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Re: 2011 MLB World Series
Eleventh heaven: Cardinals are Series champs
St. Louis adds to NL-best title total with Game 7 win vs. Texas
By Matthew Leach / MLB.com | 10/28/2011 11:25 PM ET
ST. LOUIS -- It was so improbable, so unthinkable, that it had to happen. Despite massive deficits in August and September, despite playing for their lives in the first round of the playoffs, despite twice being one strike away from elimination the night before, the St. Louis Cardinals are the World Series champions for 2011 after winning Game 7, 6-2, over the Texas Rangers on Friday.
The Cardinals won the first World Series Game 7 in nine years and brought home the 11th World Series championship in franchise history. They triumphed behind six-plus impressive innings from ace Chris Carpenter, more big hits by David Freese and Allen Craig, and a return to form by a bullpen that had sprung some leaks lately.
A journey that started in the spring with an unsuccessful contract negotiation and an ace's blown elbow ended with an enormous Friday night party in downtown St. Louis. The Cardinals won their second World Series title in five years in front of a stadium-record announced crowd of 47,399 and plenty more stationed outside the park -- in Ballpark Village, in hotel rooms across the street, and even atop a nearby parking garage.
Oddly, they won it with a minimum of hold-your-breath moments, but maybe those were just all used up one night earlier. Or maybe the baseball gods just decided that for once, this team and its fans deserved not to have to sit through heart-attack theater. After all, there was enough of that over the previous weeks and months.
The Cardinals lost their top starting pitcher, Adam Wainwright, before the first Spring Training game was played. They dealt without key players like Matt Holliday, Albert Pujols and Freese for significant stretches of the season. They were 10 1/2 games out of the Wild Card in late August.
It was never easy, never predictable. And yet it ended in a title. Sure, it wasn't really comfortable until Yadier Molina's RBI single provided a little breathing room in the seventh. But for one night, the Cardinals and their fans got to enjoy the moment.
That was thanks in large part to Carpenter, who did hero's work. Pitching on three days' rest for the second time in his career -- the first, in the National League Division Series against the Phillies, didn't go so well -- he pitched six-plus excellent innings for his second win of the series.
Carpenter fell behind early on a walk and a pair of doubles, and that was the last time anything went the Rangers' way. St. Louis responded immediately, behind Freese -- of course. Matt Harrison walked a pair of batters with two outs in the bottom of the first, and Freese doubled to center to tie the score.
Two innings later, Craig hit a solo homer that put St. Louis ahead for good with yet another go-ahead hit. By then, Carpenter was settling in. He made it through the third and fourth without a hit, worked around a single in the fifth and finished the sixth thanks to a home-run-stealing catch from Craig in left field.
The Cards bolstered their lead with significant help from the Texas pitching staff. Three walks and two hit batsmen added up to a two-run fifth that was more than enough, and then Molina provided the insurance in the seventh.
Carpenter hit for himself in the seventh before facing one batter in that inning and being lifted. From there, the Cardinals' bullpen looked like the stifling unit it was through the first two rounds of the postseason. Arthur Rhodes and Octavio Dotel tag-teamed the seventh, Lance Lynn pitched a nifty eighth, and Jason Motte closed it out, although the four-run lead meant no save for the Cards' closer.
The Cardinals improved to 8-3 in seven-game World Series, and closed out their second title at the current Busch Stadium. It's the third world championship for manager Tony La Russa.
And perhaps the most unbelievable.
Re: 2011 MLB World Series
Dammit. I was hoping for the Rangers. I taped the Game 7 and was gonna watch it later, and then drunk ass Tommy Stinson interrupts the GN'R show, and tell everybody the St. Louis Cardinals won the series, "WHOOOO FUCK YEAH!!!!"
Asshole 
BLS-Pride wrote:Aussie wrote:This World Series you speak of, what other countries compete in it?
