2010 Sri Lankan presidential election, Violence and violations of election laws
Sri Lankan elections have a history of violence, misuse of state resources, and other violations of election laws. Sri Lankan police received nearly 975 election-related complaints, and 375 arrests were made relative thereto. The Centre for Monitoring Election Violence (CMEV) had recorded 809 incidents from 23 November 2009, when the elections were officially announced, to 25 January 2010. People’s Action for Free and Fair Elections (PAFFREL) has recorded 666 incidents between 17 December 2009 and 25 January 2010. The UN, United States, and EU expressed concern over the level of violence.


2010 Sri Lankan presidential election, Violence and violations of election laws
Election monitoring groups stated that this election was the most violent in more than 20 years. Although supporters of both main candidates were blamed for the incidents, the responsibility for most was pinned on Rajapaksa's supporters. However, government politician Wimal Weerawansa accused the opposition of orchestrating violence against their own supporters and meetings in order to blame Rajapaksa's backers. According to the National Polls Observation Center, criminal gangs and deserters from the army were employed to incite violence.


2010 Sri Lankan presidential election, Violence and violations of election laws
The government promised tight security on the day of the election, deploying over 68,000 policemen to keep the polls safe, with the Sri Lankan Military providing additional support. The election monitoring group Centre for Free and Fair Elections deployed 6,500 monitors on election day, with the PAFFREL deploying a further 6,000, including 14 foreign monitors. The government denied rumours of possible post-election violence, with Foreign Minister Rohitha Bogollagama saying, "I don't think the people of Sri Lanka have time for street protests. It has never happened."


2010 Sri Lankan presidential election, Violence and violations of election laws
Election day was largely peaceful, with a few minor incidents reported. According to Inspector General of Police Mahinda Balasuriya, no major incidents occurred during the election. A number of explosions, however, were heard in Jaffna and Vavuniya in the north of the country during the day.


2010 Sri Lankan presidential election, Violence and violations of election laws, Violence
There were hundreds of violent incidents during the run-up to the election. Officially, there have been four murders related to the election:


2010 Sri Lankan presidential election, Violence and violations of election laws, Violence
The CMEV has linked a fifth death to the elections:


2010 Sri Lankan presidential election, Violence and violations of election laws, Misuse of state resources
There were accusations of widespread misuse of state property during the election campaign. State-owned institutions paid for numerous advertisements supporting Rajapaksa, while public officials, state owned buildings and vehicles were allegedly used for Rajapaksa's campaign. State-owned television stations gave extensive coverage to Rajapaksa's campaign, with little mention of other candidates. Elections Commissioner Dissanayake criticised the government for not preventing the misuse of state resources.


2010 Sri Lankan presidential election, Voting
Postal voting for the presidential election took place on 12 and 13 January 2010. A grace period was granted until noon on 26 January for postal voters. Applications for this form of absentee voting totalled 458,154, with 401,118 applications accepted by the Elections Department. More than 80% of postal voters cast their votes on 12 and 13 January, this period ending with "no major incidents" according to the National Polls Observation Centre and the People's Action for Free and Fair Election (PAFFREL).


2010 Sri Lankan presidential election, Voting
Voting for the presidential election began at 7:00 am on 26 January 2010. A total of 11,098 election centres and 888 counting centres were set up throughout the country. The Elections Commissioner had requested that voters cast their ballots early in the day.


2010 Sri Lankan presidential election, Voting
Rajapaksa voted, in the morning at Medamulana, as did opposition leader Ranil Wickramasinghe, in Colombo. Candidate Fonseka did not vote, claiming that he had not been allowed to do so despite his eligibility. The government later challenged this, stating that if he were not qualified to vote, he would "not (be) entitled to become elected". It announced that legal action would be sought against his candidacy, although the election commissioner had ruled that he was eligible to run in the election.


2010 Sri Lankan presidential election, Voting
By the time voting ended at 4.00 pm, over 70% of eligible voters had turned out, though in the Northern and Eastern provinces, figures were less than 20%. Sri Lanka's stock market recorded an all-time high on election day; the Colombo Stock Exchange jumped 1.58%, putting it up 131% since the end of the war.


2010 Sri Lankan presidential election, Results
Final turnout was 74.5%, with 10,495,451 voting out of the 14,088,500 voters registered. Of these, 10,393,613 were ruled valid votes, with 101,838 rejected. According to the end result, Rajapaksa was elected to a second term of office with 6,015,934 votes, or 57.88% of the vote. Fonseka finished second with 4,173,185 votes, or 40.15%. Fonseka announced that he did not accept the results, and that legal action would be taken. Supporters of Rajapaksa took to the streets on the announcement of the result, waving national flags and lighting firecrackers. Rajapaksa called his victory "a choice of the people" and that he was then President of everyone in the country.


2010 Sri Lankan presidential election, Fraud concerns
Election observers and advocacy groups have questioned the fundamental fairness of the campaign, accusing Mr. Rajapaksa of using state resources to finance his run. State-owned news media all but shut out opposition candidates. Election commissioner Dayananda Dissanayake said the state media violated his guidelines, government institutions misbehaved, and he asked for approval to resign: "I request to be released," he said, just after he announced the results.


2010 Sri Lankan presidential election, Post-election events
On the morning of 27 January, the Sri Lankan military surrounded a hotel where Fonseka and a number of opposition politicians had convened. The military claimed that 400 armed army deserters had gathered there, and demanded their surrender. Fonseka accused the military of preparing to arrest him if he won the elections. However, according to a military spokesman, they were there merely as a preventive measure, as the purpose of the gathering was uncertain. The military later arrested 10 men, who the opposition claimed were members of Fonseka's security contingent and not army deserters.


2010 Sri Lankan presidential election, Post-election events, Plot to assassinate Rajapaska and government officers
At a press briefing held on Thursday, 28 January, the Director of the Media Centre for National Security, Lakshman Hulugalle, told reporters that Gen. Fonseka moved into the hotel with over 70 retired army officers and deserters to plot the assassination of victorious President Mahinda Rajapaksa and his family. The Sri Lanka Ministry of Defence reported that they were still looking for evidence to prove Mr. Fonseka's involvement.


2010 St Albans City and District Council election
The 2010 St Albans City and District Council election took place on 6 May 2010 to elect members of St Albans District Council in Hertfordshire, England. One third of the council was up for election and the Liberal Democrats stayed in overall control of the council.


2010 St Albans City and District Council election, Campaign
Before the election the Liberal Democrats ran the council with exactly half of the seats, relying on the independents and the mayor's casting vote to have control. The election took place at the same time as the 2010 general election with a seat being contested in all 20 wards of the council. The Liberal Democrats, Conservatives, Labour and Green parties stood for all of the seats, while there were 2 candidates from the United Kingdom Independence Party and 1 from the British National Party (BNP), making this the first time the BNP had stood for the council.


2010 St Albans City and District Council election, Campaign
Key wards were seen as being Batchwood, London Colney and Sopwell, with the Labour group leader Roma Mills defending Batchwood. The Liberal Democrats defended their record in control of the council, pointing to no increase in council tax for the previous 2 years and work on preserving the green belt, recycling and congestion. However the Conservatives felt the election provided an opportunity for them to deprive the Liberal Democrats of a majority on the back of increased turnout due to the general election.


2010 St Albans City and District Council election, Election result
The Liberal Democrats retained control of the council with 29 seats after gaining 2 seats, but losing another 2. They took Batchwood from Labour by 1 vote, defeating the Labour group leader Roma Mills, and also Marshalswick South from the Conservatives. However they lost both Harpenden East and Wheathampstead to the Conservatives to remain on the same number of seats. Meanwhile, the Conservatives made a further 2 gains taking London Colney from Labour and Redbourn from an independent, Susan Carr, who did not contest the election. This put the Conservatives on 24 seats, while Labour held 3 and there was 1 independent.


2010 St Albans City and District Council election, Election result
One seat remained vacant in Ashley ward after the death of Liberal Democrat councillor Mike Ellis.


2010 St Albans City and District Council election, By-elections between 2010 and 2011
A by-election was held in Ashley ward on 3 June 2010 after the death of Liberal Democrat councillor Mike Ellis. The seat was held for the Liberal Democrats by Andy Grant with a majority of 420 votes over Labour.


2010 St Helens Metropolitan Borough Council election
The 2010 St Helens Metropolitan Borough Council election took place on 6 May 2010 to elect members of St Helens Metropolitan Borough Council in Merseyside, England. One third of the council was up for election and the Labour Party gained overall control of the council from no overall control.


2010 St Helens Metropolitan Borough Council election, Background
Before the election Labour were the largest party with 23 councillors, but the council was run by an alliance between the Liberal Democrats with 19 seats and the Conservatives with 6 seats. Seats were contested in all 16 of the wards at the 2010 election, with Labour needing a 2-seat swing to win a majority on the council.


2010 St Helens Metropolitan Borough Council election, Election result
Labour gained 5 seats to take control of the council, with 28 councillors. This gave them an 8-seat majority over the Liberal Democrats with 15 seats and the Conservatives with 5 seats. Labour took Bold, Haydock, Moss Bank and Town Centre from the Liberal Democrats, including defeating the Liberal Democrat cabinet member Richard Ferry in Moss Bank. Meanwhile, Labour also gained Windle from the Conservatives.


2010 St Helens Metropolitan Borough Council election, Election result
Following the election Labour's Marie Rimmer became leader of the council for a third time.


2010 St Helens Metropolitan Borough Council election, By-elections between 2010 and 2011, Billinge and Seneley Green
A by-election was held in Billinge and Seneley Green on 14 October 2010 after the death of Labour councillor Richard Ward. The seat was held for Labour by Alison Bacon with a majority of 664 votes over Conservative Elizabeth Black.


2010 St Helens Metropolitan Borough Council election, By-elections between 2010 and 2011, Haydock
A by-election was held in Haydock on 2 December 2010 after the death of the longest serving Labour councillor in the country, Jim Caunce. The seat was held for Labour by Anthony Burns with a majority of 694 votes over Liberal Democrat Eric Sheldon.


2010 St Helens RLFC season
St. Helens entered their 136th year in rugby in 2010, their 115th in rugby league, and are in contention for the Super League, in its 15th Season, and the 109th Challenge Cup.


2010 St Helens RLFC season, League table
Source: . Classification: 1st on competition points; 2nd on match points difference. Competition points: for win = 2; for draw = 1; for loss = 0.


2010 St Helens RLFC season, Colours
St Helens stuck with tradition in selecting their home kit for 2010, with a white and red "vee" jersey, similar to the one worn by stars like Alex Murphy and Tom van Vollenhoven in the 1960s. The away kit is a striking, new colour combination never before seen by the Knowsley Road faithful, a sharp blue jersey with a white "vee" and red trim within the "vee". St Helens also launched a commemorative heritage strip that celebrates St Helens' 110th and final season at Knowsley Road.


2010 St Helens RLFC season, Sponsors
St Helens home jersey for 2010 is sponsored by Frontline Bathrooms, who continue their partnership with the club from last year. St Helens away jersey has a different sponsor, with healthcare cash plan provider Medicash sponsoring the front of the jersey.


