Baseball, Crazy, Baseball: We're Going to Game Seven
Did you go to bed in the Seventh Inning when Adrian Beltre and Nelson Cruz hit back to back jacks for the Rangers and the Rangers also added an additional insurance run to go up 7-4 in the Seventh Inning?
Did you go to bed in the Eighth Inning when Mike Adams of the Rangers retired Rafael Furcal with the bases loaded and the score 7-5?
Did you go to bed in the 10th Inning when Josh Hamilton hit a two run shot to put the Rangers up 9-7?
Did you think when the Cardinals were down to their last strike – their last strike – in both the ninth and tenth innings that the game was over? Or even worse, were you one of those baseball purists who thought this was a boring World Series and so you missed the whole thing?
Too bad if you missed this game. This game was a classic and will be remembered forever as one of the great World Series games. And when hometown hero David Freese hit the game winning walk off home run on a 3-2 pitch in the bottom of the 11th inning to send the Series to Game Seven, those of us who were still awake – who were rewarded for our belief that if we kept watching amazing things would keep happening – we saw one of the most astonishing clutch performances of all times. Not once, but several times.
Just to put this in perspective. Down 7-4 in the Seventh, the Cardinals scored in the Eighth (to make it 7-5), in the Ninth (to make it 7-7), in the Tenth (to come back to tie it 9-9 after Josh Hamilton’s two-run homer in the top of the inning had put the Rangers ahead, 9-7) and in the Eleventh (when David Freese hit a homer to straight-away center field to win the game, 10-9).
David Freese not only hit the game winner in the Eleventh Inning, but in the bottom of the Ninth, and when down to his last strike, he also hit a game tying two run triple. And in the bottom of the Tenth, Lance Berkman, grey beard and all, and also down to his last strike, hit a bullet into right center to tie the game yet again.
How many ties? How many lead changes? How many times when it looked like the Rangers had this game put away? So much more to talk about. Like pitcher Kyle Lohse, who came in to pinch hit for the Cardinals in the Tenth Inning because Tony LaRussa was completely out of bench position players, and who executed an absolutely perfect bunt in the teeth of the wheel play to put runners on second and third. Yes, there were a ton of errors early in the game. But still and all, this was October baseball at its finest.
Is there anything better than a World Series that goes to seven games?
One final thought. I have always wanted to be a major league baseball player. Rangers pitcher Derek Holland has always wanted a moustache. I would say we are dead even.
Damn!
You did this again
Baseball is so exciting....
Kevin, you missed your calling. Instead of writing a regular blog on D&O and related topics, you should have been and perhaps still could be a sports writer. I bet you had a lot more fun writing the recap of last night's game than you've had writing still another article about bank failures. Great recap of a game that will go down as a classic, albeit a sloppy one.
Kevin, I always enjoy your posts and they are usually right on, but in this case, there is one bit of analysis I would have to disagree with you on. Lohse did not execute an "absolutely perfect bunt". Actually, it was an absolutely terrible bunt that happened to work out. It was so bad (high and hard) that it went over Beltre's head and died in a perfect spot. Worked out great but it's not how they draw it up on the board. If Beltre isn't charging so hard he may catch it on a fly and then where would we be? Who knows but I'm guessing still at a game seven situation some how, some way the way that game went last night!