The last time St. Louis Cardinals all-world hitter Albert Pujols saw Detroit manager Jim Leyland was in late June.
It was family day for the Tigers’ players.
“And I went to left field to take a couple of pitches from the kids of players,” Pujols recalled.
He spotted Leyland, whom he met when the manager was taking his six-year managing sabbatical and doing some scouting for the Cardinals.
“I gave him a hug and told him the next time I want to see you is in the World Series,” Pujols said.
Back then, that seemed improbable. Not from the Tigers’ end–they were rolling through June and in the midst of the run that took them to 40 games over .500. But from the Cardinals’ end it looked bleak.
When St. Louis arrived June 23, it had just been swept in Chicago by the White Sox. By the time they left Detroit, they’d lost six in a row, and few envisioned this team playing in late October.
The Cardinals earned a spot in the World Series with the second fewest victories ever–83. They almost blew their division lead over the Houston Astros as they lost seven straight and 10 out of 14 down the stretch.
But then, like the Tigers, they got hot in the playoffs, taking out the San Diego Padres three games to one in the National League Division Series and the favored New York Mets in a seven-game National League Championship Series.
“We were a real good team a lot,” said Cardinals manager Tony La Russa, “and we were not good way too often.”
Even so, La Russa and other Cardinals brass thought their team could get to the postseason and be a tough out.
“I think we’re a dangerous club to compete,” he said, “We have a core of position players that play the whole game. We’ve got some starting pitching. We’ve got a bullpen.”
In fact, they have much of what the Tigers have–skeptics, a late-season swoon, a dominant manager.
St. Louis arrived in Detroit after squeaking by the Mets late Thursday night in a Game 7 showdown. They didn’t have time to sleep. They didn’t have time to set up their pitching rotation.
Does it matter?
“I don’t know, I don’t care,” said Cardinals closer Adam Wainwright. “I’m just glad to be here. We’ve been the underdog in every series. So why change it now?”
Besides, he added, “it’s an honor just to be in the World Series.”
The last time St. Louis stepped into Comerica Park they caught a surprising team rolling through the summer.
“They were hitting real good when we came to town,” Pujols said Friday.
The difference now is that the Cardinals are rolling too.
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“They’re very sound,” La Russa said of the Tigers, “and they are going to be a handful. But I think we can compete against them.”
He paused for a moment.
And continued.
“I know we can compete against them.”