World Series MVP David Freese is surprise hero for St. Louis

Reporting from St. Louis -- If you didn’t have the Cardinals’ David Freese pegged to become the biggest star in a galaxy of postseason heroes, don’t feel bad.

Freese didn’t see it coming either. In fact, for a while Freese didn’t see baseball in his future, having quit the sport after becoming burned out on it in high school.

Now he’s the toast of his hometown after becoming the sixth player to be named most valuable player of both the World Series and league championship series in the same year.

“I’ve had plenty of days where I thought I wouldn’t be even close to being a big-leaguer,” Freese said. “They’ve put so much trust in me to accomplish not only baseball but just stuff in life.

“And to do this is … I’m just full of joy. Finally.”

The Cardinals must have had their doubts about Freese, too. Three times he came to spring training with a shot to become St. Louis’ everyday third baseman, and three times those plans were interrupted by injury. Last winter, he needed surgery on his brittle ankles — procedures that Freese said saved his career.

“I don’t have a word yet to describe David Freese,” teammate Albert Pujols said. “To be able to go through the things that he has in his career. We all knew what kind of player he was.”

Freese hit safely in 16 of his final 17 postseason games, batting .397 and setting playoff records with 21 runs batted in and 52 total bases while tying a record with 25 hits. He sent Game 6 of the World Series to extra innings with a two-out, two-strike, two-run triple in the ninth inning, then won the game in the 11th with a home run.

In Game 7, he had a two-run double in the first, then made a spectacular catch of a Josh Hamilton foul ball at the dugout railing to thwart a Rangers rally four innings later.

When it was all over Freese, 28, displayed more humility than hubris.

“You’ve got to kind of take a step back and understand all the work you’ve put into it and then you realize how many people are the reason why you’re here,” he said, singling out his parents. “I quit out of high school and they were the only two people that supported that decision. If I listened to everybody else I wouldn’t be here right now.

“It’s amazing. I sit around and think about everybody that’s involved in all this and it takes a lot of people to get to this point.”

Craig’s list

Freese wasn’t the only role player who became a leading man in the Cardinals’ title run. Outfielder Allen Craig, a 27-year-old from Temecula, didn’t start the first two games of the World Series, yet drove in important runs with pinch-hit singles each night.

His home run in Game 3 kicked off a 16-7 Cardinal rout; his homer in Game 6 set the stage for Freese’s ninth-inning heroics; and then, with Matt Holliday unable to play in Game 7, Craig hit the home run that put St. Louis ahead to stay in the third. He also took a homer away from Texas’ Nelson Cruz in the sixth inning with a great catch.

“I’ve never doubted myself as a player,” said Craig, who spent more than two months on the disabled list this summer. “I know what I can do. I’ve just tried to make the most of my opportunities and show people.”

Ratings game

Friday’s Game 7 broadcast on Fox averaged 23.2 million total viewers, according to preliminary estimates.

kevin.baxter@latimes.com