And so, the most improbable of all teams heads to the World Series. The St. Louis Cardinals are the most successful team in National League history with 10 World Championships and 18 World Series appearances, including the title four years ago. Nonetheless, as the last team to qualify for the playoffs, the odds against them were considerable. Behold:
- The Cards were down 10.5 games with just 30 games left.
- They faced the best team in baseball in the NLDS, the team with an historically great pitching staff.
- They had to win the deciding game on the road against the best pitcher in the game.
- The Phillies outscored St. Louis in the NLDS.
- In the NLCS, the Cards had to face the team that outdistanced them for the division title.
- The Brewers enjoyed the home field advantage after winning the most games at home during the season, but the Cardinals won two of four games in Milwaukee.
- Cardinal starters got drubbed, lasting just 24 frames over six games in the NLCS. They pitched to a 7.03 ERA despite superb defensive support.
- The MVP of the series was -- Albert Pujols? Matt Holiday? Lance Berkman? Yadier Molina? No -- number seven hitter David Freese, who slugged three home runs and tallied a 545/.600/1.091 batting line. Freese is no Al Weiss, but he got into the lineup just 97 times this year, producing an impressive .761 OPS at third base.
As incumbent AL Champs, the Rangers will be favored in the World Series, but not by much. St. Louis gets home field advantage thanks to -- of all people -- Prince Fielder, the All-Star MVP. The Rangers have more balance at the plate and on the mound, though Tony LaRussa made clear how irrelevant that can be in a short series.
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