Saint Louis Cardinals fall short once again

After suffering the Giant’s comeback in last year’s National League Championship Series, the Saint Louis Cardinals’ effort to win the World Championship ring this year fell short, losing the final series in six games against the Boston Red Sox.

The Red Sox defeated the Cardinals 6 to 1 in the sixth game of the World Series on Wednesday Oct. 30 at Fenway Park, obtaining their third title in the last ten years (‘04 and ‘07), after the Red Sox got away from Babe Ruth’s curse.

However, it was the first time the Red Sox celebrated a championship’s clinching game at their home field since 1918.

On the other two Red Sox’s titles in this century, Boston swept the series and celebrated on the National League Champion’s field.

In 2004, the Red Sox swept the series and celebrated in Saint Louis, while in 2007, Boston did the same against the Rockies in Colorado.

The Saint Louis Cardinals have been a common guest in these definition stages for the past four years, reaching either the National League Championship Series or the World Series itself. Two years ago, they beat the Texas Ranger after a miraculous comeback in game 6.

Cardinals’ fans on campus gave us their impressions about their team’s performance this season.

Junior Kolby O’Dowd said he thinks it was a successful season considering they lost their ace Chris Carpenter, their closer Jason Motte and the firstbaseman Allen craig towards the end of the season. “I feel that even though we lost those guys, we had several young guys that stepped up and showed that they are for real and that we will be back.”

There wasn’t a clear favorite before the World Series started. When the Cardinals found the way to come back to Saint Louis with the series tied 1-1, it seemed like they had a little advantage. However, Boston’s pitching staff was terrific and the Red Sox managed to come back to Fenway winning 3-2.

In the sixth game, the young star pitcher, Michael Wacha, couldn’t keep his postseason rhythm and the Red Sox bats exploded with six runs.

Senior Matt Wilbers said the pitchers lacked run support. “We lost the series because we didn’t score. The Cardinals I watched in the regular season were aggressive at the plate and on the base paths,” he said. “In the series we didn’t play like ourselves.”

O’Dowd agrees with Wilbers. “The Cardinals had their opportunities, but they weren’t able to string together the hits they needed,” he said. “This was a huge part in us not winning . I think in the World Series we lacked the clutch hitting that we had all year.”

Another big reason why the Red Soxs clinched the

championship, besides their pitching staff, was “Big Papi” David Ortiz, the World Series’ MVP.

Ortiz batted .688 with a .750 on-base percentage and a 1.188 slugging percentage, with two homeruns and six runs batted in.

Wilbers said that if it wasn’t for Ortiz, this would have been a completely different series. “He was the only player that hurt us. Our pitching staff did a great job.”

Finally, O’Dowd said he was disappointed that the Cardinals couldn’t win, but that the future looks promising. “We saw a lot of our young guys showing they can perform at the biggest stages,” he said. “They are only going to get better.”