And the Winner Is.....

On Friday night, the St. Louis Cardinals won the 2011 World Series Title against the Texas Rangers.  This World Series Title is their 11th franchise title, remaining at the number two spot for most World Series wins in MLB history behind the New York Yankees.  This championship is their 2nd in 5 years.  They had to come back in game six several times; they found a way to get it done.  They started off slow in Game 7, but when they took the lead, they never gave it back.

The Cardinals had a decent regular season.  They went most of the season under the radar.  They finished 2nd in the NL Central with a 90-72 record.  Very few thought they would make the playoffs.  They captured the NL Wild Card and did not look back.  The cardinals pulled off an upset, by beating the heavily favorite Philadelphia Phillies in the NLDS.  They then, had their way with the Milwaukee Brewers.  They then became the underdogs again when they took on the Rangers in the World Series.  David Freese was named the World Series MVP after coming up with some clutch late inning hits.  Albert Pujols tied history when he hit 3 straight home runs in one World Series game.  (Reggie Jackson being the only other to do that)

Now that the Series is over, the off season begins.  The first major story we heard about was the continued collapse of the Red Sox organization.  Manager Terry Francona left the team, along with GM Theo Epstein, who is now the GM of the Chicago Cubs.  Yankees GM, Brian Cashman, is also available but is believed to be making a deal with the Yankees.  Yankees ace, CC Sabathia, also is looking to sign back with the Yanks, although he can opt out if he wants.  According to ESPN analyst Buster Olney, CC would make more money if he stays with New York.  CJ Wilson is also on teams radar this off season.  Within the next few months, MLB transactions with start to take off.

Let the games begin.