Skip to main content

The Cardinals are going to the World Series again. Get used to it

Young stars like NLCS MVP Michael Wacha have St. Louis in its fourth World Series since 2004.

Young stars like NLCS MVP Michael Wacha have St. Louis in its fourth World Series since 2004.

You are reading your 1 Of 4 free premium articles

• There is still hope for the Tigers. The theory still holds true that as strikeouts rise in baseball the teams that are best at avoiding them thrive in the postseason. The Cardinals' hitters ranked 14th -- next to last -- in the NL in strikeouts. Here are the league rankings in strikeouts for the past nine World Series teams: 14, 15, 9, 16, 14, 12, 11, 13, 9. Meanwhile, with Atlanta, Pittsburgh, Cincinnati and Cleveland bowing out, teams that finished in the top five in strikeouts over the past four years are 4-13 in postseason series. Boston ranked fourth this year. Detroit ranked 13th.