CARDS WIN WORLD FREAKIN' SERIES!!!

CARDS BEAT THE DETROIT TIGERS 4 GAMES TO 1 WITH A SCORE OF 4-2!!!

I'M SO EXCITED I COULD PASS OUT!!!

CARDS WIN WORLD SERIES DURING THE INAGURAL SEASON OF THE NEW BUSCH STADIUM

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ST. LOUIS -- It didn't take 80-plus years. It only felt that way.
The Cardinals won their first World Series championship since 1982 on Friday night, topping the American League champion Tigers, 4-2, in Game 5 of the 102nd Fall Classic. It is World Series title No. 10 in 17 tries for one of baseball's signature organizations -- the most of any National League team.

For a franchise accustomed to roosting atop Major League Baseball, the 24-year wait seemed like ages. To many fans, it surely felt every bit as interminable as the generations of longing that MLB's last two champions endured. In 2004, the Red Sox ended an 86-year drought, and last year, the White Sox won for the first time in 88 years.

David Eckstein's fourth-inning RBI groundout brought home the winning run as the Cards continued capitalizing on Tigers mistakes. Three St. Louis runs were at least partly set up by Detroit errors. Jeff Weaver gave yet another brilliant playoff performance, twirling eight innings with just four hits and two runs -- one earned. Weaver, known for postseason letdowns before this year, pitched as effectively, as consistently, as any Cardinals starter this October.

Eckstein, who went 6-for-9 with four RBIs in Games 4 and 5, was named World Series MVP.

The much-maligned Cardinals, the team that came into the World Series with the second-worst record of any pennant winner in history, played poised baseball for a solid week -- and truthfully, throughout all of the postseason. The 95-win Tigers, meanwhile, hurt themselves repeatedly.

The Cardinals have won the World Series more times than any team but the New York Yankees, breaking a tie at nine with the Athletics organization. Manager Tony La Russa, who coincidentally wears No. 10, joins his mentor Sparky Anderson as the only skippers in the history of baseball to win world titles in both leagues.

Making it even sweeter for the Redbirds was closing it out at home, in front of 46,638 chilly but delirious believers. New Busch Stadium is the first park since 1923 to house a world champion in its first year of existence, when the Yankees defeated the Giants. It's also the first first-year ballpark in the history of the World Series to see its home team close out the title on home turf, because the Yanks finished off the series at the Polo Grounds.

That's a home team that won 83 regular-season games, by the way. At 83-78, St. Louis had the worst regular-season record of any World Series winner in history. Not that it matters when you're hoisting the trophy with the 30 flags.

In fact, that difficult regular season may have prepared the Cardinals to win "The Ring," as La Russa calls it (as opposed to "a ring" for the pennant). After a year filled with plenty of tough times, the Cardinals showed poise throughout the playoffs. Tough situations didn't rattle them.

The Cards played better defense than the Tigers, and when there were miscues, the pitching bailed the fielders out more often than not. The Redbirds took better, longer, more composed at-bats. And when faced with adversity -- such as a 2-1 fourth-inning deficit in the clincher -- they responded.

In short, the Cardinals played like they'd been here before. And in many cases, they had. Eleven of the 25 players on the St. Louis active roster had appeared in at least one previous World Series. For Detroit, the number was two -- and it was evident.

Yadier Molina, a hero for much of October, started the first rally with a single. He took second on a sacrifice and third on Weaver's groundout, then scored when third baseman Brandon Inge threw away a grounder from Eckstein. The shortstop was credited with a single and an RBI, but the play likely should have been made.

Still, one run wasn't enough to put the Cards in the clear. Right fielder Chris Duncan's error put Magglio Ordonez on second base in the fourth, leading to Weaver's only slip-up of the night. On the next pitch, Sean Casey hit a two-run homer, giving Detroit the lead. Still, as they've done all postseason, the Cards responded immediately.

Molina and So Taguchi slapped consecutive one-out singles, and Weaver laid down a sacrifice attempt. But in the running subplot of the entire series, a pitcher's defense killed the Tigers. Detroit starter Justin Verlander attempted to throw Molina out as the lead runner at third, but committed a throwing error that allowed the catcher to score and put men on second and third. With the score tied, Eckstein grounded to short for the deciding run. Scott Rolen poked a two-out RBI single to right in the seventh for an insurance tally.