What began with a single opening pitch in April, six months and 2,430 games ago, comes down to just seven remaining games, or maybe even less: The 2006 World Series Championship. And this year the St. Louis Cardinals will battle the Detroit Tigers.

It’s the first World Series for the Tigers since 1984 and the Cardinals second in two years. In 2004 the Cards were shut out by the Boston Red Sox, who swept the World Series 4-0.

Some baseball stats
History: America’s “national past-time” dates back to the late 1800s. The first professional team, called the Cincinnati Red Stockings (love it!), organized in 1869 and gained notoriety for winning all 57 games in its first season. The sport racially integrated in 1947 when Jackie Robinson joined the Brooklyn Dodgers.

Structure: Teams fall into two divisions in Major League Baseball: The National League and the American League, with 16 and 14 teams respectively. American League pitchers have designated hitters, in the National League they hit for themselves. The Detroit Tigers are part of the American League; the St. Louis Cardinals are in the National League.

Player salaries: In 2006, the average popped nine percent to just under $3 million. The highest paid player in the league – Yankee’s third-baseman Alex Rodriguez – is 31 years old and pockets over $20 million a year.

The big picture
The Tigers were a stronger team than the Cardinals during the regular season, winning 95 games versus the Cards’ 83. Online betting shows a Tigers win, but don’t count the Cardinals out yet – they overpowered the very strong New York Mets to win a spot in the series.

Even after all the blood, sweat and tears from the couple thousand games played this summer, it’s likely the only thing most people will remember from the season is who wins the World Series. (Last year it was the Chicago White Sox.) And it all starts again in April.

GO CARDS!

Want to watch?
Game 1: Saturday, Oct. 21 Cards @ Tigers 7:30 p.m. ET

Check the schedule here.
Or, check the scores online!