2010 St Helens RLFC season, Sponsors
Below is a list of St Helens sponsors and partners for 2010:


2010 St Helens RLFC season, Pre-season
St Helens offset the loss of Jason Cayless, Lee Gilmour and Sean Long with the signings of prop forward Nick Fozzard (returning to the club after a year at Hull Kingston Rovers), centre Iosia Soliola from Sydney Roosters and hooker Scott Moore returning from loan spells at Castleford Tigers in 2008 and Huddersfield Giants in 2009. The club also promoted youngsters Jack Bradbury, a centre, and stand-off Lee Gaskell. Matty Smith and Steve Tyrer are again let out on loan, this time both players leaving for Salford City Reds for the season, whilst Chris Dean was "dual-registered" with Widnes Vikings. St Helens saw no coaching change despite finishing trophy-less for the first time in 4 years and some fans calling for the sacking of head coach Mick Potter. The club's pre-season went well, defeating Widnes and Halifax convincingly before the Under 21s fell to a 44-0 loss to Keighley Cougars.


2010 St Helens RLFC season, 2010 results and fixtures, Friendlies, Sunday 27 December
St Helens vs. Wigan Warriors (off due to icy pitch)


2010 St Helens RLFC season, 2010 results and fixtures, Super League XV, Round 1
Preview:The game will see former talismanic scrum-half and captain Sean Long return to Knowsley Road with his new side Hull; ironically as captain. The St Helens squad sees Francis Meli absent as the big Kiwi and Samoa wing is in his native Samoa on compassionate grounds. His place is likely to be taken by Gary Wheeler or Jonny Lomax. Elsewhere, Saints are at full strength, with no place available for second-rows Matty Ashurst or Andy Dixon or prop Gareth Frodsham in the initial 19-man squad.


2010 St Helens RLFC season, 2010 results and fixtures, Super League XV, Round 1
St Helens' season got off to the worst possible start with a crushing loss to Hull at a foggy Knowsley Road. Despite a strong start, making good yardage and showing signs of the Saints flair of the Millward and Anderson eras, Saints failed to execute throughout and their defence proved leaky with Willie Manu cantering over in the 25th minute.


2010 St Helens RLFC season, 2010 results and fixtures, Super League XV, Round 1
Epalahame Lauaki barged over 12 minutes after brushing off Leon Pryce, following more shocking defence from the five-time champions, and Hull continued to press after half-time, with Sean Long returning to haunt his former employers in a man-of-the-match performance, and Tom Briscoe adding scores to make the game safe with a 26-0 scoreline. Saints hit back through quick-fire tires from Matt Gidley and Chris Flannery, but again, the finishing touch was found lacking in vital areas, meaning they could not pull off a comeback of old. Kirk Yeaman competed the win in the 75th minute after latching on to a Craig Fitzgibbon hack-on. No doubt, St Helens must improve on their basics should they want to trouble Leeds and usual pace-setters in the top four.


2010 St Helens RLFC season, 2010 results and fixtures, Super League XV, Round 2
Preview:The game sees St Helens' big winger Francis Meli return to the initial 19-man squad for the round 2 game at the Odsal Stadium. second-row Matty Ashurst also comes back into contention for Saints. They take the places of centre Iosia Soliola who is out for three to four weeks with an ankle problem and wing Ade Gardner who has and intercostal muscle injury and is out of contention for six to eight weeks. Talismanic hooker and skipper Keiron Cunningham was due to earn his 500th cap in the professional game but missed the fixture due to a family bereavement.


2010 St Helens RLFC season, 2010 results and fixtures, Super League XV, Round 2
St Helens got back to winning ways after the week previous' crushing loss to Hull with a resounding win at Bradford. Saints started the game well, with Jon Wilkin opening the scoring in the 12th minute. From this St Helens kicked on, Kyle Eastmond kicking a penalty before full-back Paul Wellens scored two of his eventual four tries before the half-hour mark. Saints continued the pressure after the half-time break with Eastmond intercepting and going 80 metres in the 48th minute.


2010 St Helens RLFC season, 2010 results and fixtures, Super League XV, Round 2
Bradford applied the pressure for fifteen minutes, but a mixture of awesome defence and poor decision making from the Bulls meant Saints kept them at nil. Wellens added his third and fourth in the 65th and 71st minutes before Bradford responded through a Matt Orford try and goal; a scant consolation score in the final moments of the game. A mention must go to Leon Pryce who had a hand in no less than 3 of his sides tries against his former employers. St Helens look to be back to their destructive best, and this win may relieve the pressure on under-fire coach Mick Potter.


2010 St Helens RLFC season, 2010 results and fixtures, Super League XV, Round 2
Preview:St Helens will be looking to build upon last week's first win of the season at Bradford. However, they do not boast a healthy record at the Stade Gilbert Brutus, winning only twice over four seasons. Andy Dixon earns a recall, whilst Jack Bradbury could make his St Helens début in the game after being named in his maiden 19-man squad. Chris Flannery misses out on the game through a shoulder injury, and he joins Iosia Soliola (ankle) and Ade Gardner (rib cartilage) on the injury list. Keiron Cunningham does not travel due to a family bereavement, as he still awaits his 500th game at professional level.


2010 St Helens RLFC season, 2010 results and fixtures, Super League XV, Round 2
St Helens got back-to-back wins after a comfortable win over the Dragons in Perpignan. However, it was the Dragons who got the better of the opening exchanges, with Setaimata Sa and Chris Walker going over inside the first ten minutes. Neither scores were converted, but Catalans had an 8-0 lead. However, on the 15 minute mark, Saints found their cutting edge and began to tick, with young winger Jonny Lomax latching on to an inch-perfect Paul Wellens chip.


2010 St Helens RLFC season, 2010 results and fixtures, Super League XV, Round 2
Despite James Graham being off the field with  suspected concussion and Jonny Lomax being caught by a dangerous tackle by Olivier Elima which resulted in the French captain's sending off, St Helens pressed on and it was Lomax, who shrugged off the shot from Elima to cut inside his opposing winger to score a brilliant try. Kyle Eastmond scored a goal from the touchline for a 10-8 St Helens lead, and with the extra man advantage, it was looking ominous for the Dragons.


2010 St Helens RLFC season, 2010 results and fixtures, Super League XV, Round 2
Francis Meli got his first of the season after a fine kick form the in-form Leon Pryce, and shortly after, Matt Gidley cut back inside his winger to finish a fine move for the first of his two tries of the evening. Half-time - 8-18 to Saints. The second-half continued in a similar guise, with Maurie Fa'asavalu scoring a trade-mark, barnstorming try under the posts. Eastmond was next to score, Gidley cutting through the defence and flicking the ball back on the inside to Eastmond who sped 30 meters for a fine try.


2010 St Helens RLFC season, 2010 results and fixtures, Super League XV, Round 2
Meli then crossed for his second, finishing well a break from Matty Ashurst. Gidley then got his brace, with a trademark, show and go on the outside to score. That was the end of the St Helens scoring, but by no means the end of the action, with Bryn Hargreaves and Scott Moore involved in a brawl with the Catalans forwards. Walker got his second with five minutes remaining, but the win was in the bag by the hour mark.


2010 St Helens RLFC season, 2010 results and fixtures, Super League XV, Round 4
Preview:The game will St Helens' talismanic skipper Keiron Cunningham return to the fold to make his 500th appearance in professional rugby, following the sudden death of his mother, Annie. However, winger Ade Gardner and centre Sia Soliola still miss out through rib and ankle injuries respectively. Also, second rowers Jon Wilkin and Chris Flannery will both miss the game with shoulder problems, therefore meaning Matty Ashurst will deputise for his first appearance of 2010.


2010 St Helens RLFC season, 2010 results and fixtures, Super League XV, Round 4
St Helens made it three consecutive wins with a hard-fought if scrappy win over the in-form Wakefield. Despite a strong, assured start from the Drednaughts with tries from Daryl Millard and young Dale Morton inside the first ten minutes, St Helens finally got going and got onto the scoreboard on 27 minutes with Jonny Lomax notching his third in four games. They continued to apply the pressure in the second half with scores from Kyle Eastmond, Francis Meli and Keiron Cunningham scoring on this landmark game for the hooker. Wakefield applied pressure late on with Millard getting his second, but St Helens held on for the win.


2010 St Kilda Football Club season
The St Kilda Football Club competed in the 2010 Australian Football League (AFL) premiership season. They finished the home and away season in third place. They won through to the 2010 Grand Final after qualifying and preliminary finals wins and drew with Collingwood in the grand final, however they were beaten in the replay to finish runner up for the second consecutive year.


2010 St Kilda Football Club season
A number of new records were set by the Saints throughout 2010:


2010 St Kilda Football Club season, NAB Cup
St Kilda qualified for the NAB cup Grand Final however were beaten by the Western bulldogs in to finish Runner up.


2010 St Patrick's Athletic F.C. season
The 2010 season is St. Patricks Athletic F.C. 's 81st year in existence, and their 59th year in the top division. The previous season the Saints finished 7th, failing to qualify for any European Competition.


2010 St Patrick's Athletic F.C. season, Pre-season
When the 2009 season finished, St Pats underwent a revamp. Most of the squad from the 2009 season was let go, only 5 players from 2009 were kept for 2010.


2010 St Patrick's Athletic F.C. season, Pre-season
On 9 December Pete Mahon was appointed manager after successfully leading the Saints out of relegation trouble last season. Pete Mahon signed 13 players during pre-season, creating a good deal of excitement amongst the fans.


2010 St Patrick's Athletic F.C. season, Pre-season
The team spent a weekend in Wexford where they defeated Wexford Youths 3–0. Up next were 2 home friendlies against Longford Town F.C., 3–1 and Limerick F.C., 1–1. These were followed by 2 away matches against Waterford United F.C., 0–0 and Bray Wanderers F.C., 1–3.


2010 St Patrick's Athletic F.C. season, Team kit
On 15 January it was announced that St Pats secured a kit deal with Umbro to add 4 years onto the deal already in place. Nissan were announced as the new main sponsors of the club after the deal with Paddy Power ran out. A new home and away jersey were issued for the 2010 season.


2010 St. George Illawarra Dragons season
The 2010 St. George Illawarra Dragons season was the 12th in the joint venture club's history. They competed in the National Rugby League's 2010 Telstra Premiership, securing their second successive minor premiership. The Dragons went on to compete in the 2010 NRL Grand Final, defeating the Sydney Roosters to gain the club's first premiership since their formation as a joint venture club in 1999.


2010 St. George Illawarra Dragons season, Season summary
Restarting their ambitions of a maiden Premiership, the Dragons began the 2010 season without dual international Wendell Sailor after the winger announced his retirement during the pre-season. The Dragons had been competition favourites since day one of the 2010 season, and for all but three rounds of the entire regular season were on top of the ladder (the Sydney Roosters were on top after rounds 1 and 2 and the Melbourne Storm were on top after round 4, when they defeated the Dragons 17-4).


2010 St. George Illawarra Dragons season, Season summary
In the regular season of 2010, the Dragons lost only seven matches, against Melbourne in round 4, Manly in round 9, Canberra in rounds 11 and 24, Penrith in round 17, the Gold Coast in extra time in round 20 and Brisbane in round 21. The Dragons built their season on defence and when they finished the regular season, they became only the 2nd team in the NRL to concede less than 300 points in a season. 299 points were scored against them at an average of 12.4 points per game.


2010 St. George Illawarra Dragons season, Season summary
The St George Illawarra Dragons headed into the week one of the finals and had a great victory against the Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles winning 28 - 0. After the week off the St George Illawarra Dragons faced the Wests Tigers in the preliminary final and won 13 - 12. The Dragons then faced the Sydney Roosters in the NRL Telstra Premiership Grand Final and despite trailing 6–8 at halftime they scored 26 unanswered points in a wet second half to win 32-8 and secure the first NRL Premiership for the joint venture.


2010 St. George Illawarra Dragons season, Season summary
A major coup for the club was the re-signing of former captain and star centre Mark Gasnier following his stint in French rugby union.


2010 St. George Illawarra Dragons season, 2010 NRL Ladder
1 Melbourne were deducted eight premiership points and barred from receiving premiership points for the rest of the season due to gross long-term salary cap breaches.


2010 St. Louis Cardinals season
The St. Louis Cardinals' 2010 season was the 129th season for the franchise in St. Louis, Missouri and the 119th season in the National League. The Cardinals began their season on the road against the Cincinnati Reds on April 5. St. Louis was coming off a 91-71 (.562) season and first place in the NL Central, followed by a quick playoff exit when they were swept in the NLDS versus Los Angeles. In 2010, however, the Cardinals fell back to the same record of 2008 (86-76), finishing second in the NL Central to the Reds by five games.


2010 St. Louis Cardinals season, Offseason departures and acquisitions, Management
On October 26, 2009, Tony La Russa agreed to come back for a 15th season as manager of the Cardinals, thus extending his record for longest-serving manager in Cardinal history. Pitching coach and long-time LaRussa partner Dave Duncan, who earlier in 2009 had expressed displeasure with the franchise after his son Chris was traded, also agreed to return. However, hitting coach Hal McRae was fired after five seasons with the Cardinals and replaced with former Cardinal and former home run champion Mark McGwire.


2010 St. Louis Cardinals season, Offseason departures and acquisitions, Management
McGwire's hiring as hitting coach marked the slugger's first job in baseball since his retirement eight years prior. It was also his return to the public eye following his implication as a steroids user in Jose Canseco's book and his controversial 2005 appearance at the United States House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform's inquiry into the steroid scandal.


2010 St. Louis Cardinals season, Offseason departures and acquisitions, Hitters
The Cardinals announced on November 30 that backup catcher Jason LaRue was signed to a third season. It was LaRue's third straight one-year deal with St. Louis.


2010 St. Louis Cardinals season, Offseason departures and acquisitions, Hitters
Mark DeRosa, acquired from the Indians via an in-season trade in 2009, left St. Louis via free agency, signing with the San Francisco Giants on Dec. 28. Troy Glaus, who hit 27 home runs as the third baseman for the 2008 Cardinals but was limited to 29 at-bats at the end of 2009 due to a shoulder injury, signed a contract with the Atlanta Braves on Jan 5 after passing a physical. Rick Ankiel, who started 2009 as the everyday center fielder but lost his starting job and struggled to a .285


2010 St. Louis Cardinals season, Offseason departures and acquisitions, Hitters
OBP for the season, signed a one-year deal with the Kansas City Royals on Jan. 21. The same day, Khalil Greene, who started 2009 as the everyday shortstop for St. Louis but was sidelined with social anxiety disorder, signed a one-year deal to be a utility infielder for the Texas Rangers.


2010 St. Louis Cardinals season, Offseason departures and acquisitions, Hitters
On Jan 7 the Cardinals announced that they had signed their 2009 trade deadline acquisition, left fielder Matt Holliday, to a seven-year $120 mil. deal with the Cardinals. It is the largest contract in club history, surpassing Albert Pujols seven-year $100 mil. deal in 2004. The contract includes a full no-trade clause, an average $17.0M per year salary through 2016, and a $17M vesting option for 2017 which will occur if he makes the Top 10 in the 2016 MVP voting. The buyout on the vesting option is $1M, making the total contract worth $120M. His uniform number changes from 15 to 7.


2010 St. Louis Cardinals season, Offseason departures and acquisitions, Hitters
On Feb 27 the Cardinals completed a one-year deal with infielder Felipe López. Lopez, who hit .385 in a two-month stint with the 2008 Cardinals, was anticipated to fill a utility role. The acquisition of Lopez led the Cardinals to deal their other utility infielder, Julio Lugo, to the Baltimore Orioles for a player to be named later.


2010 St. Louis Cardinals season, Offseason departures and acquisitions, Pitchers
On Nov 4 St. Louis released Brad Thompson, who made his debut for the Cardinals in 2005 and was one of only six players remaining from the 2006 World Series champion Cardinals. Starting pitcher Joel Piñeiro, who had a career year for the 2009 Cardinals (3.49 ERA, 1.145 WHIP), capitalized by signing with the Anaheim Angels for two years and $16 million on Jan. 20. Starter Todd Wellemeyer, who struggled badly for the 2009 Cardinals, signed a minor-league deal with the Giants in February.


2010 St. Louis Cardinals season, Offseason departures and acquisitions, Pitchers
On December 8 the Cardinals announced the finalization of a deal to sign Brad Penny, who spent 2009 as a starter for the Red Sox and Giants, to a one-year deal for $7.5 million with an additional $1.5 million in incentives.


2010 St. Louis Cardinals season, Spring training
The Cardinals were 15-14 (.517) in 2010 compared to 19-12-2 (.613) [Team BA: .290; Team ERA: 4.35] in 2009's spring exhibitions. Attendance at Roger Dean Stadium was 96,910 for 14 games, averaging 6,922 per game.


2010 St. Louis Cardinals season, Spring training
Jaime García, a Cardinal draft pick who underwent Tommy John surgery in 2008 after a cup of coffee with the big-league club, won the fifth-starter role in spring training. David Freese won the starting job at third base. Allen Craig, Joe Mather and Nick Stavinoha filled out the Cardinal bench. On March 24, Yadier Molina suffered a right oblique muscle strain sliding into second base. Molina, batting .314 (11-for-35) at the time of his injury, missed the rest of spring training but was ready for Opening Day.


2010 St. Louis Cardinals season, Regular season, April
The Cardinals opened 2010 on April 5, on the road at Cincinnati. St. Louis won 11–6 on six effective innings from Chris Carpenter. Albert Pujols had two home runs. Colby Rasmus had a home run, and robbed Scott Rolen of a home run. Yadier Molina hit a grand slam home run, and became only the third Cardinals ever to do so on opening day. The other two Cardinals to ever do so, Mark McGwire and Scott Rolen, were also in attendance. In the home opener on April 12, St. Louis beat Houston 5-0 behind a three-run home run from Pujols and eight shutout innings from Adam Wainwright.


2010 St. Louis Cardinals season, Regular season, April
Jason LaRue became the first Cardinal to go on the disabled list on April 14, after suffering a strained hamstring. Bryan Anderson was called up from the minors to replace him on the roster.


2010 St. Louis Cardinals season, Regular season, April
On April 17 the Cardinals and Mets played a memorable game at Busch Stadium lasting 20 innings. The game lasted 6 hours and 53 minutes, ending with a 2-1 Mets' victory. This was only the 42nd game in baseball history that lasted as long as 20 innings. Backup outfielder Joe Mather took the loss after pitching and giving up a run in the 19th and 20th, after utility infielder Felipe López pitched a scoreless 18th. The Mets left 13 on-base, while the Cardinals stranded 22.


2010 St. Louis Cardinals season, Regular season, April
Lopez went on the DL on April 26. He had been suffering from elbow discomfort since April 11 but did not report the issue until two days after he pitched an inning against the Mets on April 17. Concurrent with Lopez's trip to the DL, the Cardinals sent Allen Craig to Memphis, recalled infielder Tyler Greene, and called up for his big-league debut Jon Jay, their second pick in the 2006 draft.


2010 St. Louis Cardinals season, Regular season, April
Buoyed by excellent pitching from 4/5 of their starting rotation (Lohse's 6.55 ERA for April made him the only Cardinal starter who didn't come in under 3.50 for the month), the Cardinals only lost one series in all of April, and they finished the month at 15–8, and in first place in the Central Division.


2010 St. Louis Cardinals season, Regular season, May
The Cardinals fell into a severe slump in early May. St. Louis lost 3 of 4 on the road to the East-leading Phillies, then, after taking two of three from Pittsburgh, returned home and were swept in three games by the Houston Astros, who were the worst team in the league prior to the series. A victory against the Reds with first place on the line included a two-run homer by Pujols, snapping a nine-game team homerless streak. However, subsequent losses to the Reds on May 15 and 16 knocked the Cardinals out of first place for the first time all season.


2010 St. Louis Cardinals season, Regular season, May
On May 17, Felipe López came off the DL and entered the starting lineup at shortstop. Brendan Ryan was demoted to a utility role due to a season-long slump that saw his average slide to .162 at the time he lost the starting job. In another effort to kickstart a stagnating offense on that same day, manager LaRussa switched Pujols and Matt Holliday in the lineup, with Holliday batting third and Pujols fourth. It was the first time Pujols had hit somewhere other than third in the lineup since May 30, 2003, but the change was short-lived, lasting only five days.


2010 St. Louis Cardinals season, Regular season, May
Brad Penny hit a grand slam in the third inning that proved decisive in St. Louis's 9–5 victory over the Anaheim Angels on May 21—but suffered a strained lat muscle in his back, apparently on the swing, and left the game immediately. The next day he went on the DL, and P. J. Walters was called up to take his place. St. Louis lost a second starting pitcher five days after Penny, when Kyle Lohse went to the DL on May 27 (retroactive to May 23), after being diagnosed with exertional compartment syndrome in his right (pitching) arm.


2010 St. Louis Cardinals season, Regular season, May
Fernando Salas was called up from Memphis to replace Lohse on the roster. Shortly thereafter further roster moves resulted in the demotion of Joe Mather and Salas, and the promotion of two pitchers making their major league debuts: former Cardinals first-round draft pick Adam Ottavino and minor-league veteran Evan MacLane. The roster shuffling continued on May 31, when MacLane was sent back down without appearing in a game and Allen Craig was recalled.


2010 St. Louis Cardinals season, Regular season, May
The Cardinals offense continued to stall. On May 25 and 26 St. Louis lost consecutive games in San Diego by scores of 1-0 and 2–1. Both games were decided on home runs by Jerry Hairston Jr., who had zero home runs in 2010 entering the series. An 8-3 Cardinal victory on May 27 in the third game of the series featured Pujols' first home run since May 14 and only his second of the month. Three days later, on May 30, Pujols exploded out of his power slump by hitting three home runs in a 9–1 victory over the Cubs in Wrigley Field. It was the fourth three-homer game of his career and his first since 2006.


2010 St. Louis Cardinals season, Regular season, May
The suddenly surging Cardinal offense delivered a 12–4 victory over the Reds on May 31 that gave St. Louis a winning record for May (15-14) and put the Cardinals back into a first-place tie with Cincinnati.


2010 St. Louis Cardinals season, Regular season, June
On June 1, the Cardinals promoted Aaron Miles from Memphis and sent Allen Craig down. Miles, who played for St. Louis from 2006 through 2008, and was a member of the 2006 World Series champion Cardinals, signed a minor-league contract with St. Louis in the spring. Further bench maneuvering took place on June 5, when the Cardinals signed veteran outfielder Randy Winn, recently designated for assignment by the Yankees. Jon Jay was sent back down to Memphis to make room, and pitcher Kyle Lohse was sent to the 60-day DL.


2010 St. Louis Cardinals season, Regular season, June
Adam Wainwright threw a complete game two-hitter on June 4, and the Cardinals beat the Brewers 8–0, retaking sole possession of first place. It was the first shutout of Wainwright's career.


2010 St. Louis Cardinals season, Regular season, June
Jason Motte's outing on June 6, in which he took the loss in a 5–4, 10-inning defeat by the Brewers, snapped his streak of 32 consecutive batters retired. Motte was nine batters shy of the reliever record of 41 straight set by Bobby Jenks., and 13 shy of the major league record of 45 set by Mark Buehrle.


