The Cardinals won a remarkable World Series they weren’t even supposed to reach. They beat the Texas Rangers 6-2 in Game 7 on Friday night, October 28, with another key hit by hometown star David Freese and six gutty innings from Chris Carpenter. A day after an epic Game 6 that saw them twice within one strike of elimination before winning 10-9 in the 11th inning, the Cardinals captured their 11th World Series crown. Freese is shown here lifting the World Series MVP trophy.

Following a whole fall on the edge, including a surge from 10 ½ games down in the wild-card race, Tony La Russa’s team didn’t dare mess with Texas, or any more drama in baseball’s first World Series Game 7 since the Angels beat Giants in 2002.

Freese, the MVP of the NLCS, was the Series MVP as well. “This whole ride, this team deserves this. This organization is top notch. … This is definitely a dream come true,” Freese said. “This is why you keep battling. I’m so glad to be a part of this.”

Freese’s two-run double tied it in the first and good-luck charm Allen Craig hit a go-ahead homer in the third. Picked by La Russa earlier in the day to start on short rest, Carpenter and the tireless St. Louis bullpen closed it out. Craig said, “I wish everybody in the country could get to know these guys. I’m just glad to be a part of it.”

This marked the ninth straight time the home team had won Game 7 in the World Series. The wild-card Cardinals held that advantage over the AL West champions because the NL won the All-Star game – Texas could blame that on their own pitcher, C.J. Wilson, who took the loss in July. The Rangers, meanwhile, will spend the whole winter wondering how it all got away. Texas might dwell on it for ever, in fact, at least until Nolan Ryan & Co. can reverse a World Series slide that started with last year’s five-game wipeout against San Francisco.

Texas had not lost consecutive games since last August. These two defeats at Busch Stadium cost manager Ron Washington, pictured here, and the Rangers a chance to win their first title in the franchise’s 51-year history.

A year full of inspiring rallies and epic collapses was encapsulated in Game 6. Freese was the star, with a tying triple in the ninth and a winning home run in the 11th. His two RBIs in the clincher gave him a postseason record 21.

The Cardinals won their first championship since 2006, and gave La Russa his third World Series title. They got there by beating Philadelphia in the first round of the NL playoffs, capped by Carpenter outdueling Roy Halladay 1-0 in the deciding Game 5, and then topping Milwaukee in the NL championship series.

Carpenter is pictured here delivering to the Texas leadoff hitter Ian Kinsler in the first inning. Pitching on three days’ rest, the veteran right-hander earned the win with six innings of two-run ball.

By the time Yadier Molina drew a bases-loaded walk from starter Matt Harrison and Rafael Furcal was hit by a pitch from Wilson in relief, the crowd began to sense a championship was near.

The Cardinals improved to 8-3 in Game 7’s of the Series, more wins than any other club. Yet St. Louis fans know their history well, and were aware this game could go either way – Dizzy Dean and the Gas House Gang won 11-0 in 1934, but Whitey Herzog and his Cardinals lost 11-0 in 1985. On this evening, though, all the stars aligned.

Starting in place of injured Matt Holliday, Craig hit his third homer of the Series and made a leaping catch at the top of the left field wall. Molina made another strong throw to nail a stray runner. And Carpenter steeled himself to pitch into the seventh, every bit an ace.

Albert Pujols went 0 for 2, walked and was hit by a pitch in what could have been his last game with the Cardinals. Many think, however, the soon-to-be free agent will remain in St. Louis. Either way, he provided an image that will certainly last a long time in this town. As he scored on Freese’s double, Pujols thrust both arms high in the air as he reached the plate.

Besides, Pujols already had done enough damage. His three-homer in Game 3 was the signature performance of his career and perhaps the greatest hitting show in postseason history.

Dismissed by some as a dull Series even before it began, because it lacked the big-market glamour teams, it got better inning by inning. Craig hit a solo home run in the third inning, an opposite-field fly to right, that carried into the Cardinals bullpen, and got their relievers dancing. The super-sub put St. Louis ahead 3-2 with his third homer of the Series. He was in the lineup only because Holliday sprained his right wrist on a pickoff play a night earlier.

