Cardinals Force Game 7

October 27, 2011 11:21 PM

The Texas Rangers were one strike away from winning the World Series for the first time in their 40-year history in Game 6 Thursday night. Twice.

Trailing 7-5 with two outs and two strikes in the bottom of the 9th, the Cardinals' David Freese hit a two-RBI triple to tie the game.

Trailing 9-8 with two outs and two strikes in the bottom of the 10th, the Cardinals' Lance Berkman hit an RBI single to tie the game.

With the game tied in the bottom of the 11th, Freese hit a walk off home run to force Game 7 as the Cardinals became the first team in major league history to score in the 9th, 10th, and 11th innings of the same game.

posted by kirkaracha (140 comments total)

It was a fun game to watch! Poor Texas. Drought, fire, Perry, and now this. My condolences.
posted by stirfry at 11:25 PM on October 27, 2011 [12 favorites]

That game was insane. This has been one of the better World Series in recent memory. Even the "boring" game featured three home runs from Pujols.
posted by dirigibleman at 11:25 PM on October 27, 2011 [4 favorites]

What a ride. I hope they mop 'em up tomorrow night. An afterthought, like game 7 of the 1986 Series. I can't take another roller coaster like that. Go Cardinals!
posted by IvoShandor at 11:31 PM on October 27, 2011 [4 favorites]

Agreed - wild, massively entertaining game. I haven't been lured onto a bandwagon with such ease and speed since an incorrigible, stringy haired scamp named Lincecum ruined some Texas dreams of glory before my eyes all those many months ago.

A query: How many times do the Rangers need to be thwarted in this manner before we can start calling it The Curse of Dubya or somesuch?
posted by gompa at 11:32 PM on October 27, 2011 [6 favorites]

Yankee fan here.. GO CARDINALS! The look on Nolan Ryan's face was priceless.
posted by ReeMonster at 11:35 PM on October 27, 2011 [6 favorites]

as a guy who doesn't really watch baseball anymore, even I have to admit the really high points in a baseball game are more cathartic than pretty much any other sport. It's hard to imagine the equivalent of watching a game-winning homerun in the bottom of the 9th or an extra inning. I'm Canadian and a hockey fan first and foremost and have seen a lot of overtime wins, but the Joe Carter home run in 1993 is sort of on another level. Sorry, Philadelphia.
posted by Hoopo at 11:39 PM on October 27, 2011 [1 favorite]

I'm obviously biased (I live in DFW and I lived 2 blocks from Wrigley for several years) but to me rooting for the Cards is barely better than rooting for the Yanks. They've already got 10 titles! Come on, share the wealth. The Cards winning again would be so rote and boring.

Go Rangers!
posted by kmz at 11:41 PM on October 27, 2011 [1 favorite]

That game was a sloppy, steaming hot mess but it ranks right up there with game 6 of the 1975 World Series. Amazing.
posted by milkrate at 11:44 PM on October 27, 2011

It's getting a lot of attention on the BBC World Service!
posted by ambient2 at 11:45 PM on October 27, 2011

GO CARDS!!! *drinks Bud Light*
posted by bayani at 11:47 PM on October 27, 2011 [3 favorites]

Cardinal Nation checking in: What an insane game. Bad News Bears by both teams - Blunders followed by bluster and then... Non-stop Badass!
Freese, a St. Louis native, cost us the game with an early error.. and then won it back, twice, punctuated by Berkman, the one guy who's consistently carried us through...
From 10.5 games out of the wildcard at the end of August to the best World Series episode ever, this has been phenomenal. It was damn near midnight and this sleepy neighborhood heard fireworks and honking, and we still have another game to go.
Freese had a 13 post-season game hitting streak and then mostly shut down.. until tonight, 2 hits when they were needed - to not only redeem but elevate him...
The momentum is huge; the Rangers are quaking themselves to sleep right now.

(side note: as a former Houstonian and Astros fan by default, I loved Berkman even before he wore birds, and took a lot of flak for it here in St. Louis -- I love it now when I get to say "See?!")
posted by hypersloth at 11:47 PM on October 27, 2011 [3 favorites]

Also, the Cards are now the first team in World Series history to score in the 8th 9th and 10th innings.
posted by hypersloth at 12:07 AM on October 28, 2011 [3 favorites]

Exiting stuff indeed. The Cards just won't give up. Can't wait to see what both teams bring tomorrow.
posted by calamari kid at 12:08 AM on October 28, 2011

As an Angels fan, I have to root against Texas more than for St Louis. And the thought of Napoli lifting the MVP trophy would be too much to take. But I agree that the Cards have won before (as recently as '06), and I do like the guys on the Rangers.

