Baseball Nation - Instant Classic: Cardinals Force Game 7 After Two Comebacks, Walk-Off Homer

Game 6, Graphically

2012-07-06T14:00:28Z

Yesterday I got a big pile of mail, held while I was away. The best piece was this (which I ordered through regular channels):

You can read the whole story here, but don't you think that's a beautiful piece of work? Now you just have to hope that artist Dan Zettwoch will make enough for everyone.

The David Freese Home Run Call You Didn't Hear

2011-10-28T20:50:45Z

We had Joe Buck. Much of the rest of the world had Gary Thorne. Gary Thorne's pretty good.

World Series 2011: Game 6 And Carlton Fisk

2011-10-28T18:51:15Z

On October 5, 2000, I was hugging a stranger who smelled like a hot circus. It was a mixture of goats and straw, dung and goats, and I was drinking it in -- I wanted to splash the stink about my face like water from a clear, blue stream. It was Game 2 of the 2000 NLDS, and J.T. Snow had just hit a pinch-hit, three-run home run to tie the game in the bottom of the ninth inning. The place was an electrical fire, buzzing and popping like no stadium I'd ever seen.

And about 17 minutes later, the game was over and the Giants had lost.

For years after -- and still to this day, to some extent -- the Giants would play the home run in promos and ads. Snow did a mini-Fisk, willing the ball fair with his left arm. Every time I saw it, I wanted to grab my TV by the lapels and shake it. They lost that game, you idiots. They lost!

I still feel that way. It was a great moment in Giants history, but it wasn't a great three hours and 41 minutes in Giants history. There are better things to celebrate. But in my haste to dismiss that moment, I made the mistake of dismissing one of the greatest moments in World Series history. Ever since the 2000 NLDS, I tarred the Carlton Fisk home run with the same brush of sticky-loser tar. They lost that World Series, you idiots. They lost! How was that something to celebrate for decades and decades?

I get it now. I absolutely, 100% get it. If the Cardinals lose Game 7, they will be absolutely right to cherish Game 6 for the rest of franchise history. They will remember the David Freese bursts as the unthinkable, utterly improbable baseball moments that they were. Highlights be played on the Busch Stadium scoreboard for the next century, regardless if the Cardinals win or lose tonight..

Which isn't to say that the Cardinals should dust off their hands and clap each other on the backs with one hand, while holding fishing poles with the other. They'd still very much like to win the 2011 World Series if that's okay with everyone.

But win or lose Game 7, Thursday night was a game that was good enough to be a self-contained entity. It's a story good enough to stand alone. It doesn't need the coda of a championship -- though that would certainly enhance the story of Game 6, it doesn't need it. To put it in Star Wars terms, it was blowing up the first Death Star. Even though there were horrible space raccoons who came along two movies later to ruin everything, the initial triumph holds up on its own.

For years and years, I thought there was something slightly sad about the Carlton Fisk home run and how it was still celebrated in the present, as if it was just the best highlight that a downtrodden organization could dredge up. But it wasn't just a consolation prize for a team that could never win the real thing. Man, how it wasn't. It was just the end of something that lived on its own -- a beginning, middle, and end, with the end signifying the maximum amount of hope and pride that a team and its fans can feel about baseball.

The biggest difference is that the team in the championship drought got to hang on to the Fisk home run, at least. With the Rangers, it was as if the Fisk home run was hit against them, and they have to fight the ghosts of the championship drought. They'll have a lot on their minds. And if they win, they'll get the chance to look back and appreciate Game 6 as a brilliant part of a larger story. But only if they win.

The Cardinals have already collected enough excitement to last a decade. They have the furious late-season comeback, and they have the feeling of a berserk crowd screaming as loud as any crowd has screamed in the history of professional sports. Last night the Cardinals distilled everything that's great about the shared baseball experience and passed it out to 47,235 people who will tell the story for the rest of their lives, along with the millions who watched or listened to it. A loss in Game 7 wouldn't change much at all.

The Top 10 World Series Games, Including (Of Course) 2011 Game 6

2011-10-28T15:48:40Z

"And we'll see you tomorrow night!"

I'm no big fan of Joe Buck, but this line, delivered as David Freese hit his walkoff home run in Thursday night's World Series Game 6, was a touching tribute to his dad, who uttered the same words when the Twins' Kirby Puckett hit a similar 11th inning walkoff in Game 6 in 1991, 20 years and one day before Thursday's heroics in St. Louis.

You've heard all the superlatives about Game 6: first time a team has been within one strike of a Series win two different times and lost; first time a team has scored in the eighth, ninth, 10th and 11th inning of a Series game; first time a player has had a game-tying hit in the bottom of the ninth and a game-winning hit in extra innings in a Series game. There's more, but those are the top highlights.

So where does this game stand in an all-time ranking of greatest World Series games? If that game had been a Game 7, there's no doubt it would be at the top, trumping even Game 7 in 1960. Here's my personal Top 10, ranked from 10th to first; vote in the poll to pick your personal best.

No. 10: 1991 World Series, Game 6: This is the game where Jack Buck exclaimed "And we'll see you tomorrow night!" In addition to Puckett's extra-inning heroics, the Twins' bullpen held the Braves scoreless for the last four innings of the game, allowing just three singles, two of which were erased by double plays.

No. 9: 2001 World Series, Game 7: The Diamondbacks had come back from a three games to two deficit to tie the series with a 15-2 crushing of the Yankees in Game 6. But they trailed 2-1 going into the bottom of the ninth of Game 7 against a closer -- Mariano Rivera -- who, even ten years before he broke the save record, was acknowledged as the game's best. And even after Rivera made a throwing error on a bunt attempt, he recorded an out; the tying and winning runs were on base with New York two outs from victory. Rivera gave up a game-tying double and then hit Craig Counsell before Luis Gonzalez's bouncer up the middle won it for Arizona. This game also featured shutdown relief in the late innings by Randy Johnson, just one day after he threw seven solid innings in Game 6.

No. 8: 1912 World Series, Game 8: Yes, I said "Game 8" -- in 1912, Game 2 was tied 6-6 after 11 innings when it was called for darkness in that pre-lights era. The Red Sox and Giants went on to split the other six games and had to play an eighth and deciding game. The game went into extra innings tied; the Giants scored in the top of the 10th to take a 2-1 lead. Clyde Engle led off the bottom of the inning with what appeared to be a routine fly to center field, but Fred Snodgrass dropped it; Engle reached second. Christy Mathewson retired the next hitter, but a walk and a single tied the game. An intentional pass was issued to set up a force at every base; Boston won the game and series on a sacrifice fly.

No. 7: 1924 World Series, Game 7: The Giants led the game 3-1 going into the bottom of the eighth, but with the bases loaded and two out, Bucky Harris' ground ball took a bad hop over third baseman Freddie Lindstrom's head, scoring two runs and tying the game. The Giants got the winning run to scoring position in the ninth and 11th innings, but could not score. In the 12th with one out, Muddy Ruel hit a foul popup that was dropped; he redeemed himself with a double. After an error put a runner at first base with Ruel holding second, Earl McNeely hit another ball at Lindstrom -- which took another bad hop into left field, winning the game and Series for the Senators. That and the 1912 game were the only extra-inning winner-take-all games in the World Series, until...

No. 6: 1991 World Series, Game 7: The Senators franchise moved to Minnesota in 1961; 30 years later, the team played two of the most excruciatingly exciting World Series games on consecutive nights. It's the only Series I'm honoring here with a pair of games. This one featured a 10-inning shutout thrown by Minnesota's Jack Morris while the Twins were leaving 12 men on base, finally scoring the game-winner on Gene Larkin's bases-loaded single with one out in the bottom of the 10th.

No. 5: 1962 World Series, Game 7: The Giants and Yankees had to wait out several days of rain in San Francisco before playing Game 6, which the Giants won to tie the series. The Yankees took a 1-0 lead in the fifth inning when they loaded the bases with nobody out and Tony Kubek hit into a double play, scoring Moose Skowron. In the bottom of the ninth, Matty Alou led off with a bunt single, but Ralph Terry struck out the next two hitters, bringing up Willie Mays, who doubled -- but Alou held at third. The Yankees chose to pitch to Willie McCovey rather than put him on base and bring up Orlando Cepeda; McCovey hit a screaming line drive that would have won the game, but Bobby Richardson snagged it. That led to two famous Peanuts cartoons, the only time creator Charles Schulz (a huge Giants fan) ever referred to current events in the history of the strip.

No. 4: 1975 World Series, Game 6: Even if you are too young to have watched this game, you have likely seen Carlton Fisk's walkoff home run in the 12th inning of this game and his excited reaction. But the game would never have even gotten that far if not for Bernie Carbo hitting a three-run, pinch-hit home run to tie the game in the bottom of the eighth. Like this year's Series, Game 6 in '75 was pushed back by rain.

No. 3: 1986 World Series, Game 6: As in Thursday night's game, the visiting team, the Red Sox, took a two-run lead in an extra inning. The first two Mets were easy outs in the bottom of the 10th, then three singles off Calvin Schiraldi made it 5-4, bringing in Bob Stanley, who got Boston within one strike of victory before uncorking a wild pitch that tied it. Stanley got the Red Sox within a strike of the 11th inning before the famous ground ball that went between Bill Buckner's legs, prompting Vin Scully's excited TV call, "Behind the bag! Here comes Knight and the Mets win it!"

