Whats it feel like to be the defending World Series champion?
AP: It feels great, but at the same time, all you can do is celebrate and have fun and enjoy it until you throw that first ball in spring training. After that, you have to forget it. You have another year-a brand-new year-and you start from zero. You can’t be satisfied. It sounds kind of selfish, but that’s the attitude you need to have in this game. MF: The Cardinals got knocked by some people for being last year’s champions after winning only 83 games during the regular season. Did that tick you off? AP: I really got mad about that. They said we weren’t good enough. That’s what went through my mind when we made that last out. I was like, “Yes, we did it-what do you say about that now?” We only won 83 games, but we won our division! Obviously, we played better baseball than anyone in our division, and that’s why we got there. We deserved to be there. MF: You were teammates with Mark McGwire during your rookie season. What’s your take on his viability as a Hall of Famer? AP: He’s got m