One pet peeve is the constant talk that the Cards are "resilient" and "don't give up." I don't think any team that makes it this far is without those qualities. It's just that the Cards have come through when they needed to.

The best thing is that it's nice to see a "Cinderella team" not roll over and die in the World Series which has seemed to be the norm for the last decade. Here's to an almost-as-exciting Game 7.
posted by TheSecretDecoderRing at 12:09 AM on October 28, 2011

I'd hate to think anyone but talking heads reserve terms like "resilient" and "don't give up" for the Cardinals. The same could be said of the Rangers, who've been so close to the ring and not yet grasped it. Nobody gets to the World Series by saying ah fuck it. Or any team for that matter - all year long, teams play to win.
No matter what happens, I'm thrilled to see it come down to one game, winner take all.
posted by hypersloth at 12:15 AM on October 28, 2011

Man, as a life-long Rangers fan (though, according to ESPN, there's no such thing), that game was horrifying and awesome. Neither team seemed to want the World Series to end. The fly ball that Cruz missed (it would have been the final strike/out of the WS) was a catch he makes 100 other times in the regular season. Michael Young--hate on him, everyone does--had no business trying to get fancy on that error going to First. The Cards caused me one brief moment of havoc: I had to agree with Joe Buck, who correctly predicted that the "routine-but-not-so-routine-tonight" fly to Third would be dropped.

I do have to slightly disagree with the headline for the post: The Cardinals didn't so much "force" a Game 7 as they were the team that had to be "forced" to take it. Neither seemed to really want a victory. (Seriously Wash, you have Colby Lewis bat with the bases loaded and 2 out?)

I can haz astounding rout of Cards for game 7?
posted by fireoyster at 12:29 AM on October 28, 2011 [3 favorites]

Threadsitter Nation checking in: I grew up in the Astrodome watching Nolan Ryan in his prime - before he was a Ranger. He was my hero. Fast forward to living in St. Louis now and watching him catch a ball thrown out by Dubya and the two of them hyuk it up as owners of the Rangers, I gotta say even if I didn't live here, GO CARDS.
posted by hypersloth at 12:29 AM on October 28, 2011 [2 favorites]

er.. guess it's not threadsitting if I'm not the OP.. but whatever, I'm going to bed.
posted by hypersloth at 12:31 AM on October 28, 2011

My hometown is neutral territory, but the Card's are my grandfather's team. Not to mention, living near Wrigleyville for a year actually filled me with respect for the sportsmanship of cardinal fans (i.e. when they lost, they tolerated cubs graphically describing avian disembowelment, when they won, they were friendly and bought lots of booze).

That said, I am at work and reduced to watching via ESPN's gamecast, which, with the introduction of a coolstandings inspired "probability of winning" meter gave this game an extra sense of beauty.

During the ninth the meter climbed towards 96% in favor of Texas winning, then back to 48% after the two redbird runs. Then climbed back to 70 something and then 90% in the 10th, then back to 48 after the Cardinals tied again. Did you know the home team going into the bottom of the final inning tied will end up winning three out of five times? Even though the momentum was finally significantly in our favor for the first time that night, I kept seeing this game as a bar with a sliding divider, Red on one end, blue on the other, with only time and chance deciding which side the W would land on.

I imagine Freese stepping up to the plate in a hundred different alternate time-lines; Texas would be champions right now in several dozen, most share the ultimate result with the St. Louis finding some way to eck it out. But you and I are here, lucky enough to see the drama of a walk off home run giving the Cardinals another day of contention. Mathematically, it's such a damn fine game.
posted by midmarch snowman at 12:32 AM on October 28, 2011

Seriously Wash, you have Colby Lewis bat with the bases loaded and 2 out?

Okay I can't sleep.. but THIS. Washington should've pulled Lewis right then and gone for some insurance runs. At least tried. We caught a huge break with him trying to force us into the bullpen one whole out early. LaRussa went to the bullpen the next out. BFD.
posted by hypersloth at 1:21 AM on October 28, 2011

I'd hate to think anyone but talking heads reserve terms like "resilient" and "don't give up" for the Cardinals.

