The 2006 World Series was the championship series of Major League Baseball's (MLB) 2006 season. The 102nd edition of the World Series, it was a best-of-seven playoff between the American League (AL) champion Detroit Tigers and the National League (NL) champion St. Louis Cardinals; the Cardinals won the series in five games to win their tenth World Series championship, becoming the first National League team to win ten or more championships and the second in MLB overall, joining the New York Yankees. This was the third World Series matchup between the Tigers and Cardinals, the first in 38 years. The Cardinals won the first in , and the Tigers won the second in ; each went the full seven games.

It was only the fifth time in 40 years that the Series featured two teams that had both remained in the same city since the formation of the AL in 1901, the last time being the 2004 World Series between St. Louis and the Boston Red Sox. The last three prior to 2004 were in (Boston–Cincinnati), 1968 (Detroit–St. Louis) and (Boston–St. Louis).

The Cardinals, who moved into Busch Stadium III in April, became the fourth team to win the Series in their home stadium's debut season, joining the Pittsburgh Pirates (Forbes Field), Boston Red Sox (Fenway Park) and New York Yankees (Yankee Stadium I). In 2009, they would be joined by the New York Yankees (Yankee Stadium II). With this win, the Cardinals would join the Yankees on becoming only the second team in MLB history to win 10 World Series Championships. It also marked the franchise's first championship since . Cardinals manager Tony La Russa, who won the 1989 World Series title with the Athletics, became the second manager in history to lead teams in both leagues to championships, joining Sparky Anderson. Tigers manager Jim Leyland, who won the 1997 World Series title with the Marlins, also could have become the second manager in history to lead teams in both leagues to championships, had the Tigers won the series.

The Cardinals finished the regular season 83–78, which was the second-worst record ever for a league champion (the 1973 New York Mets finished 82–79) and the worst record ever for a World Series champion. Previously, the 1987 Minnesota Twins finished 85–77 and defeated that year's Cardinals team in the 1987 World Series.The 10 Worst MLB Teams Ever to Win the World Series , Bleachreport

This World Series would be the last time until 2023 in which both teams failed to make the next season's playoffs.

Background

A pair of battered ballclubs Since Interleague Play began in 1997, this marked the third time a World Series would be a rematch of the regular season. The Tigers swept the Cardinals in three games at Comerica Park from June 23–25.

Neither team was given much chance to advance far into October by many baseball pundits. Both teams stumbled through the second halves of their seasons. The Tigers, only three years removed from having the most losses in a season by an AL team and enjoying their first successful season after 12 years of futility, surprised the baseball world by building a ten-game lead in the American League Central, but eventually the lead evaporated in the final months and they lost the division to the Minnesota Twins on the last day of the season after being swept by the last-place Kansas City Royals at home, settling for a playoff berth as the AL Wild Card. The Cardinals held a seven-game advantage in the National League Central over the Cincinnati Reds and an -game lead over the Houston Astros with just two weeks to play. However, the combination of a seven-game losing streak by St. Louis and an eight-game winning streak by the Astros (highlighted by a four-game sweep of the Cardinals in Houston) caused the Cardinals' lead to shrink to half a game with only a few games left. However, the Cardinals held on to clinch the division after an Astros' loss to the Atlanta Braves on the last day of the season.

Thus, both the Tigers and Cardinals were clear underdogs in their matches, against the New York Yankees and San Diego Padres, respectively. The Tigers' pitching took care of the vaunted Yankees lineup, and won their series 3–1. The Cardinals also won their series 3–1, including the first two games in San Diego. The Tigers then swept the Oakland Athletics in the ALCS, winning game four on a three-run walk-off home run by Magglio Ordóñez in the bottom of the ninth. The Cardinals won their series against the New York Mets with the help of a ninth-inning home run by Yadier Molina in a tense Game 7.

The Tigers had home-field advantage in the Series, due to the AL's 3–2 win over the NL in the All-Star Game on July 11 at PNC Park in Pittsburgh. These two teams had already played against each other in a three-game series in June 2006, where the Tigers swept the Cardinals 3–0 in Detroit, part of an eight-game Cardinals losing streak. This was the first time since 2000 that teams meeting during the regular season met again in the World Series.

The Series marked the third time in a row that both teams sought to win a championship after at least a 20-year drought. In 2004, the Boston Red Sox ended their 86-year hiatus by defeating the Cardinals; in 2005 the Chicago White Sox ended an 88-year drought by defeating the Houston Astros, who were competing in their first World Series after 43 seasons. The Tigers had not appeared in the World Series since winning it in 1984. The Cardinals last won in 1982, losing three times since then, in 1985, 1987, and 2004.

The Tigers were the eighth wild card team to compete in the World Series since MLB introduced the wild card in 1994. A wild-card team participated in the Series from 2002 to 2007.

Riding the momentum they built up during their surprisingly easy ALDS and ALCS victories, Detroit entered the Series as a prohibitive favorite. Bob Nightengale of USA Today expressed popular sentiment when he wrote "Tigers in three".

