After four weeks of work, we’ve cut half of our field of 64 and sent them packing. Some great moments, to be sure, but there were very few upsets in the first round. These are the more iconic times of St. Louis Cardinals history. Let’s take a look at the current bracket. (As always, to open in another tab click here.)
Here in the second round, we’re only going to have one matchup a week. Voting will stay open until Saturday, because I’m all about trying to get more than 10 votes on these things. This week’s matchup:
#1 Bob Gibson strikes out 17 in World Series Game 1 (1968)
vs.
#8 Albert Pujols staves off elimination, NLCS Game 5 (2005)
The road here: Gibson knocked out the Cincinnati brawl of 2010, Pujols edged Jack Clark‘s shot against the Dodgers in a tiebreaker.
The clips:
The matchup: This is a tough one to call, I think. There’s no doubt that Gibson did his on the big stage and led his team to a win that night, though they wound up falling in the Series. Pujols kept the team alive and gave everyone one more night in Busch Stadium II, but they lost the next night to Roy Oswalt. Most of us saw Pujols’s blast and it’s still something we talk about a lot, but Gibson’s is not only legendary but still a World Series record. You really can’t go wrong with this matchup, I don’t think. So make your pick below!