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Red Schoendienst, who spent almost 30 years as a Cardinals manager and player, is cracking a smile. He is 83 now, a special assistant to Cards general manager Walt Jocketty, which, as far as Schoendienst can tell, means his job is to hit fungoes and avoid injury.
Standing on the Busch Stadium infield before the start of Game 4 of the 2006 World Series, in full uniform (he still wears No. 2) and toting a bat that looks as if it might have been used during his rookie year, Schoendienst considers the changes in today's game. He settles on the fact that World Series payouts now run about 120 times higher than they did 60 years ago.
"When we won the World Series in (1946), I am not exactly sure what the check was, but it was around $3,000," Schoendienst says. "Players today, you have to remind them of that. You have to make sure they know their history."
There was no shortage of history in St. Louis last week, where the Cardinals won a World Series for the books. Around the new Busch Stadium, it was nearly impossible not to bump into some baseball great or another, impossible not to find yourself regaled with baseball lore. The Tigers-Cardinals matchup paired two of baseball's oldest franchises and evoked (for St. Louisans) painful memories of 1968, when St. Louis -- managed by Schoendienst -- frittered away a 3-1 Series lead to Detroit.
While Schoendienst was speaking, another Hall of Famer, Lou Brock, was preparing to throw out the ceremonial first pitch -- a game after Hall of Famer Ozzie Smith had done so and a game ahead of Hall of Famer Stan Musial. Add Tim McCarver, Joe Garagiola and non-Cardinals Hall of Famers Joe Morgan and Hank Aaron, and the off-the-field scene in St. Louis was one out of baseball's who's who.
On the field, this series -- heavy on rain and light on television ratings -- also was one of note. File it under Bizarre. No question, the Cardinals have one of the most devout fan bases in baseball, and after a 24-year championship drought, those fans gladly will accept a championship, no matter how odd. But even the faithful had to raise some eyebrows as the Cardinals, sad sacks for much of the season's second half, trashed the Tigers thanks to incredible performances from didn't-see-that-coming players.
Take your pick for most improbable:
St. Louis had 83 regular-season victories, the fewest of any World Series champion. The Cardinals were 12-17 in September and October -- 3-9 to close the season -- and watched a seven-game lead dwindle to a half-game before being handed a playoff spot on the season's final day. The Cardinals came into the World Series off a seven-game NLCS that taxed their rotation and faced a 95-win Tigers team that had won seven consecutive playoff games. But the Cardinals knocked Detroit around in five games, outscoring the Tigers 22-11.
After closer Jason Isringhausen season-ending hip surgery in September, manager Tony La Russa was forced to take the bubble-gum-and-chicken-wire approach with his bullpen. Rookie Adam Wainwright became the closer, and another rookie, Tyler Johnson, became the top lefthanded setup man. Wainwright had three saves in his big-league career entering the playoffs, but he earned four in five postseason chances and worked 9 2/3 scoreless innings. Johnson had a 1.23 ERA and 12 strikeouts in 7 1/3 playoff innings. The bullpen posted a 1.00 ERA against Detroit.
The Cardinals bookended the World Series with offbeat record-setters. St. Louis sent out rookie Anthony Reyes, a five-game winner in the regular season, in the opener. That's the lowest regular-season win total by a World Series Game 1 starter. Reyes won, allowing two runs in eight innings. St. Louis closed the series in Game 5 with Jeff Weaver, whose career seemed adrift when the Angels sent him to St. Louis for minor league outfielder Terry Evans at midseason. But Weaver looked reborn against the Tigers and baffled them with his slider and his variety of arm angles. He, too, allowed two runs in eight innings and had the worst regular-season ERA (5.76) of any winner of a World Series clincher. Throw in catcher Yadier Molina, who batted .216 in the regular season (he hit .412 in the Series, naturally) and, in a backhanded way, this Cardinals team is stamped in baseball history. It's either the worst World Series champ or the best 83-win team in history. This was neither a juggernaut nor a team of destiny. It had help from the Tigers, who left 53 runners on base and committed eight errors. Until the playoffs, this was not a quality club by Cardinals standards. The win total was the franchise's lowest in seven years, and it came after consecutive 100-win seasons that produced one World Series berth, which ended in a forgettable sweep by the Red Sox.
"No, this was not an easy year and not the team you'd expect to be the one to get us here," Jocketty says. "It was a tough year, a hard year. But we had some gritty guys. We had survivors. We needed them."
Some Cardinals registered the usual complaints about a lack of respect from the national media, but more levelheaded Redbirds saw their dash to World Series rings for what it was: a freakish opportunity seized. It was the product of well-timed roster cohesiveness after a season of upheaval and of a playoff system that, for better or worse, can erase a season of struggles -- or a season of excellence -- in just a few weeks.
These Cardinals need not apologize for their place in history. But there's no shame in admitting the unlikelihood of it all. Third baseman Scott Rolen, soaked in champagne after a frigid Game 5, says, "We were a mishmash all year. I can't explain this. No one can. I mean, we were terrible in September. Terrible. Who knew this would happen?"
Rolen, the No. 5 hitter (or No. 4 or No. 6), was emblematic of the Cardinals' season. After a good start, he was particularly terrible as the club bottomed out late. He hit .227 in September while battling a persistent shoulder problem. Making matters worse, cleanup hitter Jim Edmonds -- except against lefthanders, when he hit sixth -- was slow to come back after a concussion, had to deal with a painful foot injury and struggled with a shoulder that may require surgery. Though injuries tagged much of the roster, the middle-of-the-order injuries were most damaging because the Cardinals lacked protection for baseball's best hitter, Albert Pujols.
Edmonds and Rolen returned to form as the playoffs wore on. In the fourth inning of Game 3, Edmonds delivered a two-run double to give the Cardinals all the scoring they would need. In Game 5, Rolen provided a big insurance run with a two-out hit in the seventh. They batted .333 combined in the Series and boosted Pujols while the Tigers pitched him with excessive caution. (Pujols hit just .200 in the Series but walked seven times and was hit by a pitch.)
"We can't let teams pitch around Albert," says shortstop David Eckstein, the Series MVP. "Teams are going to do that, but we need to make them pay, and with everything (Edmonds and Rolen) went through this year, it was hard to be consistent."
Until the postseason, at least. Wainwright, the man with the nasty curveball, acknowledged that it was easy to underestimate the Cardinals "because we were so untested. There were a lot of things no one was sure about." The rebuilt bullpen, the 3-4-5 hitters, the contributions of Eckstein (who hit .250 after the All-Star break but .364 in the World Series), Molina's bat, the reliability of Reyes and Weaver -- these were unknowns four weeks ago. But those Redbirds had all the right answers, and the club's run should inspire even the lowliest of future playoff qualifiers.
"That is the lesson to take out of this postseason," says Morgan, a TV analyst. "Any of the eight teams that make it can win it. No one thought the Cardinals had a chance to be here."
Ah, but the Cardinals were there and they cashed in, etching a legacy, however unusual, in baseball's annals. It's a legacy that dictates nothing -- not crippled bats, not an excess of spare parts, not a Titanic of a September -- prohibits anyone from hoisting the World Series trophy. Heck, after watching Pujols hold it in the chilly infield of Busch Stadium, young A.J. Pujols told his dad he was glad he had won the trophy. Now, A.J. said, he could take the trophy to school.
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