2008 Woodie Awards
Is St. Louis recent history's worst series champ?
Point/Counterpoint
DI Sports Staff
Issue date: 10/31/06 Section: Sports
Yes
The St. Louis Cardinals won the World Series last week, and few outside the Gateway City were impressed. In fact, according to Newsday, the 10.1 national rating the games received is the lowest ever for a World Series. The simple reason is that St. Louis is the worst team in recent memory to win the championship.
After narrowly escaping a spectacular regular-season collapse, the team stumbled into the playoffs, enduring two losing streaks of eight games late in the year and staving off elimination on the last day of the season. At 83-79, the
Cardinals own the worst record by a World Series winner in history. In the Series, the Redbirds benefited greatly from a dark comedy of errors committed by the noticeably flummoxed Detroit Tigers, who won 95 games in the regular season but crumbled when games mattered the most.
Perhaps the only thing less impressive than the way the Cardinals went about obtaining their rings is the team they did it with. The 2005 White Sox won the championship with one of the best starting rotations ever assembled, a lineup balanced perfectly with speed and power, and a solid bullpen. The 2004 Red Sox, meanwhile, rallied from a 3-0 deficit to the hated Yankees, a magical run that included the clutch hitting of David Ortiz, Curt Schilling's legendary bloody sock, and cult hero Johnny Damon. A glance through previous champions reveals a similar pattern of dominant teams, clutch hits, popular players, and captivating stories.
The Cardinals, however, are devoid of these memorable elements. While Albert Pujols and Chris Carpenter are two of the game's most dominant players, the World Series MVP turned out to be little-known David Eckstein. Once-great Jim Edmonds and Scott Rolen have been plagued by injuries and are past their prime, and starters Preston Wilson, Yadier Molina, and Aaron Miles are unrecognizable on the other side of the arch. Moreover, the series featured about as much excitement as a Fourth of July in Canada.
Although the Cardinals are a classy organization with great fans and a sparkling new stadium, their victory lacks the players, stories, and drama that make a great champion.
- by Paul Kazmierczak
No
What do the best teams in any sport do? Slaughter their opponents? No, they capitalize on mistakes. For that very reason, the Cardinals are not the worst World Series champ. Maybe one of the weaker - but not the worst.
No offense to the Big Unit or Curt Schilling, but the 2001 Arizona Diamondbacks were a two-pitcher and one- or two-hitter team.
And come on, the Chicago White Sox? They had a good team, but that organization has a bunch of fair-weather fans, terrible broadcasters, and gloomy facilities in a city that still cares more about lovable 98-year losers than world champions. That's worse, in a different sense from winning and losing, but worse.
And while the Cardinals didn't have the best pitching staff or the best lineup or even the best bullpen, they did what the best teams do: Get it done when it counts.
As Hawkeye football fans, Iowans should understand that theory. Kirk Ferentz has always coached his teams to avoid turnovers, stay within their game plan, and capitalize on opponents' miscues.
The Cardinals exhibit the same principles.
Clutch hitting is the staple of Cardinal offense. They've been knocking in late inning runs and making leadoff doubles into run-starting rallies for at least three years.
And while the Redbirds may not have had the lineup of 2004, they had clutch hitters, such as Series MVP David Eckstein and Scott Rolen, not to mention Albert Pujols and Jim Edmonds. And don't forget premier manager Tony La Russa.
Against Detroit, the Cardinals took advantage of nearly every mistake.
In games won by the Cardinals, the Tigers committed seven errors. SEVEN. Total unearned runs for St. Louis in those games? Seven.
Talk about capitalization.
The best teams capitalize, and my God, did the Cardinals capitalize.
- by Alex Johnson
The St. Louis Cardinals won the World Series last week, and few outside the Gateway City were impressed. In fact, according to Newsday, the 10.1 national rating the games received is the lowest ever for a World Series. The simple reason is that St. Louis is the worst team in recent memory to win the championship.
After narrowly escaping a spectacular regular-season collapse, the team stumbled into the playoffs, enduring two losing streaks of eight games late in the year and staving off elimination on the last day of the season. At 83-79, the
Cardinals own the worst record by a World Series winner in history. In the Series, the Redbirds benefited greatly from a dark comedy of errors committed by the noticeably flummoxed Detroit Tigers, who won 95 games in the regular season but crumbled when games mattered the most.
Perhaps the only thing less impressive than the way the Cardinals went about obtaining their rings is the team they did it with. The 2005 White Sox won the championship with one of the best starting rotations ever assembled, a lineup balanced perfectly with speed and power, and a solid bullpen. The 2004 Red Sox, meanwhile, rallied from a 3-0 deficit to the hated Yankees, a magical run that included the clutch hitting of David Ortiz, Curt Schilling's legendary bloody sock, and cult hero Johnny Damon. A glance through previous champions reveals a similar pattern of dominant teams, clutch hits, popular players, and captivating stories.
The Cardinals, however, are devoid of these memorable elements. While Albert Pujols and Chris Carpenter are two of the game's most dominant players, the World Series MVP turned out to be little-known David Eckstein. Once-great Jim Edmonds and Scott Rolen have been plagued by injuries and are past their prime, and starters Preston Wilson, Yadier Molina, and Aaron Miles are unrecognizable on the other side of the arch. Moreover, the series featured about as much excitement as a Fourth of July in Canada.
Although the Cardinals are a classy organization with great fans and a sparkling new stadium, their victory lacks the players, stories, and drama that make a great champion.
- by Paul Kazmierczak
No
What do the best teams in any sport do? Slaughter their opponents? No, they capitalize on mistakes. For that very reason, the Cardinals are not the worst World Series champ. Maybe one of the weaker - but not the worst.
No offense to the Big Unit or Curt Schilling, but the 2001 Arizona Diamondbacks were a two-pitcher and one- or two-hitter team.
And come on, the Chicago White Sox? They had a good team, but that organization has a bunch of fair-weather fans, terrible broadcasters, and gloomy facilities in a city that still cares more about lovable 98-year losers than world champions. That's worse, in a different sense from winning and losing, but worse.
And while the Cardinals didn't have the best pitching staff or the best lineup or even the best bullpen, they did what the best teams do: Get it done when it counts.
As Hawkeye football fans, Iowans should understand that theory. Kirk Ferentz has always coached his teams to avoid turnovers, stay within their game plan, and capitalize on opponents' miscues.
The Cardinals exhibit the same principles.
Clutch hitting is the staple of Cardinal offense. They've been knocking in late inning runs and making leadoff doubles into run-starting rallies for at least three years.
And while the Redbirds may not have had the lineup of 2004, they had clutch hitters, such as Series MVP David Eckstein and Scott Rolen, not to mention Albert Pujols and Jim Edmonds. And don't forget premier manager Tony La Russa.
Against Detroit, the Cardinals took advantage of nearly every mistake.
In games won by the Cardinals, the Tigers committed seven errors. SEVEN. Total unearned runs for St. Louis in those games? Seven.
Talk about capitalization.
The best teams capitalize, and my God, did the Cardinals capitalize.
- by Alex Johnson
Viewing Comments 1 - 2 of 2
Tony Farthing
posted 4/22/08 @ 5:22 PM CST
The Cardinals were the worst team in the history of professional sports to win their respective championship. A team that ends up 4 games over .500 in baseball is in no way considered a good team even if they win the chanmpionship. (Continued…)
Jessy
posted 6/30/08 @ 6:36 AM CST
My best team of MLB is The St. Louis Cardinals . This why I always fallow their games especially whenever I have some time. I'm always trying not o miss any of their game and hear about the team's news. (Continued…)
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