MLB Oracles: The '09 Champion Cardinals

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Collegian Staff
on October 5, 2009 5:15 PM | | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

For MAKE PLAYS' MLB playoff preview, we decided to gaze into our crystal balls to see what every one of the eight postseason teams would need to do to take home the World Series. Here, Gentile takes a look how the NL Central champion St. Louis Cardinals could win their second title in five seasons.

The sea of red in Busch Stadium erupted and fireworks lit up the St. Louis skyline as Albert Pujols barreled his way to the pitching mound and tackled and drove reliever Ryan Franklin to the grass in celebration.

Yes, the St. Louis Cardinals are World Champions once again.

Pujols smacked around Boston's pitching to the tune of three hits and four RBIs, Chris Carpenter pitched eight effective innings to earn his second win during the World Series and the St. Louis Cardinals celebrated their second title in five seasons Monday night after downing the Red Sox, 7-2.

Carpenter gave the Cardinals reason to believe during his incredible playoff run. The winner of the World Series MVP award carried the Cardinals to five wins during the '09 postseason, setting a new MLB record.

Carpenter came out of the gates blazing in Game 5 Monday, retiring the first 13 batters in order.

After fanning David Ortiz with a hard curve that eventually landed in the dirt in front of the plate, the frustrated batter snapped his bat over his knee and chucked the shards to the backstop.

But the Cardinals' best power hitter and NL MVP favorite Pujols found only success as he continued to add to the legacy of his incredible, young career during the '09 postseason. The slugger sent a 3-2 Daisuke Matsuzaka fastball over the deepest part of the center field wall at Busch Stadium to drive in the first three runs of the game in the first inning. With his next at bat in the fifth, Pujols drove in another run when he squeaked a line drive down the right field line for a double.

While Pujols ended his postseason batting .376 with 5 HR and 16 RBI, it was the Cardinals' ace Carpenter who carried the St. Louis team that entered the postseason in a slump after dropping six of its last seven games of the regular season. The 34-year-old righty pitched seven innings of two-run ball during game one of the Divisional Series against the Dodgers and then finished off Los Angeles with a complete-game shutout in game five.

Carpenter earned wins in both of the opening games of the Championship Series and the World Series, including eight innings of 1-run, five-hit ball against the Phillies in the NLCS opener.

Pujols ended the Phillies run for a second straight title when he launched a towering shot out of the confines of Busch Stadium when Brad Lidge left a fastball hanging in the zone during game six of the NLCS. It was Lidge's second blown save of the postseason.

Pitcher Adam Wainwright, who lead the NL in wins for the regular season, also earned four wins during the postseason for the World Champion Cardinals.

-Gentile

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The Roster

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Dave Miniaci is a senior majoring in journalism and is the Daily Collegian's sports chief. He has previously been sports night chief and a sports copy editor. He has also covered men's rugby, men's track and field and field hockey. He is from New Jersey and is a big Devils fan and proud of both, and he doesn't care if you hold that against him.


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Adam Clark is a senior majoring in journalism and is the Daily Collegian's sports editor. He previously covered fraternity and sorority life, crime and courts and was the Collegian's summer 2009 news/sports editor. His favorite athlete died on the last lap of the 2001 Daytona 500 and his favorite football team is coming off the worst six-year stretch in NFL history. He does hold it against Dave Miniaci that he's from New Jersey.


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Dan Rorabaugh is a senior majoring in sports journalism and minoring in English. He is the sports copy desk chief, and was previously a reporter for the men's rugby, men's cross country, men's volleyball, women's soccer, women's basketball and men's lacrosse teams. Last year, the impossible dream happened - one of his favorite teams, the Phillies, won a championship. Now if only the Eagles could catch some of that magic, he might be able to actually find peace with sports.


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Michael Oplinger is a junior majoring in media studies and political science and the Collegian's assistant sports copy desk chief. He previously covered the men's tennis and men's volleyball teams. Even though he enjoyed the Phillies' World Series victory, he misses the days of Jose Mesa and David Bell.


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Eddie Gentile is a senior majoring in journalism and minoring in history. He works on the sports copy desk and previously has covered the women's tennis team, the Lady Icers and the Penn State baseball team. Gentile is your stereotypical Philly fan - he considers every game a loss until they actually win... and even then he'll probably still be moaning. Go birds.


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David Rung is a senior majoring in journalism and minoring in kinesiology. He works on the sports copy desk and previously has covered the women's swimming team and the men's rugby team. Rung isn't as die hard about pro sports as his sports staff brethren from Philly and Pittsburgh, but he does take pride in being a Red Sox fan before the bandwagon started.