Canada... but rarely if ever
Canada stole it from you guys in 1991 and 1992 and would've stole it again in 1993 had they not had the lockout. MLB seriously said to themselve "hold the fuck on here we can't have Canada winning the world series anymore." So they derailed our momentum locked out and cancelled the remainder fo the 1993 season. Then they moved one of the two Canadian teams to the US so now we are left with only one and they stuck them in the same division as the Yankees and Red Sox so it's impossible to even make the playoffs. Canada was just getting way too good so they fucked us over
It was the 1994 season you're thinking of. Minnesota Twins won the series in 1991. Blue Jays won in '92 & '93.
And I just want to personally say that the Montreal Expos WOULD HAVE WON the 1994 series had it happened. Matt Williams of the San Franscisco Giants would've broke Roger Maris HR record before Mark McGwire did it with the Cards in '98.
And IF the Expos had one the '94 series... they'd still be around to this day imo. There would be no Washington Nationals.
And what a helluva run that would've been for Canada.
A triple crown of Canadian winners. 92 Jays, 93 Jays, 94 Expos. Think if 94 would've been an Expos/Jays World Series? An American sport, with two Canadian teams playing.
The possibilities to me are mind-blowing in that alternate universe that didn't happen.
Re: 2011 MLB World Series
Bono wrote:BLS-Pride wrote:Canada... but rarely if ever
Canada stole it from you guys in 1991 and 1992 and would've stole it again in 1993 had they not had the lockout. MLB seriously said to themselve "hold the fuck on here we can't have Canada winning the world series anymore." So they derailed our momentum locked out and cancelled the remainder fo the 1993 season. Then they moved one of the two Canadian teams to the US so now we are left with only one and they stuck them in the same division as the Yankees and Red Sox so it's impossible to even make the playoffs. Canada was just getting way too good so they fucked us over
It was the 1994 season you're thinking of. Minnesota Twins won the series in 1991. Blue Jays won in '92 & '93.
And I just want to personally say that the Montreal Expos WOULD HAVE WON the 1994 series had it happened. Matt Williams of the San Franscisco Giants would've broke Roger Maris HR record before Mark McGwire did it with the Cards in '98.
And IF the Expos had one the '94 series... they'd still be around to this day imo. There would be no Washington Nationals.
And what a helluva run that would've been for Canada.
A triple crown of Canadian winners. 92 Jays, 93 Jays, 94 Expos. Think if 94 would've been an Expos/Jays World Series? An American sport, with two Canadian teams playing.
The possibilities to me are mind-blowing in that alternate universe that didn't happen.
Yup my bad. Got the years messed up.
Oh man I was a Blue Jays fan and my brother was an Expos fan. He was pissed the year they had the lockout. And Yes the Expos likely would've won it. I think SI did a simulation and had the Expos beating the Yankees in 6 games in the Wolrd Series that year.
The Jays weren't playing so hot in 1994 but yeah could you imagine had that scenario played out with the Jays and Expos in the World Series. I thin the Americans may ahve simply invaded Canada and started a WWIII 
Even just to have the Expos win it all you'd have the lonely two Canadian teams winning the Wolrd Series three years running. Had that happend Montreal would've suddenly been a hot spot for free agents and the Jays would be forecd to compete to maintain their "Canada's Team" status.
Had that season never been locked out the 90's could very well have continued and ended with the two Canadian teams being the dominant teams in the league with each winning multiple World Series.
Maybe it did happen in a parallel dimension. 
Re: 2011 MLB World Series
I like to believe it did happen in a parallel dimension. That the Expos became Canada's team, while the Jays went with their mediocre Clemens/Canseco-era.
In that dimension, the Expos are still around, and the Nats don't exist. I don't see it as that far of a possiblity.
But that mid-90's Expos team was a BAD FUCKIN' ASS team now. GD, they should've been able to do more. Pedro Martinez, Larry Walker, Mike Lansing, Wil Cordero, Marquis Grissom, Moises Alou, Ken Hill (when someone knew who the hell he was), Cliff Floyd...
