The St. Louis Cardinals proved to be a team of destiny winning Games 6 and 7 to take the 2011 World Series.
The St. Louis Cardinals won their 11th World Series title on Friday night, beating the Texas Rangers in a wild 7 game series.
Both teams played their absolute best, but with the performance from David Freese, the Cardinals outplayed the Rangers and won the title. What some called the best World Series in recent history ended with a 6-2 win by the Redbirds with their ace, Chris Carpenter on the mound.
“You can’t say enough good things about the guy,” said a rejuvenated Lance Berkman. “He’s such a big game pitcher. What he’s able to do goes beyond his stuff. The way he competes, the way he controls the game, the way he studies a lineup, knows how to pitch to it.”
In the World Series, Carpenter was 2-0 with a 2.84 ERA against a very potent Texas Rangers’ offense. In the postseason combined, Carpenter was stellar with a 4-0 record, posting a combined ERA of 3.25. He surely showed signs of his old self the entire 2011 season, and if he can stay healthy, will once again be one of the best pitchers in the game. Because of his recent postseason success, I think he has already labeled himself as one of the best postseason and big game pitchers in history.
David Freese stole the show this postseason, not only with his consistent hitting but because of his clutch hits this postseason. The most notable being the 9th inning two-run-triple and his walk-off home run later in Game 6. Freese, who won the NLCS MVP award, was also named the World Series MVP as well. I can guarantee you in April, no one thought David Freese would be carrying the Cardinals through the postseason and helping them win a World Series title, especially with big names like Albert Pujols and Matt Holliday in the lineup.
Former home run champ and present Cardinals batting coach Mark McGwire had this to say of the two time postseason MVP, “He knows how to hit. He’s got ice in his veins, and I truly believe that’s God-given. It’s hard to tell somebody how to relax when they’re in a pressure situation. I believe you either have it or you don’t, and he’s one that has it.”
“I’m trying to soak all this in. It’s going to take me a little bit, I think, to realize what we’ve accomplished.” Freese said in response to his postseason heroics.
The Texas Rangers leave the postseason once again, unfulfilled. In Game 6, the Rangers were up by a game, only needing one win to finally grasp a World Series title. Having the Cardinals down to their last strike twice in the ninth, the game eventually fell through the cracks on the two-run-triple by David Freese to tie the game and eventually win it in the 11th with a walk-off-home-run.
The potent Texas Rangers offense and stellar pitching was really no where to be found at the finish line and tapered away when they needed big hits. The Rangers are the first team since the 1991 and 1992 Atlanta Braves to lose back-to-back World Series’ and remain one of the eight MLB teams who have yet to win a World Series.
“It’s disappointing, but at the same point, I’m proud to be a member of the 2011 Rangers,” Rangers’ captain Michael Young stated. “The last two nights stink, but we’ll regroup, we’ll heal and we’ll get back after it.”
Last year, they fell to the San Francisco Giants in a five games. In that series, they faced a team that was just as hot as the 2011 St. Louis Cardinals. That’s two years they have faced red hot teams and haven’t been able to match them and be just as hot. They will have a hard time getting to the World Series for a third consecutive year; only a few teams have done it in the history of baseball.
“I felt like they are champions, although we didn’t get the World Series trophy,” Ron Washington said of his players. “Those guys committed themselves to getting here this year and win this, and they did it. A lot of times it’s nothing but talk, but it wasn’t talk in that Texas Rangers clubhouse. We just didn’t get it done. We got beat by a good club.”
