[rink23]

I need to speak up for my 2006 Cardinals.
Their record and deep team SABR numbers don't speak too highly of them.
On May 29, Memorial Day, they were 33-18, owners of the best record in the National League.
Than, the injuries hit.
Albert Pujols, David Eckstein, Scott Rolen and Jim Edmonds and Jason Isringhausen all missed significant time with injuries
.Edmonds only played in 110 games and Eckstein in 123. Pujols only appeared in 143 when he had never played in fewer than 154 before that.

Izzy blew his hip out some time after the All-Star break and was awful down the stretch eventually being replaced as closer for the postseason by Adam Wainwright.

(Yadier Molina may have as gotten hurt as well, but I cannot confirm it as it was just his second full season as a starter).
The thing is, despite staggering down the stretch, they got healthy.


On the day before the division series started in San Diego,
manager Tony La Russa said, "I looked out on that field and for the first time since Memorial Day, we had Edmonds, Rolen, Eckstein, Pujols and Molina on the field at the same time and Chris Carpenter ready to pitch. I knew than we had a chance."
So it's always miffed me when people automatically call this Cardinals team the worst World Series champion of the 21st century or of all time.
Sure, they probably were not as good as their own 2004 and 2005 teams, but those were probably two of the best of the Cardinals teams of all time

They just got run over by a freight train in the 2004 Red Sox and ran into a red-hot Roy Oswalt in 2005.
I'd take the 2006 Cards over any number of teams, including the 2002 Angels, the 2005 White Sox, 2015 Royals and maybe some of the Giants teams.

Just had to state my case for my team.