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WORLD CHAMPS!

If you have told me a month ago that I would be designing this front page for the Belleville News-Democrat, I would have told you that you're nuts.

A month ago, the St. Louis Cardinals were limping their way into the playoffs. Even Cardinal fans were wondering whether this team was worthy of making the playoffs. Once they got there, the experts gave them almost no chance of making it past the Division Series against the then-hot San Diego Padres, let alone the New York Mets.

But, yes it's true. The St. Louis Cardinals are world champions!

Way to go, Cards!

The Cardinals had to wait 24 years between World Series titles, but their 10th title -- second only to the New York Yankees -- was worth the wait.

While their regular season record was the worst of any team that has ever won the Series, the Cardinals were not as bad as their regular season record indicated. Keep in mind injuries kept the Cardinals from fielding a steady lineup during much of the season and that the pitching staff underwent a lot of changes between the 2005 and 2006 seasons.

But once the Cardinals made the post-season, I honestly felt the Cardinals could make waves in the playoffs. Any lineup that features Albert Pujols, Jim Edmonds and Scott Rolen is one to be reckoned with, and I knew at least two of the starting pitchers -- Chris Carpenter and Jeff Suppan -- could be counted on to give solid performances.

But this postseason was a triumph for the little guy. During the Division Series and the NLCS, people like Scott Spiezio and Javier Molina were doing much of the damage for the Cardinals, but in the Series, the smallest guy of all was the hero.

Shortstop David Eckstein -- all 5-foot-7, 165 pounds of him -- was the Series MVP. What he lacks in size, he makes up for in guts and determination, traits that have endeared him with Cardinals Nation.

Despite opening 0-for-10 in the series, Eckstein finished 8-for-12 and wound up hitting .364 (8-for-22), with three doubles, four runs batted in and three runs scored. He had the game-winning double in Game 4 and drove in two runs in Game 5.

I'm disappointed that this could go down as the Series with the worst TV ratings ever. I'm sure the Tigers' disappointing performance had something to do with that, but frankly, I think Fox executives need to take a close look in the mirror for a lot of that.

I know I speak with a Midwest bias here, but I think Fox contributes to the problem by fixating on the New York Mets, New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox. Baseball isn't as popular among sports fans as it once was, but perhaps Fox needs to take a look back at what NBC used to do with its "Game of the Week" and do a better job of exposing the rest of the country to the great stories during the course of the season.

The Detroit Tigers were one of those great stories. Just three years ago, the Tigers set an American League record with 119 losses, but thanks to some smart acquisitions between 2003 and 2006 and the addition of manager Jim Leyland, the Tigers put together an amazing season. Had the Cardinals not been in the Series, I would have rooted for the Tigers.

Having seen Cardinals teams with superior talent to the 2006 version falter in the postseason, I know the pain Tigers fans feel today. But this weekend, I revel in the joy that Cardinal Nation is feeling. Let's hope we don't have to wait another 24 years before the next World Series championship.

Way to go, Cards!

P.S.: In going through some of the articles on the Series on Google News this morning, I couldn't help but notice the byline of the Reuters reporter who covered the Series -- Larry Fine. Let's hope he takes fewer slaps to the head and eyepokes than his more famous namesake did!

Roger 0 comments 11:31 AM