2011 World Series: St. Louis Cardinals and Top 5 Worst World Series Winners

The St. Louis Cardinals won their 11th World Series title on Friday night in yet another Game 7 for a franchise with a long history of Game 7's (1987, 1985, 1982, 1968, 1967, 1964, 1946, 1934, 1931 and 1926).

This one may have been the most improbable.

The Cardinals weren't even expected to be in the playoffs as late as the last day of the regular season.

They made the playoffs, beat the heavily favored Phillies in five games, division rival Brewers in six games and now the heavy-hitting Texas Rangers in seven.

An amazing feat for a team that I consider the third-best in their division.

This was a great run for a Cardinals team, that quite frankly just isn't that good.

They will forever be talked about as one of the worst World Series champions of all-time, but let's take a look and see how they actually stack up against past champions.

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5. 2011 St. Louis Cardinals

Cardinals Lineup

C - Yadier Molina
1B - Albert Pujols
2B - Skip Schumaker
SS - Ryan Theriot
3B - David Freese
LF - Matt Holliday
CF - Colby Rasmus
RF - Lance Berkman

Cardinals Top Pitchers

Chris Carpenter
Fernando Salas
Jason Motte 

Analysis

I originally rated them at No. 3, but the presence of Pujols bumps them up a little.  It's still a very weak team that was a David Freese-strike away from being eliminated.

Amazing job to pull it out, but sometimes the best team doesn't win and the 2011 Cardinals are proof of that.

4. 2002 Anaheim Angels

Angels Lineup

C - Bengie Molina
1B - Scott Spiezio
2B - Adam Kennedy
SS - David Eckstein
3B - Troy Glaus
LF - Garrett Anderson
CF - Darin Erstad
RF - Tim Salmon
DH - Brad Fullmer

Angels Top Pitchers

Ramon Ortiz
Jarrod Washburn
Kevin Appier
John Lackey
Troy Percival
Francisco Rodriguez 

Analysis

Seriously, that's a horrible lineup.  I don't see any player on that list reaching the Hall of Fame.  Some are borderline All-Stars.

Scott Spiezio? Brad Fullmer? I know Spiezio came up with the big three-run home run late in Game 6, but overall that's a weak team.  

Mike Scioscia and the Angels bullpen won this series.  The Giants were actually five outs from winning the series, but the Angels battled back in a dramatic Game 6 (sound familiar?) and then won Game 7. 

3. 1990 Cincinnati Reds

Reds Lineup

C - Joe Oliver
1B - Todd Benzinger
2B - Mariano Duncan
SS - Barry Larkin
3B - Chris Sabo
LF - Billy Hatcher
CF - Eric Davis
RF - Paul O'Neill

Reds Top Pitchers

Jose Rijo
Tom Browning
Rob Dibble
Randy Myers
Norm Charlton 

Analysis

As a Reds fan, this one hurts me much more than it does you, but I can't deny that this was a weak team as far as World Series champions are concerned.

Larkin, Davis and Rijo were great players, and "The Nasty Boys" (Dibble, Myers and Charlton) were dominant, but when comparing the team to other champions, the 1990 Reds fall a little short.  Their 91 regular season wins is comparatively low and star power is lacking.

2. 1988 Los Angeles Dodgers

Dodgers Lineup

C - Mike Scioscia
1B - Franklin Stubbs
2B - Steve Sax
SS - Alfredo Griffin
3B - Jeff Hamilton
LF - Kirk Gibson
CF - John Shelby
RF - Mike Marshall

Dodgers Top Pitchers

Orel Hershiser
Tim Leary
Tim Belcher 

Analysis

It's surprising and perhaps telling that two of the weakest World Series winners in history defeated the Mark McGwire/Jose Canseco-led Oakland A's.

Hershiser was one of the best pitchers of his era and 1988 was his best season.  However, this lineup is terrible.  Sax was okay, Gibson was good, Marshall mediocre.

They put together a great run though and beat the A's in just five games.

1. 2006 St. Louis Cardinals

Cardinals Lineup

C - Yadier Molina
1B - Albert Pujols
2B - Aaron Miles
SS - David Eckstein
3B - Scott Rolen
LF - So Taguchi
CF - Jim Edmonds
RF - Juan Encarnacion

Cardinals Top Pitchers

Chris Carpenter
Adam Wainwright
Jason Isringhausen 

Analysis

The 2006 Cardinals won just 83 games in the regular season.  The NL Central was weak and the Cardinals took advantage of it and then rode their golden opportunity all the way to another World Series title.

So Taguchi and Juan Encarnacion were prominently involved on this team.  Do I need to say anything more?

Wait, one more.  World Series MVP? David Eckstein.

OK, I'm done now.