Corey Noles, staff writer for The Daily Statesman and Editor of The North Stoddard Countian, is the author of a regular baseball/St. Louis Cardinals column and also uses his blog to sound off on various happenings in sports. He also operates a weekly baseball mailbag column.

Cardinals World Series matchup will be a familiar foe--whether its Boston or Detroit

Posted Saturday, October 19, 2013, at 2:23 AM

A series defined by great pitching met up Friday night in St. Louis for yet another duel--only half of the duel never showed.

The St. Louis Cardinals continued their ownership of one of the games greatest left-handed pitchers, Clayton Kershaw.

The Los Angeles Dodgers sent the right man to the mound, Hanley Ramirez fought through an extremely painful injury, but in the end this series belonged to the Cardinals.

Michael Wacha, NLCS MVP, threw seven stellar innings of two-hit shutout baseball--an overall microcosm of the series to date.

Friday's win does assure that the Cardinals will face one of two very familiar fall classic opponents--the Boston Red Sox or Detroit Tigers.

While most fans remember the two series in 2004 and 2006, many don't realize the Cardinals have faced each team in a World Series three times.

In 1934, the Cardinals' Gashouse Gang defeated the Tigers in seven games. During that series, all four wins came behind the two Dean brothers--Dizzy and Daffy--who combined for 28 strikeouts and a 1.43 ERA.

In 1968, the Cardinals met the Tigers in the World Series again, but a win wasn't in their future.

On the cusp of Bob Gibson's 1.12 ERA season--a record that won't easily be broken--the Tigers took down the Cardinals over seven games.

In 2006, the Cardinals returned the favor when they fully dominated the Tigers over five games for a swift 4-1 championship win.

The Cardinals history with the Red Sox is very similar. Once again, it is painted with some of the fondest moments in team history along with some of painful defeat.

In 1946, the two teams met in the World Series for the first time. The Cardinals won the series in seven games, but not before Enos Slaughter made his famous "Mad Dash" to score from first base.

Ted Williams wasn't at his best that year due to injury, but in typical Williams fashion, he wasn't making any excuses.

In 1967, the Cardinals and Red Sox met once again in the World Series. Bob Gibson did almost everything. He was responsible for three wins and even one home run.

Again the Cardinals won in seven games.

When they met for the most recent time in 2004, it was the Red Sox turn to make history. The Sox dominated the Cardinals in a four-game sweep and finally reversed the "Curse of the Bambino" by winning their first World Championship since 1918.

So what does 2013 have in store? Is it the year of the rookie pitcher? Is it the year of the beard? Will Justin Verlander finally work his regular season magic in October?

Four of the Cardinals 11 World Championships have come at the expense of these two teams.

While there's no way to know what to expect, when these teams meet in October, history tends to be made. Don't look for this World Series to be any different.

Corey Noles is a Cardinals Writer and Columnist for The Daily Statesman. He is also a regular contributor to Bleacher Report, KSDK.com and StLSportspage.com. Contact him at cnoles@dailystatesman.com or on Twitter @coreynoles.

Comments

View 24 comments

Note: The nature of the Internet makes it impractical for our staff to review every comment. Please note that those who post comments on dexterstatesman.com may do so using a screen name, which may or may not reflect a website user's actual name. Readers should be careful not to assign comments to real people who may have names similar to screen names. Refrain from obscenity in your comments, and to keep discussions civil, don't say anything in a way your grandmother would be ashamed to read.

I think that if it is Boston we will get a look at our starting shortstop next season.....Stephen Drew.

-- Posted by redbirdfan74 on Sat, Oct 19, 2013, at 9:27 AM
I can only hope we can get Stephen Drew. He will be expensive but he can be had on a short deal. I'm not sure the teams with money to get Drew have the need for him. I think St. Louis has the most money for him and has the most need. We may end up overpaying but at this point I think we may need to by a bit.

-- Posted by Bunk on Sat, Oct 19, 2013, at 9:48 AM
Nice article Corey but considering familiarity I think that the only player on the either roster from the 06 series are Waino and Verlander and the only guy on either roster from 04 is David Ortiz. That's an amazing testament to Ortiz that he has lasted that long in Boston

-- Posted by Bunk on Sat, Oct 19, 2013, at 9:56 AM
Yadier Molina was clearly on the roster

-- Posted by ThayerPops on Sat, Oct 19, 2013, at 10:36 AM
Molina was on the roster you are right.

-- Posted by Bunk on Sat, Oct 19, 2013, at 10:46 AM
I hope we don't sign Stephen Drew.

-- Posted by Dustin Ward on Sun, Oct 20, 2013, at 7:47 PM
Why would you not want drew? Why DW why? Also how bout them dodgers?

-- Posted by Bunk on Sun, Oct 20, 2013, at 9:58 PM
I think when he says we, he means his Reds. Must be a Zack Cozart fan.

