St. Louis Cardinals - 2011 USBA Champions
St Louis Cardinals Win the USBA Championship!
What turned out to be a beautiful Thanksgiving Sunday also brought the two remaining teams – the San Diego Padres and St Louis Cardinals- to the field for the Championship Game showdown.
Leading up to the finals the Padres defeated Colorado Rockies who had defeated the defending champs Houston Astros in the 1st round.
The Cardinals took the scenic route to the finals; as they took on the ever so resilient Tier 2 Tournament Champions, the Arizona D-Backs and qualified themselves for a position in the playoffs. Game 1 led The Cardinals to face off against the high ranking Dodgers who finished the season 2nd overall thanks to an intense team effort. Matched against a relentless offensive attack lead by the Dodgers, the lowly Cardinals gave up the win with little to no energy. After the Game 1 thrashing, the Cardinals weren’t about to take defeat lying down as they came back in Games 2 and 3 of the series to triumph over the Dodgers.
In Round 3, the Cardinals faced the scrappy and fundamentally sound Indians, who once again finished 1st overall for the 2nd straight year (congratulations Indians!). Slow to start off in the 1st game the Cardinals took a pounding, only to come back strong in the 2nd game with home field advantage. The Cardinals continued to battle as they waited for the bats to come alive, relying on their defence to carry them to a victory. The match was won with a “Cardinals-esque” come back victory in the last inning as they ultimately scored 10 runs in the 7th to suck the life out of the Indians’ dugout which in turn eliminated them from the playoffs for a 2nd straight year- much like they did with the Dodgers last season.
The Finals brought the revamped and confident Padres to face the Cardinals who have now advanced to the Championships 3 straight years, all with the new formidable nucleus. The Cardinals meant business this time around and Game 1 was met with great intensity from both sides. The Cardinals developed a new found dedication to getting on base versus aiming for the fences. This newly accepted team philosophy propelled the Cardinals to win the series in just 2 games (partly due to some suspect defence by the Padres).
Congratulations to the Padres and the entire league for a smooth drama free season and congratulations goes out to the Cardinals for winning their second championship in 3 years!