I'm going to throw up - STL WS champs?!?!

[GOREDSGO32]

:bang: :bang: :bang:

I think the 2nd worst baseball champion of all time regular season record wise (Mets in 72 had like 82 wins I believe).

Is this the same team we smoked most of the year? Obviously the Tigers haven't been able to figure out the apparently suddenly great pitching, except former Red Sean Casey who has smoked STL pitching.

Winning on errors and outfield slips, STL must have a lucky rabbit's foot in their pocket, especially Eckstein. Close to the worst record for a WS champion in history? Check. Lowest ratings for a WS in baseball history? Check.

I really hope we sign at least one decent pitcher for next year to put in this staff so we can smoke this joke of a team.

[GOREDSGO32]

Game, I changed the channel before I could throw up. I really don't wanna hear Joe Buck hold himself to STL's joke of a team.

[guttle11]

Stop.

[paulrichjr]

Just shows what a little more hitting and pitching could have done for us. All those fans that wanted to throw up when Weaver was shutting us down at the end should realize also what a really good pitching coach can do for a team. Weaver just got himself a 2 or 3 year contract tonight.

[redsfan4445]

i hope every Red gets a copy of the 2006 World Series to rub it in how they were given EVERY chance by the Cardinals to be handed the division.. and they didnt wnat it bad enough... sigh

[Falls City Beer]

i hope every Red gets a copy of the 2006 World Series to rub it in how they were given EVERY chance by the Cardinals to be handed the division.. and they didnt wnat it bad enough... sigh

You mean: Wayne wasn't smart enough to make the moves to put the Reds in contention for the Central.

[GOREDSGO32]

We just didn't have pitching. Thank Milton and the 2 other random starters. Maybe Weaver will get the Milton sydrome. Watch him balloon to his career standard if STL signs him to a big deal.

[redsfan4445]

You mean: Wayne wasn't smart enough to make the moves to put the Reds in contention for the Central.

NO.. the team didnt step up.. Dunn was awful.. and that darn west coast road trip cost us a huge chance to do what the Cards did tonight!!

[goreds2]

This is so SICK!!

:shocked:

[foxfire123]

I am just sick right now. These bozos had no business being there.

[GOREDSGO32]

ECKSTEIN??!?! Wow, talk about a joke. Ozzie Smith legend is spit on.

[Falls City Beer]

I would have given it to Molina.

[smith288]

I agree. This Cards team sucked something fierce. They about blew their lead in the home stretch but guess what. They won. Such is baseball. A game of streaks as demonstrated by those Cards.

As much as it makes me want to puke, i love watching those expressions when they won. Nothing shows the little league of a man when winning the big one.

[Team Clark]

I am just sick right now. These bozos had no business being there.

I hate to say it but I agree. Poorly played series and neither team "deserved" to win. Uggggh...

[blumj]

The good news is, the last 5 or 6 teams to win the WS have been kind of mediocre the next season. I think winning can sometimes have a bit of a hangover effect.

[Team Clark]

ECKSTEIN??!?! Wow, talk about a joke. Ozzie Smith legend is spit on.

Looked like a few players were asking each other "where's ROLEN" as they panned the mob in front of the podium while LaRussa and Jocketty were being interviewed. I bet Eck was 2nd choice.

[Highlifeman21]

NO.. the team didnt step up.. Dunn was awful.. and that darn west coast road trip cost us a huge chance to do what the Cards did tonight!!


Adam Dunn clearly cost us the World Series........

[jimbo]

Adam Dunn clearly cost us the World Series........

Also, it's a well-known fact that if a camera's not on him, he treats old people and children like dirt.

[Slyder]

Also, it's a well-known fact that if a camera's not on him, he treats old people and children like dirt.

And Dunn takes a bag full of puppies tie it to a rock and throws it into the Ohio River.

:bang: :bang: :bang: Adam Dunn didnt cost this team the playoffs. Dork O'Brien did more to destroy the team with that sorry excuse of an offseason when your "big acquisition" is Tony Woehack!!! Krivsky did his best to salvage a run but by coming in March he didnt have crap to work with and honestly made the best of a very crappy situation.

[Superdude]

This sucks. I was definitely pulling for Detroit.

[paulrichjr]

This sucks. I was definitely pulling for Detroit.

