Freese Takes MVP honors as Cardinals host eleventh franchise Fall Classic Crown
Written By: Brian Jerry
Staff Writer
St. Louis Cardinals outfielder Jon Jay caught the final out as catcher Yadier Molina jumped ran to jump into the arms of closer Jason Motte. The Cardinals captured their eleventh World Series Championship in franchise history, defeating the American League Champion Texas Rangers on Oct. 28.
Third basemen and St. Louis native David Freese was crowned Most Valuable Player in the series, posting a .348 batting average with seven RBIs, three doubles and a walk-off homerun to cap off a memorable game six. Freese was also awarded a 2012 Chevrolet Corvette in recognition for his outstanding performance in the series.
After being down to their last strike on two occasions in game six on Thursday, game seven, the Cards once again found themselves down early in the first inning, courtesy of outfielders Josh Hamilton and Michael Young’s doubles to right..
Down 2-0, St. Louis rallied to get on the scoreboard by way of Freese’s two-run double to left-center in the bottom half of the inning. A 379-foot homerun to right belted by outfielder Allen Craig in the third inning was all that ace Chris Carpenter (2-0) needed to work with, as the Cards would not look back.
Carpenter was pulled in the seventh inning after giving up two earned runs off six hits and five strikeouts. The ace right-hander received the win while righty Matt Harrison took the loss for the Rangers.
On Aug. 10, being down ten games in the wildcard race, the red birds managed to snag the final National League playoff spot on the final day of the season. They then went on to defeat the Philadelphia Phillies and Milwaukee Brewers to win their NL best eleventh World Series title, second only to the New York Yankees with 27.
Free agent to-be first basemen Albert Pujols took the podium after the game to answer questions from Fox announcer Chris Rose in regards to address his future plans, the lead story of the 2011 season off the diamond. Nonetheless, Pujols once again shrugged off those questions with big smiles in front of the 47,399 in attendance chanting his name for their beloved nine-time All-Star first basemen.
A visibly upset Ron Washington stated that one thing he’ll look back on is game six, where his ball club fell short to capture their first World Series in franchise history after winning back-to-back American League Championships. Washington pointed to the Rangers failing to close out the game in the bottom of the ninth, one pitch away from the title when Freese tripled to deep right tying the game. Later onin the eleventh, Freese capitalized again on Rangers’ reliever Mark Lowe, belting a 428-foot shot to center when Fox play-by-play announcer uttered the infamous phrase, “We will see you tomorrow night.”
Cardinals outfielder Lance Berkman receives his first World Series ring in thirteen seasons of MLB service. Berkman went 11-for-26 with five RBIs off eleven hits in seven games.
Rangers catcher Mike Napoli led the team offensively, batting .423 with two homeruns and ten RBIs in the series.
