Top News:
Tyler Kepner / New York Times:
Cardinals Paint Crown Red — The fans here are patient. They are adoring and savvy and upbeat, too, but mostly patient. They waited nearly a quarter-century for Friday night, through steamy summers and frustrating autumns. They waited until a wind-whipped, frigid night in the heartland …
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Sam Borden / NY Daily News:
Sheff suitors just tune out Sheff — ST. LOUIS - Gary Sheffield's harsh comments about a potential trade apparently haven't dissuaded teams from inquiring about the Yankees slugger. The Astros and Indians, according to sources, recently have made it known they would be interested …
Discussion:
MLB Trade Rumors
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
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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Steve Henson / Los Angeles Times:
Ex-Giants trainer goes to Dodgers — With no relation to BALCO's Conte and strong ties to Colletti, he takes over team's medical programs. — Stan Conte, who resigned less than two weeks ago as the San Francisco Giants' trainer, was hired by the Dodgers on Friday in an expanded position …
Barry M. Bloom / MLB.com:
Bonds to file for free agency — Slugger plans to put in paperwork after the World Series — ST. LOUIS — Barry Bonds will file for free agency as soon as the period opens at midnight a day after the end of the World Series, his agent said on Friday when reached via telephone in Los Angeles.
Discussion:
Dodger Thoughts
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 …
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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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
Denver Post:
Give Eckstein credit where credit's due — St. Louis - David Eckstein is great for the Cardinals, but bad for baseball. — Because of Eckstein, too many teams believe every player like him - read "undersized" - will be the exception to the rule. — The Rockies felt that way about Aaron Miles …
Discussion:
Lone Star Ball
Ray Sánchez / Newsday:
Cano wants to play — Robinson Cano caught Game 4 of the World Series on television the other night, but he wasn't exactly fascinated. — "I'm not interested," he said Friday. "I'd rather spend time with my family than watch the games. We should be playing in the World Series right now."
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