I have to admit I wasn't. I have NEVER pulled for the Cardinals in anything until this year when I decided that I was going to root for the NL team no matter what. I actually predicted the NL team would win just because in would be ironic if they did after all of the AL is so much better than the NL junk we have had to endure for the past 6 months. I am proud the NL won one and am looking forward to a repeat when the Cincinnati Reds are crowned the 2007 Champions.

Question..

The Cards have won the second most world championships with 10. Who is third? The Reds would have to be close.

[He's Dunn It]

Question..

The Cards have won the second most world championships with 10. Who is third? The Reds would have to be close.

A's with 9 championships...The Reds weren't in the top five. I remember seeing the Dodgers as either 4th or 5th.

[blumj]

The Red Sox have 6, I think the Dodgers have 6, too.

[NavyRedsFan]

A's with 9 championships...The Reds weren't in the top five. I remember seeing the Dodgers as either 4th or 5th.

Most World Series Championships All-time:

YANKEES 26
CARDINALS 10
RED SOX 6
REDS 5
NY GIANTS 5
Phil. A's 5
PIRATES 5
LA DODGERS 5
Oak. A's 4
TIGERS 4

A's are ahead of the REDS with 9
DODGERS are also ahead of Cincy because they won one in Brooklyn.

[RedsBaron]

I have to admit I wasn't. I have NEVER pulled for the Cardinals in anything until this year when I decided that I was going to root for the NL team no matter what. I actually predicted the NL team would win just because in would be ironic if they did after all of the AL is so much better than the NL junk we have had to endure for the past 6 months. I am proud the NL won one and am looking forward to a repeat when the Cincinnati Reds are crowned the 2007 Champions.



While I don't like LaRussa, I was rooting for the Cardinals in the Series. I was a Cardinals fan in 1964-65, before becoming a Reds fan, and I was glad to see a NL team win and all the "experts" who said St. Louis had no chance be proved wrong.

[Degenerate39]

This makes me want to set myself on fire run around a nuclear power plant blow everything up because it's the end of the world as we know it. Those damn Cards that we beat up on all effin year win the world series. That should've been us.

[DannyB]

You mean: Wayne wasn't smart enough to make the moves to put the Reds in contention for the Central.

Seems to me the season went downhill pretty fast AFTER Waynes trades.

[Highlifeman21]

Also, it's a well-known fact that if a camera's not on him, he treats old people and children like dirt.

And dogs.


(great Tin Cup reference, btw)

[dman]

I was kind of "ho-hum" on whatever the outcome would be from either team. What I did see from Detroit though was a team that was absolutely frozen and represented nothing of the team that they were during the regular season. St.L on the other was made up of a lot of veteerans and they played as such, coming through in key situations and capitalizing on Detroit's mistakes.

Also, is it in writing somewhere that the winning team has to have the Series MVP? Sean Casey, to me outperformed any player that the Cards had out there. I felt he could have been very deserving, and without him this could have been a 4 game sweep of the series.

[mth123]

While I don't like LaRussa, I was rooting for the Cardinals in the Series. I was a Cardinals fan in 1964-65, before becoming a Reds fan, and I was glad to see a NL team win and all the "experts" who said St. Louis had no chance be proved wrong.

me too!

[mth123]

I was kind of "ho-hum" on whatever the outcome would be from either team. What I did see from Detroit though was a team that was absolutely frozen and represented nothing of the team that they were during the regular season. St.L on the other was made up of a lot of veteerans and they played as such, coming through in key situations and capitalizing on Detroit's mistakes.

Also, is it in writing somewhere that the winning team has to have the Series MVP? Sean Casey, to me outperformed any player that the Cards had out there. I felt he could have been very deserving, and without him this could have been a 4 game sweep of the series.

Kind of makes you wonder doesn't it. I think the Reds clearly showed that the pennant race ate them alive down the stretch. They rallied in September after being written-off. Since Casey seemed to perform so well on the big stage, I'm wondering if he could have made a difference this year. I was all for getting him off the payroll, but I wonder anyway.

[MaineRed]

You mean: Wayne wasn't smart enough to make the moves to put the Reds in contention for the Central.