Well, the thing is that the standard-issue postgame interview for any team is "How were you able to win tonight?" "We don't give up." But you're right, it sort of implies that the opponent did give up, which they obviously didn't. (Well, maybe unless it was LeBron...)


I imagine Freese stepping up to the plate in a hundred different alternate time-lines

There's probably tons more timelines where the Cards don't even get into the playoffs. And a few where Fielder doesn't win the All-Star game at the expense of Wilson. But because of the rain, if Carpenter has a good game tomorrow, then you'll really have to wonder about chance and randomness.

Of course, if his team made a few plays tonight, there would've been a lot less drama. For Freese's sake I was glad he ultimately made up for his error. Even when he tied the game, it almost looked like it wasn't gonna be enough later.

"Just so you know, Jeff, you are now creating six different timelines."
posted by TheSecretDecoderRing at 1:25 AM on October 28, 2011 [2 favorites]

Of course I am, Abed.

On one timeline Freese lost the game on an error and then also was the last at bat, forever going down in history as the hometown anti-hero.
But alternately, he tied the game, broke his drought after his huge hit streak, and then on his next at-bat, won the game.
Just two hits.
I'd say the other timeline is more believable.
posted by hypersloth at 1:37 AM on October 28, 2011

Really, really surprised to see the outfield so deep on Berkman's tying single in the bottom of the 10th. How are you going to let the winning run score without even having a chance to throw him out at the plate?

Also questionable: pinch hitting for Feldman with 1 on, 2 out in the 11th.

Tomorrow feels like a 9-2 game, I just don't know who gets the 9.
posted by outlaw of averages at 1:40 AM on October 28, 2011

st. louis here. go cards! don't think my heart can take much more of this.
posted by readyfreddy at 1:48 AM on October 28, 2011 [2 favorites]

really surprised to see the outfield so deep on Berkman

Made sense to me. Though I was rooting for a bloop, and it happened.. Really, where should they have played? Dude's batting .467 last seven days. He's gonna find a hole, but you're still safest guarding the wall.
posted by hypersloth at 1:51 AM on October 28, 2011

Another time a walkoff home run won Game 6 and forced a Game 7
posted by ZeusHumms at 1:59 AM on October 28, 2011

As a Mari...as a Marin...as someone who likes baseball and is from Seattle, I have to root for the Cards. Though it would be nice to see the Mariners achieve their ultimate glory, as both the only team which hasn't made it to the world series and therefore has also never won it. We're going to out-Cub the Cubs.
posted by maxwelton at 2:26 AM on October 28, 2011 [7 favorites]

> A query: How many times do the Rangers need to be thwarted in this manner before we can start calling it The Curse of Dubya or somesuch?

As I said around this time last year, one of my only disappointments regarding last year's series is that we didn't get to see a Dubya reaction shot after his favorite team lost.

I hope that the Cardinals and Fox give me the chance to see it this time around.
posted by .kobayashi. at 3:22 AM on October 28, 2011

I dislike the American League. I've never been able to put my finger on why, honestly – I do prefer the pitcher batting, but even with that taken out of the equation I've never enjoyed watching AL teams as much as NL teams. With that bias, plus the fact that Dubya makes it impossible to like the Rangers, I'm pulling for the Cards. I'd rather it be the Braves, but with the horror that was their last month they'd have just rolled over for the Phillies in the NLDS.
posted by sonic meat machine at 4:09 AM on October 28, 2011 [1 favorite]

Yeah, Dubya's stake in the Rangers is enough for me to root for SL, even though I don't really give a rat's ass about either squad.
posted by spitbull at 4:27 AM on October 28, 2011 [1 favorite]

This has been a great series. Hell, the preceding divisional and league series' were pretty good, too. Being in Indiana, I was surrounded by the epic 4-way see-saw between the Reds, Phillies and Brewers, with the Cards seemingly out of it, only to watch St. Louis stage a comeback almost as epic as the Red Sox now-fabled disintegration. It's been a great year for baseball.

