With November in the rearview, the seemingly annual Cardinal “hunt for red October” has come to a close in a way many St. Louis fans feared the most: defeat in the World Series.
Pitifully bad hitting, especially with runners in scoring position led to 4-2 series loss to the (bearded) Boston Red Sox.
Red Sox had dominant pitching throughout the series and consistent bats in clutch moments, making them clearly more deserving of the 2013 title. It didn’t hurt that World Series MVP David Ortiz had one of the most dominant hitting performances the World Series has ever seen.
His .688 BA and .760 OBP were both the 2nd best posted in their category in World Series history.
On top of that, the Red Sox outscored the Cardinals 27-14, controlling them from the batters box throughout the series.
Aside from Carlos Beltran and Yadier Molina, it hardly seemed like the Cardinals even wanted to hit the ball this series.
Not only was the Cardinal’s hitting unbearable, so was their defensive play. The Cardinals had three errors in the first game alone, which got the series off to a very poor start, and it really hurt their confidence as the series progressed.
Another factor that hurt the Cardinals was poor base running. Must I remind you of Kolten Wong coming in to pinch run and getting picked off? Not to mention it was to end the game with the Cardinals only hope in Carlos Beltran at the plate.
Boston also had something to play for. St. Louis makes a run at the series almost every year. This year, following the Boston Marathon Bombings, the Sox sported the “Boston Strong” logo on their sleeves. They sure looked strong this World Series, and it was a humongous victory for the entire city.
With Boston clearly the deserving victor in this year’s World Series, Cardinals fans who ignorantly and blindly testify that the whole world was against the Cardinals in this series and they lost controversially, need to zip it. If the Cardinals were really the best and most deserving team they would have showed it out on the field instead of fielding the ball horribly, and committing an ungodly amount of errors.
With this season over, Cardinal fans will just have to prepare for the next “hunt for read October” because this October truly was “Boston Strong.”
