How'd this Happen?

The Cards are Champs again, after a 24 year drought.  TLR got his second.  The Cards received some vindication from the '04 embarrassment.  

Pujols, after five years of tearing up the league, already has his first ring, the first of what we can expect will be several to come.  Not for Pujols the fate of Dan Marino, to be a dominant player denied the league's highest honor.

And lastly, the reputation of the National League has been newly burnished after overcoming at last the slings and arrows of the upstart junion league.

For all of these reasons, the Cardinals needed this championship; they deserved it.  But last night, they earned the championship as well.  

At this point, even the Red Birds' faithful must ask, How did this happen? Let's review on some of the reasons.

Key Midseason Pickup  Everyone in the cardinal nation seemed to realize that the Cards needed a big mid-season pick up to compete in the post-season.  What was funny, though, is that we didn't realize until October that the Cards actually had made this acquisition.  

Jeff Weaver, an implacable, nasty Number 2 in the rotation, came out of nowhere in Game 2 of the NLDS.  He left the Padres baffled, and the bafflement continued until he had racked up 9 STRIKEOUTS(!) in Championship finale.  

Has Duncun ever had a bigger accomplishment?  The Angels' management must be shaking their heads in disbelief.  But now they know.  The problem wasn't that the Angels had Weaver.  The problem was that they had Weaver and didn't have Duncun.

The Farm System  Adam Wainwright, Anthony Reyes, Derek Kinny, Tylor Johnson, Chris Duncun.  I don't think minor league additions have ever before had such a pivotal impact on the Cardinals' fortunes.  

You take these rookies and Weaver, and its hard not to start thinking about 2007.  This team now has the makings of a dynasty.

Yadier Molina  Where did this guy come from?  He hit .412 in the World Series and .358 in the post-season.  It's important to remember that Yadi's only 24.  I'm not saying that he'll develop into a .350 hitter, but this post-season may be a signal of his possibly broad potential for improvement.

Come Back Player of the Year  Although he hit only .275 in the entire post-season, Scott Rolen picked up his game by hitting .412 in the World Series.  His world series rebound was just as dramatic as his improvement of .296 with 22 homeruns during the season after going .235 and 5 homeruns last year.

The Ambush Rolen, the bullpen brats and Reyes, Jeff Weaver, and Yadi Molina coming out of nowhere--these were the elements of the ambush that bushwhacked the Pads, the Mets, and the Tigers.  No one predicted the play that these players had in them, certainly not Keith Law, not the USA Today, no one, except perhaps La Russa.

Speaking of LaRussa, this championship is TLR's masterpiece.  He didn't make one serious mistep with the starting rotation, the Pen, or the Bench.  Taguchi hit an astounding .400 with a .438 obp, scoring five times with 4 RBI.  Although Speizio's total numbers weren't great, he was one of the great heros of the NLCS.  So Congrats to Tony, for a perhaps his finest post-season yet.

The off season and next year will be fun.  I like the idea of being the defending champs.  As I said, I think we'll be even better next year.

Go Cards, and Congrats on a job well done!