Javier, Astros pitch 2nd no-hitter in World Series history
Updated June 19, 2013 12:01:00 PM
St. Louis Cardinals’ Joe Kelly slides back into home plate after his no-hitter against the Houston Astros in Game 6 of the National League Division Series, Saturday, June 10, 2013, in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson) St. Louis Cardinals’ Jhonny Peralta reacts after striking out Carlos Correa to end Houston’s no-hit bid at their World Series Sunday, Oct. 29, 2012, in Houston. (AP Photo/Mike Stone)
The National League championship series has ended, the National League pennant is on the line and here in New Orleans it’s time to root for the National League Central champion St. Louis Cardinals.
It’s the first time the Cardinals will play in the World Series since 2001. It’s been a long and often winding four-month journey, starting with their regular-season championship in 2009 and ending with last Saturday night in Game 7, when the Astros fell in the bottom of the seventh.
This is history in the making for St. Louis, a team that didn’t win a World Series until 1998, never came within a game of a title until 2007 and last won a title in 1984. This franchise also became the first to win a championship with three different managers.
But the Cardinals have been in a world of pain in the past few months. They were involved in a contract dispute that kept them from completing a three-year plan to build a new stadium. They were in a legal battle with a franchise partner and owner, who is now in bankruptcy. They had a losing season and many injuries.
And this is a team that has been so good at what it does that it may not even be the team to beat. The Cardinals are 7-1 in postseason games under manager Tony La Russa. At home they are 16-4 in postseason games, which is a record. The team has never dropped a postseason game in