By then, the largest crowd at 6-year-old Busch Stadium was buzzing. The fans seemed a bit drained much earlier, maybe worn out from the previous night. They grew hush in the first when Hamilton and Michael Young hit consecutive RBI doubles. Texas might have gotten more, but Ian Kinsler strayed too far off first base and was trapped by Molina’s rocket throw.

Freese changed the mood in a hurry as St. Louis tied it in the bottom half. Pujols and Lance Berkman drew two-out walks and pitching coach Mike Maddux trotted to the mound while Freese stepped in to a standing ovation.

Freese rewarded his family and a ballpark full of new friends by lining a full-count floater to the wall in left center for a two-run double. Pujols raised both arms as he crossed the plate – another frozen moment, courtesy of Freese. Harrison was in trouble, and Wilson began warming up after only 23 pitches.

Carpenter wasn’t sharp at the outset, either. All over the strike zone, he started seven of the first 10 batters with balls. Pitching Coach Dave Duncan made a visit in the second to check on the tall right-hander, lingering for a few extra words.

“I was hoping to have an opportunity to pitch in that game,” said Carpenter. “It started off a little rough in the first. But I was able to collect myself, make some pitches, and our guys did an awesome job to battle back. It’s just amazing.”

But after what unfolded in most dramatic fashion late Thursday night, October 27, a new Game 6 was added to the list. “It was as great a game as the sport has ever witnessed, rivaling the Carlton Fisk homer in Game 6 of the 1975 Series and Bill Buckner’s error in Game 6 of the 1986 Series,” wrote Ben Walker of AP.

In a contest that seems destined to take its place as one of the most iconic in the 107-year history of the World Series, the St. Louis Cardinals – down to their last strike of the season in two separate innings – fought their way back to defeat the Texas Rangers, 10-9, in 11 innings.

Not only did the Cardinals face their potential final strike of the season twice, but they also had to rally from two-run deficits twice after the eighth inning, winning a classic game in what has developed into a classic World Series. “What happened today,” Cardinals Manager Tony La Russa said, “I just think you had to be here to believe it.”

The local hero David Freese, a 28-year-old third baseman who grew up outside St. Louis as a devoted Cardinals fan, had the two decisive blows. With the Cardinals trailing, 7-5, with two outs in the ninth inning, he hit a game-tying, two-run triple off Rangers closer Neftali Feliz with two strikes against him that came within inches of being the final out of a Rangers World Series victory.

Then, leading off the 11th, Freese struck the winning home run off Mark Lowe to straightaway center field, igniting a wild celebration in the stands and at home plate as the Cardinals came roaring out of the dugout to mob their teammate. They tore the shirt from his back, the left half of which was sent to the Baseball Hall of Fame along with his black Louisville Slugger Adirondack bat.

If there was a way to send the entire game, along with 47,325 stunned and delirious fans to Cooperstown, it might have been appropriate. To Freese, it all reminded him of a game-ending home run Jim Edmonds hit in the 2004 playoffs.

“This is better than the three home runs I hit the other day,” the Cardinals’ Albert Pujols said. “It’s unbelievable. This is what it’s all about. But we’ve got one more, and hopefully we can finish it up tomorrow.”

For the Rangers, it will be a daunting task to recover from this. “Part of me is frustrated,” Texas outfielder David Murphy said. “Part of me says that’s the best game I’ve ever been a part of. I don’t exactly know how to describe that game. But it didn’t end the way we wanted, and tomorrow’s Game 7. That’s all there is to think about.”

Twenty-four hours might not be enough time to digest everything that took place in Game 6, when some sloppy defense in the early innings was replaced by amazing theatrics in the later innings, when pitchers hit, when starting pitchers relieved, and when dramatic home runs seemed to have decided the game more than once only to be reversed by some other improbable outcome.

