On the twelfth day of Christmas, my true love sent to me

12^* runs creating

Eleven flag a-raising
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.

1. David Freese joined David Eckstein (2006), Darrell Porter (1982) and Bob Gibson (1964, 1967) as Cardinal World Series Most Valuable Players.
2. 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.
3. 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.
4. The Cardinals won four games in the World Series to clinch the title: Game 1, Game 3, Game 6 and Game 7.
5. 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

6. 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).
7. 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

8. The Cardinals made their record 11th appearance in a Game 7 and have won a record eight Game Sevens.
9. 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).
10. 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^:
    • Arthur Rhodes^
    • Edwin Jackson^
    • Lance Berkman
    • Marc Rzepczynski^
    • Nick Punto
    • Octavio Dotel^
    • Rafael Furcal^
    • Ryan Theriot
    • Lance Lynn#
    • Gerald Laird

11. In winning their 11th playoff game of the postseason, the Cardinals hoisted the trophy for their 11th World Championship, second-most among MLB teams:
    

    Year	W	L	Ties	W-L%	Playoffs
    2011	90	72	0	.556	Won WS (4-3)
    2006	83	78	0	.516	Won WS (4-1)
    1982	92	70	0	.568	Won WS (4-3)
    1967	101	60	0	.627	Won WS (4-3)
    1964	93	69	0	.574	Won WS (4-3)
    1946	98	58	0	.628	Won WS (4-3)
    1944	105	49	3	.682	Won WS (4-2)
    1942	106	48	2	.688	Won WS (4-1)
    1934	95	58	1	.621	Won WS (4-3)
    1931	101	53	0	.656	Won WS (4-3)
    1926	89	65	2	.578	Won WS (4-3)

12. On the strength of his three home runs and two singles in Game 3, Albert Pujols created 11.7 runs (^*round up to 12), the third-most in a single game in World Series history. His 14 total bases was a single-game record for the World Series.
    

This entry was posted by Pip on Thursday, January 5th, 2012 at 5:00 pm and is filed under Twelve Days of Christmas. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.