The smartest move the Cards made was signing Weaver and we all know what YOU would of said had the Reds made that move. Heck, look at what YOU were saying about the move when the Cards made it:


I was the first to admit that Lohse will get a brief "boost" from the NL scene change, but that's sure as hell not going to last. Even Jeff Weaver made one good start for the Cards.

Now compare that statement to the following:


I don't know, but he's going to get the W in the deciding game of the WS.

I hope Wayne's watching and watching well. ...

What does the last sentence mean, especially when considering the next one?


I'll say this for Wayne: he wisely stayed away from the prancing fecal matter that is Jeff Weaver.

Wise choice.


In the plus column, however, Jeff "I Am the Slime" Weaver goes for the Chickens.

FCB, your some good bagging on players who you THINK stink. But then as soon as they turn it around you use them as ammo against our GM. Earlier this year you were mocking the Cardinals:


How's that Jeff Weaver deal workin' out?

Here is some more great analysis:


If there's a pitcher in baseball who is done, it is Jeff Weaver.

Your not the knowitall you think you are. Maybe today, after Jeff Weaver LEADS the Cardianals to the World Series would be a good day to start realizing that.

[Falls City Beer]

The smartest move the Cards made was signing Weaver and we all know what YOU would of said had the Reds made that move. Heck, look at what YOU were saying about the move when the Cards made it:



Now compare that statement to the following:



What does the last sentence mean, especially when considering the next one?





FCB, your some good bagging on players who you THINK stink. But then as soon as they turn it around you use them as ammo against our GM. Earlier this year you were mocking the Cardinals:



Here is some more great analysis:



Your not the knowitall you think you are. Maybe today, after Jeff Weaver LEADS the Cardianals to the World Series would be a good day to start realizing that.

I underestimated Dave Duncan. I'll learn never to do that again in the future. That's for sure.

[MaineRed]

This makes me want to set myself on fire run around a nuclear power plant blow everything up because it's the end of the world as we know it. Those damn Cards that we beat up on all effin year win the world series. That should've been us.

If only Wayne had followed FCB's advice and signed Jeff Weaver.

Of course FCB waits until after the World Series to give said advice.

[Falls City Beer]

If only Wayne had followed FCB's advice and signed Jeff Weaver.

Of course FCB waits until after the World Series to give said advice.

Why would the Reds get Weaver? It's not as though they have a coach that can keep him on track. Undoubtedly he'd turn back into a pumpkin with the Reds.

[MaineRed]

The same pumpkin you claimed he was all year?

Your the one who said you hoped Wayne was watching, in reference to Weaver.

[pahster]

Since Casey seemed to perform so well on the big stage, I'm wondering if he could have made a difference this year. I was all for getting him off the payroll, but I wonder anyway.

Nah. He played well in the playoffs, but he went .272/.336/.388 in the regular season, not good at all.

[Dunner44]

I just turned off ther TV after the 5th pitcher error in 5 games allowed St. Louis to go on top. It was like the pitching staff decided the cards weren't getting enough runs off hits so they decided to sabotague the game other ways.

[EX BRAVEDAD]

Josh Hancock gets a ring

[Matt700wlw]

Josh Hancock gets a ring

So do a bunch of other guys...

[Matt700wlw]

A crowning moment for La Russa

October 28, 2006
BY JAY MARIOTTI Sun-Times Columnist
ST. LOUIS -- They're renaming the main highway into Detroit. I-75 now will be known as E-1, which means you'd better duck when passing Comerica Park. But don't let the slapstick futility of the Tigers -- so unworthy of the World Series that the White Sox could have fared better in their offseason boxer shorts -- obscure why the St. Louis Cardinals won a World Series that the Cubs ponder only in seances and Lou Piniella's dreams.



You know who we're talking about, the shadowy, stone-cold figure who wears dark glasses at night. Seems they won't be calling him Tony La Loser anymore, not that the insult ever was fair or made sense. Maybe his arrogance is irritating and he still comes off as a practicing lawyer in a warmup jacket, but is there any doubt now that Tony La Russa is a manager for his time and all time? Bet you didn't know he has more victories than any skipper alive, and on Friday night at new Busch Stadium, the Cardinals won the championship that validates his legacy and chases away any lingering dunces.

What were those wicked things they said about the man? Too tense in October, thinks himself into a ballpark pretzel, squanders talent, about a decade past his prime? That his record in World Series games coming in was 5-12, with two ugly sweeps? That Kirk Gibson beat him with one leg and Piniella clobbered him with an ordinary Cincinnati team? Well, few managers have ruled a postseason the way La Russa's strategized his way through the last few weeks, somehow bathing in bubbly with a team that won only 83 regular-season games -- lowest ever by a Series champ -- and stumbled into the month like a red-clad drunk leaving Al Hrabosky's bar.

There was La Russa, amid the confetti and fireworks, his face brighter then we've ever seen it. He found his wife, Elaine, and locked her in a long embrace, then looked soberly into the Detroit dugout and tipped his cap to the Tigers and his good friend, manager Jim Leyland. The fans, who waited two dozen years for another such party but never thought it would happen this year, watched in numb joy. Where were the detractors? Will they ever be heard from again?

''I'm doing a good job holding it together because I'm just bursting inside,'' La Russa said on the field. ''This was about total team. I don't think anybody in this uniform didn't do something in the postseason. The team that wins the world championship is the team that plays the best. There ain't no bad win, and there definitely ain't no bad World Series.''

Cards beat the odds
He looked at his players, knowing the injuries the ballclub overcame. ''There were times during the year we had doubts,'' La Russa said. ''But nobody ever lost the desire to play Cardinals baseball. We found a way.''
They did more than that. ''We shocked the world,'' Jim Edmonds said.

''We battled. No one believed in us, and we battled to the end,'' said Series MVP David Eckstein, whose name was mispronounced as ''Eck-steen'' by Bud Selig.

Who knew the commissioner lived in Detroit? Again, the Cardinals got much help from the bumbling Tigers, whose pitching staff became the first commit a throwing error in every Series game and confirmed the olde English ''D'' stands for something other than Detroit. I'm taking suggestions, but Dopey works. Ever see a group more unpolished, less capable of making a simple toss to a bag? Justin Verlander joined the E-1 club in Game 5, blowing a lead with a fourth-inning throwing error and sitting down beside Joel Zumaya, Todd Jones and Fernando Rodney in infamy. This followed a reckless throw by third baseman Brandon Inge, who resembled Brooks Robinson in making a diving stab, then returned to life as Brandon Inge as the ball zinged past overworked first baseman Sean Casey. Know how bad the Tigers were, in making eight errors and batting .205 for the Series?

They made you beg for another John Mellencamp commercial. ''I just hope people don't forget how far these players have come,'' said Leyland, who erred himself in not starting Kenny Rogers instead of the jittery Verlander. ''It all starts with the manager. I didn't have my club prepared to play.''

That said, try to remember this as the triumph of La Russa. The Cardinals were smart and efficient enough to take advantage of the miscues, just as they were well-prepared and mentally sound throughout a postseason in which they were left for dead before it started. All you need to know is that Albert Pujols, the sport's most feared hitter, was fairly quiet and didn't make nearly as much impact as 5-7 Eckstein. Every time there was a horrible throw or a slip in the grass, the Cardinals capitalized. They weren't just witnesses to a meltdown. La Russa managed the hell out of his roster.

''Tony has done a remarkable job of putting guys in the right place at the right time to be successful,'' general manager Walt Jocketty said.

Pujols, now holding the trophy that Barry Bonds never has touched, said the La Russa knocks always were wrong. ''I think everybody points the finger at him. We are the one that make the big money,'' he said. ''It seems like every time something happens to the team, everybody point out to Tony La Russa.''

La Russa joins an elite club
His critics have found him unassailable the entire postseason. La Russa stayed one move ahead of the opponents in two National League series, had the guts to bench an unhappy Scott Rolen before returning him to the lineup with great results and worked marvels with his starting pitchers -- such as mercurial Jeff Weaver in the clincher. His every move turned to gold, like Ozzie Guillen last year, and he joins Sparky Anderson as the only managers to win a World Series in both leagues. I'd be remiss not to say the victory comes 12 months after his friend Jerry Reinsdorf won it all ... and 20 years after his former boss, the ever-shrewd Hawk Harrelson, fired him as Sox manager.
Perhaps we'll remember him most for winning the Rogers head-game war. Only six nights ago, we wondered why La Russa wasn't more aggressive in ordering a dress-down of Rogers, which could have led to a possible suspension if pine tar was on his hand. But though he later doubted Rogers' story that the substance was dirt, La Russa played it cool. ''A lot of people thought I should have gone to the mound,'' he said. ''But when the competition is over, you want to have no regrets.''

