St. Louis Cardinals Are World Series Champions!

I managed to stay awake for the entire game last night. It wasn't a nail-biter, but then I think all the fans were wrung out by the previous games - especially Game 6 (the one I slept thru the fun parts!).

I am very happy that my Boys of Summer extended the season 'til the very end and that that extension resulted in winning it ALL!

Yadiar Molina on his knees as thrilled teammates take to the field after winning the World Series.

So now the waiting begins for summer once again. Pitchers and catchers report the third week of February to training camp. Can't wait!

GO CARDINALS!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Cardinals Take It Long in 11 Innings

"Don't turn out the lights just yet. The 2011 Cardinals live to fight one more day, one last day. As though it could have been any other way." --Matthew Leach

"'We'll see you tomorrow night,' FOX play-by-play man Joe Buck stated. The words were also those of Hall of Fame broadcaster Jack Buck, Joe's late father, in 1991 when Kirby Puckett's home run ended Game 6 in Minnesota -- the last time a walk-off shot forced a Game 7. Jack Buck's famous call now has company. So to do Game 6s in 1975, 1986, 1991 and 1993 in the debate of greatest Game 6 ever." --AJ Cassavell

After a difficult-to-watch first seven innings, I was no longer invested in the game. I hadn't given up, not really, but it was hard to watch my favorite team bumble and fumble thru error after unbelievable error - three in all, the most for a Cardinal team in the World Series since like 1943. And they were trailing the series 3-2 and behind the Rangers 7-4. It was U-G-L-Y baseball. I was tired and bummed and my eyes kept closing. In fact I missed the pick off play of Matt Holiday.

10:00 came around and Mike headed upstairs. Since I wasn't really watching the game, I took the dogs out for their last potty-time and headed up, too. I stayed awake long enough to see Craig hit a massive homerun, but wound up sleeping thru a comeback - one the pundits are calling one of the best and most memorable comebacks in World Series history. Sigh.

But Mike did wake me to tell me that my boys of summer had won on a walk-off homerun by Tara's favorite player, David Freese.

So this morning I read all the reports of the game, wishing with each one that I'd been able to stay awake to see it.

"For the Rangers and Cardinals, there is good precedent, there is bad precedent and there is no precedent.
First, the no precedent. Until Thursday, no team in World Series history had rallied to overcome a ninth-inning deficit and an extra-inning deficit in the same game. None.
Only two Fall Classic teams had rallied from a deficit in the eighth inning or later before winning in extras to force a Game 7. The 1986 Mets did it, winning the World Series two days later. The '75 Red Sox did it, ultimately losing Game 7 to the Reds.
One of those two clubs is about to have company in the form of the 2011 Cardinals, who twice rallied on Thursday to tie the Rangers in Game 6, ultimately winning, 10-9, on David Freese's home run in the 11th. Either the Cardinals will join the Mets as the only team to follow such drama with bliss, or they will join the Red Sox as one of history's all-time buzz-kills.
That the Cardinals rallied from behind to make up multiple-run deficits not once, but twice in the ninth inning or later was incredible enough. That they found themselves a strike away from elimination on each occasion was almost incomprehensible.
The Cardinals also became the first team in history to score runs in the eighth, ninth, 10th and 11th innings of the same World Series game. The Rangers became the first team in history to blow three -- count 'em, three -- saves in the same World Series game." --Anthony DiComo

But this is fitting for Baseball - a game like this coming at the end of the more riveting months in the Game's long history. One month to the day before this Game 7, the regular season ended on a wild Wednesday night in which the final two postseason berths were clinched in extra innings. And my Cardinals were one of the clubs doing the clinching that enchanted evening.

But the important part is that summer continues for another day. And win or lose, Cardinal Nation has done itself proud this year, an improbable year that had the Redbirds out of contention at the end of August right up thru last night where they came back from unbelievable odds to force a Game 7 - the first to go to a Game 7 in the World Series since 2002.

No matter what happens in Friday night's Game 7, this has been a roller-coaster-ride of a World Series. It's only fitting this World Series will be decided in seven games.

"Game 7 -- you have to win or go home." --Texas Ranger Ian Kinsler.

"What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies with in us." -- Ralph Waldo Emerson.

End of Summer Approaches

So my Cardinals are down 3 games to 2 and the Series resumes tonight back at home. I still have hopes for my boys of summer to win it all but that means they have to win both remaining games. Not terribly likely, or at least according to all the sports pundits, whose blatant favoritism of the Rangers is almost nauseating.

Either way, the end of summer is approaching. I am really hoping that it is postponed until late Thursday night. We need the Series to go the full 7 games in order to hold out hope to clinch it.

The weather is not at all summer-like here in the Midwest. Rain and chilly temperatures are the forecast for the next 48 hours. Yuck. But at least I'll be warm and dry while rooting for and cheering on my boys.

GO CARDINALS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

National League Champions!

Last night, the St. Louis Cardinals clinched the NLCS with a resounding win over the Milwaukee Brewers 12-6 at Milwaukee. They came from way out of the race in early September to win the Wild Card spot over the Atlanta Braves in the last game of the regular season. To beat the Brewers at home was an amazing feat, but these guys are focusing on just one game at a time and doing all they can to win each game.

So now it is on to the World Series against the Texas Rangers. I was hoping for a repeat series of Cardinals-Tigers but Detroit lost on Saturday night. Ah well.

I am so proud of my team!

Summer Continues

My Cardinals tied up the best of seven series on Monday at 1-1! So that means summer continues for another three games at Busch Stadium.

We do wish that FOX was airing the National League games instead of the American League series, but no, they had to put it on TBS which we cannot get. Sigh. Ah well. At least we don't have to decide between watching the games or watching Survivor and Criminal Minds. See, I can look at the bright side of things!

Good news on the AL front, the Tigers won last night and are now only trailing 2-1 in that best of seven.

So fingers crossed for a repeat World Series of Tigers/Cardinals with the same results - Cardinals win the World Series!!!!

Joining the High-Speed Digital Age

Yippee! I finally convinced Mike that a wi-fi hot spot card was the way to go for internet access. It really didn't take much convincing since the price/month was just a bit more than what we were paying for dial-up.

Yes, we've still been on dial-up internet service since we connected back in the summer of 2000. It was an unlimited plan which was a must since everything took so darn long to load. In the beginning it wasn't so bad but as web pages became more and more loaded with graphics and videos and stuff we began having problems viewing things.

Mike's Cardinals website was one of those. That was the first thing he asked about when I approached him with the idea of getting the air card. That's probably what sold him on the idea - well, that and the ability to download music!

I went with a minimum plan - only 3GB/month - but should be okay with that. I've used a lot of bandwith the first couple of days because I had both computers online as I transferred all my internet favorite links from the desk top to my lap top. But now that I'm set up here on the laptop, I should get back to a more normal pattern of usage.

I am really excited to have this kind of access at home as previously I was driving into town to sit at McDonalds and using their free wi-fi for larger files. Not a big deal but sometimes inconvenient. Would have been nice to have this on the laptop last winter when I was laid up with my foot surgeries.

We did have to change our email address, too, since it was attached to the dialup service. I've also discontinued my website and am now using my Wordpress blog as my website. For anyone wanting to get in touch with me, my new email is imaginebordercollies@gmail.com. The @fairpoint.net will be discontinued in a short time.