With the score tied, 4-4, the Rangers took the lead with three runs in the seventh inning on back-to-back home runs by Adrian Beltre and Nelson Cruz. Cruz, shown here, hit a solo homer but left the game later with a strained right groin muscle. Derek Holland, normally a starting pitcher, came on in relief and scored the third run of the inning on a hit by Ian Kinsler.

The Cardinals got one run back on Allen Craig’s home run in the eighth, but trailed by two runs in the ninth. With Feliz on the mound and one out, Pujols doubled and Lance Berkman walked before Feliz struck out Craig. That brought Freese to the plate only four innings after he had let an easy pop-up fall out of his glove for an error that would lead to a Texas run. It was one of five errors in the game.

In the ninth, Freese had two strikes against him and Rangers players were, for the first time, prepared to rush out of the dugout and celebrate. But Freese lashed a ball on a line to deep right field that eluded Cruz’s glove by perhaps a foot. It bounced off the wall as the fans jumped and screamed in delight. Pujols and Berkman scored and the game was suddenly tied.

Then in the top of the 10th, the Rangers seemed to take another commanding lead. The hobbling Josh Hamilton, who has been saddled with a strained groin all postseason, hit a two-run homer, his first home run since Sept. 23, to right field off Cardinals closer Jason Motte.

Trailing by two runs again heading into the bottom of the 10th, the Cardinals were facing the veteran lefty Darren Oliver. Daniel Descalso singled to right field and John Jay reached base on a bloop hit. The starting pitcher Kyle Lohse pinch-hit and moved the runners over with a sacrifice bunt, so Rangers Manager Ron Washington pulled Oliver for the right-hander Scott Feldman, who got Ryan Theriot to hit into a force out to third base. Descalso scored on the play to bring St. Louis within a run.

The Rangers then walked Pujols intentionally, which brought up Berkman, who had hit a two-run homer in the first inning. Berkman produced again, driving a pitch into center field to score Jay with the tying run…again.

Feldman then got Craig to ground out to third to end the 10th, but this time the Rangers could not add runs in the top of the 11th. In the bottom half, Mark Lowe came in to face Freese, who, as a child, pretended to play in World Series games for the Cardinals. On a 3-2 pitch, he made his dream a reality. Teammates shown here celebrate after Freese hit a walk-off home run.

The Rangers, twice a strike away, walked quietly off the field, much as the Red Sox did after Game 6 in 1986. Boston lost that Series. “It’s not easy to win a championship,” said Washington, “as we found out tonight.”

Just like last year, the Rangers trail 2-1 in the best-of-seven championship. Only last season, they gritted out a morale-boosting 4-2 win over San Francisco in Game 3 before losing two in a row. “It was just one of those days,” Oliver said. “Every game is a must-win. We didn’t get it done today, need a win tomorrow. There’s no doubt.”

Two days after being criticized for his silence following a crucial ninth-inning error in Game 2, Pujols did the talking with his bat. The three-time NL MVP turned on a 96 mph pitch from Ogando in the sixth for a 423-foot, three-run homer that clanked off the facing above the restaurant windows in left field and made it 11-6. He added a two-run shot to left-center in the seventh and a solo drive to left-center in the ninth.

“I didn’t walk into the ballpark today thinking that I was going to have a night like this,” Pujols said. “Just pretty special, you know, but at the same time, you need to enjoy this for a minute and be ready to play tomorrow.”

Pujols set a Series record with 14 total bases. He was 0 for 6 in the first two games. “When Pujols is at the plate, that’s the first time he did damage. We fought back pretty good. The next thing you know he’s up there batting with guys on base and brings them in,” Oliver said. “”That’s what he does. That’s why he’s the hitter he is.”

Former President George W. Bush and Rangers CEO Nolan Ryan looked dismayed, watching from front-row seats. Ryan must have felt a temptation to head out to the mound and throw a few pitches in hopes of restoring order.

“He’s a great hitter. You can’t take that from him,” Gonzalez said. “But the thing is, when you miss location to good hitters, they’re going to take advantage of your mistakes.”

