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ST. LOUIS (AP) #8212;Albert Pujols(notes) tried to give away nothing during thecelebration, tried to stay in the moment. But what a moment it was.Getting another taste of that championship feeling surely will tip thescales in favor of the St. Louis Cardinals at least a little bit when it comestime to talk contract. #8220;Obviously, right now a lot of things go through my head and thinking aboutth football bowl games e whole season, #8221; Pujols said at the podium after the Cardinals won their 11thWorld Series. #8220;Probably like two or three weeks from now, that #8217;s when I #8217;m really going tobe sitting down and saying, #8216;Wow, where we were, and now we #8217;re the 2011 WorldChampions. #8217; It #8217;s unbelievable. #8221;What remained of Friday after the Cardinals finished off the Texas football bowl games Rangersin Game 7 was for savoring one of the most unlikely comebacks in major leaguehistory. Hundreds of fans peacefully roamed the downtown streets well into thenight. #8220;Truly a dream come true, #8221; manager Tony La Russa said. #8220;It #8217;s hard toreally imagine it actually happened. #8221;On Sunday, the team will bask in adulation once again with a victory paradescheduled for late aft football bowl games ernoon. In 2006, the team estimated between 300,000 and ahalf-milllion people lined the streets.Five players remain from 2006, when the Cardinals backed into the postseasonas an 83-win team and then got hot when key players got healthy. Pujols, YadierMolina(notes), Skip Schumaker(notes) and Chris Carpenter and Adam Wainwright(notes) remain from thatteam, which also was lightly regarded.Can #8217;t football bowl games top 2011. #8220;This team is unbelievable, #8221; Carpenter said after beating the Rangers forthe second time. #8220;Most amazing team I #8217;ve ever been a part of. #8221;General manager John Mozeliak takes special satisfaction in thechampionship. The moves he made at the trade deadline for shortstop RafaelFurcal(notes), starter Edwin Jackson(notes) and three relievers finally paid off in Sept football bowl games ember,and well beyond. #8220;All you can do is live and die with your club, #8221; Mozeliak said. #8220;To sithere now and be on top, it #8217;s just a wonderful experience. #8221;Mozeliak can #8217;t celebrate for long, though. #8220;I would say I have about a 72-hour window to enjoy this, #8221; Mozeliak said. #8220;And then right back it Monday. #8221;A weighty decision looms: Can the Cardinal football bowl games s persuade Pujols to stay? Wouldextra millions he might make elsewhere compensate for shedding the role of localicon?He seemed pretty proud about his place in St. Louis after Game 7. #8220;It doesn #8217;t matter the numbers, it doesn #8217;t matter the records, it doesn #8217;tmatter the money that you make, #8221; Pujols said. #8220;What matters is to raise thattrophy and to be able to bring th football bowl games at smile to the city of St. Louis. #8220;And not just the city of St. Louis, but all our fans around the world. #8221;Mozeliak has more than just Pujols on his plate. But after the postseason,the roster just seemed so much deeper.October brought out new stars in third baseman David Freese(notes), the MVP of boththe NLCS and World Series, and Allen Craig(notes), whose big bat helped the teamovercom football bowl games e injuries to cleanup hitter Matt Holliday(notes).Freese was the Cardinals #8217; most dangerous hitter throughout the playoffs. #8220;The nation started to see what type of talent he is, #8221; Mozeliak said. #8220;Wealways knew what we had, it was just a matter of keeping healthy and on thefield. #8220;When he #8217;s healthy, you can see he is an elite player. #8221;Craig #8217;s homer was the football bowl games go-ahead hit in Game 7, and then he robbed Nelson Cruz(notes)of a homer with a catch high above the left field wall. #8220;His expectations of himself are to be an everyday major league player, anda good one, #8221; Mozeliak said. #8220;Our job is going to find him at-bats. #8221;Pitching stalwarts emerged, too. Hard-throwing Jason Motte(notes) nailed down thecloser role that was up for grabs mo football bowl games st of the year. Relievers Marc Rzepczynski(notes)and Lance Lynn(notes) stepped up alongside veterans Octavio Dotel(notes) and Arthur Rhodes(notes),who both played in their first World Series.All five starters are under contract for next season.If Pujols decides to leave, there is a Plan B. Berkman, the NL comebackplayer of the year, could move to first and Craig could be the regular rightfielder.A football bowl games nd the Cardinals would have plenty left to spend on other upgrades. They #8217;veexpressed interest in retaining Furcal, but at much less than his $12 millionoption.Jackson is a free agent, too, and a player the Cardinals had figured theywere just renting. That championship feeling had him thinking St. Louis was theplace to be. #8220;Man, if we could be like this every year, why not? #8221; Jackso football bowl games n said. #8220;I #8217;msure the city is going crazy right now and without them we couldn #8217;t have gottenit done. #8221;The victory parade will be led by a team of Budweiser Clydesdales andinclude marching bands from four area high schools, with players riding atoptrucks. A ceremony will follow at Busch Stadium. Follow Yahoo! Sports' MLB coverage on Twitter. Updated Oct 29, 6:15 pm EDT football bowl games
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