St. Louis Cardinals Claim 2011 World Series Title

Only one team, the New York Yankees, has more World Series titles than the St. Louis Cardinals. And the Cards did it again tonight, bringing themselves one step closer to the Yanks’ record. It was certainly unexpected.

I have two Cardinals fan friends- one got so angry during spring training that he checked out in August. He didn’t even follow the pennant race. The other got so sick of Tony LaRussa that he hates the team with a passion. Not only did he leave the Cards fanbase, he didn’t even tweet tonight as they won game seven.

And he’s a very active Twitterer (not a word yes I know).

I bring this up because they’re indicative of the larger problem with the Cardinals, the World Series and MLB.

It was arguably the most exciting and fun to watch Fall Classic in history. Game 6 with 5 lead changes, and the Cardinals coming back from their final strike to tie and later win, and force a game seven was the lowest rated game 6 of all time; following game four which is the lowest rated game four of all time.

Baseball is experiencing a very slow decline. I’ve checked out as much as I can (I run a sports news site, it’s not like I’m allowed to entirely check out) this season. As a Chicago White Sox fan, how can you not lose serious interest in baseball after experiencing 2011?

Anyways, now is not the time for any of that.

Now is the time to embrace the Cardinals because this site has had its own Cardinals category for over two years. We don’t have a Cards beat blogger (APPLY WITHIN! email me thesportsbank DOT net AT Gmail DOT com)

So, we cover the midwest; the central divisions in all sports. And tonight a central division team closed the deal

Here’s an excerpt from Fox Sports recapping the win:

The Cardinals won a remarkable World Series they weren’t even supposed to reach, beating the Texas Rangers 6-2 in Game 7 on Friday night with another key hit by hometown star David Freese and six gutty innings from Chris Carpenter.

Pushed to the brink, the Cardinals kept saving themselves. A frantic rush to reach the postseason on the final day. A nifty pair of comebacks in the playoffs. Two desperate rallies in Game 6.

”This whole ride, this team deserves this,” said Freese, who added the Series MVP award to his trophy as the NL championship MVP.

A day after an epic game that saw them twice within one strike of elimination before winning 10-9 in 11 innings, the Cardinals captured their 11th World Series crown.

”It’s hard to explain how this happened,” Cardinals manager Tony La Russa said.

Following a whole fall on the edge, including a surge from 10 1/2 games down in the wild-card race, La Russa’s team didn’t dare mess with Texas, or any more drama in baseball’s first World Series Game 7 since the Angels beat Giants in 2002.

So again this was one of ours. Even if it is Albert Pujols last game in a red uniform. And it annoys the crap our of Chicago Cubs fans, who’ve felt buoyed and optimistic again; with the Theo Epstein signing. This brings them back down to Earth; watching their rival get it done. I’m obviously not a Cardinals fan, but I believe the Cubs fan needs his soul crushed yet again.

So STL. “Nellyville” party it up “Andalay andaly mamme E.I. E.I. Whats poppin tonight?”

And tonight we place the Cardinals win in the pantheon with the other two championships we’ve seen since TSB opened its doors in 2008. By that I mean, the other two TSB teams who won it all.

Chicago Blackhawks 2010 Stanley Cup Champions

Green Bay Packers 2011 Super Bowl XLV Champions

“It’s a Midwest swing y’all…..”

Paul M. Banks is CEO of The Sports Bank.net, an official Google News site that generates millions of unique visitors. He’s also a regular contributor to Chicago Now, Walter Football.com, Yardbarker, and Fox Sports

A Fulbright scholar and MBA, Banks has appeared on live radio shows all across the world. The President of the United States follows him on Twitter (@Paul_M_BanksTSB) You should too.