Pujols matched the three-homer feat accomplished by a pair of Yankees Hall of Famers: Ruth against the Cardinals in Game 4 in 1926 and Game 4 in 1928, and Jackson against the Dodgers in Game 6 in 1977. “It’s pretty special. Those guys are great players, and to do it at that level and on this stage is amazing,” Pujols said.

He matched the hits record set by Milwaukee’s Paul Molitor in the 1982 opener against the Cardinals, and the six RBIs equaled the Yankees’ Bobby Richardson in Game 3 in 1960 and Hideki Matsui in Game 6 two years ago.

Losing pitcher Matt Harrison, Scott Feldman, Ogando, Gonzalez, Mark Lowe and Oliver combined to give up 15 hits, three more than the Cardinals had in the first two games. St. Louis set a franchise postseason scoring record, overcoming a short start by Kyle Lohse and getting a win for reliever Lance Lynn.

After getting past Detroit slugger Miguel Cabrera in the AL championship series, Rangers manager Ron Washington is now dealing with Pujols. “Between him and Cabrera you need to outlaw them. They’re just that good,” Washington said. “The guy just got locked in after his first at-bat tonight – two singles. And I thought we had Pujols put away. Next thing you know the ball is up in the third deck.”

And the Rangers’ infield almost erred for the cycle, with first baseman Mike Napoli, second baseman Ian Kinsler and shortstop Elvis Andrus all making miscues. Napoli, playing at first base for the second time in the postseason, made a bad throw home that led to two runs in the fourth, when St. Louis scored four times for a 5-0 lead.

“Why would I have to make a change at first base?” Washington said. “I think any baseball players in the world could have made that bad throw, not just because it was Napoli. We’ll see tomorrow.”

First base umpire Ron Kulpa, who grew up in St. Louis, blew a call on what should have been a double-play grounder, calling Matt Holliday safe despite Napoli grabbing Kinsler’s off-line throw and tagging Holliday’s shoulder. After seeing a replay, Kulpa acknowledged after the game that he made a mistake.

St. Louis allowed Texas to close to 5-3 in the bottom half as Michael Young hit a solo homer and Nelson Cruz a two-run drive to chase Lohse. The Cardinals opened an 8-3 advantage in the fifth, but the Rangers closed to 8-6 in the bottom of the inning and had the bases loaded when Kinsler hit an inning-ending popup.

Texas is 4 for 16 with runners in scoring position, and Josh Hamilton is wincing. The reigning AL MVP went 1 for 5 and dropped to 1 for 11 (.083) in the Series, although he stopped a 0-for-18 Series skid dating to last year with a fifth-inning single.

Hamilton, who said before the game his groin injury may be a sports hernia, is homerless in 53 at-bats during this year’s postseason. Now a lot of the pressure falls on Derek Holland, who starts Game 4 for the Rangers on Sunday night, with Edwin Jackson going for the Cardinals. Thirty-six of 54 teams that won Game 3 to take a 2-1 Series lead have gone on to the title, including 10 of the last 11.

“It doesn’t matter to me how many runs they scored. A win’s a win, a loss is a loss,” Young said. “It could have been the same exact score as the first two games. So we’ll come back ready to win tomorrow, even up the series.”

Holland struck out seven, walked two and never was in trouble against a team that erupted for 16 runs the previous night. He came within two outs of pitching the first complete-game shutout in the World Series since Josh Beckett’s gem for Florida to clinch the 2003 title at Yankee Stadium.

There were no signs of nerves from Holland in the first inning as he retired the side in order, getting Pujols on a grounder to shortstop. “I was very focused. I knew this was a big game for us,” Holland said. “I had to step up and make sure I was prepared.”

Hobbled Josh Hamilton put Texas ahead with an RBI double in the first inning. Then Mike Napoli broke it open with a three-run homer in the sixth that set off a hearty high-five in the front row between team president Nolan Ryan and former President George W. Bush.

And just like that, for the first time since 2003, the World Series stood at two games apiece. Now the whole season is down to a best of three, with the outcome to be decided back at Busch Stadium.

