Greatest Fans in the World Get Their Wish

It was a night to remember and a series for the ages. It was one of the most combative back and forth efforts in World Series history.

The Rangers came within one strike of a win on two separate occasions in Thursday’s game six. Friday’s game was a different story in itself. Tony LaRussa’s World Series Champions parlayed timely hitting, great pitching from Chris Carpenter and capitalizing on a series of walks and hit batters to put on ice St. Louis’s 11th World Series championship in the teams illustrious history dating back to the Gas House Gang of the 1920’s.

Friday night’s odyssey began for Patch reporters with an incursion into pep rallies at J. Buck’s, Mike Shannon’s and Kiener Plaza.

As television reporters interviewed fans, it became obvious St. Louis was laser-focused on still another championship year. Obviously, throngs in the hundreds of thousands in and out of Busch Stadium were not to be denied winning the Fall Classic once-more.

Patch hunkered down to some big screen watching in the Imo’s Pizza den at the Hilton at the Ballpark hotel. Great Cardinal fans filled every table, nook and cranny, and even set up chairs outside on the patio to watch through plate glass windows.

Another expansive legion of fans watched every ball and strike from the spacious Hilton Sports Bar next door. Private parties were populated by Cardinals fans on every floor. Lines were lengthy catching the elevator to 360 Rooftop Bar.

In the meantime, Charlie Gitto’s, TGIF Friday’s, Calico’s and every other bar and restaurant downtown was crammed with Cardinal’s fans wanting to savor the atmosphere and lacking tickets to the game.

By the seventh inning, Market Street was one massive parking lot of cars wanting to join the pending celebration downtown. Ballpark Village became a makeshift tailgate party for thousands watching the game on televisions on the backs of pickup trucks. It seemed there were as many people outside the ballpark as there were 47,000 strong inside the stadium.

The moment the game ended newspaper vendors were hawking stadium editions of St. Louis Post-Dispatch punctuating the miraculous World Series title. Copies even found there way into grandstands during post-game celebration.

Meanwhile, Dick’s Sporting Goods at West County Center in Des Peres was already selling freshly minted World Series gear as confetti was still raining from the sky.

Obviously the parties were going well past the bewitching hours on Laclede’s Landing, all of downtown, and throughout the metropolitan area.

Patch reporters finally found their way into Busch Stadium to record history of the post-game Major League celebration in the making once again on the hallowed turf of Cardinal Nation.

We hope you enjoy these recollections in photo and video as much as we did producing them.