This article first appeared in the St. Louis Beacon, Oct. 29, 2011 - Outside Busch Stadium Friday night, World Series revelers scrambled up the bronze statue of Stan Musial like a conquering army laying claim to a new world.
Strangers high-fived as they eased past one another on red-choked sidewalks, as the party spilled out of the stadium and into the streets of downtown St. Louis.
Fans hung out of car windows yelling at anyone who looked their way, and drivers made music with their horns.
Honk if you're a Cardinals fan!
Honk if you're happy!
Honk if you still can't believe it!
Hoooooooooonk!
In Dallas Friday night, the online edition of the Dallas Morning News summed up the Texas Rangers loss in Game 7 in two words: "Destiny Denied."
But in St. Louis, the Post-Dispatch's souvenir stadium edition used just one to describe the Cardinals win: "WOW!"
The Comeback Cards -- no, make that the Champion Cards -- completed their improbable postseason run with a 6-2 victory credited to ace Chris Carpenter.
As the team rollicked on the field, the fans partied with them, inside the stadium and outside. Fans like 22-year-old Travis Weihermuller of Williamsport, Pa., who dropped everything to be part of it.
After watching the TV broadcast of the Cards' come-from-behind extra-inning 10-9 win in Game 6, Weihermuller searched the Internet for his ticket to baseball heaven. Never mind that his seat high above the right field corner cost $500, or that his plane fare was $600. Weihermuller threw some clothes in a backpack in the wee hours Friday morning, drove to Harrisburg for a flight to Philadelphia and then to St. Louis -- all to attend his first Cardinals game.
"And it was a good one," he said, as the on-field trophy ceremonies concluded and fans slowly made their way back to ground level, their spirits still in the clouds.
Weihermuller said he has been a diehard Cardinals fan since he was 5, though he had never been to St. Louis before Friday and his family isn't from here. When he gets back home he might find that he has lost his second job -- part-time work as a waiter -- because his phone was dead and he hadn't been able to find someone to take his Saturday shift. But Weihermuller said that it was time to start concentrating on his web design business anyway.
"You've got to live a little," he said, acknowledging that he had played out a whim after watching Game 6, a back-and-forth epic that many are calling the greatest World Series game ever played.
"They had their backs to the wall, but every single time they came back. You have to be a part of that," Weihermuller said.
Most loyal members of Cardinal Nation will admit that they didn't see much Destiny during the dog days of late August when the Redbirds were 10.5 games behind the Atlanta Braves in the National League wild card race. They expected a quiet end to a season rocked by disappointment and injuries, starting with the loss of pitcher Adam Wainwright to elbow surgery before spring training even got going.
But then it began -- the wild, crazy ride of the underbirds. Through the postseason they went, picking up believers as they pushed ever forward.
They snatched the wild card spot from Atlanta and then stunned the baseball world by besting Philadelphia in the division series and Milwaukee for their 18th National League pennant.
"Unbelievable,'' said Karen Ainsworth of St. Louis, summing up what most fans were thinking as red, white and blue confetti swirled in the air, and fireworks circled the stadium. "Never say never."
She cheered extra loud as third baseman David Freese, who grew up in Wildwood, was crowned Most Valuable Player of the Series and given the keys to a black Corvette.
"And to be a hometown boy, how exciting for him," Ainsworth said.
While fans lauded the team for dedication and resiliency, Cards players interviewed on the field acknowledged their fans. Manager Tony La Russa cited a late season game against the Cubs that he said turned the tide when the fans wouldn't let a one-run deficit keep them down. They began to cheer, and the Cards went on to win the game.
"This is for you, fans," La Russa said. "Thank you very much."
Cardinals general manager John Mozeliak said, "When you play in a city like this, where we have the greatest fans in the world, they come out every day and they allowed us to do what we did this year. So I thank all of them and all our employees, because without them, we're not standing here."
For Cardinals fans, who represented the boisterous majority of the 47,000-plus crowd that filled every seat and nook and cranny of the stadium, Game 7 was an experience that will be savored even more because they were in the house.
Patrick Callanan, 55, of Fort Scott, Kan., paid $500 each for three standing room only tickets so he could be there with his two sons who flew in from San Diego for the series. After watching Game 6 from the bleachers Thursday night, they were determined to witness the team clinch.
"That was the greatest World Series game ever played, and to be part of that is amazing," Callanan said.
Andy Robinson, 34, of Ashgrove, Mo., said he turned down an offer of $1,000 for his two standing room only tickets. Though he's had several knee surgeries, he was willing to tough out hours on his feet, so he could watch sports history with his 12-year-old son Caleb at his side.
Count Robinson among those who never expected to see a World Series in St. Louis in 2011.
"I gave up,'' he said. "Caleb didn't."