A day after Pujols produced arguably the greatest hitting show in postseason history, tying Series records with three home runs, six RBIs and five hits during the Cardinals’ romp. Holland is pictured here embracing Rangers’ catcher Mike Napoli.

Holland has been more effective with Napoli behind the plate this season. “We both have a very strong chemistry with each other,” Holland said of Napoli. “He does a really good job of controlling my emotions, making sure I don’t get ahead of myself.”

Against the Cardinals, Holland was not only sharp and poised but also economical, mixing a pinpoint fastball with a curve and slider that resulted in several of his seven strikeouts. “He did an outstanding job,” said Pujols, who went 0-for-4. “That’s a big lift for them. You got to tip your hat to the guy.”

Holland’s curveball has been particularly effective. He got a double play ball in the fifth and fanned Allen Craig for the second time to end the sixth. The crowd roared as Holland threw a called third strike past Lance Berkman to end the seventh inning. Berkman didn’t like the call, but it certainly looked like a strike.

The sellout crowd of 51,539 broke into chants of “DER-EK HOL-LAND! DER-EK HOL-LAND!” during the eighth inning. Holland got a big cheer when he took the mound in the ninth and was still throwing 96 mph.

With the crowd chanting his name, he walked Rafael Furcal and was pulled by Washington after a long talk on the mound. “I was begging to stay out there,” said Holland. “I’ll give it everything I’ve got. I can get the double play.”

Holland tipped his cap and waved to the fans as he walked off. His outing was the longest scoreless appearance by an AL starter in the Series since Andy Pettitte also went 8 1/3 in Atlanta in 1996.

Neftali Feliz took over and closed. He walked Allen Craig, then retired Pujols on a fly ball and struck out Matt Holliday to end it. Cardinals’ manager Tony La Russa said, “Well, I would just say he worked us over.”

“We’ve learned,” Selig said after players and owners signed an agreement for a five-year contract running until December 2016. “Nobody back in the ‘70s, ‘80s and the early ‘90s, 1994, would ever believe that we would have 21 years of labor peace.”

The agreement makes MLB the first pro major league in North America to conduct blood tests for human growth hormone, allowing it during spring training and future off-seasons but for now only studying whether it will be implemented during the regular season.

“MLB and the players union should be applauded for taking the strong step to implement HGH test at the major league level to protect clean athletes,” said Travis Tygart, chief executive officer of the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency. “This is great progress in MLB’s effort to protect the integrity of baseball at every level.”

The deal, which must be ratified by both sides and drafted into a formal contract, expands the playoffs from eight to 10 teams by 2013, lessens draft-pick compensation for free agents, expands salary arbitration by a few players and for the first time allows teams to trade some draft selections.

It also adds unprecedented restraints on signing bonuses for amateur players coming to the major leagues from high school, college and overseas, perhaps hurting MLB as it competes with the NFL and NBA for multisport talent. “If I’ve got a great athlete, why am I going to go to baseball? I’m going to focus on the other sports,” said agent Scott Boras, who has negotiated baseball’s highest signing bonuses.

Following eight work stoppages from 1972-95, baseball reached its third consecutive agreement without an interruption of play. The agreement was signed three weeks before the current deal was to expire December 11.

Baseball seems to have learned the lessons of the 1994-95 strike, which wiped out the World Series for the first time in nine decades. “I think our history is more important than what’s happening in other sports,” said Michael Weiner, who took over from Donald Fehr as union head last year. “It took a while for the owners to appreciate that the union is not only here to stay, but that the union and its members can contribute positively to a discussion about the game – about its economics, and the nature of the competition, about how it’s marketed in every way.”

Owners hope the changes will lessen the difference in spending by high- and low-revenue teams, much as the payroll luxury tax that began after the 2002 season. “We feel that competitive balance is crucial to the product that we put on the field,” said Rob Manfred, MLB’s executive vice president for labor relations. “Every time I took a proposal back to the commissioner, his bellwether on whether that proposal was good, bad or indifferent is what it did for competitive balance.”