2010 St. Louis Cardinals season, Regular season, June
Seeking to shore up a rotation with gaping holes in the back end after the loss of Penny and Lohse, St. Louis acquired pitcher Jeff Suppan, a veteran of the 2006 World Series champion Cardinals and the MVP of the 2006 NLCS. Suppan, increasingly ineffective since he left St. Louis for the Milwaukee Brewers following the World Series victory, had an ERA of 7.84 when he was released by the Brewers in early June.


2010 St. Louis Cardinals season, Regular season, June
On June 30, Albert Pujols had his 37th career multihomer game at Busch Stadium tying Stan Musial's franchise record by a Cardinals' player.


2010 St. Louis Cardinals season, Regular season, June
David Freese went on the DL on June 30 with a bone bruise on his ankle. Freese suffered the injury on June 5 and had been playing in pain all month. The Cardinals, slowed by nagging injuries to Freese and Ludwick, plagued by poor performances from the back end of their rotation, and further weighed down by the season-long slumps of Ryan, Schumaker and Molina, trod water in June, going 13–13 to finish the month at 43–35.


2010 St. Louis Cardinals season, Regular season, July
On July 3, Ryan Ludwick went on the DL after he aggravated a prior left calf strain while exercising on a treadmill, and outfielder Jon Jay was recalled to take his place.


2010 St. Louis Cardinals season, Regular season, July
MLB announced rosters for the 2010 Major League Baseball All-Star Game on July 4, and five Cardinals made the NL team. Albert Pujols led the National League in votes. Yadier Molina was voted starting catcher for the NL squad despite having one of the worst seasons of his career, with a .229 batting average on the day the rosters were announced. Chris Carpenter and Adam Wainwright were named to the pitching staff, and Matt Holliday was selected as a reserve.


2010 St. Louis Cardinals season, Regular season, July
In the game, played in Anaheim on July 13, Pujols was 0-for-2, Molina was 1-for-1 with a single, Holliday singled and scored, Wainwright pitched a scoreless seventh, but Carpenter was held back in reserve and did not pitch. Holliday scored on a three-run double by the Braves' Brian McCann that won the All-Star Game, 3–1, giving the National League their first win since the 1996.


2010 St. Louis Cardinals season, Regular season, July
On July 6, in Colorado, the Cardinals suffered one of the worst ninth-inning collapses in franchise history. Leading 9-3 going into the bottom of the ninth, Dennys Reyes and Ryan Franklin combined to give up nine runs to the Rockies, with Seth Smith's three-run walk-off homer capping an amazing 12-9 Colorado victory. It was the first time in 51 years that the Cardinals allowed nine runs in the ninth inning, and the first time St. Louis lost a game it led by seven runs or more since 1998.


2010 St. Louis Cardinals season, Regular season, July
It also was the first time all season the Cardinals lost a game when they were leading after eight innings. Previously, they were a perfect 38–0. The next night, the Cardinals followed up that collapse by blowing leads of 5-0 and 7–4, losing to the Rockies 8–7 on another walk-off homer, this one by Chris Iannetta. After the Rockies completed a three-game sweep the next day, the Cardinals traveled to Houston and took two of three to go into the All-Star Break with a 47–41 record, one game behind the first-place Cincinnati Reds.


2010 St. Louis Cardinals season, Regular season, July
St. Louis won its last game before the break against Houston (Jul. 11), then came out and won seven in a row against the Dodgers and Phillies (Jul. 15–21) before losing the last home game in that stand 2–0 in 11 inn. The eight-game win streak was the longest by the Cardinals since the 105-win NL champions of 2004 won nine in a row. The Cardinals vaulted past Cincinnati and back into first place in the NL Central Division by 1½ games.


2010 St. Louis Cardinals season, Regular season, July
Ryan Ludwick was activated from the DL on July 24, after having missed a month due to his calf injury. One week later, on July 31, Ludwick was traded at the non-waiver deadline to the San Diego Padres as part of a three-way deal. The Cardinals received minor league left-hand pitcher Nick Greenwood from the Padres and coveted starting pitcher Jake Westbrook from Cleveland along with cash considerations. Minor-league pitcher Corey Kluber went from the Padres to the Indians to complete the deal.


2010 St. Louis Cardinals season, Regular season, July
The Cardinals went 15–11 in July, their best month since April, and ended the month at 58-46 and a half-game ahead of the persistent Reds in the NL Central.


2010 St. Louis Cardinals season, Regular season, August
On August 3, David Freese, the everyday third baseman who missed more than a month after an ankle injury, re-injured the ankle and was sidelined for the rest of the year. More bad news came the next day, when key reliever Jason Motte was placed on the DL with a right shoulder sprain. Freese underwent reconstructive surgery on his right ankle the day after that, and will need six months of rehabilitation, leaving him uncertain for spring training in February 2011.


2010 St. Louis Cardinals season, Regular season, August
On Aug 6, Adam Wainwright pitched one of the best games of his career, throwing a complete game two-hit shutout to beat the Marlins, 7–0. Pujols hit his 28th home run (a 3-run shot) in the first inning, then added a fourth RBI later to  grab the NL RBI lead with 82. The victory upped Wainwright's record to 16-6 (second in NL), and dropped his ERA to 2.07 (second in NL).


2010 St. Louis Cardinals season, Regular season, August
On August 10, the Cardinals and Reds had a nasty brawl at Great American Ball Park in Cincinnati. One day after Reds second baseman Brandon Phillips proclaimed "I really hate the Cardinals", Phillips and Yadier Molina had an argument at home plate that escalated into a bench-clearing brawl. Jason LaRue suffered a severe concussion after being kicked in the face by Reds pitcher Johnny Cueto, leading the Cardinals to call up minor-league catcher Steven Hill for his big-league debut. Jeff Suppan was placed on the DL with groin soreness unrelated to the brawl.


2010 St. Louis Cardinals season, Regular season, August
The Cardinals swept the Reds in three games, dealing Cincinnati its first series loss since the All-Star Break and retaking sole possession of first place in the NL Central. In the third game, Wainwright held the Reds to two hits over seven shutout innings, dropping his ERA to 1.99. LaRue, still suffering from his concussion, was sent to the DL on the 13th.


2010 St. Louis Cardinals season, Regular season, August
Suspensions and fines for the brawl were announced on Aug. 12. Managers Dusty Baker and Tony La Russa each received two-game suspensions, and the Reds' pitcher Johnny Cueto was suspended for seven games, with Molina and Carpenter of the Cardinals fined along with the Reds' Brandon Phillips and Russ Springer. Bench coach Joe Pettini will be the acting manager.


2010 St. Louis Cardinals season, Regular season, August
Starting pitcher Kyle Lohse came off the DL almost three months after undergoing right forearm surgery to pitch the August 15 matchup against the Cubs. He pitched as poorly in that game as he did in April and May, and the Cardinals lost 9–7 to the Cubs. In that same game, Albert Pujols hit his 30th home run, extending his own major league record by hitting 30 or more home runs in 10 consecutive seasons starting with his rookie year.


2010 St. Louis Cardinals season, Regular season, August
After Freese's season-ending injury and a horrific slump by substitute 3b Felipe López, who was batting .165 since July 22, the Cardinals acquired Pedro Feliz from the Houston Astros on Aug. 19. The Cardinals also received cash considerations while the Astros received minor-league pitcher David Carpenter. Feliz was hitting .221 at the time of the trade. To make room on the roster, Jason LaRue was moved to the 60-day DL, officially ending his 2010 season except for the possibility of post-season play.


2010 St. Louis Cardinals season, Regular season, August
The team suffered badly after their big sweep of Cincinnati (Aug. 9–11) with a season-high five-game losing streak that dropped them to 4½ games behind the Reds for the NL Central title, and three games behind the Phillies in the wild-card race. On August 26, Albert Pujols hit his 400th career home run in Washington, becoming the third-youngest player to reach that milestone.


2010 St. Louis Cardinals season, Regular season, August
Unfortunately, it came as part of an agonizing 11-10 extra inning defeat to the Nationals, one in which St. Louis blew a 5–3 lead, scored four in the ninth to go ahead 10–8, then blew that lead when closer Ryan Franklin gave up a two-run homer in the bottom of the 9th. The Cardinals slipped to a ghastly 5-12 after the sweep of Cincinnati for the remainder of the month, with 11 of those losses coming to teams with losing records (the Cubs, Brewers, Pirates, Nationals, and Astros).


2010 St. Louis Cardinals season, Regular season, September
The Cardinals announced on September 1 that the team's new broadcasting station in 2011 will be a familiar one: KMOX, giving up on KTRS weak 5,000-watt reach for KMOX's 50,000-watt clear channel. Missouri native and longtime Chicago White Sox announcer John Rooney joined Shannon in the broadcast booth in the inaugural season with the new station. The team will presently keep its 50% ownership in KTRS, unless a good offer is made.


2010 St. Louis Cardinals season, Regular season, September
On September 1, the disastrous road trip concluded with a 5–2 loss at Houston for another losing streak of five games, the second time in the past 16 games played, tying their longest losing streak of the season. The 2-8 road trip dropped them 8 games behind Cincinnati, and 5 games out of the wild card.


2010 St. Louis Cardinals season, Regular season, September
It was part of a pattern in which the Cardinals, who were in first place after sweeping the Reds in August and looking towards a schedule filled with bad teams, choked away the Central Division by showing an utter inability to beat those bad teams. Between the Cubs series on August 13, which immediately followed the sweep of Cincinnati, and a series against the Pirates that ended on September 23, St. Louis played eight series against teams with losing records, and lost all of them. During this stretch the Cardinals also played their last series of the season against Cincinnati. St. Louis took two of three at home but the Reds remained far ahead in the NL Central.


2010 St. Louis Cardinals season, Regular season, September
On September 11, Albert Pujols reached 100 RBIs for the 10th consecutive year and drove in all three runs giving him 102 for the season, but the team lost in extra innings 6–3 at Atlanta. Only Al Simmons has a longer streak at the beginning of a career, 11 years (1924–1934). Pujols joins Jimmie Foxx, Lou Gehrig, and Alex Rodriguez in having 10 consecutive seasons of 100+ RBIs at any time in their career. Only two other players have 10 consecutive years of 30 HRs and 100 RBIs at any time in their careers: Foxx and Rodriguez.


2010 St. Louis Cardinals season, Regular season, September
On September 19, catcher Jason LaRue, still suffering from the severe concussion he received on August 10 when Cueto kicked him in the head numerous times, announced his retirement from baseball effective at the end of the season. Another player departed two days later, when infielder Felipe López was given his unconditional release. The cited cause was repeated tardiness.


2010 St. Louis Cardinals season, Regular season, September
On September 23, catcher Yadier Molina was ruled out for the remainder of the season because of continuing soreness in his right knee after an examination in St. Louis. Pitcher Jaime García joined Molina on the shelf when the Cardinals decided he would sit out the remainder of the season, citing his Tommy John arm surgery (in September 2008) and heavy 2010 workload. Garcia led all rookie pitchers with 13 wins, and posted the fourth-best (2.70) ERA in the NL,


2010 St. Louis Cardinals season, Regular season, September
One bit of good news penetrated the Cardinals' terrible month: Adam Wainwright won his 20th game on September 24. After a strained muscle led the Cardinals to sit Wainwright for his last scheduled start, he finished at 20–11 with a 2.42 ERA. Four days after Wainwright's 20th victory, on September 28, St. Louis was eliminated from playoff contention. After it no longer mattered, the Cardinals won 9 of their last 11 games to finish 86–76. At season's end, Pujols became the second player in the last sixty years (the first was Hank Aaron), to lead the National League in runs, home runs, and runs batted in, and not be named Most Valuable Player.


