The 2006 St. Louis Cardinals came into this season after losing to the Houston Astros in the NLCS last year and to the Boston Red Sox in the World Series the year before. They looked to be headed straight back to the postseason after a red hot start in May. However, this year would not be as easy for the Redbirds as it had been in years past.

St. Louis would never relinquish the lead in the National League Central, but injuries to starter Mark Mulder, closer Jason Isringhausen, Gold Glove center-fielder Jim Edmonds, and the spark plug of the offense, shortstop David Eckstein, made the race in the closing month a lot closer than it should have been.

The Cardinals finished with an 83-78 record, clinching the division on the final day of the season when the red hot Astros, who had won seven straight games while St. Louis dropped seven straight, were defeated by the Atlanta Braves. Many saw the struggling Redbirds as lucky to even be in the playoffs, but all St. Louis could have asked for was a chance, and they got it.

Round one was a rematch of last year’s NLDS with the San Diego Padres. Edmonds and Eckstein were back to strengthen the lineup, and from game one on, the Cards looked like the team that everyone had known them to be. Using their formula for success—strong pitching and great defense, a combination that allowed St. Louis to eclipse the 100-win mark each of the previous three seasons­—the Redbirds looked sharp and full of passion for the first time in months.

Chris Carpenter and the Cardinals cruised to a game one victory behind a towering blast from Pujols. Jeff Weaver had a strong performance in game two, and backed by a bullpen that impressed everyone who saw them work, the Cardinals won again as the series shifted back to St. Louis.

The Cards lost game three, though Jeff Suppan pitched well, sending ace Chris Carpenter back on the mound in game four. Carpenter struggled early, but the Cardinals came back to tie and then take the lead, never looking back. With the victory, the Cards headed to New York for the NLDS where their next task was the Mets, who had cruised through the regular season.

Once again, the Cards prepared to do battle as everyone outside of St. Louis expected a slaughter.

The Redbirds hung tough though, and with the series tied at three games apiece, a game seven was needed to decide the outcome of this series, and it was one for the ages.

Jeff Suppan pitched the game of his life, shrugging off an amazing catch by Endy Chavez robbing Scott Rolen of a home run, getting out of countless jams, and holding the powerful New York lineup to one run through eight innings.

Yadier Molina stepped to the plate with one on in the top of the ninth, and on the first pitch he saw, launched a two-run bomb deep into the New York night as Cardinals fans prayed that this ball would be out of the reach of Chavez. The homer gave the Cards the lead as St. Louis was now three outs away from the World Series.

Though he got into some trouble allowing two singles and a walk to start the inning, Adam Wainwright needed only one more out. The problem was that with the bases loaded and Cardinal killer Carlos Beltran at the plate, only fitting for the type of year St. Louis had gone through, it would not be an easy one. Wainwright shook off the pressure, and broke off a devastating curveball to strikeout Beltran, end the game, and send St. Louis to the World Series for the second time in three years.

So the St. Louis Cardinals were back in the Series and would do battle with the Detroit Tigers, who had been off for a week after sweeping the Oakland A’s in the ALCS. Once again, the critics picked the Cardinals to go down, and hard, especially with rookie Anthony Reyes taking the ball in game one.

Reyes pitched eight innings of two-run ball while the Cards scored seven, showing the rest of the world that they were no joke. A tough loss in game two, in which the Redbirds fell just short of a comeback in the ninth inning, sent the series to St. Louis for game three.

Chris Carpenter was tremendous, pitching a complete game shutout behind five runs of support from his team, leaving Detroit Manager Jim Leyland to say, “We could have played two more innings, and we wouldn’t have scored off Carpenter.”

Eckstein earned the respect of many, and ultimately won the MVP, after going four for five in game four—including the game-winning hit past the outstretched arms of Tigers outfielder Craig Monroe—and then driving in two more runs while scoring one of his own in the decisive game five, both Cardinal wins. Jeff Weaver pitched brilliantly holding Detroit to two runs, bringing us back to Wainwright, who sealed the deal in the ninth and made the St. Louis Cardinals the 2006 World Series Champions.