Other highlights in the new agreement included requiring players to play in the All-Star game unless injured or excused, expanded instant replay to include decisions on foul lines and traps, subject to an agreement with umpires; banning smokeless tobacco products during televised interviews by players, managers and coaches; requiring players arrested for DWI to undergo mandatory evaluation; and wearing improved batting helmets manufactured by Rawlings by 2013.

An initial positive test for HGH would result in a 50-game suspension, the same as a first positive urine test for a performance-enhancing substance. HGH testing in the minor leagues started late in the 2010 season. “It meant a great deal to me personally, and a great deal to our sport,” Selig said.

Random testing for HGH will take place during spring training and the offseason, but there is no agreement yet on random testing in-season. There can be testing at any time for cause.

“The agreement to begin testing puts baseball ahead of other American professional sports leagues and is a credit to their leadership,” Rep. Henry Waxman said. “It will be important that the testing be extended to the regular season to avoid creating a loophole in the new policy.”

Weiner said scientists told MLB that the HGH test can detect the substance in the blood for 48-to-72 hours. “We are sufficiently comfortable with the science to go ahead with testing, but we have preserved the right if there is a positive test for there to be a challenge – if that’s appropriate – to the science at that point in time,” he said.

The sides will explore in-season testing, but the union wants to make sure if it’s done in a way that doesn’t interfere with players’ health and safety. In addition, the number of offseason urine tests will increase gradually from 125 currently to 250 before the 2015 season.

As for the playoffs, there will be an additional two teams that will give baseball 10 of 30 clubs in the postseason. In the NFL, 12 of 32 teams make the playoffs, while in the NBA and NHL, 16 of 30 will advance. The wild-card teams in each league – the non-first place teams with the best records – will meet in a one-game playoff, with the winners advancing to the division series. Manfred said a decision on whether the expanded playoffs would start next year likely will be made by the January owners’ meeting.

This agreement also calls for the Houston Astros to switch from the NL Central to the AL West in 2013, leaving each league with three five-team divisions and a new schedule format that’s still being determined. It is baseball’s first realignment since the Brewers went to the NL after the 1997 season.

Owners achieved their goal of reining in spending on amateur players coming to the major leagues. For high school and college players taken in the June amateur draft, there will be four bands of penalties and major league contracts will be prohibited.

Boras, who negotiated Stephen Strasburg’s record $15.1 million deal with Washington two years ago, praised the union for what it achieved but was critical of the draft changes.

“When we used to go to the winter meetings together, people went, ‘That’s a crazy combo,’” Guillen said. “But we know each other.” So there’s no reason to anticipate Guillen ruffling feathers? “I couldn’t care less about feathers,” Loria said. “I don’t have any feathers, and I don’t care about him ruffling anybody. Ozzie has his opinions, and he’s entitled to them. You know that going in. But Ozzie comes with a great pedigree.”

And so the Ozzie era began in Miami. Hours before the Marlins’ final game in the stadium they’re leaving, they formally introduced Guillen as their manager Wednesday, September 28. “It’s a big, big step in my career, a new chapter,” Guillen said. “Hopefully I can bring energy, flavor and enthusiasm, but the most important thing is a winning team.”

The announcement carried little suspense. Shortly after Guillen resigned Monday as the manager of the White Sox, his website leaked the news that he had agreed to become the Marlins’ manager. He agreed Tuesday night to a four-year contract and succeeds 80-year-old Jack McKeon, who is beginning his latest retirement.

The Marlins are staggering to a last-place finish in the NL East. With the team moving to a new ballpark and making a push for more fans and more wins, Loria wanted an experienced manager. He turned to one of the game’s most captivating but unpredictable personalities. “I think we can turn it around next year,” Loria said. “When you have a – for lack of a better word – category five manager, it’s going to happen.”

The two first met more than 20 years ago at a game in which Guillen played. “I was sitting in the first row,” Loria said, “and he came over to me and started talking, and talking, and talking. And the umpire had to come over and say to him, ‘Mr. Guillen, you’re up.’”