2010 St. Louis Cardinals season, Regular season, September
Despite their lower finish in the standings, the team drew 3,300,218 fans, the seventh consecutive year over 3 million and sixth over 3.3 million. Only three other teams drew more.


2010 St. Louis Cardinals season, Player stats, Batting
Note: G = Games played; AB = At Bats; R = Runs; H = Hits; 2B= Doubles; HR = Home Runs; RBI = Runs Batted In; BB = Walks;  Avg. = Batting Average; OBP = On-base Percentage; SLG = Slugging Percentage


2010 St. Louis Cardinals season, Player stats, Batting
* Currently not on active roster † on 15-day disabled or rehab list ^ Traded away from Cardinals


2010 St. Louis Cardinals season, Player stats, Starting pitchers
Note: GS = Games Started; IP = Innings Pitched; W = Wins; L = Loss; ERA = Earned Run Average; WHIP = (Walks + Hits) per Innings Pitched; HBP = Hit by Pitch; BF = Batters faced; O-AVG = Opponent Batting Ave.; O-SLG = Opponent Slugging Ave.; R support avg = Average Runs support from his team per Games Started


2010 St. Louis Cardinals season, Player stats, Starting pitchers
* not on active roster † on 15-day disabled list †† on 60-day disabled list


2010 St. Louis Cardinals season, Player stats, Relief pitchers
Note: IP = Innings Pitched; ERA = Earned Run Average; WHIP = (Walks + Hits) per Innings Pitched


2010 St. Louis Cardinals season, Player stats, Relief pitchers
18–20, 3.73 ERA, 1.31 WHIP, 462.2 IP, 435 H, 201 R, 192 ER, 169 BB, 346 SO, 48 HR Saves/Opp: 32/42 (76%)   1st Batter / Retired: 304/455 (67%) Holds: 70                         Inherited Runners/Scored: 65/204 (32%)


2010 St. Louis Cardinals season, Player stats, Relief pitchers
(through Oct. 3) Games lost by bullpen: 20   Hawksworth (4), McClellan (4), Boggs (3), Motte (2), Franklin (2), Mather (1), Reyes (1), Miller (1), MacLane (1), MacDougal (1)


2010 St. Louis Cardinals season, Player stats, Relief pitchers
Blown Saves by bullpen: 19   Franklin (6), McClellan (4), Motte (4), Miller (2), Perez (1), Kinney (1), Salas (1)


2010 St. Louis Cardinals season, Cardinals Record When
Scoring more than 3 runs   77-20        Scoring 3 runs              3-10  Scoring fewer than 3 runs    6-46


2010 St. Louis Cardinals season, Cardinals Record When
Leading after 7 innings     72-3        Tied after 7 innings     10-7 Trailing after 7 innings       4-66


2010 St. Louis Cardinals season, Cardinals Record When
Leading after 8 innings   74-1        Tied after 8 innings   9-6  Trailing after 8 innings    3-69


2010 St. Louis Cardinals season, Cardinals Record When
Blown Saves by bullpen:  19   Games lost by bullpen:    20


2010 St. Louis Cardinals season, Cardinals Record When
Out-hit opponents         64-19  Same hits as opponents 8-4  Out-hit by opponents    14-53


2010 St. Louis Cardinals season, Cardinals Record When
Runs via HR          248 (33.7% of total)  Opp. Runs via HR  204 (31.8% of total)


2010 St. Louis Cardinals season, Cardinals Record When
Mon. 14-5 Tue. 7-16 Wed.  11-14 Thu. 8-10 Fri.    20-6 Sat. 9-17 Sun. 17-8


2010 St. Louis Cardinals season, Cardinals Record When
NL Central 19-20  20-19  39-39 NL East     12-3     6-12  18-15 NL West    15-3     5-13  20-16 AL East      0-0     2-1     2-1 AL Central  0-0     1-2     1-2 AL West     6-3     0-0     6-3


2010 St. Louis Cardinals season, Busch Stadium (Indexes)
2010   (100 = Neutral Park, > 100 Ballpark favors, < 100 Ballpark inhibits)   81 HOME G; Cardinals: 2,686 AB;  Opponents: 2,780 AB   81 AWAY G: Cardinals: 2,856 AB;  Opponents: 2,726 AB


2010 St. Louis Cardinals season, Busch Stadium (Indexes)
BA 98  R  94  HR  77  H  96  2B  95


2010 St. Louis Cardinals season, Busch Stadium (Indexes)
(Cardinals batting: HOME .270    ROAD .256    OVERALL .263) (Opponents batting: at StL .243   on ROAD .270   OVERALL  .256)


2010 St. Louis Cardinals season, Busch Stadium (Indexes)
BA 98  R  93  H  97  2B 93  3B 89  HR 82  BB 104  SO 98  E 107  E-inf. 110  LHB-BA 98  LHB-HR 91  RHB-BA 98  RHB-HR 77


2010 St. Louis Cardinals season, Busch Stadium (Indexes)
BA-Home        .273    BA-Road     .265    (.268 overall) Opp.-Busch  .253    Opp.-Road  .270


2010 St. Louis Rams season
The 2010 season was the St. Louis Rams' 73rd in the National Football League, and their 16th in St. Louis. The team greatly improved on their near winless record of 1–15 from the 2009 season by achieving more total victories than in their previous three seasons for a record of 7–9, which almost won a weak NFC West ultimately decided by a loss to the Seahawks in the final week. Since the start of the 2007 NFL season, the Rams had won just 6 combined games and had not qualified for the playoffs since 2004. In the 2010 NFL Draft, the Rams had the number 1 overall pick, which they picked Sam Bradford from Oklahoma. This year marked their second season under head coach Steve Spagnuolo. The Rams played all of their home games at the Edward Jones Dome, in St. Louis, Missouri.


2010 St. Louis Rams season
The Rams fired two trainers (Jim Anderson and Dake Walden), and assistant line coach Art Valero left for the Seattle Seahawks.


2010 St. Louis Rams season
Stan Kroenke was approved by the NFL on August 25, 2010 to purchase 100% of the Rams from the current owners Chip Rosenbloom and Lucia Rodriguez. Kroenke took control of the team before the start of the 2010 season. He also owns the Denver Nuggets of the NBA, as well as the Colorado Avalanche of the NHL.


2010 St. Louis Rams season, Offseason, Key departures
Quarterback Marc Bulger was released by the Rams on April 5, 2010.


2010 St. Louis Rams season, Offseason, 2010 NFL Draft
The Rams picked first in the first round after finishing the 2009 season with the worst overall record at 1–15. In addition, the Rams had a fifth round pick from the Philadelphia Eagles from a trade that sent LB Will Witherspoon to the Eagles, and a seventh round pick from the Atlanta Falcons from a trade that sent CB Tye Hill to the Falcons.


2010 St. Louis Rams season, Offseason, 2010 NFL Draft
The Rams selected University of Oklahoma QB Sam Bradford with their 2010 number 1 overall pick.


2010 St. Louis Rams season, Preseason, Schedule
The Rams preseason schedule was announced on March 31, 2010.


2010 St. Louis Rams season, Regular season, Schedule
In addition to their regular games against NFC West division rivals, the Rams played games against the NFC South and AFC West according to the NFL's schedule rotation, and also played games against the Detroit Lions, who had finished last in the NFC North in 2009, and the Washington Redskins, who had finished last in the NFC East in 2009.


2010 St. Louis Rams season, Regular season, Game summaries, Week 1: vs. Arizona Cardinals
The St. Louis Rams began their season at home for an NFC West match against the Arizona Cardinals. The Rams trailed in the 2nd quarter with Cardinals kicker Jay Feely nailing a 22-yard field goal, which was replied when Rams kicker Josh Brown made a 46-yard field goal. The Rams fell behind again with running back Tim Hightower making a 1-yard TD run, but were able to score with rookie quarterback Sam Bradford making a 1-yard TD pass to wide receiver Laurent Robinson. In the third quarter, the Rams took the lead for the first time when Brown nailed a 25-yard field goal, but it went downhill in the fourth quarter when quarterback Derek Anderson made a 21-yard TD pass to wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald, giving St. Louis a loss.


2010 St. Louis Rams season, Regular season, Game summaries, Week 1: vs. Arizona Cardinals
With the loss, St. Louis began the season at 0–1.


2010 St. Louis Rams season, Regular season, Game summaries, Week 2: at Oakland Raiders
Hoping to rebound from their divisional loss to the Cardinals the Rams flew to Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum for an Interconference duel with the Oakland Raiders. In the 2nd quarter the Rams would score first with QB Sam Bradford making a 7-yard TD pass to WR Mark Clayton. Then the Raiders replied with kicker Sebastian Janikowski nailing a 38-yard field goal; then he booted a 41-yard field goal in the third quarter.


2010 St. Louis Rams season, Regular season, Game summaries, Week 2: at Oakland Raiders
Then the Rams fell behind when QB Bruce Gradkowski made a 4-yard TD pass to WR Louis Murphy, followed in the fourth quarter by Janikowski nailing a 22-yard field goal. The Rams cut the lead when Bradford found WR Mark Clayton on a 17-yard TD pass, but couldn't pull out the victory.


2010 St. Louis Rams season, Regular season, Game summaries, Week 2: at Oakland Raiders
With the close loss and 13th straight loss to an AFC opponent, the Rams fell to 0–2.


2010 St. Louis Rams season, Regular season, Game summaries, Week 3: vs. Washington Redskins
After two close losses the Rams hoped to bounce back at the Edward Jones Dome for their first win of the season. On the first possession the Rams drove down the field and capped off their drive with a 41-yard touchdown run by Steven Jackson. On the ensuing Redskins drive, Donovan McNabb drove into Rams territory before Na'il Diggs forced a fumble on Santana Moss. James Butler, who was playing for an injured Craig Dahl picked up the fumbled and returned it 49 yards before being forced out of bounds.


2010 St. Louis Rams season, Regular season, Game summaries, Week 3: vs. Washington Redskins
Bradford threw a three-yard touchdown pass to Daniel Fells to make the score 14–0. The Redskins tried to start their offense again, but after being stopped on third down had to punt. Graham Gano's punt was blocked however by Rams rookie wide receiver Dominique Curry, and the Rams took over in striking distance for another touchdown. Sam Bradford threw his first interception of the day, and the Redskins were able to take over again, and were able to score a field goal.


2010 St. Louis Rams season, Regular season, Game summaries, Week 3: vs. Washington Redskins
On the kickoff after the Redskins field goal, Mardy Gilyard, the Rams rookie kick returner/wide receiver fumbled the ball, and the Redskins took over on the 21 yard line. Donovan McNabb hit Santana Moss for a touchdown the next play. Steven Jackson was injured on the next drive for the Rams, and the Rams were unable to score. The next drive the Redskins kicked another field goal to make the score 13–14. The Rams marched down the field one last time, but were stalled in the redzone.


2010 St. Louis Rams season, Regular season, Game summaries, Week 3: vs. Washington Redskins
With 31 seconds left Josh Brown attempted a field goal, but the Redskins blocked the kick and at the half the Rams led 14–13. At the start of the second half, McNabb hit Moss for a 56-yard pass. The Rams kept the Redskins out of the endzone, and Washington settled for the go ahead field goal to make the score 16–14. The next drive St. Louis marched down the field, and Kenneth Darby, playing for an injured Steven Jackson scored his first TD of the year from 12 yards out to make the score 21–16.


