Twelve Days of Christmas 2011: Day 10
On the tenth day of Christmas, my true love sent to me
Ten noobs conspiring
Nine runs a-plating
Eight Game Sevens winning
Seven frames a-blanking
Six innings pitching
Five golden hits.
Four winning games
Three home runs
Two comebacks
And a World Series MVP.
- David Freese joined David Eckstein (2006), Darrell Porter (1982) and Bob Gibson (1964, 1967) as Cardinal World Series Most Valuable Players.
- In Game 6 of the World Series, the Cardinals came back from being down to their final strike of the season and trailing by two runs (coming back from a win expectancy of 4.1%) not once but twice, making it one of the most unlikely wins in World Series history.
- In Game 3 of the World Series, Albert Pujols tied Reggie Jackson (10/18/77) and Babe Ruth (10/6/26, 10/9/28) for the record of three home runs in a single World Series game.
- The Cardinals won four games in the World Series to clinch the title: Game 1, Game 3, Game 6 and Game 7.
- Allen Craig had five hits in the World Series, all run scoring, including three home runs and two pinch-hit RBI singles off Alexei Ogando:
Gm Pitcher Inn Play WPA 1 A Ogando 6 RBI single 0.173 2 A Ogando 7 RBI single 0.203 3 M Harrison 1 Home run 0.087 6 D Holland 8 Home run 0.059 7 M Harrison 3 Home run 0.125 - Inclement weather postponed Game 6 of the World Series, allowing Chris Carpenter to start Game 7 on three days’ rest. After laboring through only three innings on short rest in Game 2 of the NLDS, the Cardinal ace pitched six strong innings en route to his best-pitched game of the World Series (Fielding-Independent Game Score of 56). Since 1990, only two other pitchers have started three games in a World Series (Jack Morris in 1991, Curt Schilling in 2001).
- Jaime Garcia threw seven shutout innings in Game 2, walking one and striking out seven. It was the best-pitched game of the World Series and the fifth-best World Series game in Cardinal history by Fielding-Independent Game Score:
Rk Player Date Series Gm# Opp IP BB SO HR BF FIGS 1 Bob Gibson 10/2/68 WS 1 DET 9 1 17 0 32 86 2 Pete Alexander 10/3/26 WS 2 NYY 9 1 10 0 31 73 3 Chris Carpenter 10/24/06 WS 3 DET 8 0 6 0 26 70 4 Mort Cooper 10/8/44 WS 5 SLB 9 2 12 0 36 69 5 Jaime Garcia 10/20/11 WS 2 TEX 7 1 7 0 24 68 6 John Tudor 10/23/85 WS 4 KCR 9 1 8 0 33 67 6 Danny Cox 10/26/85 WS 6 KCR 7 1 8 0 27 67 8 Ernie White 10/3/42 WS 3 NYY 9 0 6 0 33 66 8 Bob Gibson 10/12/67 WS 7 BOS 9 3 10 0 32 66 10 Bob Gibson 10/10/68 WS 7 DET 9 1 8 0 36 64 11 Dizzy Dean 10/9/34 WS 7 DET 9 0 5 0 34 63 11 Bob Gibson 10/8/67 WS 4 BOS 9 1 6 0 33 63 13 John Tudor 10/20/87 WS 3 MIN 7 2 7 0 27 62 13 Max Lanier 10/10/43 WS 4 NYY 7 1 5 0 26 62 - The Cardinals made their record 11th appearance in a Game 7 and have won a record eight Game Sevens.
- Although David Freese tied the postseason record for total runs batted in with 19, Yadier Molina actually led the team with nine RBIs in the World Series (Freese had seven). In doing so, he broke Keith Hernandez’s team record for RBI in a World Series (Mex had eight in the 1982 series; Roger Maris had seven in 1967).
- Ten players who contributed in the World Series were new to the Cardinals in 2011 — a full 40% of their roster — including one rookie* and five mid-season acquisitions^: