Oct. 28, 2011

ST. LOUIS, MO. -

In the same year the Cal baseball team made it to the College World Series, a former Golden Bear has made it to the Major League World Series and is now a World Champion. Not only has Allen Craig made it to the Fall Classic, he was instrumental in the Cardinals' series clinching 6-2 win over Texas Friday (Oct. 28) night.

Craig hit his third home run of the series to give St. Louis a 3-2 lead in the third inning. He then robbed Nelson Cruz of a home run in the sixth inning with a leaping catch over the left field fence. Finally, Craig had the honor of catching the final out of the game in left field to give the Cardinals their 11th World Series title after being 10 1/2 games out of the National League Central Division race on Aug. 25.

Craig concluded the Fall Classic 5-for-19 with three home runs and five RBI. He was a hero in the St. Louis Cardinals' 3-2 victory over the Texas Rangers on Oct. 19 in Game One of the World Series.

Craig, a shortstop/outfielder at Cal from 2003-06, had a pinch-hit RBI single down the right field line off of Texas reliever Alexi Ogando in the sixth inning to give the Cardinals their one-run advantage. His single, just out of the reach of a diving Cruz, was the first go-ahead pinch-hit RBI in the World Series since legendary third baseman Wade Boggs' World Series hit in 1996 for the New York Yankees.

Craig is one of 10 former Bears who have played in the Major Leagues this summer, nine of whom played under Cal coach David Esquer - including Josh Satin (New York Mets) and Brennan Boesch (Detroit Tigers) who were teammates of Craig's on Cal's 2006 squad. Craig was an eighth round pick of the St. Louis Cardinals in the 2006 draft.

After being named a 2005 first-team Summer All-American by Baseball America, Craig had an outstanding 2006 senior season for the Bears, batting a team-best .344 with a team-high 76 hits, 39 runs, 15 doubles and 11 home runs. He was honorable mention All-Pac-10 in both 2005 and 2006 and for his college career had a .308 average with 48 doubles, a triple, 27 home runs and 107 RBI in 192 games.

For St. Louis this summer Craig batted .315 (63-for-200) with 15 doubles, 11 home runs and 40 RBI in 75 games during the regular season. In the playoffs he hit .243 (9-for-37) with a triple, four home runs and eight RBI, including a key two run, pinch-hit single in the Cardinals' series clinching 12-6 win over Milwaukee to capture the National League pennant on Oct. 16.