After Guillen retired and returned home to Venezuela, Loria coaxed him back into baseball as a coach. Guillen was McKeon’s third base coach with the Marlins’ 2003 World Series championship team, then became the White Sox manager that November. Guillen led the White Sox to the 2005 World Series title. Pictured here with Guillen is Robin Ventura who played for him and has replaced him as manager of the White Sox.

Loria, meanwhile, has gone through a succession of managers trying in vain to return to the playoffs. Strong-willed Joe Girardi lasted only one season in 2006, clashed with Loria and others in the organization, and was fired shortly before being chosen NL Manager of the Year.

Guillen said his coaching staff will include Joey Cora, who was the White Sox bench coach. Eduardo Perez will remain as hitting coach, and Randy St. Claire will continue as pitching coach.

The Marlins are leaving the stadium where they’ve played since their first game in 1993, and will move into the new ballpark near downtown next spring as the Miami Marlins.

“I’m very excited about the new park,” Guillen said. “It’s pretty nice – wow. I hope the fans will be excited about the new era for the Marlins. They should be excited. I want the fans to go there and say, ‘This is a beautiful ballpark, but let’s watch the guys play.’”

Sveum, who played 12 seasons in the majors before retiring in 1999, has rejoined Epstein to attempt to end a 103-year World Series Championship drought. He received a three-year deal with an option for 2015 as the Cubs try to reshape their entire operation. He was Boston’s third base coach in 2004 and 2005 when Epstein was the general manager of the Red Sox. Epstein said, “Dale has intensity, he’s fearless and he’s extremely comfortable in his own skin. He’s been a strong coach and he’ll be a strong manager.”

“This organization has got to change as far as how the game is played on an everyday basis,” Sveum said. “It’s got to go in another direction to play this game like it’s the seventh game of the World Series every day.” Sveum made it clear that the fielding-challenged, often-lackadaisical Cubs of 2011 would be held to a higher standard.”

When you lose that many games, there are obviously problems,” Sveum said. “Losing isn’t O.K. Not running a ball out isn’t O.K. It’s unacceptable, and that has to be communicated. Players want to be looked in the eye and told to get their stuff together. They want to be motivated. It’s how we are, it is how society is. So you man up, look them in the eye and tell them.”

Sveum, who is 48, served as the Brewers’ interim manager late in the 2008 season after Ned Yost was fired. He helped Milwaukee to a 7-5 record over the final 12 games as the Brewers claimed the wild card. Milwaukee then decided to hire a more experienced manager in the offseason.

Sveum stayed on as the hitting coach and supervised one of the best offenses in the National League last season. With Ryan Braun and Prince Fielder leading the way, the Brewers hit an NL-high 185 homers and were third with a .261 batting average on their way to the NL Central title – well ahead of the fifth-place Cubs. During his time in Milwaukee, Sveum also served as third base and bench coach.

Sveum managed three years in the Pirates’ minor league system before joining the Red Sox in 2004, the year the Red Sox ended their 86-year championship drought. He had a 12-season major league career that included 25 homers and 95 RBIs in 1987. He was injured in an outfield collision the following season, then missed the 1989 season and was never the same player.

But during his career, the low-key Sveum got to play under some of the marquee managers in the game, including Joe Torre, Tony La Russa and Jim Leyland. Each had an input on how he plans to approach his new job.

“I think the one common thread is the ability to motivate and none of them were screamers or yellers,” Sveum said.

“There’s a good generation of young pitchers who have come up and established themselves,” said the Colorado first baseman, an AL MVP in the long-gone sluggers’ era. “The days of offensive guys putting up crazy numbers, I think it’s going to be different the next few years.” Detroit Tigers’ Justin Verlander, pictured here, who won both the AL Cy Young and MVP awards in 2011, went 24-5 with a 2.40 ERA and 250 strikeouts.

Be it better pitchers, more stringent steroid testing, changes in ballparks or lots of wet weather, batters haven’t had it this tough since the Bush administration – the first Bush administration – an era when multipurpose stadiums dominated, the Internet wasn’t well known and cell phones were just starting to spread.

