No team had ever won a World Series after finding itself 10½ games out of a playoff spot on Aug. 25 or later. No team had ever won a World Series after finding itself 8½ games out in September. No team had ever won a World Series after being one strike away from extinction in back-to-back innings of the same World Series game. But this team is special.
These Cardinals needed the Phillies to sweep the Braves in the last week of September just to make this tournament at all. But it happened. These Cardinals had to beat Roy Oswalt and Roy Halladay in Games 4 and 5 to topple the Phillies in the division series. But it happened.
These Cardinals had to find the strength to roar back to life after crushing losses to the Mets and Cubs and Astros down the stretch. But they found that strength. And the longer the rest of the sport let them keep breathing, the more dangerous this team became.
"It's history," said Allen Craig. "That's what it is. It's history. That's what Tony would say to us. It's history. Our whole ride to the playoffs. Just what we did to get here. It's improbable. It's unbelievable. All I can say is, we did it."
Four months from now, when they get the band together in Jupiter, they may not look the same or feel the same. There may be no La Russa in the manager's office. There may be no Pujols in the No. 3 hole. So there may be a very different feeling than the one that swept over them at Busch Stadium on this night.
But that doesn't change what just happened here. They may never truly understand how it happened or why it happened. But this is a team that just completed one of the most amazing rides into the history books in the annals of this or any sport. All they had to do was win this one last Game 7 to make it happen.
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2 days ago
1 comments:
Fantastic! Way to go, Cards!
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