He knew.

Never doubt him again.

[RedsBaron]

The 2006 Cardinals only won 83 games in the regular season, but they are less of a fluke World Champion IMO than some previous World Series winners, including probably all four of the wild card teams that have won the World Series in the last 10 years. The Cardinals are not one season wonders. The core of the Cardinals--Pujols, Edmonds, Rolen, Carpenter, Suppan, and of course LaRussa and Dave Duncan--were part of St. Louis teams that also won the NL Central in 2004 and 2005 with 105 and 100 win seasons.
The 2004 Cardinals may have been the best team in baseball over the course of the full season, but came up short in the World Series. The 2006 Cardinals certainly were not baseball's best team during the regular season, but so what? The best team in the regular season doesn't always win it all in the postseason.
The Cardinals winning the Series could be the best outcome as far as the Reds are concerned, if St. Louis becomes a fat and self-satified team in 2007.

[remdog]

Never doubt him again.

I will always doubt La Russa. He caught lightening in a bottle, jumped the Grand Canyon on an armadillo and ate oysters in a month that doesn't contain an 'r'. But I still doubt his 'genius'.

Now, having read this 'head-up-the-butt-article', I will always doubt Jay Marriotti as well.

Rem

[lo ryder]

Both teams backed into the playoffs and unfortunately there had to be a winner.

[Falls City Beer]

I'm just mad that the World Series was really dull. Who cares about WHO won it.

[Tony Cloninger]

All those cliches of veteran experience and the like......really played out in this series.

The Tigers, save for Casey and Rogers, played like an expansion team.

Leyland said it was his fault they were not prepared.....i do not think it would have made a difference either way.

And please......for those who think it could have been the Reds doing this....come on?? Did you see them play when it mattered?
They could barely stand the pressures of a WC race.

[guttle11]

I'm just mad that the World Series was really dull. Who cares about WHO won it.


Exactly. No Reds means I don't root, and No Yankees and :laugh: Cubs means I don't root against.

It was just boring baseball from the Cards and bad baseball from the Tigers.

[Slyder]

All those cliches of veteran experience and the like......really played out in this series.

The Tigers, save for Casey and Rogers, played like an expansion team.

Leyland said it was his fault they were not prepared.....i do not think it would have made a difference either way.

And please......for those who think it could have been the Reds doing this....come on?? Did you see them play when it mattered?
They could barely stand the pressures of a WC race.

Did you see how the Cards played during the regular season? They tried their darndest to give us and the astros the division so they could sit at home for the playoffs. THe playoffs start and its a new ballgame.

Man Mother Nature must be a Cardinal fan. Ive never seen a team get that much help from the weather to keep that old battered team fresh(er) during the playoffs.

[GoGoWhiteSox]

:bang: :bang: :bang:

I think the 2nd worst baseball champion of all time regular season record wise (Mets in 72 had like 82 wins I believe).

The Cards were the WORST World Champion ever, beating out the 1987 Minnesota Twins. The Cards were the second worst team to appear in a series behind those '73 Mets, who lost to Oakland in seven games in the Series that year.

[guttle11]

The Cards were the WORST World Champion ever, beating out the 1987 Minnesota Twins. The Cards were the second worst team to appear in a series behind those '73 Mets, who lost to Oakland in seven games in the Series that year.


I just called Jocketty. They realize their mistake, and the trophy will be shipped back to MLB on Monday.

Will people just stop with this crap? They earned it.

[Slyder]

I just called Jocketty. They realize their mistake, and the trophy will be shipped back to MLB on Monday.

Will people just stop with this crap? They earned it.

For me its just so frustrating knowing we beat them 9 times out of 15 and had oppertunities to take the division for our own. Hopefully we make the moves we need and us not the Cards or Stros are playing in October.

[GoGoWhiteSox]

I just called Jocketty. They realize their mistake, and the trophy will be shipped back to MLB on Monday.

Will people just stop with this crap? They earned it.
:confused: I was simply correcting his statement. Yes, I did emphasize that the Cards were the worst World Champion ever, but nowhere in my post did I ever say that they did not earn it. Relax, man.