The Cardinals and the Rangers: 2011 World Series preview
It’s the second straight appearance for the Rangers. For the Cardinals, who only just snuck in to the playoffs with the NL Wild Card spot, it’s their third appearance in eight years.
The Rangers will be looking to shrug off their loss in last year’s World Series to the San Francisco Giants and bring home their first ever World Series Trophy. On the other hand, the Cardinals will look to ride the momentum that they’ve been carrying since the end of September and pick up their second World Series in the last five years.
St. Louis Cardinals-
It’s been quite a roller coaster season for the Cardinals. The Redbirds didn’t get off to much of a start to begin the season. They were a very mediocre 9-9 in their first 18 games. The slow start didn’t last long and they soon took first place in the NL Central division. After righting the ship, the Cardinals stayed in first place until the middle of July, except for a couple of days.
From there, things started to unravel for the Redbirds. They made it out of the month of August still in second place, but the Brewers had started to pull away, and in the Wild Card race the Braves from the NL East didn’t look like they were going to be caught.
The Cardinals started out the month of September 7.5 games behind the Brewers in the NL Central and 8.5 games behind the Braves in the NL Wild Card race. With only one month left in the season, it looked as if the Cards’ chances of playing in the postseason were long gone.
Then the Braves started to collapse.
The Braves ended up going 9-18 in the month of September finishing at 89-73. The Cardinals, on the other hand, went 18-8 to grab the Wild Card spot and sneak into the playoffs with a final record of 90-72.
Even for veteran head coach Tony La Russa, this particular comeback was something special.
“This is improbable, incredible, overwhelming,” La Russa said. “They’re all special. This one here has its own mark, because coming from that far back is historic I think.”
The September momentum carried over into October as the Cardinals pulled out a gutsy three-games-to-two win over the NL-favorite Phillies, capped off by a 1-0 win to Philadelphia in game five.
The Cards then dispatched of their NL Central foe, the Milwaukee Brewers, in six games– giving them their third NL pennant in eight years and helping them reach the Fall Classic for the first time since 2006, when they won it.
So how exactly were the Cardinals able to overcome all the highs and lows they faced this season?
“I think we believe. I think that’s what you’ve got to do in this game,” David Freese, NLCS MVP said. “We got a group of guys with some talent, desire, and just a ton of heart. We kept plugging; we kept pushing. The fans deserve that; the organization definitely deserves that, it’s kind of surreal that we’re here, but this team deserves what we’ve been rewarded.”
Texas Rangers-
The tough World Series defeat to the Giants that ended the 2010 Rangers’ season seemed to carry over into the offseason. The Rangers lost their ace, Cliff Lee, to the Philadelphia Phillies. But for the 2010 pennant winning team from Texas it was just another opportunity to prove their doubters wrong and it fueled another spectacular season and postseason and a second straight appearance in the World Series.
“It was very tough, but when you got a group of guys that’s committed to each other and committed to a purpose, usually good things happen,” Texas head coach Ron Washington said.
Good things did indeed happen for the defending AL Champion Rangers. They got off to a hot start in April, posting a 16-11 mark that put them in first place in the AL West. They held that position at the start of every month for the rest of the season. They ended up winning the AL West by 10 games over the second place Angels.
The Rangers set a record in wins for the 51-year-old franchise with 96 and gained their second consecutive AL West championship, and their fifth overall.
For the team from Arlington, the 2011 postseason couldn’t have arrived soon enough. After their heart-breaking loss in the 2010 World Series, they were looking to put it all behind them and bring home the 2011 World Series trophy.
In the ALDS, the Rangers quickly dispatched the AL Wild Card Tampa Bay Rays. The Rays won the first game, but Texas came back and won three straight, advancing once again to the ALCS.
The Rangers looked like they were on their way to a sweep in the ALCS after defeating the Detroit Tigers in their first two games. The Tigers however, went back home and won two of three in Detroit. That set up a game 6 showdown in Texas with the Rangers just needing one win to send them back to the World Series.
In game 6, the Rangers were just too much and hammered the Tigers 15-5 to win their second straight AL Pennant. Even though they’re back in the World Series for the second straight year, for Texas coach Ron Washington and his team this journey hasn’t been an easy one.
“It’s not easy to get back here. It was a lot going on through the course of 162-game season, but they committed themselves,” Washington said. “They brought the proper attitude every single day, and it was never a time where they didn’t give the effort that it took to be where we are right now and have this opportunity to play for the World Series again.”
This time they’ll look to reverse the results of 2010 and bring home to the Texas franchise its first ever World Series trophy.
eliason.wright3@aggimail.usu.edu