2010 St. Louis Rams season, Regular season, Game summaries, Week 3: vs. Washington Redskins
Redskins were unable to score during the fourth quarter however, and McNabb was picked off by Bradly Fletcher as he attempted a comeback. Josh Brown kicked three field goals in the final quarter to seal the Rams first victory of the year with a score of 30–16, snapping a 13-game home losing skid. This win also marked their highest scoring performance in a regular season game since their 34–14 victory over the Dallas Cowboys on October 19, 2008.


2010 St. Louis Rams season, Regular season, Game summaries, Week 4: vs. Seattle Seahawks
The Rams' fourth game was played at home in an NFC west rivalry match against the  Seattle Seahawks. In the first quarter the Rams took the early lead as QB Sam Bradford completed a 15-yard TD pass to WR Brandon Gibson. The Seahawks cut the lead with kicker Olindo Mare nailing a 22-yard field goal, but the Rams increased their lead when kicker Josh Brown made a 30-yard field goal, followed in the 3rd quarter by Bradford completing a 21-yard TD pass to RB Kenneth Darby. Then Josh Brown made a 31-yard field goal.


2010 St. Louis Rams season, Regular season, Game summaries, Week 4: vs. Seattle Seahawks
With the victory, the Rams improved to 2–2, thus successfully improving on their previous season. The win also snapped a 10-game regular season losing streak to the Seahawks.


2010 St. Louis Rams season, Regular season, Game summaries, Week 5: at Detroit Lions
Hoping to increase their current winning streak the Rams flew to Ford Field for an NFC duel with the Lions. The Rams trailed early with kicker Jason Hanson making a 30-yard field goal, but the Rams replied with kicker Josh Brown making a 28-yard field goal. In the second quarter the Rams struggled as Hanson's kick was returned 105 yards to the endzone by WR Stefan Logan, followed by QB Shaun Hill making a 1-yard TD pass to WR Calvin Johnson.


2010 St. Louis Rams season, Regular season, Game summaries, Week 5: at Detroit Lions
The Rams tried to cut the lead with Brown nailing another 28-yard field goal, but they continued to struggle when Hill found TE Brandon Pettigrew on a 3-yard TD pass and then in the 3rd quarter he found WR Nate Burleson on a 26-yard TD pass. In the fourth quarter the Rams had more problems when they gave up a 48 and a 47-yard field goal by Hanson and an interception by DB Alphonso Smith in which he returned 42 yards to the endzone for a touchdown.


2010 St. Louis Rams season, Regular season, Game summaries, Week 6: vs. San Diego Chargers
The Rams' sixth game was an Interconference duel against the San Diego Chargers inside their dome. In the first quarter the Rams took the early lead as kicker Josh Brown made a 39-yard field goal, followed by QB Sam Bradford completing a 38-yard TD pass to WR Danario Alexander. The Rams increased their lead in the 2nd quarter when RB Steven Jackson got a 7-yard TD run. The Chargers replied with kicker Nate Kaeding nailing a 41-yard field goal, followed in the third quarter by FB Mike Tolbert getting a 1-yard TD run. In the 4th quarter the Rams' lead increased again when Josh Brown hit a 48-yard field goal, but was cut when QB Philip Rivers made a 5-yard TD pass to WR Buster Davis.


2010 St. Louis Rams season, Regular season, Game summaries, Week 6: vs. San Diego Chargers
With the win, the Rams improved to 3–3 snapping their 13-game losing streak against AFC Opponents.


2010 St. Louis Rams season, Regular season, Game summaries, Week 7: at Tampa Bay Buccaneers
The Rams' seventh game was an NFC duel against the Buccaneers at Raymond James Stadium. In the first quarter, the Rams trailed early as kicker Connor Barth made a 35-yard field goal. They eventually pulled ahead in the 2nd quarter when kicker Josh Brown made a 25-yard field goal, followed by QB Sam Bradford making a 5 and a 2-yard TD pass to WR Danny Amendola and TE Michael Hoomanawanui respectively. The 49ers decreased the lead with Barth nailing a 39-yard field goal. This was followed by his successful 53 and 38-yard field goals to go 17–12. In the fourth quarter the Rams suddenly fell behind with QB Josh Freeman making a 1-yard TD pass to RB Cadillac Williams. (With a failed 2-point conversion)


2010 St. Louis Rams season, Regular season, Game summaries, Week 8: vs. Carolina Panthers
The Rams 8th game was an NFC duel with the Panthers inside their dome. In the second quarter the Rams took the lead as kicker Josh Brown nailed a 33-yard field goal. This was followed by QB Sam Bradford completing a 2-yard TD pass to WR Danny Amendola. The Panthers replied with kicker John Kasay making a 44-yard field goal. The Rams increased their lead in the fourth quarter with Bradford finding TE Daniel Fells on a 23-yard TD pass, followed by Brown getting a 41-yard field goal. The Panthers responded with QB Matt Moore making a 17-yard TD pass to WR Brandon LaFell.


2010 St. Louis Rams season, Regular season, Game summaries, Week 8: vs. Carolina Panthers
With the win, the Rams went into their bye week at 4–4.


2010 St. Louis Rams season, Regular season, Game summaries, Week 10: at San Francisco 49ers
Coming off their bye week the Rams flew to Candlestick Park for an NFC West rivalry match against the 49ers. In the first quarter the Rams took the lead with kicker Josh Brown making a 42-yard field goal. They trailed with RB Frank Gore getting a 1-yard TD run. This was followed in the second quarter by kicker Joe Nedney nailing a 26-yard field goal. The Rams fought back and took the lead with QB Sam Bradford completing a 5-yard TD pass to WR Danny Amendola. Followed in the third quarter by RB Steven Jackson getting a 13-yard TD run.


2010 St. Louis Rams season, Regular season, Game summaries, Week 10: at San Francisco 49ers
The 49ers got the lead back with Nedney getting a 47-yard field goal, followed by QB Troy Smith making a 16-yard TD pass to WR Michael Crabtree. Te Rams tied the game with Brown making a 33-yard field goal. The decision was made at overtime when Nedney successfully put away a 29-yard field goal to give the Rams a loss, bringing their record down to 4–5.


2010 St. Louis Rams season, Regular season, Game summaries, Week 11: vs. Atlanta Falcons
Hoping to rebound from their loss to the 49ers the Rams played inside their dome for an NFC duel with the Falcons. In the first quarter the Rams took the lead after QB Sam Bradford making a 25-yard TD pass to TE Michael Hoomanawanui. The Falcons replied with kicker Matt Bryant hitting a 42-yard field goal. The Rams increased their lead when kicker Josh Brown hit a 53-yard field goal. The lead didn't last long after QB Matt Ryan completed a 12-yard TD pass to WR Brian Finneran, followed by Bryant nailing a 29 and a 24-yard field goal.


2010 St. Louis Rams season, Regular season, Game summaries, Week 11: vs. Atlanta Falcons
The Rams tried to cut the lead with Bradford making a 13-yard TD pass to WR Brandon Gibson, but they struggled further as Ryan threw a 2-yard TD pass to TE Justin Peelle. This was followed in the fourth quarter by Bryant nailing a 21-yard field goal, and with RB Michael Turner getting a 39-yard TD run.


2010 St. Louis Rams season, Regular season, Game summaries, Week 12: at Denver Broncos
Hoping to rebound from their loss to the Falcons the Rams flew to INVESCO Field at Mile High for an Inter-conference duel with the Broncos. In the first quarter the Rams trailed early as Knowshon Moreno got a 4-yard TD run, followed by kicker Matt Prater nailing a 49-yard field goal. They cut the lead down with QB Sam Bradford getting a 36-yard TD pass to TE Michael Hoomanawanui. The deficit increased as Prater made a 40-yard field goal.


2010 St. Louis Rams season, Regular season, Game summaries, Week 12: at Denver Broncos
They pulled ahead with Bradford completing a 2 and a 26-yard TD pass to TE Billy Bajema, followed by kicker Josh Brown nailing a 28 and a 37-yard field goal. This was followed in the third quarter by RB Kenneth Darby getting a 1-yard TD run. The lead was narrowed with QB Kyle Orton making a 41-yard TD pass to Lloyd, but it was expanded after Brown got a 26-yard field goal. The Broncos tried to come back as Orton completed a 16 and a 5-yard TD pass to wide receivers Eddie Royal and Brandon Lloyd, but the Rams' defense held them on for the win.


2010 St. Louis Rams season, Regular season, Game summaries, Week 13: at Arizona Cardinals
The Rams' twelfth game was a division rivalry match against the Cardinals. The Rams trailed early as kicker Jay Feely got a 45 and a 41-yard field goal. They soon pulled ahead after kicker Josh Brown hit a 28, 52 and 20-yard field goal. This was followed in the third quarter by RB Steven Jackson getting a 27-yard TD run, and with Brown making a 43-yard field goal.


2010 St. Louis Rams season, Regular season, Game summaries, Week 13: at Arizona Cardinals
With the win, the Rams improved to 6–6. They have won as many games this year as they have for the past three years, only winning a total of 6 games 2007–2009.


2010 St. Louis Rams season, Regular season, Game summaries, Week 14: at New Orleans Saints
Coming off their win over the Cardinals the Rams flew to Louisiana Superdome for an NFC duel with the Saints. The Rams trailed early as QB Drew Brees completed a 5 and a 17-yard TD pass to WR Marques Colston. The Rams then got on the board as kicker Josh Brown hit a 38 and a 45-yard field goal. Soon, they had more problems as QB Sam Bradford threw an interception to FS Malcolm Jenkins which was returned 96 yards for a touchdown. This was followed by Bress completing a 31-yard TD pass to WR Lance Moore, followed by kicker Garrett Hartley nailing a 40-yard field goal. The Rams would cut the lead down with Bradford scrambling a yard for a touchdown.


2010 St. Louis Rams season, Regular season, Game summaries, Week 15: vs. Kansas City Chiefs
Hoping to rebound from their loss to the Saints the Rams played inside their dome for an interconference duel with the Chiefs. In the first quarter the Rams took the early lead as kicker Josh Brown nailed a 37 and a 52-yard field goal. They trailed with QB Matt Cassel throwing a 2-yard TD pass to TE Leonard Pope, which got worse as RB Jamaal Charles got a 2-yard TD run, followed by kicker Ryan Succop making a 53 and a 38-yard field goal. The Rams tried to break down the lead with RB Steven Jackson making a 5-yard TD run, but continued to struggle as RB Thomas Jones got a 2-yard TD run.


2010 St. Louis Rams season, Regular season, Game summaries, Week 16: vs. San Francisco 49ers
Hoping to break a two-game losing streak the Rams played inside their dome for a division rivalry rematch against the 49ers. The Rams took the lead after RB Steven Jackson got a 1-yard TD run, followed by DE James Hall tackling 49ers quarterback Troy Smith for a safety. The lead was narrowed when Ted Ginn Jr. returned a punt 78 yards for a touchdown, but the Rams increased their lead slightly with kicker Josh Brown nailing a 43-yard field goal. They trailed for the first time with Smith completing a 60-yard TD pass to WR Michael Crabtree.


2010 St. Louis Rams season, Regular season, Game summaries, Week 16: vs. San Francisco 49ers
They got the lead back with Brown getting a 30-yard field goal, followed by QB Sam Bradford getting a 3-yard TD pass to WR Laurent Robinson. The lead was narrowed with kicker Jeff Reed nailing a 30-yard field goal, but the Rams pulled away with Brown making a 28-yard field goal.


