St. Louis wins it all

Well that's maybe the way this season should have ended. The last team anyone expected to win wins. St. Louis defeated the Texas Rangers 6-2 to win their eleventh World Series title. It was by no means a pretty series, with frequent bullpen errors, questionable strike zones and a blowout game. However St. Louis pulled out the four wins and they should be congratulated for it.

I have to admit though that I was cheering for Texas. Not that I'm a big Rangers fan, but they have a solid lineup of guys who put in a good season. They also lost in last years World Series to the San Francisco Giants, and so once they made it I was hoping for a better finish. As an organization they have also never won a World Series title, whereas St. Louis has previously won 10. I'm always happy to see underdog teams do well and Texas did it for 7 months and earned the right to be there (that shot at the Cards backdoor entrance to the playoffs should not be considered subtle). That being said they were the best team in October, and that's when it really counts. In fact, if you look at the last 10 years St. Louis might be the most consistent October team. Despite rarely being the best they have made it to the World Series three times. No other team has done that this decade (though make it 15 years and the Yankees have been in seven times, that late 90's team was insanely good), winning it twice in 2006 and 2011 and losing in 2004 to Boston.

See:

2002 - L.A Angels                  def.      San Francisco Giants
2003 - Florida Marlins            def.      N.Y Yankees (I have trouble reading that too)
2004 - Boston Red Sox           def.      St. Louis Cardinals
2005 - Chicago White Sox      def.      Houston Astros
2006 - St. Louis Cardinals       def.      Detroit White Sox
2007 - Boston Red Sox           def.      Colorado Rockies
2008 - Philadelphia Phillies       def.      Tampa Bay Rays
2009 - New York Yankees     def.      Philadelphia Phillies
2010 - San Francisco Giants    def.      Texas Rangers
2011 - St. Louis Cardinals       def.      Texas Rangers

So anyway, a season of upsets and big team collapses ends with a team that won a wildcard spot on the last day of the season due to another team losing wins it all. I'm already excited for April.


In the Korea Series, currently in play. My hometown Samsung Lions, who won the regular season championship are on course to win the Korea Series over Incheon based defending Champion SK Wyverns. Samsung is up 2-0 in the Series and SK have managed just one run in two games, though the Lions have managed only four. Looking forward to the weekend games.


Finally, congratulations to the New Zealand All-Blacks for winning the 2011 Rugby World Cup in Auckland. Their first win in 24 years despite regularly being the best team in the world. They beat France 8-7.