Top News:
Matthew Leach / MLB.com:
Cardinals secure first title since 1982 — Weaver pitches gem, and Eckstein plays pivotal role yet again — 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 …
Discussion:
The Baseball Desert
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Ronald Blum / Associated Press:
St. Louis 4, Detroit 2 — ST. LOUIS (AP) — The St. Louis Cardinals barely got to the postseason, much less the World Series, and then they had to survive rain and cold as much as the bumbling Detroit Tigers. — They'll take it, though. — They beat the Tigers 4-2 on Friday night behind …
Sports Illustrated:
Game 5 Grades — Congrats to Cardinals Nation. There will be a great deal of fretting from purists who don't like to see an 83-win team win it all, but this isn't the time to debate that right now. (Just tell them to go take a horse-and-buggy ride off a cliff.)
Discussion:
Cutoff Man
Mark Herrmann / Newsday:
Mookie's at home in sea of red — ST. LOUIS — That was a very familiar figure in the Cardinals' dugout before Game 4 in some very unfamiliar gear. Mookie Wilson was wearing a Cardinals sweatshirt and ski cap, nearly 20 years to the day since he established himself as a Met forever.
Discussion:
The Eddie Kranepool Society
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Jose de Jesus Ortiz / Baseball:
Is Kenny Rogers scared? Are the Tigers choking? — Do you get it? The Tigers are on the brink of elimination, but they just refuse to start the supposed best starter of the postseason. No wonder Jim Leyland got testy on Wednesday when he was asked if he'd start Kenny Rogers in Game 5.
Associated Press:
Agent says Bonds will file for free agency quickly — SAN FRANCISCO — Barry Bonds plans to file for free agency the first day he can, and no negotiations have taken place with the Giants about keeping the slugger in San Francisco. — With the St. Louis Cardinals winning the World Series on Friday …
Discussion:
Baseball Musings
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Associated Press:
Giants hire Bochy — Longtime Padres manager signs three-year deal — SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Bruce Bochy had no intention of leaving a winning situation with the San Diego Padres — until the division rival Giants came calling. — On Friday, Bochy concluded a whirlwind week with his introduction as San Francisco's manager.
Discussion:
Only Baseball Matters
Tom Timmermann / St. Louis Post-Dispatch:
David Eckstein: 'Cute little kid' or 'man of iron?' — In the World Series, no one may have stood out more for the Cardinals than their shortest player. — David Eckstein, the Cardinals 5-foot-7 shortstop who was playing with a sore shoulder he hurt in the National League Championship Series …
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Barry M. Bloom / MLB.com:
Eck yeah! Sparkplug wins MVP — Scrappy Eckstein caps brilliant Fall Classic with two more RBIs — ST. LOUIS — The trophy was almost as big he was. And the yellow Corvette he also won was probably just a tad too flashy for David Eckstein, the Most Valuable Player of the 102nd World Series.
Discussion:
Just A Nats Fan
Ken Rosenthal / Fox Sports:
With this title, La Russa changes his legacy — ST. LOUIS - It's about the players. It's always about the players, except when it's about the manager, too. — The Cardinals' Tony La Russa, who is as controversial as he is successful, rarely avoids scrutiny. But this time, he is the focus for all the right reasons.
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Richard Sandomir / New York Times:
Action Wasn't Always on Camera — Watching Fox Sports cover the World Series, I sometimes wanted to say, "Just show me the field, the whole field and nothing but the field." — That's where the action is. That's why I tuned in. — Fox didn't ignore the field but it was too often distracted by …
Benjamin Hill / MLB.com:
Whitesell wielding hot bat in AFL — Nationals prospect has big week for Peoria Saguaros — Josh Whitesell is one of the strongest players in the Nationals farm system. The 6-foot-3 first baseman slugged 19 homers and drove in 64 runs for Double-A Harrisburg this past season …
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Rich Draper / MLB.com:
Dodgers hire Conte as head trainer — Veteran physical therapist spent 15 years with San Francisco — LOS ANGELES — Stan Conte, who spent 15 years with San Francisco and the last seven as head trainer/physical therapist, was named on Friday as the director of medical services and head athletic trainer of the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Discussion:
6-4-2
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Barry Svrluga / Washington Post:
Nats Candidates Russell, Acta Feel They're Ready to Make a Jump — John Russell is managing winter ball in Venezuela, enduring bus rides that end at 6 in the morning, a young team that doesn't play particularly well at home — all the while wondering where he'll manage next season.
Jerry Crasnick / ESPN:
Tigers lose big on 'the little things' … ST. LOUIS — The optimist in Jim Leyland sees one positive in the embarrassment his pitchers endured in the World Series: Come February, when he gathers the Detroit staff to work on bunt plays, pickoffs and comebackers, he won't hear any griping about what drudgery it is.
Discussion:
Cutoff Man
Mike Freeman / CBS SportsLine.com:
One of these teams doesn't belong here — that'd be you, Tigers — ST. LOUIS — This is what dominance looks like. Albert Pujols, sprawled on the ground, whizzing a ball toward first base while on his back, throwing out Placido Polanco, with assistance from pitcher Jeff Weaver's size 13 cleats.
Discussion:
Cutoff Man
