2011 a Season to Remember for St. Louis Cardinals

Some claim the St. Louis Cardinals’ season this year was fate; others said it was luck. Either way,  the St. Louis Cardinals won their 11th World Series title by beating the Texas Rangers in seven games.

The Cardinals were ten and a half games back of a playoff spot on August 25, the farthest any team has ever been back and won a World Series. To even have a chance at a wild card spot, the Cardinals had to have the Phillies sweep the Braves in the last week of the season, and they had to win two out of three games against the Astros.

“The Cardinals weren’t a fluke this season, but they are going to be terrible next season if they lose Pujols,” FAHS sophomore Brandon Readinger said.

Albert Pujols, the star player for the St. Louis Cardinals, is currently a free agent.

The St. Louis Cardinals had a very tough road to get to the World Series. First, they had to get past the Philadelphia Phillies in the division round of the playoffs, a daunting task considering the Phillies had the best record in baseball.

Many thought the Phillies would dispatch the Cardinals without any problems.  In the end, the best-of-five series came down to the final game, and the Cardinals exited victorious.

Next they faced the Milwaukee Brewers in the National League Championship Series. The Cardinals beat the Brewers in six games to move on and face the Texas Rangers in the World Series.

The series lasted seven games and the Most Valuable Player award went to David Freese. The Cardinals were down to their last strike in game six, but hero David Freese hit it over the head of outfielder Nelson Cruz to tie the game in the ninth inning. In extra innings, Freese hit a walk-off home run to win it for the Cardinals and force a decisive game seven.

In game seven, Chris Carpenter, perhaps the star of the 2011 post-season, showed everyone why he is an elite pitcher by pitching a great game and preserving the Cardinals’ championship.

After the season, Tony La Russa, the manager of the Cardinals, retired. He will forever be remembered in history because of his world championship titles in both the National league and the American league.

You might call it luck that the Cardinals won it all, but you can also say that it was their fate to win the series. Whichever way you view it, the result is the same: The Cardinals are World Champions.