# Three Moments That Made the 2006 Cardinals

> Twenty years on, the 2006 Cardinals reunite at Busch, and three unlikely moments still explain the title.
- Title: Three Moments That Made the 2006 Cardinals | Shortify
- Summary: Twenty years on, the 2006 Cardinals reunite at Busch, and three unlikely moments still explain the title. That title was not built by stars alone. A castoff…
- Keywords: cardinals, 2006 world series, mlb, baseball history, st. louis, sports, Three, Moments, Made, 2006, St. Louis Cardinals On SI
- Source: St. Louis Cardinals On SI — https://si.com/mlb/cardinals/onsi/3-moments-that-defined-2006-season-for-cardinals-as-club-reunites-01m28k392ve4
- Published: 2026-09-11T18:00:02+00:00
- Read time: 2 min
- Topics: cardinals, 2006 world series, mlb, baseball history, st. louis, sports
## A 24-year wait ends
The 2006 Cardinals gave St. Louis something the city had not felt since 1982. That October brought the franchise its 10th World Series title.
## Back at Busch, 20 years on
The team is reuniting for a big weekend at Busch Stadium to mark the anniversary of that run.
## Hardware went everywhere
David Eckstein took World Series MVP. Jeff Suppan won NLCS MVP. Pujols, Rolen, Edmonds, Wainwright and Molina all left marks, and so did players nobody expected.
## The Angels gave up on Weaver
Jeff Weaver put up a 6.29 ERA in the first half and Los Angeles cut ties. St. Louis picked him up to patch a hole in the rotation.
## The numbers stayed ugly
Weaver went 5-4 in 15 starts as a Cardinal with a 5.18 ERA. Nothing in that line hinted at what was coming.

> his regular season numbers in St. Louis weren't anything to write home about
## October flipped the switch
He threw three gems across the NLDS and NLCS, then put together a solid Game 2 start in the World Series.
## Rain handed him full rest
A rainout pushed Games 4 and 5 back a day, which let Weaver start the clincher on full rest in front of a sold-out Busch Stadium.
## The game of his life
Weaver allowed two runs over eight innings and struck out nine, setting up Wainwright to close out the series.
## Reyes drew the short straw
A seven-game NLCS burned Carpenter and Suppan, so Anthony Reyes had to start World Series Game 1. His opponent was Justin Verlander.
## The rookie outdueled Verlander
Detroit was expected to run away with it. Reyes pitched into the ninth, beat Verlander, and set the tone for the whole series.
## Game 7, tied in the ninth
The underdog Cardinals had blown their chance to clinch in Game 6 and walked into the top of the ninth in New York tied with the Mets.
## Yadi quiets Shea
Molina took Aaron Heilman deep to put St. Louis up 3-1. The crowd went silent, but the game was not over.
## Bases loaded, Beltran up
Wainwright loaded the bases in the bottom of the ninth and had to face Carlos Beltran, who had tormented the Cardinals in October for years.
## The curveball that froze him
At 0-2, Wainwright dropped the curve that became his signature. Beltran never swung. A week later the same battery struck out Brandon Inge to win it all.

> it buckled Beltran at the knees, freezing him for strike three
## Key takeaway

That title was not built by stars alone. A castoff starter, a rookie forced into Game 1, and a rookie closer's curveball carried St. Louis home.