Number 11 in 2011

Posted by Tom Locke on October 28th, 2011 filed in Education, General, Life, Sports ... All Sorts

 I sit at my desk a happy man after the improbable – the St. Louis Cardinals winning the 2011 World Series.  

It was their 11th World Series win.   Only the Yankees with 27 World Series titles rank ahead of my beloved Cardinals.

This was the fifth World Series title for the Cardinals that I have witnessed since my love affair with the  team started in the early 60’s.    Previously they won in 1964, 1967, 1982 and 2006.  

As remarkable as this year was – passing the Atlanta Braves for the wild card position after being 10.5 games behind on August 25, I must admit that a flood of memories came back to me in reference to the team’s 1964 and 2006 wins.

In 1964 the Cardinals were 10 games behind the Philadelphia Phillies going into September.   They not only caught the Phillies but behind “Bullet Bob” Gibson’s pitching they went on to beat the Yankees for the World Series in seven games.

2006 was somewhat even more remarkable in that they won the World Series with the worst regular season record of any post season qualifying team in baseball history.   Their record was 83 – 78, a mere  5 games above .500.

In closing, that’s the beauty of baseball.   It’s not over until the final out is recorded.   That’s why one should never give up and why I always say, “If at first you don’t succceed, try second base or shortstop!”.

 

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