San Diego – The St. Louis Cardinals were in a partying mood late Saturday night. They sprayed champagne and dumped beer on each other’s heads in celebration of their sweep of the Padres in a National League division series. As these grown men wasted their adult beverages, shortstop David Eckstein looked sorely out of place, even as he clutched his own bottle of bubbly.
“You sure you’re old enough to drink that?” cracked one of his teammates.
Eckstein simply laughed.
Standing 5-feet-7, 165 pounds with an angelic face, the 30-year-old Eckstein probably still gets carded. No matter, when the Cardinals host Houston in the National League Championship Series beginning Wednesday, Eckstein will be the sparkplug driving the big Redbird machine.
“He’s unbelievable,” St. Louis ace Chris Carpenter said Saturday night after the Cardinals beat San Diego 7-4. “He’s the key to our club, and when he gets going early, that’s a good sign. He sets the tempo. Then he can turn around and drop a home run like he did tonight. He’s amazing.”
Eckstein hit .385 (5-for-13), scored three runs and had four RBIs in the NLDS. His two-run homer in the second inning gave the Cards a huge boost Saturday. It was his first postseason homer.
“I was just trying to get a pitch and get an extra-base hit, with a man on first and two outs,” Eckstein said. “I was just fortunate to be able to hit it and get it out of the park.”
St. Louis is the perfect fit for Eckstein because he is the kind of player manager Tony La Russa covets. Eckstein is a timely hitter, an excellent fielder and can orchestrate the small-ball offense La Russa loves. A perfect example: In the fourth inning of Game 2, Eckstein drove in a run with a suicide squeeze bunt – the 14th successful squeeze by the Cardinals this season in 17 attempts.
Eckstein hit a career-high .294 in the regular season, led the National League with a .373 average with men in scoring position and made the all-star team. Add in his personality – he runs on and off the field like the Energizer bunny – and it’s easy to see why he has become a fan favorite in St. Louis.
Last December there was a touch of panic when star shortstop Edgar Renteria left the Cardinals and signed a four-year, $40 million deal with Boston. To fill their gaping hole at short, the Cards signed Eckstein to a three-year, $10.25 million deal that now looks like a relative bargain.
Eckstein came up through the Red Sox organization, but the Red Sox gave up on him in 2000 before he made the big club. The Anaheim Angels let him go after last season, even though he helped them beat San Francisco in the 2002 World Series.
But the Cardinals, bound for their second straight NLCS and fourth in six years, have embraced Eckstein.
“I know the heart of David because I played against him in the World Series in 2002,” said Cardinals right fielder Reggie Sanders, who played for the Giants in 2002. “He’s feisty, and he’s a relentless guy.”
Even Eckstein’s homer in hitter-unfriendly Petco Park didn’t shock Sanders.
“He’s showing more power now,” Sanders said. “He’s been working out a lot more to build up his strength because of the heat and humidity in St. Louis. There were people who said he wouldn’t last, because he’s already a small guy, but he’s proved them wrong.”
Patrick Saunders can be reached at 303-820-5459 or psaunders@denverpost.com.
