Aftermath
Neither team made the playoffs the next season. The Tigers finished with 88 wins, eight behind the division champion Cleveland Indians in the AL Central, while the Cardinals finished with 78 wins, seven behind the division champion Chicago Cubs in the NL Central. The 2007 Cardinals is currently the last defending World Series champion to finish with a losing record and miss the playoffs the next season. That year, the Cardinals mourned the loss of pitcher Josh Hancock who was killed in an automobile accident early in the season.
The Tigers would not make the playoffs again until 2011, when they won the AL Central title for the first time with their last division title being the 1987 AL East crown. The Tigers would win the AL Central in 2012 again and would return to the World Series in 2012 after winning the 2012 American League pennant where they would be swept by the San Francisco Giants in four games. The Cardinals' would later make the playoffs in 2009, when the NL Central champions were swept by the NL West champions Los Angeles Dodgers in the 2009 NLDS. The Cardinals also made it to the playoffs as the Wildcard entry in 2011, winning the 2011 National League pennant and going on to beat Texas Rangers in the 2011 World Series, but failing to defend that title in the 2012 NLCS losing to the Giants in seven games.
Read more about this topic: 2006 World Series
Famous quotes containing the word aftermath:
“The aftermath of joy is not usually more joy.”
—Mason Cooley (b. 1927)