No. 2: 2011 World Series, Game 6: You just saw it. 'Nuff said, except there's plenty more almost everywhere on Baseball Nation.

No. 1: 1960 World Series, Game 7: This game had everything. The three games the Yankees had won before Game 7 were by scores of 16-3, 10-0 and 12-0. Meanwhile, the Pirates won their three 6-4, 3-2 and 5-2. Game 7 see-sawed; Pittsburgh led 4-0 after two innings, but coughed that up and trailed 7-4 going into the bottom of the eighth, when they scored five runs, capped by a three-run pinch-hit home run by Hal Smith. Their 9-7 lead lasted about five minutes; the Yankees scored a pair off two Pirates pitchers. All that did was set up the most memorable home run in World Series history, Bill Mazeroski's walkoff, the only walkoff homer in a World Series Game 7.

So which one do you think is the greatest? Vote in our poll, and if you have another choice, leave it in the comments.

A final thought... will what we see tonight top last night? It won't be easy, but it happened 20 years ago. It could happen again. That's why we all love baseball so much.

Poll

Which game is the greatest World Series game of all time?

1991, Game 6

25 votes

2001, Game 7

67 votes

1912, Game 8

2 votes

1924, Game 7

2 votes

1991, Game 7

108 votes

1962, Game 7

4 votes

1975, Game 6

58 votes

1986, Game 6

45 votes

2011, Game 6

328 votes

1960, Game 7

159 votes

A different game not listed here (leave in comments)

28 votes

826 votes | Poll has closed

2011 World Series: Joe Buck Pays Tribute To His Dad With David Freese Walkoff Call

2011-10-28T15:24:35Z

20 years and one day ago, Jack Buck, calling the World Series for CBS, said, “And we’ll see you tomorrow night!” as Kirby Puckett hit an 11th-inning walkoff home run in Game 6. Buck then stopped talking and let the pictures tell the story.

Joe Buck, whose calls are at times called bland and uninteresting, paid tribute to his dad when David Freese matched Puckett with his 11th-inning walkoff Thursday night in St. Louis. You can watch both calls here (along with the audio from each matched to the home run from the other game), and A.J. Daulerio of Deadspin exchanged emails with Buck after the game, resulting in these comments:

Daulerio: “Very, very cool moment. Good on you.”

Buck: “Thanks man. Fun night”

Daulerio: “Seriously, did it just come to you or did you have that in your backpocket for a while?”

Buck: “It just fit. Its always there.”

There’s some other video of the moment at Deadspin, and as of the time of this post, about 68% of you agree that Buck’s call was a touching tribute. Vote, if you haven’t already.

2011 World Series: Whither Koji Uehara And Mike Adams?

2011-10-28T15:05:53Z

Koji Uehara was acquired at the trade deadline by the Rangers in exchange for corner infielder Chris Davis and back-end starter Tommy Hunter, in a deal where Texas essentially dumped spare parts they had for something they desperately needed: stability in the bullpen. The rotation was strong, with plenty of pitchers who could contribute. Mitch Moreland had first base duties locked down, while Adrian Beltre was doing Adrian Beltre things over at third, so neither of those pieces would be missed. The bullpen, on the other hand, needed reinforcements, and the addition of Uehara -- along with Mike Adams -- gave the Rangers a bullpen that could help them seriously contend in October.

That was the plan, anyway, but thanks to some decisions from both the front office and manager Ron Washington, the plan has been scrapped, and now the Rangers are down to the last game of the season, regardless of the outcome. Uehara was left off of the playoff roster entirely, as he struggled in the previous two rounds. While, as Grant Brisbee mentioned, there might have been something wrong with Uehara from a mechanical standpoint that the Rangers didn't want to risk exposing in the World Series, the fact of the matter is that there are 1⅓ innings and 11 batters total in October to back up that decision, and they are being favored over a much larger stretch of dominance, the stretch that caused them to acquire him to begin with.

C.J. Wilson has struggled throughout the playoffs, giving up an uncharacteristic number of both homers and walks, yet he was warming up in the bullpen last night to come into the game before David Freese ended things with one swing. Neftali Feliz, who has walked eight batters and hit one more in 11 frames in the playoffs, was brought in to close things out, and, on one more night where his command was as absent as Uehara from the World Series roster, he blew a save and let the Cardinals back in when they were one strike from going home for the winter.

This isn't to say that Wilson or Feliz should have been dropped from the playoff roster; it's more of a question of why Uehara was. He's not the only Ranger hurler to struggle on the mound this month, and while his problems have been a bit more dramatic given the homers, he's also coming off a season that was more impressive than Feliz's (for the second year in a row, even), and he wasn't even replaced on the roster by another pitcher, he was swapped out for a third catcher, Matt Treanor -- who hasn't played at all in the World Series.

