Cardinals Celebration
Clare Behrmann | Staff Reporter
Car horns, screams and even streaking were seen around campus last Thursday and Friday night, as the St. Louis Cardinals clinched their historic wins in games 6 and 7 of the 2011 World Series. With almost everyone counting them out, the Cards finished off their Cinderella season by taking home their eleventh championship in franchise history.
The Cardinals started their improbable run back in late August, coming back from 10 1/2 games out to take the Wild Card playoff spot from the Atlanta Braves on the last day of the regular season.
In the National League Division Series (NLDS), the Cardinals beat the Philadelphia Phillies in five games. They then beat the Milwaukee Brewers in the National League Championship Series (NLCS) in six games to make it to the World Series (WS).
They were set to play the Texas Rangers. The baseball analysts, the same ones who counted the Cards out two months ago, called this one of the best World Series matches in recent history.
Some would argue that the best game of the Series was Game 6, where the Cards completed another historic comeback. They were down to their last strike in the bottom of the ninth, losing 7-5. All Cardinal Nation waited to see if their “Comeback Kids” could win again.
Then, David Freese hit a two-run game-tying triple off the right field fence to send Game 6 to extra innings.
Texas would score two in the top of the tenth inning to give them a 9-7 lead. Cardinals’ fans held their breath, thinking the miracle season was coming to an end. The Cardinals showed their resilience and again tied the game up with just one strike left.
The Cardinal pitchers held the Rangers in the top of the eleventh. Then, leading off the bottom of the inning, Freese came through again and hit a solo home run to dead center to force a Game 7.
Busch Stadium erupted. Around campus, car horns and screams lasted until at least 1:30 a.m. Their team had done it again and Cardinal Nation showed that they would be behind their team until the end.
The Cardinals sent ace Chris Carpenter to the mound for Game 7. Although the Rangers jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the top of the first, those two runs would be their only runs of the night. As it happened all season, the Cardinals fought back to win 6-2.
The Cardinals celebrated their eleventh championship title. Freese, the hometown kid, was awarded the Most Valuable Player (MVP). He became the sixth person in baseball history to win both the NLCS MVP and WS MVP in the same World Series.
The celebration culminated on Sunday, with the Parade of Champions and Victory Celebration happening in downtown St. Louis. Players taped the fans, trying to soak it all in, as fans took pictures of them. It is estimated that nearly one million fans came out to show their support.
After the final celebrations are over, the team now looks forward to off-season business, most notably whether the Cardinals All-Star Albert Pujols will resign with the team and what to do now that long-time Manager Tony La Russa announced his retirement early Monday morning.
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