Go Cards!
posted by Thorzdad at 4:31 AM on October 28, 2011

Incredible game.
posted by Flood at 4:53 AM on October 28, 2011

watching him catch a ball thrown out by Dubya and the two of them hyuk it up as owners of the Rangers

Is Bush still an owner of the Rangers? I thought a while back (pre-president, even) he sold his share (for a hell of a lot more money than it was worth, or somesuch)?
posted by inigo2 at 5:07 AM on October 28, 2011

I'm rooting for the Rangers, mostly because I miss having Adrian Beltre on the Red Sox. I wish they would have kept him (and Victor Martinez).
posted by MegoSteve at 5:16 AM on October 28, 2011 [1 favorite]

May the Rangers getting 16 runs in the first inning tomorrow, and then untuck their shirts after they win the World Series.
posted by drezdn at 5:32 AM on October 28, 2011

May the Rangers get 16 runs... My hatred blinds me sometimes.
posted by drezdn at 5:33 AM on October 28, 2011

That was such a crazy game. When Holliday dropped the pop up in left I had flashbacks to the 2009 NLDS when he dropped the ball to lose the game in the 9th. And when Napoli rolled his ankle I thought they would pull him for sure, but he stays in the game and makes plays like the pick off from third base later in the game. I've seen big comebacks before, but I've never seen anything quite like the 9th, 10th, and 11th of last night's.
posted by burnmp3s at 5:48 AM on October 28, 2011

Best game in a long, long time.
posted by Ironmouth at 5:57 AM on October 28, 2011

outlaw of averages: The winning run was on first, so they decided to not let a double get by them and lose the game that way. Was that the right tactical decision? I don't think so; I think I want to maximize my chances of getting the batter out (or any out) and ending the Series right there. See here for more thoughts on it.
posted by stevis23 at 6:02 AM on October 28, 2011 [1 favorite]

as a baseball purist it's hard to really pin the game down as a classic since it was a study in horrible defense, bad pitching and mental errors; but as badly played as it was, it was damn fun to watch. I think it's pathetic how quickly the Ranger fans turned on Cruz since they'd be sitting at home last night without him. I find it fascinating that the Rangers had Endy Chavez, a guy who has under his belt most amazing catch in playoff history, on their bench as a defensive replacement yet didn't use him. That's one of the beautiful laws of the game of baseball: any deficiency that you try to hide from an opponent will be exposed in the playoffs at the most inopportune time
posted by any major dude at 6:05 AM on October 28, 2011 [3 favorites]

I didn't watch the game, but I got caught up in the excitement from the relentless Twitter and Facebook updates from friends during the last few innings. It was a weird way to follow a game - not quite getting cohesive play-by-play but piecing together what was happening in between all of the "oh my god's" and "I can't believe this!!!!" type comments.
posted by Slack-a-gogo at 6:13 AM on October 28, 2011

any deficiency that you try to hide from an opponent will be exposed in the playoffs at the most inopportune time.

Sadly, if this were the case, Larussa having used up his bench would have backfired on him.
posted by drezdn at 6:17 AM on October 28, 2011

That was a very intense game. I actually had baseball dreams when I did finally calm down enough to fall asleep. Since I grew up and live in Cardinals Nation, I had a lot of friends blowing up Facebook during that very intense game. People I hadn't talked to in ages but had friended because we had English together our sophomore year were liking my "PUMA!" comment. I was commenting on someone's "Deeep Freeeese!" comment. Basically, this game really brought all of us together, and as one of my buddies from third grade said, "win or lose, this is one of the most exciting World Series game enders in a LONG time!" Honestly, World Series or not, that was one of the most exciting games I've watched in a long time.
posted by mysterpigg at 6:18 AM on October 28, 2011 [1 favorite]

What a great end to the season.
posted by chinston at 6:20 AM on October 28, 2011

Which was better -- this game or Twins-Tigers game 163 of 2009? They are definitely the two craziest in recent memory.
posted by escabeche at 6:20 AM on October 28, 2011

aye aye aye aye aye aye aye aye

Go Rangers.
posted by bukvich at 6:23 AM on October 28, 2011 [1 favorite]

I find it fascinating that the Rangers had Endy Chavez, a guy who has under his belt most amazing catch in playoff history, on their bench as a defensive replacement yet didn't use him

Endy Chavez was used as a pinch hitter for Mike Adams in the 9th and should've definitely been put in the game. As a hardcore Cards fan, though, I'm sure glad he wasn't.
posted by Jacob G at 6:28 AM on October 28, 2011

I grew up a Cubs fan so I'm not really into baseball at all. But I listened to last night's game on the radio from about the 7th inning on and wow. Captivating. I don't think I could have watched it but listening to it great. Go Cards I guess.
posted by Sailormom at 6:30 AM on October 28, 2011