2010 St. Louis Rams season, Regular season, Game summaries, Week 17: at Seattle Seahawks
Coming off their win over the 49ers, the Rams flew to Qwest Field for a Week 17 NFC West rematch with the Seattle Seahawks,  with the division title on the line. St. Louis trailed early in the first quarter as Seahawks quarterback Charlie Whitehurst completed a 4-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Mike Williams. The Rams answered in the second quarter with a 32-yard field goal from kicker Josh Brown.


2010 St. Louis Rams season, Regular season, Game summaries, Week 17: at Seattle Seahawks
St. Louis chopped away as their deficit in the third quarter with a 27-yard field goal from Brown, but Seattle replied with kicker Olindo Mare making a 31-yard field goal. Afterwards, the Seahawks pulled away in the fourth quarter with Mare getting a 38-yard and a 34-yard field goal.


2010 St. Louis Rams season, Regular season, Game summaries, Week 17: at Seattle Seahawks
With the loss, the Rams' season came to an end at 7–9.


2010 St. Paul Cash Spiel
The 2010 St. Paul Cash Spiel was held at the St. Paul Curling Club in St. Paul, Minnesota from October 15–17, 2010 as a part of the World Curling Tour. The tournament included 24 teams participating in round-robin play, and included 8 playoff games. The purse is US$13,500. The event was unusual among WCT events, as there were two women's teams, Aileen Sormunen's rink and the Kimberly Wapola rink.


2010 St. Petersburg Open
The 2010 St. Petersburg Open was a tennis tournament played on indoor hard courts. It was the 16th edition of the St. Petersburg Open, and part of the ATP World Tour 250 Series of the 2010 ATP World Tour. It was held at the Petersburg Sports and Concert Complex in Saint Petersburg, Russia, from October 25 through October 31, 2010.


2010 St. Petersburg Open, ATP entrants, Seeds
* Seeds are based on the rankings of October 18, 2010.


2010 St. Petersburg Open, ATP entrants, Other entrants
The following players received wildcards into the singles main draw:


2010 St. Petersburg Open, Finals, Doubles
Daniele Bracciali /  Potito Starace defeated  Rohan Bopanna /  Aisam-ul-Haq Qureshi, 7–6(8–6), 7–6(7–5)


2010 St. Petersburg Open – Doubles
Colin Fleming and Ken Skupski were the defending champions, but lost to Filip Polášek and Igor Zelenay in the first round. Daniele Bracciali and Potito Starace won the final against Rohan Bopanna and Aisam-ul-Haq Qureshi 7–6(8–6), 7–6(7–5).


2010 St. Petersburg Open – Singles
Sergiy Stakhovsky was the defending champion, but lost in the first round to Benjamin Becker. Mikhail Kukushkin defeated 1st seed Mikhail Youzhny 6–3, 7–6(7–2) to win this tournament.


2010 Stanford Cardinal football team
The 2010 Stanford Cardinal football team represented Stanford University in the 2010 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Cardinal were led by head coach Jim Harbaugh, who was in his 4th and final season before leaving to become head coach of the San Francisco 49ers. Harbaugh ended his four-year tenure at Stanford having taken a team that finished 1–11 in the year prior to his arrival, to a team that ended the regular season 11–1. They played their home games at Stanford Stadium and were members of the Pacific-10 Conference.


2010 Stanford Cardinal football team
Stanford's sole loss was to conference champion Oregon. They defeated Virginia Tech 40–12 in the Orange Bowl for the first BCS bowl victory in program history.


2010 Stanford Cardinal football team, Game summaries, Sacramento State
Andrew Luck threw for 316 yards and a career-high four touchdowns as Stanford routed Sacramento State, 52–17. Doug Baldwin caught an 81-yard touchdown strike from Luck in the first quarter, the eighth-longest Stanford touchdown reception in school history, and caught another 15-yard touchdown pass in the second quarter. Three different Stanford rushers scored from within the two-yard line. For the Hornets, Kyle Monson returned a punt 70 yards for a touchdown, the first Sacramento State punt return for a score in seven years, and kicker Chris Diniz matched his career-longest field goal with a 52-yard kick in the fourth quarter.


2010 Stanford Cardinal football team, Game summaries, at UCLA
Stanford safety Michael Thomas (top, left photo) stripped the ball and ran 21 yards for one touchdown, and Stanford quarterback Andrew Luck rushed for a career-best 63 yards and threw for 151 yards and two more touchdowns as Stanford shut out UCLA 35–0. It was the first time UCLA had lost at home to Stanford since 1996 and was the first shutout UCLA had suffered at home since a 17–0 loss to California on October 16, 1999. It was also the first time Stanford had achieved a road shutout against an opponent since 1974 and the first time since 1941 that Stanford had shut out UCLA.


2010 Stanford Cardinal football team, Game summaries, Wake Forest
In their 2009 meeting, the Demon Deacons defeated the Cardinal 24–17 at BB&T Field in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, but the Cardinal got revenge in this game, scoring touchdowns on their first eight possessions on the way to a 68–24 rout. Quarterback Andrew Luck has scored 11 touchdowns in the first three games. This is the fifth time in 36 seasons, and the first time since 2001 that the Cardinal has started 3–0. The win is the 13th in Stanford's last 15 home games.


2010 Stanford Cardinal football team, Game summaries, Wake Forest
They are averaging 51.7 points per game through three games, the best offensive start to a season for the Cardinal since scoring 164 points in the first three games of the 1923 season. This was the most points Stanford had scored in a game since 1968 when the Cardinal scored 68 points against San Jose State. Wake Forest has given up 116 points combined in its last three games. This was the most points allowed by Wake Forest since a 72–13 loss to Florida State in 1995.


2010 Stanford Cardinal football team, Game summaries, at Notre Dame
Owen Marecic scored on a one-yard touchdown plunge, then returned an interception for a touchdown two plays later as Stanford defeated Notre Dame 37–14, the team's first win in South Bend since 1992. Stanford placekicker Nate Whitaker added five field goals to tie a Stanford single-game record to help the Cardinal move to 4–0 for the first time since 1986.


2010 Stanford Cardinal football team, Game summaries, at Oregon
The Cardinal started out quickly, scoring three touchdowns in less than five minutes of the first quarter aided by two Duck turnovers. But the Ducks used a risky onside kick to keep the score close at halftime, and in the second half, held the Cardinal scoreless. Meanwhile, Ducks quarterback Darron Thomas threw for 238 yards and three touchdowns and ran for another, while running back LaMichael James rushed for three touchdowns on a career-high 257 yards. Two interceptions by Duck cornerback Cliff Harris and a fourth-quarter fumble by Stanford receiver Chris Owusu sealed the game for the Ducks.


2010 Stanford Cardinal football team, Game summaries, USC
Nate Whitaker kicked a 30-yard field goal as time expired to give the Cardinal a dramatic 37–35 victory over the visiting Trojans. Whitaker had missed a PAT earlier in the fourth quarter, and USC capitalized on the miss to go ahead of Stanford 35–34 with just over a minute to play. But Andrew Luck led the Cardinal on a nine-play, 62-yard drive to set up Whitaker's game winner. In an evenly matched back-and-forth game, Luck and Trojan quarterback Matt Barkley each threw for three touchdowns.


2010 Stanford Cardinal football team, Game summaries, Washington State
Andrew Luck threw for three touchdowns as the Cardinal defeated the Cougars 38–28 to improve their record to 7–1, their best start since the season they appeared in the 1971 Rose Bowl. Stepfan Taylor added two more rushing touchdowns for Stanford. Washington State quarterback Jeff Tuel threw for four touchdowns on the day, including two in the last four minutes of the game to keep the final score close.


2010 Stanford Cardinal football team, Game summaries, at Washington
Stepfan Taylor ran for two touchdowns, and quarterback Andrew Luck ran 51 yards for another as the Cardinal shut out the Huskies 41–0, the worst shutout for the Huskies at home since 1976. The highly touted matchup between NFL quarterback prospects Luck and Jake Locker turned into a lopsided affair as Washington could only manage 104 yards of offense, as Locker went 7 for 14 with only 88 yards passing, was sacked three times, and intercepted twice.


2010 Stanford Cardinal football team, Game summaries, Arizona
In highly anticipated matchup for second place in the Pac-10, Stanford overwhelmed Arizona 42–17. Quarterback Andrew Luck threw for 293 yards and two touchdowns, and receiver Chris Owusu caught 9 passes for 165 yards and a touchdown. The Cardinal defense, meanwhile, intercepted Arizona quarterback Nick Foles and held the Wildcats to 3 points in the first half. Though they allowed two late touchdowns, Stanford answered each on its next possession with a long drive that culminated in a touchdown run from Stepfan Taylor.


2010 Stanford Cardinal football team, Game summaries, Arizona State
With its usually explosive offense held in check by the Sun Devils, the Cardinal relied on their defense to keep the game close until a fourth-quarter drive put them on top of the Sun Devils, 17–13. After scoring on its first drive, the Stanford rushing game was held to 128 yards on 42 carries. Quarterback Andrew Luck fumbled and threw an interception, but had enough left to engineer a fourth-quarter drive finished with an Owen Marecic one-yard touchdown plunge. Stanford moved to 9–1 on the year, its best start since 1951.


2010 Stanford Cardinal football team, Game summaries, at California
Andrew Luck led the Cardinal to scores on all eight possessions in which he participated—including three touchdown drives of more than 80 yards—as the Cardinal cruised to a 48–14 victory, its most lopsided victory in the Big Game since 1930, when Stanford shut out California 41–0. Luck was 16 of 20 for 235 yards and 2 touchdown passes. Stepfan Taylor scored on three short touchdown runs, but Luck was Stanford's leading rusher with 72 yards, 58 of which came on a broken play in which he stiff-armed a Cal defender and continued for another 20 yards.


2010 Stanford Cardinal football team, Game summaries, at California
Stanford's 48 points tied with Cal's 1975 total for the most points scored by either team in 113 Big Games. Both Bears touchdowns came on fourth-quarter trick plays: a pass from receiver Keenan Allen to Marvin Jones, and with 15 seconds left in the game, an Allen lateral to Isi Sofele. Stanford remains in contention for an at-large BCS berth while the Golden Bears need one more win to attain of bowl-eligibility.


2010 Stanford Cardinal football team, Game summaries, Oregon State
The Cardinal closed out its best-ever regular season at home with a 38–0 victory over the Beavers. Andrew Luck threw four touchdown passes for a total of 28 on the year, setting a new Stanford single-season record, and surpassing John Elway and Steve Stenstrom. Meanwhile, the Stanford defense intercepted Beavers quarterback Ryan Katz three times and sacked him four times, one of which resulted in a fumble recovered by the Cardinal. The shutout was Stanford's third of the season and Oregon State's first since 2002. Coupled with losses by Boise State and LSU, the win moved Stanford to #4 in the BCS standings, a position which would assure them an at-large bid in a BCS bowl for the first time (Stanford last won an automatic BCS bid to the 2000 Rose Bowl).


2010 Stanford Cardinal football team, Game summaries, Orange Bowl
Andrew Luck threw four touchdown passes, three to Coby Fleener and one to Zach Ertz, to defeat the Hokies to finish the season with 12 wins and the first BCS bowl victory in program history.


2010 Stanley Cup Finals
The 2010 Stanley Cup Finals was the championship series of the National Hockey League's (NHL) 2009–10 season, and the culmination of the 2010 Stanley Cup playoffs. It was contested between the Western Conference champion Chicago Blackhawks and the Eastern Conference champion Philadelphia Flyers. It was Chicago's eleventh appearance in the Finals and their first since 1992, a loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins. It was Philadelphia's eighth appearance in the Finals and their first since 1997, a loss to the Detroit Red Wings. Chicago defeated Philadelphia four games to two to win their fourth Stanley Cup in franchise history.


