In the last day of the regular season wild, who snuck into the playoffs with the least number of victories, 90, of any playoff team. Weaving its way through the playoffs, behind its rivals in the three series, and even faced match point twice in Game 6 of the ages Thursday night.
They won that game behind the clutch in the late innings of blow David Freese, creating a decisive Game 7 on Friday, when he sent his ace on the mound to win for them, as he did in Game 5 of the division series against the favored Philadelphia Phillies.
And so the Cardinals, a team that refused to be deleted in the past two months and repeatedly clawed his way back from the brink of disaster, finished on top of baseball Friday night with a victory 6 -2 on the Texas Rangers to win the World Series number 11 in team history. He won the title in 2006.
Behind six innings tenacious Chris Carpenter, who was pitching on short rest, the Cardinals managed to beat the Rangers for two consecutive times. Texas had not lost consecutive games from August 23-25.
The veteran outfielder Lance Berkman, who won his first World Series after 13 seasons in baseball, call the team's victory Cardinals legend.
"Has there ever been a more entertaining, best team in St. Louis and has won a championship?" He said. "I was not there in the 60 or 80 when they won championships, but my God, what team is this."
The final out came when David Murphy hit a fly ball to left off closer Jason Motte who was captured by Craig Allen, another improbable playoff star, igniting a celebration by the most unlikely champions. As the players took the field, the coaching staff, led by Manager Tony La Russa, waited by the dugout and hugged.
The first player to join them was the slugger Albert Pujols, who lifted La Russa on the floor with a big hug. Pujols, considered the best player in the game and a cardinal during his career, is now a free agent.
"When you play with that kind of urgency, a little scary at times and it takes a lot of you, but it's fun to compete in this way," said La Russa.
Freese, who had two RBIs to lead the Cardinals rallied from a two-run first inning, was named the series MVP, a just reward for a kid from the suburbs of St. Louis, who grew up dreaming of playing the Cardinals. It was also the MVP of the NLCS National League and set a record with 21 RBIs during the postseason.
"I'm here now and I still I can not believe they actually did," said Freese.
For the Rangers, the loss was a bitter end for a team looking to make amends for the loss of the San Francisco Giants in the World Series last year. In Game 6 on Thursday night, the Rangers were on strike twice in the franchise to win first World Series title.
Carpenter took the mound on Friday with very limited experience pitching on three days rest. The first time I did it was in Game 2 of the division series against the National League Philadelphia Phillies, and that only lasted three innings.
But he had made some adjustments in the beginning to give the Cardinals reason for optimism. However, La Russa said he did not make the final decision to start Carpenter until Friday, and only did so after pitching coach Dave Duncan had what La Russa called a heart to heart conversation with the pitcher to evaluate real physical condition.
La Russa said Carpenter has been launched at some point in the game, why not at first when I would be more familiar with the routine? However, La Russa also considered that with the big right-hander on the mound boost the confidence of his team.
The Cardinals started the game trying to build momentum for Game 6. La Russa, who won his third World Series, said he told his team to focus on Game 7.
"Game 6 was part of this historic journey," said La Russa. "It's hard to explain how they made it possible, with the exception that this team has great guts. He has more talent than people think, but great guts."
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