, the catcher that couldn't hit, etc.
Pujols didn't put up the numbers we expected out of him because he simply didn't have to.
It was a team effort from the bottom up.
The rookie starting pitcher, Anthony Reyes, began the Series in what everybody hoped just wouldn't be a blowout.
But it turned out it was…just not the blowout Cardinals fans were afraid of.
Reyes pitched eight and one third innings, and after a rough stint in the first, he was practically un-hittable.
Not only did Reyes pitch lights-out, but also the Cardinal's bats came alive. That was the beginning of the end for the favored Tigers.
It looked a little rough the next night when Detroit starter Kenny Rogers pitched, but most of the country chalked that up to the pine tar all over his pitching hand. (Just check out the poll at espn.com…the entire country is blue, minus Michigan).
But the Cardinals went back to St. Louis and won the championship at home.
I think Tony (LaRussa) said it best when a reporter said he had coached better Cardinals teams over the years, "It's the team with the championship ring on their finger that is the best," LaRussa said.
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