With the sheer number of innings needed out of the bullpen this October, and the fact the Cardinals sported a high-powered offense, how is it that a third catcher, who might be used after some pinch-hitting shenanigans, is more valuable than an additional arm, especially when key arms have struggled? Before you say that the Rangers didn't want to put themselves in a situation where Uehara and his recent struggles might need to appear on the mound, remember that Wilson was warming, and Feliz replaced a pitcher who is not only superior, but was well-rested, thanks to the save rule.*

*You know, the one that Tony La Russa helped popularize back in the days of Dennis Eckersley -- your closer and his closer mentality comes in to the ninth, assuming a lead, no matter what.

Speaking of the save rule, had Washington ignored that in favor of keeping his actual top reliever, Mike Adams, on the mound for the ninth, this column wouldn't exist right now, because I would be too busy talking about how awesome Adams is, and how intelligent it was for Texas to acquire both Adams and Uehara to strengthen the pen. Adams, who the Rangers gave up two legitimate prospects for in Joseph Wieland and Robert Erlin, has thrown 1⅓ innings in the World Series, and tossed just three pitches Thursday night before being lifted.

This is the Mike Adams, who, over the last four seasons, has thrown 242 innings out of the bullpen with 9.9 strikeouts per nine innings, a K/BB of 4.2, a 1.71 ERA, and no discernible split against either lefties (.188/.248/.271) or righties (.169/.220/.280). Those aren't single-year splits, either: that's Adams from 2008 through 2011. The same Adams who, in 25 innings for Texas after his acquisition, struck out a batter per inning and walked 1.7 per nine (also known as fewer walks per nine than Feliz has allowed in either a rate or counting form in any single round of the playoffs this year).

Three pitches, and he's out. Leaving Uehara off of the roster was one thing, as he has struggled recently, and you can at least make an argument that Treanor was useful, and Uehara in his current state was not. But if you're already leaving yourself an arm short, and the World Series is on the line, and you take out your very best pitcher -- one who you paid handsomely for so you could be in this exact situation -- in order to observe proper save protocol, well, you get what you deserve.

The good news? Mike Adams is well rested for Game 7.

World Series 2011: Josh Hamilton Says God Spoke To Him In Game 6

2011-10-28T14:52:23Z

The 2011 World Series will wrap up on Friday night as Josh Hamilton and the Texas Rangers look to put away the St. Louis Cardinals after failing to do so on Thursday night. Hamilton's homer in the tenth inning nearly put the Cardinals away in Game 6, however, thanks to some helpful tips from God above.

Literally, apparently, according to Hamilton's post-game comments to the Dallas Morning News.

It didn't come from manager Ron Washington or anybody else on the field. It was a higher voice than that. And it was very clear what message the Lord was sending, Hamilton said.

"He said, you haven't hit one in a while and this is the time you're going to,'' Hamilton said. "But there was a period at the end of that. He didn't say, you're going to hit it and you're going to win.' ''

Hamilton, a born-again Christian after starting off in baseball with a couple of unheavenly habits, also had some tips for those looking to hit more home runs at crucial points of the World Series: Try it sometime.

"I was walking to the plate,'' Hamilton said. "And (it happened) as I was brushing dirt in the batter's box. Very cool. Y'all ought to try it sometime."

It seems as though there might be a chance for a fact-based Angels In The Outfield sequel if the Rangers are able to pull out a victory Friday night at 8:05 on FOX.

World Series 2011: Fan Returns David Freese Home Run Ball

2011-10-28T14:46:04Z

A selfless, American hero is the fan who returns the big home run ball to the ball player, never mind if the real American thing to do is hawk it to the highest bidder as an eBay Item of the Day.

At Game 6 of the 2011 World Series, Dave Huyette got the chance to become a hero when he caught David Freese's game-winning home run, which sent the hometown Cardinals to a decisive Game 7 against the Rangers.

When the 39-year-old radiologist was approached by stadium security and told Freese or the MLB would have interest in the ball, it wasn't a hard choice for him to make (via Yahoo! Sports). Here's what Huyette said:

"Maybe if I had been wanting for money, it'd be different. But I make a good living. I wasn't going to hold the country hostage for the ball.

"I told them I didn't need any money, but it'd be nice to meet some of the players."

We should all be so lucky as to value handshakes over cold hard cash.

But this is where the story gets a little odd. While a Cards fan himself, Huyette, a native of Maryville, Ill., was with his buddy Jeremy Reiland, a Cubs fan ... who was wearing a Cubs shirt to the game (presumably to let people know he was, in fact, a fan of the game of baseball, which was being played in front of them). It was a great moment in awkward locker room history.