Wild cards
Thousands come to downtown St. Louis to celebrate title
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Cardinals outfielder So Taguchi rides in a sea of red at Sunday’s championship celebration parade on Seventh Street in downtown St. Louis.
(Photos by LYLE WHITWORTH/Missourian)
ST. LOUIS — The party keeps going for the St. Louis Cardinals, and Tony La Russa suspects some of his younger players may be beyond his reach.
“For those of you who have been on the streets, I am not responsible for Tyler Johnson and Chris Duncan,” the manager joked Sunday. “I just hope they quit celebrating the day before spring training starts in ’07.”
Thousands of fans lined downtown for a parade celebrating the franchise’s first World Series title since 1982. The ballpark was packed, too, just like the regular season, for a rally capped by a daylight fireworks display.
“Awesome,” Albert Pujols said. “I’ve been dreaming of this since I was a little boy.”
The Cardinals sold out the first year at new Busch with total attendance of 3.4 million. General manager Walt Jocketty said at the rally that it looked as if all of them were at the parade.
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Mike Shannon, a former Cardinals player and a current team broadcaster, takes the podium at Busch Stadium on Sunday. The team beat San Diego, New York and Detroit to become champs.
“It’s out of control,” ace pitcher Chris Carpenter said. “I don’t think I’d ever have this feeling. I can’t describe it.”
The Cardinals won their 10th championship Friday, second to the Yankees’ 26 titles.
La Russa said fans should respect the three teams the Cardinals eliminated in the postseason — San Diego, New York and Detroit — then added: “But we do get to celebrate.”
Catcher Yadier Molina was among the young stars who emerged, beating the New York Mets in Game 7 of the NL Championship Series with a ninth-inning, two-run homer.
“I’m just trying to enjoy it now because February is going to come fast,” Molina said. “We’ve got to get ready for next season.”
La Russa had a place of honor in the parade, with his family getting a ride on the Anheuser-Busch beer wagon led by a team of Clydesdales. Since joining Sparky Anderson as the only managers to win a World Series in both leagues it’s been a weekend of honors for La Russa. The 62-year-old manager is signed through next season, and his family can’t see him retiring anytime soon.
“Oh, goodness,” daughter Bianca La Russa said. “I don’t think we could take him around the house all year long. So I’m going to go with at least 10 more years.”