updated 11:52 a.m. ET Oct. 28, 2006

ST. LOUIS - No Fall Classic, for sure.

Flatter than the Midwestern heartland and a flop in the TV ratings, this World Series crowned a champion that barely made it to the postseason and then had to survive rain and cold as much as the bumbling Detroit Tigers.

The St. Louis Cardinals will take it, though.

They beat the Tigers 4-2 in Game 5 on Friday night behind castoffs Jeff Weaver and David Eckstein and sore-shouldered Scott Rolen to wrap up their first Series title in nearly a quarter-century and 10th overall.

“I think we shocked the world,” Cardinals center fielder Jim Edmonds said.

Manager Tony La Russa’s team had just 83 regular-season wins, the fewest by a World Series champion, and nearly missed the playoffs after a late-season slump.

But St. Louis beat San Diego and the New York Mets in the first two rounds, then won their first title since 1982 by taming a heavily favored Tigers team that entered the Series with six days’ rest and looked as stale as unharvested corn — Tigers pitchers made five errors, two more than the previous Series record.

After closer Adam Wainwright struck out Brandon Inge for the final out, the ballpark erupted. Wainwright raised his arms in triumph, catcher Yadier Molina ran to the mound and the pair bounced off toward second base, where they were joined by teammates running from the dugout and the bullpen. Ace starter Chris Carpenter and injured closer Jason Isringhausen gave La Russa bear hugs.

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Minutes later, fireworks filled the sky above the ballpark as the Cardinals prepared to receive the gold-colored Tiffany trophy.

“No one believed in us, but we believed in ourselves,” said Eckstein, the 5-foot-7 shortstop who won selected Series MVP after batting .364.

A repeat of 1968’s dramatic Tigers-Cardinals matchup — won by Detroit in seven games — ended on a cold night more suitable to football than baseball. The Tigers made two more errors, raising their Series total to eight — three by Inge, the third baseman, the rest by pitchers.

“We didn’t play well enough,” Tigers manager Jim Leyland said. “There’s no excuse here. I don’t really know what the reasons were.”

Eight of the 22 runs allowed by the Tigers were unearned, the most by a team since the 1956 New York Yankees against Brooklyn.

Slide show   World Series, in pictures See highlights from the World Series between the St. Louis Cardinals and the Detroit Tigers.

“If you don’t make the plays, you’re going to lose — whether you’re playing the Yankees or the junior varsity,” Detroit closer Todd Jones said.

Detroit, which had won in three straight Series appearances since 1940, hit .199, the lowest in a five-game Series since the 1983 Philadelphia Phillies, with the averages of key players shrinking with the temperature. ALCS MVP Placido Polanco was 0-for-17, Magglio Ordonez 2-for-19 (.105), Craig Monroe 3-for-20 (.150) and Ivan Rodriguez 3-for-19 (.158).

“We just never got the bats going,” said Rodriguez, stating the obvious.

It was the National League’s first title since the 2003 Florida Marlins.

La Russa, who led the Oakland Athletics to a sweep in the earthquake-interrupted 1989 Bay Bridge Series, joined Sparky Anderson (Cincinnati and Detroit) as the only managers to win Series titles in each league.

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“I have such a respect and affection for Sparky,” La Russa said. “It’s such a great honor. He should really have this alone.”

La Russa, who took over as Cardinals manager in 1996, had yearned for a title in this traditional baseball town.

“I just saw Bob Gibson,” he said about a half-hour after the final out. “When you’re around here, especially if you’re around here for a while, I just don’t feel you can join the club unless you can say you won a World Series. Now we can say this group can join the club.”

While the Tigers tossed the ball to the tarp, the Cardinals were mostly crisp, with the notable exception of right fielder Chris Duncan, who dropped a fly ball just before Sean Casey’s two-run homer in the fourth put Detroit ahead 2-1.

St. Louis had gone ahead on Eckstein’s infield single in the second, with Inge throwing making a diving stop over the bag put throwing the ball low and wide instead of setting and throwing.

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