-- Posted by sideline starter on Sun, Oct 20, 2013, at 10:01 PM
I don't like Drew either.

-- Posted by ThayerPops on Sun, Oct 20, 2013, at 11:42 PM
The shortstop market is not exactly littered with top flight talent. You have to take what you can get for reasonable price. Another season of Pete Kozma putting up historically bad offense and run creation in exchange for above average but not elite defense and Daniel Descalso being all around below average is not the optimum strategy.

-- Posted by sideline starter on Sun, Oct 20, 2013, at 11:46 PM
I dint get what all don't like about Drew. We he ever hit .300 or get 20+ homers again no. But he will get on base, hit, hit a little bit for power, steal some bases, and play better defense than Declaso but not as good as Kozma. It seems fair to me

-- Posted by Bunk on Mon, Oct 21, 2013, at 12:38 AM
we got to the WS and a game from it with the current options back to back years.. I'd say let Kozma be your 8 hitter with good defense and spend elsewhere

-- Posted by ThayerPops on Mon, Oct 21, 2013, at 6:47 AM
Spend elsewhere? So don't spend money to improve what was clearly the worst position on the major league club and one of the few spots that needs upgrading and does not have a serviceable future replacement in the minor league system? There is not a spot on the team that more clearly needs to be addressed through free agency. Making it to the playoffs and World Series in spite of the guys playing shortstop is not a valid reason to keep the same guys at that position.

-- Posted by sideline starter on Mon, Oct 21, 2013, at 7:18 AM
Where else do you suggest we spend it? Lock up our young starters? They are all rookies or second year players no decisions to make for the next 3-5 years. Outfield? Shift Craig to RF and Taveras to CF. Pretty affordable option. 3rd base? Lots of shifting with Freese, Wong, and Carpenter until we figure out how good Wong is or if Freese will bounce back. Sounds like a sound strategy. There is no where else to spend the money that would bring back more value than added Drew at SS

-- Posted by Bunk on Mon, Oct 21, 2013, at 7:37 AM
Here is the list of potential FA shortstops for the offseason (the * means the player has an option for 2014):

Alfredo Amezaga

Clint Barmes

Willie Bloomquist

Jamey Carroll *

Alexi Casilla *

Stephen Drew

Yunel Escobar *

Rafael Furcal

Alex Gonzalez

Cesar Izturis

Derek Jeter *

John McDonald

Jhonny Peralta

Brendan Ryan

-- Posted by Jolly Dump on Mon, Oct 21, 2013, at 12:02 PM
Out of that list, only 2 guys interest me. One is Drew and the other if Peralta who just came off his suspension for PEDs.

-- Posted by Jolly Dump on Mon, Oct 21, 2013, at 12:03 PM
Yeah it would be nice to see Boog back I'm taking Drew all day everyday

-- Posted by Bunk on Mon, Oct 21, 2013, at 12:23 PM
Don't laugh but given the list of available players (and provided he's fully recovered from elbow surgery), do you offer a one year deal to Furcal or is the risk too great given his age and injury history since his early 30s?

-- Posted by Grussman on Mon, Oct 21, 2013, at 4:14 PM
You do not offer Furcal a contract ever again

-- Posted by Bunk on Mon, Oct 21, 2013, at 4:22 PM
I mean if you want a bad hitter that is a plus defender, why not sign Brendan Ryan? I think Ryan is a better hitter than Kozma and Ryan couldn't hit water if he fell out of a boat haha.

-- Posted by 7plus1 on Mon, Oct 21, 2013, at 4:35 PM
Ryan is also a better defender than Kozma. I'd rather have Drew just don't see why folks don't want him. Look at that list of competitors at SS

-- Posted by Bunk on Mon, Oct 21, 2013, at 4:45 PM
I don't know, Bunk, maybe there's still some subconscious bad taste in the mouths of Cards Nation with the whole JD Drew thing. If Stephen Drew quits striking out so much and gets hot in the WS people might change their tunes.

7Plus: I don't think Kozma is a worse hitter than Ryan or, if he is, it's not evident from the stats I'm looking at. Have you seen the last two years? Sub-Mendoza line. Yikes.

-- Posted by Grussman on Mon, Oct 21, 2013, at 5:08 PM
I think its the combination of the J.D. Drew and Stephen being related to him and then to add Scott Boras.....that leaves a bad taste in a lot of people's mouths.

-- Posted by Jolly Dump on Mon, Oct 21, 2013, at 5:45 PM
Those are terrible reasons to not want a valuable player

-- Posted by Bunk on Mon, Oct 21, 2013, at 6:05 PM

Respond to this blog

Posting a comment requires free registration:

If you already have an account, follow this link to login
Otherwise, follow this link to register