October 27, 2006: The St. Louis Cardinals defeat the Detroit Tigers, 4-2 in Game 5, to take the 2006 World Series. Jeff Weaver -- The goat of the 2003 Series? Are you kidding me?!? -- was the winning pitcher for St. Louis, who get a pair of RBIs from shortstop David Eckstein, who is named the Series' Most Valuable Player.
This win, in the Cardinals' 1st season at the 3rd Busch Stadium, is their 10th title (they've since won an 11th), 2nd all-time behind the New York Yankees, and 1st among NL teams.
Their 83 regular-season wins are the fewest of any team to win a World Series in a full 162-game, or even 154-game, season:
* 2020 Los Angeles Dodgers: In that COVID-shortened season, they went 43-17, to win the NL West. They then beat the Milwaukee Brewers in the NL Wild Card Series, the San Diego Padres in the NL Division Series, the Atlanta Braves in the NL Championship Series, and the Tampa Bay Rays in the World Series.
* 1994 Texas Rangers: When the Strike of '94 cut the season off, with the postseason eventually canceled, they had a 52-62 record, but they were still in 1st place in the American League Western Division. Although none of the 6 teams in 1st place at the time of the strike are officially recognized by MLB as 1994 Division Champions, the '94 Rangers remain the only team ever to end a season in 1st place in a Division despite having a losing record.
* 1981 Los Angeles Dodgers: In that strike-shortened season's split-season format, they went 36-21 in the 1st half, and 27-26 in the 2nd half, for an unofficial total of 63-47. Since their 1st half total was enough to win the NL Western Division, they got into the Playoffs, beat the 2nd-half Champion Houston Astros, beat the overall Eastern Division-winning Montreal Expos, and won the World Series over the Yankees.
* 1918 Boston Red Sox: The season was cut short by a month due to World War I restrictions, but the federal government permitted a World Series. It was won by the Boston Red Sox, who had won the AL Pennant with a 75-51 record.
* 1973 New York Mets: They won the NL East with an 82-79 record, and then beat the Cincinnati Reds in the NLCS. This makes them the team with the fewest wins in a season of at least 144 games to win a Pennant (some of the 1995 Division Champions had fewer wins), and the team with the fewest wins in a season of at least 154 games to win a Pennant. But they lost the World Series to the Oakland Athletics.
In 2006, the Cardinals' 83 wins were enough to beat the Houston Astros for the NL Central Division title by 1 game. Under the NL East that was in operation from 1969 to 1992, which they shared with the Mets, the Expos, the Philadelphia Phillies, the Pittsburgh Pirates and the Chicago Cubs, they would have finished 3rd, behind the Mets with 97 wins, and the Phils with 85.
But they beat the Padres in the NLDS. The NLCS between the Cards and the Mets went to a Game 7, and Yadier Molina hit a home run in the 9th inning to give the Cardinals the Pennant. The AL Champion Tigers, who had won 95 games but had blown a big NL Central Division lead to the Minnesota Twins, rebounded to beat the Yankees in the ALDS and then sweep the A's in the ALCS.
But they were no match for the Cards, led by 1st baseman Albert Pujols and 3rd baseman Scott Rolen, who are in the Baseball Hall of Fame; and catcher Molina, center fielder Jim Edmonds, and pitcher Adam Wainwright, who could each make the Hall someday. (UPDATE: As of 2025, they haven't.)
Game 1 was the 1st time in World Series history that both starting pitchers were rookies: Anthony Reyes for St. Louis and Justin Verlander for Detroit. Verlander would build a career statistical record that would suggest he's going to the Hall of Fame -- as of October 27, 2022, he is still active, and thus ineligible -- while Reyes only lasted 5 seasons in the major leagues. But that would be Reyes' night, and he retired 17 consecutive batters in Game 1, establishing a World Series record for a rookie pitcher.
The Tigers won Game 2, but the Cards won the rest, in spite of Game 4 being postponed a night by rain. The Game 5 win at home capped a season in which the Cards opened their new stadium and won the World Series. This feat had previously been accomplished by the 1912 Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park, and the 1923 Yankees at the original Yankee Stadium. It has since been matched by the 2009 Yankees at the new Yankee Stadium.
UPDATE: The Cardinals have a team Hall of Fame. From their 2006 World Champions, they have inducted manager Tony La Russa, general manager Walt Jocketty, coaches Albert "Red" Schoendienst, Dave Duncan and José Oquendo; scout George Kissell, broadcasters Mike Shannon and Al Hrabosky; 3rd baseman Scott Rolen, and pitchers Jason Isringhausen and Chris Carpenter.
La Russa, Jocketty, Schoendienst, Duncan, Kissell, Shannon, Hrabosky, Isringhausen, Carpenter, shortstop David Eckstein, center fielder Jim Edmonds, pitcher Jeff Suppan, and team president Mark Lamping were elected to the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame.
La Russa, Jocketty, Schoendienst, Duncan, Shannon, Hrabosky, Rolen, Edmonds, Isringhausen, Carpenter, and team owner Bill DeWitt Jr. were elected to the St. Louis Sports Hall of Fame.
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October 27, 2006 was a Friday. The NBA season started 4 days later. There were 4 games in the NHL:
* The Columbus Blue Jackets beat the Los Angeles Kings, 2-0 at the Nationwide Arena in Columbus.
* The Minnesota Wild beat the Anaheim Ducks, 3-2 in a shootout at the Xcel Energy Center (now the Grand Casino Arena) in St. Paul, Minnesota.
* The Detroit Red Wings beat the Dallas Stars, 4-3 at the American Airlines Center in Dallas.
* And the Vancouver Canucks beat the Washington Capitals, 3-2 in a shootout at General Motors Place (now the Rogers Arena) in Vancouver.
There was 1 college football game that night: The University of Tulsa beat the University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP), 30-20 at Skelly Stadium in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
And in New Jersey high school football, my Alma Mater, East Brunswick, beat Edison, 42-28 at Matthew J. Drwal Stadium in Edison, Middlesex County.
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