Two veteran managers return to postseason play St. Louis' manager Tony La Russa joined his mentor, Sparky Anderson, as only the second manager to win the World Series with teams in both leagues. La Russa won in with the Athletics. Coincidentally, Anderson first accomplished the feat by managing Detroit to their previous championship in 1984. He was chosen to throw out the ceremonial first pitch before Game 2. If the Tigers had defeated the Cardinals, Jim Leyland would have joined Anderson for this feat instead of LaRussa as he had already won the 1997 World Series with the Florida Marlins. When he came to St. Louis, La Russa wore number 10 to symbolize the team's drive to their 10th championship and pay tribute to Anderson, who wore number 10 while manager of the Cincinnati Reds. After winning the championship, he chose to continue wearing number 10 to pay tribute to Anderson.

Jim Leyland is the seventh manager to win pennants in both leagues. The previous six are Joe McCarthy (1929 Cubs and the Yankees of 1932, 1936–39 and 1941–43), Yogi Berra (1964 Yankees, 1973 Mets), Alvin Dark (1962 Giants, 1974 A's), Sparky Anderson (1970, 1972, 1975–76 Reds, 1984 Tigers), Dick Williams (1967 Red Sox, 1972–73 A's, 1984 Padres), and Tony La Russa (1988–90 A's, 2004, 2006 Cardinals).

Additionally, the opposing managers are close friends. Leyland was La Russa's third base coach for the Chicago White Sox in the early 1980s. Leyland also served as a Pittsburgh-based advance scout for the Cardinals before he was hired by the Tigers.

This was the first World Series in 22 years to have two previous World Series-winning managers facing each other, but at the helms of new teams. As previously mentioned, Leyland previously won the 1997 World Series with the Florida Marlins, and La Russa won the 1989 World Series with the Oakland Athletics. Overall, it was the first World Series since to have two previous Series-winning managers facing each other.

Summary

†: Game 4 was postponed due to rain on October 25, forcing Game 5 to be subsequently pushed back a day as well.

Matchups

Game 1

Two rookies faced off in Game 1 for the first time in history: Anthony Reyes for St. Louis and Justin Verlander for Detroit. It looked like the Tigers were going to get to Reyes early in the bottom of the first, when Craig Monroe doubled and Magglio Ordóñez walked. Carlos Guillén singled Monroe in, giving the Tigers a 1–0 lead. However, in the top of the second, Scott Rolen hit a long home run to left field, tying the score at 1–1. Rolen was 0-for-15 in his career in the World Series before hitting the home run. The previous mark had been 0-for-13, set by Benny Kauff of the New York Giants in the 1917 World Series. In the third inning, St. Louis broke through, first when Chris Duncan's RBI double scored Yadier Molina to give the Cardinals the lead. On Verlander's next pitch, 2005 National League MVP Albert Pujols hit a two-run home run, punishing the rookie who elected to pitch to the dangerous Pujols, rather than walk him with first base open and two outs and pitch to Jim Edmonds.

Meanwhile, Anthony Reyes pitched well. The pitcher who had the fewest regular season wins of a Game 1 World Series starter (5) at one point retired 17 in a row from the first inning to the sixth inning, a World Series record for a rookie. The previous record was thirteen (John Stuper, STL, 1982, and Dickey Kerr, CHW, 1919). Reyes' final line was eight-plus innings, four hits, two runs, and four strikeouts. The Cards took advantage of Detroit's mistakes again in the sixth. Pujols walked, and advanced to third when Verlander's attempted pickoff was thrown for an error and went into the right-field foul area. Jim Edmonds's single scored Pujols and a Scott Rolen ground rule double put runners on second and third and ended Verlander's night in favor of reliever Jason Grilli. Detroit made more mistakes when Brandon Inge made two errors in one play. Grilli induced Juan Encarnacion to ground to third. Inge threw to home wild, which allowed Edmonds to score, and then obstructed Scott Rolen, who was attempting to run home on the wild throw, to score another run and allow Encarnacion to reach second. Craig Monroe hit a home run off Reyes in the bottom of the ninth, which led to Reyes being pulled from the game, as Braden Looper came in to finish the game. The final score was 7–2 Cardinals, marking the first time since 2003 that the National League had won a World Series game, and the first World Series game won by St. Louis since Game 5 of the 1987 World Series.

Game 2

Before the game's start, John Mellencamp and Little Big Town performed "Our Country". With a starting temperature of , controversy surrounded the start of Game 2 when Tigers starting pitcher Kenny Rogers was found to have a substance on a patch of the palm of his pitching hand during the first inning. Although Cardinals hitters claimed that the ball was doing "weird things" in the first inning, Cardinals manager Tony La Russa did not request an inspection of Rogers' hand to determine what the substance was. Rogers claimed it was a combination of dirt and rosin (both legal), but complied with a request from the umpires to wash his hands before the second inning.