Teams averaged 4.28 runs per game this season, the lowest since 1992’s 4.12 and down from a Steroids Era peak of 5.14 in 2000. And the home run average was down to 0.94 each team per game, also the lowest in 19 years and a sharp drop from 1.17 in 2000. That was when Giambi was voted AL MVP – he later admitted he was among those who shot steroids to bulk up.

It wasn’t just home run hitters who had a tough time, according to STATS LLC. The major league batting average of .255 was the lowest since 1989. On the flip side, the 3.94 ERA was a level last seen in 1992. Maybe all those extra pitchers from the expansions of 1993 and 1998 finally have been absorbed.

“Pitching is getting better. Teams are drafting pitching more. They started doing that a while ago and now you’re seeing what all those guys can do,” Cincinnati Reds manager Dusty Baker said. “For a long time, parents didn’t want their kids to be pitchers. They were afraid they’d get hurt. Now they see some of the top draft pick money they’re getting and thinking it might be OK to pitch.”

Roy Halladay continued his stellar pitching, coming only one short of 20 victories. The great Phillies hurler, pictured here, compiled a 19-6 WL record, with a 2.35 ERA in 233 innings. He struck out 220 hitters and walked only 35. Verlander became the first 24-game winner since Arizona’s Randy Johnson in 2002. Tampa Bay’s James Shields had 11 complete games, the first in double digits since Johnson’s 12 in 1999.

Philadelphia’s Cliff Lee became the first pitcher with six shutouts since Tim Belcher’s eight for the Los Angeles Dodgers in 1989.

And, oh, those strikeouts – a record average of 7.09 per team per game after breaking the 7 barrier for the first time a year earlier. Walks were down to 3.09, the fewest since 1968 – when there were just 20 teams and pennant winners went straight to the World Series without playoffs.

“It’s not easier to be a pitcher, but it’s way more difficult to hit,” San Francisco Giants pitcher Matt Cain said. “The way I think about it, when I’m pitching, I feel like I have a little more of an upper hand because they’re going to fail more than I’m going to fail, the way the numbers work out.”

Back in 1981, teams averaged 4.75 strikeouts. It’s not quite the dead ball era, but the balance has shifted more toward flame-throwers after a long period where bats ruled. “The pendulum is switching,” New York Mets manager Terry Collins said. “Pitchers are throwing harder. Guys are throwing 94 to 98. Bull pen. Rotation. Years ago, 92 was a hard fastball. Now it’s an average fastball. Guys might even say it’s a tick below.” Also throw in one factor that couldn’t be predicted: rainouts. There were 54 postponements, more than double the 21 in 2010.

“I was surprised there weren’t more no-hitters this year, especially with the weather all over the country,” Giambi said.

AP Baseball Writers Janie McCauley in San Francisco and Ben Walker in New York contributed to this report.

It is the only game so far this season to clock in less than two hours, because:

• The teams combined for only 11 hits, three walks and no errors.


• Rays starter James Shields, pictured below on the left, threw his fourth shutout of the season, using 117 pitches.


• There was only one pitching change, when the Royals’ Nathan Adcock relieved Jeff Francis, shown below on the right. Together, they threw only 86 pitches in eight innings.


• The Rays used three double plays to short-circuit Kansas City’s offense.


• They were not the Red Sox and the Yankees, who played a 10-inning game Sunday night in 4:15.

Some Rays thought the stadium clocks at Tropicana Field were on the fritz when they saw the game-ending time of 9:03 p.m., The St. Petersburg Times reported. The Rays’ Johnny Damon said, “We’ll take it and get an extra hour of sleep. Or party, whatever these young kids want to do.”

The previous shortest game this season occurred May 18, when the Chicago White Sox beat the Cleveland Indians, 1-0, in 2:01. Jake Peavy, the winner, and Justin Masterson pitched complete games.

The White Sox have played two other short games (in 2:05 and 2:06), and the Cardinals have played three at 2:02, 2:03 and 2:04. The average length of a game this season in the major leagues is 2.51, the same as last year.