Now it's hard for me as a Cub fan to swallow any success that the Cardinals and their pompous skipper may have. What might be even harder for me to swallow is the fact that the Cardinals recorded only 83 regular season wins. They had the thirteenth best record in MLB in 2006. The 83 wins is an alltime low for a World Champ (in a full 162 or 154 game season). Even more alarming the pathetic Cubs actually took the season series from the Redbirds 11-8. From April to September this was not a good Cardinals team folks. But all of that was pushed aside in October.
When the playoffs started, who would have thunk that this Cardinal team would hoist the trophy? Looking at the 11 years that LaRussa has managed the Cardinals you will only find two teams that had less wins: the 1997 Cardinals and the 1999 Cardinals (the 1998 Cardinals tied the 2006 team with 83 wins). LaRussa has had some great teams in St. Louis. You only have to look back to his hundred win teams in 2004 and 2005. Still the Cardinal club that LaRussa will be remembered for, will be his team that put it all together in October.
The baseball gods must be playing a cruel joke on us Cub fans. First 2003, next the 2005 White Sox and now the 2006 Cardinals. You'd think somebody is writing a script to make Cub fans suffer. But what can you say. The Sox and Cardinals are well run baseball organizations with really good General Managers putting the pieces in place. These teams are built to win. Unlike certain unnamed teams. Ahhh, you have to have a strange sense of humor to be a Cub fan.
Congrats to the Redbirds and the self annointed "greatest fans in baseball". It might not have been the best team for 6 months, but they certainly were the best this October.
Onto the hot stove league.
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