2010 Stanley Cup Finals
This was the first Cup championship for Chicago since 1961, which had been the longest active Stanley Cup drought. The Toronto Maple Leafs, who last won the Cup in 1967 and who have not appeared in the Finals since, and have the longest active Cup drought streak in the NHL.


2010 Stanley Cup Finals
The Blackhawks became the fourth major Chicago sports team to win a championship since 1986, joining the 1985 Chicago Bears, the Chicago Bulls dynasty of the 1990s, and the 2005 Chicago White Sox. The 2016 Chicago Cubs would complete the cycle of all Chicago sports teams winning at least one championship in 30 years.


2010 Stanley Cup Finals
Blackhawks captain Jonathan Toews was awarded the Conn Smythe Trophy as the Most Valuable Player of the 2010 playoffs, and was the first Blackhawks player to receive this honor. He and teammates Duncan Keith and Brent Seabrook won the Olympic Gold medal with Team Canada at the 2010 Winter Olympics, adding the three players to the list of Ken Morrow (1980) and Steve Yzerman and Brendan Shanahan (both 2002), as well as Drew Doughty and Jeff Carter (both 2014), as the only players to accomplish this double in the same year.


2010 Stanley Cup Finals
Having played for Team USA at the Olympics, Patrick Kane joined Chris Chelios and Brett Hull (both 2002) as having won both the Olympic Silver medal and Stanley Cup in the same year.


2010 Stanley Cup Finals
Jonathan Toews also became the 24th player and the seventh Canadian to become a member of the Triple Gold Club having won an Olympic Gold Medal, an IIHF World Championship Gold Medal, and the Stanley Cup.


2010 Stanley Cup Finals, Paths to the Finals
This was the third straight Finals in which the Western Conference team was an Original Six team that won the Central Division and the Eastern Conference team was an Atlantic Division team from the state of Pennsylvania. Ironically, the Blackhawks have a storied rivalry with the Detroit Red Wings, as do the Flyers with the Pittsburgh Penguins. The Red Wings and Penguins played each other in the Stanley Cup Final in 2008 and 2009.


2010 Stanley Cup Finals, Paths to the Finals
The Blackhawks and Flyers had previously met in the 1971 playoffs; the Blackhawks beat the Flyers in four games.


2010 Stanley Cup Finals, Paths to the Finals, Chicago Blackhawks
The Chicago Blackhawks finished the regular season as the Central Division champions with 112 points. This is the 14th division title in franchise history for Chicago but the first since 1992–93 when it was called the Norris Division. As the second seed in the Western Conference playoffs, the Blackhawks defeated the seventh seed Nashville Predators and the third seed Vancouver Canucks in six games each, and then swept the first seed San Jose Sharks in the Western Conference Final to advance to the Final for the first time since 1992.


2010 Stanley Cup Finals, Paths to the Finals, Chicago Blackhawks
Chicago's Marian Hossa is the first player in NHL history to appear in three straight Stanley Cup Finals with three teams, having previously made the Final with the Pittsburgh Penguins in 2008 and with the Detroit Red Wings in 2009. Along with Hossa, the other half of Chicago's preseason acquisition from Detroit, Tomas Kopecky, was also playing in his third straight Stanley Cup Finals.


2010 Stanley Cup Finals, Paths to the Finals, Philadelphia Flyers
The Philadelphia Flyers earned the seventh seed in the Eastern Conference playoffs after finishing the regular season with 88 points, and winning the tiebreaker over the Montreal Canadiens, having more wins (41 to 39). The Flyers were the last team to qualify for the 2010 Stanley Cup playoffs. Their Cinderella march to the Final began on the final day of the regular season when they met the New York Rangers in a winner-take-all match-up for the final playoff spot. Philadelphia defeated their Atlantic Division rivals 2–1 in a historic shootout, the first do or die shootout for a playoff spot in NHL history.


2010 Stanley Cup Finals, Paths to the Finals, Philadelphia Flyers
In the first round of the playoffs, the Flyers upset the second seed New Jersey Devils, another of their division rivals, in five games. In the second round, against the sixth-seeded Boston Bruins, Philadelphia became the third NHL team to win a seven-game series after being down three games to none (the others being the 1942 Toronto Maple Leafs and the 1975 New York Islanders). In addition, in game seven of that series, the Flyers overcame a three goals to none deficit to win the game and series, 4-3.


2010 Stanley Cup Finals, Paths to the Finals, Philadelphia Flyers
In the Eastern Conference Final, the Flyers eliminated the Canadiens in five games to advance to the Stanley Cup Final for the first time since 1997. They were also the first team to reach the Final with less than 90 points in the regular season since the Vancouver Canucks in 1994, when they had 85.


2010 Stanley Cup Finals, Paths to the Finals, Philadelphia Flyers
It also gave the city of Philadelphia the distinction of being the first city to have had all its teams play in each of the four professional sports leagues title rounds since 2000, following the 76ers in the 2001 NBA Finals, the Eagles in Super Bowl XXXIX after the 2004 season, and the Phillies in back-to-back World Series in 2008 and 2009, winning in 2008 to bring the city of Philadelphia a championship after 28 years. The Flyers attempted to win the Stanley Cup for the first time since winning back-to-back Stanley Cups in 1974 and 1975.


2010 Stanley Cup Finals, Game summaries, Game one
The Chicago Blackhawks won the first game by a score of 6–5 on the strength of two goals by Troy Brouwer. Throughout the game, the two teams traded goals with neither team having a lead greater than one. The Flyers opened the scoring at 6:38 of the first period on a goal by Ville Leino that deflected off the face of Niklas Hjalmarsson. The Blackhawks responded with two quick goals, one of which was shorthanded, to take the lead.


2010 Stanley Cup Finals, Game summaries, Game one
The lead would not last long, however, as the Flyers would counter with two goals of their own to re-take the lead 3–2 after the first period. Patrick Sharp scored 1:11 into the second period to tie the game once again. Both teams would trade goals once again and tie the game at five after the second period. Michael Leighton was replaced by Brian Boucher after allowing the fifth Chicago goal. In the third period, Tomas Kopecky scored what would eventually prove to be the game winner at 8:25. Antti Niemi finished the game with 27 saves on 32 shots while Leighton saved 15 out of 20 shots. Boucher stopped 11 of 12 shots faced in relief of Leighton.


2010 Stanley Cup Finals, Game summaries, Game two
The Blackhawks took game two of the best-of-seven series by a score of 2–1, thus giving them a 2–0 series lead heading into games three and four in Philadelphia. In contrast to game one, game two was a low-scoring affair with much tighter defense displayed by both teams. Neither team would score in the opening frame as the game entered the first intermission scoreless. It was not until late in the second period that Chicago managed to get the ice breaker with a goal from Marian Hossa.


2010 Stanley Cup Finals, Game summaries, Game two
The Blackhawks quickly added another goal just 28 seconds later on a wrist shot by Ben Eager. The Flyers would eventually reply in the third period on a power play goal by Simon Gagne but it would not be enough. Both goaltenders were much stronger as Antti Niemi stopped 32 of 33 shots for the Blackhawks while Michael Leighton rebounded with 24 stops on 26 shots.


2010 Stanley Cup Finals, Game summaries, Game three
The Flyers won game three in overtime, 4–3, to pull within two games to one in the series. Daniel Briere opened the scoring for Philadelphia with a power play goal at 14:58 of the first period. Duncan Keith tied the game at 1–1 early in the second period, and both teams added another goal to leave the score at 2–2 entering the third period. Patrick Kane scored with 17:10 remaining in the game to give the Blackhawks their first lead, but Ville Leino responded with the tying goal 20 seconds later. In overtime, shortly after a review determined that a shot by Gagne was not a goal, Claude Giroux scored the game-winner at 5:59 of the extra period. This was the first time since 1987 that the Flyers had won a game in the Stanley Cup Final.


2010 Stanley Cup Finals, Game summaries, Game four
The Flyers evened the series at two games apiece by winning game four, 5–3. The Flyers took the lead 4:35 into the game on a Mike Richards power play goal. Matt Carle extended their lead to 2–0 at 14:48 of the first period. Sharp cut Philadelphia's lead in half with 1:28 left in the period, but Giroux restored the Flyers' two-goal advantage 51 seconds later. Following a scoreless second period, Leino gave Philadelphia a three-goal lead 6:43 into the third period. Dave Bolland (on a power play) and Brian Campbell scored later in the third to leave Chicago trailing 4–3 with 4:10 remaining. However, Jeff Carter scored an empty-net goal with 25 seconds left to clinch the Flyers' victory.


2010 Stanley Cup Finals, Game summaries, Game five
The Blackhawks took a 3–2 lead in the series with a 7–4 victory in game five. At 12:17 of the first period, Brent Seabrook scored on a power play to give Chicago the lead. Within the next six minutes, the Blackhawks tripled their advantage, adding goals by Bolland and Kris Versteeg to make the score 3–0. At the start of the second period, the Flyers again took Leighton out of the game, replacing him with Boucher. Four goals were scored in the second period—two by each team—and the Blackhawks entered the third period with a 5–2 lead.


2010 Stanley Cup Finals, Game summaries, Game five
James van Riemsdyk pulled Philadelphia within two goals at 6:36 of the third. Sharp made the score 6–3 with 3:52 remaining, but Gagne answered for the Flyers 1:16 later. Thirty-one seconds after Gagne's goal, Dustin Byfuglien tallied an empty-net goal—his second goal of the game—which concluded the scoring. Flyers' alternate captain Chris Pronger was on the ice for six of Chicago's goals and was in the penalty box on the seventh. Discounting the power play goal, Pronger finished -5 on the game.


2010 Stanley Cup Finals, Game summaries, Game six
The sixth game required overtime, as the score was tied 3–3 at the end of the third period. Patrick Kane of the Chicago Blackhawks scored the Cup-winning goal at 4:06 into the overtime period, a shot in which the puck crossed the goal line and then got stuck underneath the padding in the back of the net. Several observers, including most of the players, announcers, and all the officials initially lost sight of the puck. Only Kane and Patrick Sharp started to celebrate immediately, soon followed by the rest of the Blackhawks. It was only after a video review that the goal was officially awarded.


2010 Stanley Cup Finals, Game summaries, Game six
Jonathan Toews won the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP. It was the first Cup to be won in overtime since 2000.


2010 Stanley Cup Finals, Television
In Canada, the series was televised in English on CBC and in French on the cable network RDS. In the United States, NBC broadcast games one, two, five, and six (the Blackhawks won all four); while Versus televised games three and four (the Flyers won both games). In Europe, Viasat Sport broadcast the televised finals in Sweden, Finland, Norway, Denmark, and the Baltic States (Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia), through five regional divisions of Viasat Sport. Its sister channel Viasat Sport East broadcast in the Russian language to the European and Eurasian countries of Russia, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova, Kazakhstan, Ukraine, Armenia, Kyrgyzstan, and Uzbekistan.


2010 Stanley Cup Finals, Television, Ratings
Game one produced the best overnight rating in the United States for a game one since the 1999 Final. The 2.8 overnight rating and six share was a 12-percent increase from the first game of the 2009 Final between the Pittsburgh Penguins and Detroit Red Wings. Meanwhile, in Canada, game one was viewed by 3.164 million people on CBC.