The St. Louis Cardinals are the World Champs for 2011! They did it the hard way by being a Wild Card team as they didn’t clinch a playoff spot until the last day of the regular season. The Cardinals finished the regular season in second place in the N.L. Central with a 90-72 record, six games behind the Brewers. They had to go through the Phillies, Brewers and Rangers to win it all! Here is a look at the things that stood out to me the most about the Cardinals during the regular season:

TEAM MVP: The Cardinals had co-MVPs in 31-year old righty swinging 1B Albert Pujols and 35-year old switch-hitting outfielder Lance Berkman. Pujols played in 147 games for the Cardinals this year and he was 173 for 579 (.299 avg, .906 OPS) with 105 runs scored, 37 homers, 99 RBIs and 9 stolen bases. Berkman played in 145 games for the Cardinals this year and he was 147 for 488 (.301 avg, .959 OPS) with 90 runs scored, 31 homers, 94 RBIs and 2 stolen bases.

BEST PITCHER: 36-year old righty starting pitcher Chris Carpenter was a workhorse for the Cardinals in 2011. He pitched in 34 games (all starts) for the Cardinals this year and he was 11-9 with a 3.45 ERA and a 1.26 WHIP. Carpenter gave up 243 hits in 237 1/3 innings in 2011, but he limited the damage by whiffing 191 batters and walking only 55 of them.

PLEASANT SURPRISE: 33-year old righty starting Kyle Lohse had a nice bounceback season in 2011. He pitched in 30 games (all starts) for the Cardinals in 2011 and he was 14-8 with a 3.39 ERA and a 1.17 WHIP. Lohse only walked 42 batters in 188 1/3 innings and that limited the damage.

BIGGEST DISAPPOINTMENT: 25-year old lefty swinging CF Colby Rasmus was disappointing the Cardinals, so they dealt him at the trade deadline. The Cardinals got Octavio Dotel, Edwin Jackson and Marc Rzepczynski for Rasmus and they wouldn’t have won the World Series without this deal. Rasmus played in 94 games for the Cardinals this year and he was 83 for 338 (.246 avg, .753 OPS) with 61 runs scored, 11 homers, 40 RBIs and 5 stolen bases.