By the way, "The Curse of Arthur Rhodes" is the explanation I'm going with.
posted by escabeche at 6:30 AM on October 28, 2011

Red Sox fan here.
In the second video, at 18 seconds. That look on Ron Washington's face.
I know that look.
posted by qnarf at 6:31 AM on October 28, 2011

Joe Buck is the worst announcer in sports history. that walkoff call "Freese hits it in the air to center... we will see you tomorrow night." what a soulless, bored douche!
posted by Mach5 at 6:35 AM on October 28, 2011 [3 favorites]

My favorite World Series is still 2001. Poor Byung-Hyun Kim blows two straight saves in New York, Arizona's offense wakes up against Pettite in Game 6 behind Randy Johnson, and then Randy Johnson comes in relief the very next night like a boss and gets his 3rd win of the Series after Luis Gonzalez hits a broken bat bloop single with the bases loaded. Against Mariano Rivera in his prime. Unbelievable games, unbelievable series, and the Yanks are denied.

Favorite post-season run is 2003 Marlins. Sorry Cubbies. But the Marlins started in the basement of the NL, got a new manager and somehow pulled off getting the wildcard. Then they win the DS on Pudge Rodriguez withstanding JT Snow's attempted trucking. Then of course everybody knows how the NLCS went. (Poor Steve Bartman.) And then a pretty damn good World Series against the Yanks culminates in Josh Beckett pitching a complete game shutout on 3 days rest to win Game 6 and close out the series. Only going 6 games is the only thing against that Series. One of my favorite moments is Miguel Cabrera (looking like a kid, because that's what he was) getting a home run off of Clemens on his first ever at bat against him.
posted by kmz at 6:40 AM on October 28, 2011 [1 favorite]

Ogando's really been the goat in this series. He was unhittable in the ALCS, but the Cards have been just beating him up.

Not a huge Ranger's fan, but have been rooting for them just because they've never taken it before. Either way, hat was definitely one of the best baseball games I've ever watched. Seeing Freese redeem himself after that idiotic fielding error was sports drama at its finest.
posted by Devils Rancher at 6:43 AM on October 28, 2011

Go Cardinals! I am a Red Sox fan, but i remember when the Red Sox won the World Series back in 2004, in St. Louis. In the last inning of that game, when it was clear all was lost, the St. Louis fans who were sitting directly behind the Red Sox dugout got up from their seats and moved back so the Red Sox fans in attendance could be close to the team. I thought that was the classiest thing I had seen in a long time. From that moment, I became a Cardinal Fan.
posted by Seymour Zamboni at 6:43 AM on October 28, 2011 [13 favorites]

I am a fan of the Cubbies, but (don't tell anyone) I've always had great respect for the Cards. In fact, they are the team I've always recommended to anyone that wants to learn how grind-'em-out baseball is played. They've always been, IMO, the team that exemplifies baseball as run-manufacturing.
posted by Benny Andajetz at 6:44 AM on October 28, 2011

Mach5, Joe Buck occasionally will make reference to calls his father made in similar situations. He also has the tricky problem of being suitably dramatic while not sounding like a homer when the Cardinals do well.
posted by dyobmit at 6:47 AM on October 28, 2011 [5 favorites]

as a baseball purist it's hard to really pin the game down as a classic since it was a study in horrible defense, bad pitching and mental errors

Five errors in the line score, and they don't count baserunning errors. At the end of the 6th, the Cardinals had as many hits as they did errors -- 3. Holliday picked off and injured. Ogano, with bases loaded, walks Molina and forces home the tying run.

In terms of excitement, yes, a great game. In terms of baseball, it was a suckfest, and St. Louis just had the home field advantage.

How this for a sequence? Bottom of 6th. Cards down one (4-3.)

Pujols -- K, looking. (1 out)
Berkman -- infield single to third.
Holliday -- ball in play to first, Young throws ball away, Berkman to 2nd.
Freese -- Walked, bases loaded.
(Ogando relieves Lewis)
Molina - Walked, Berkman forced home, game tied 4-4
Punto -- Walked. During this sequence, however...
(Holliday -- picked off third. Runners at 1st and 2nd, 2 outs.)
(wild pitch, Freese to 3rd, Molina to 2nd)
(Holland relieves Ogando)
Jay -- ground out to pitcher.

There was not a decent hit in this *entire* inning by the Cardinals. Seriously. Not one of the three balls in play left the infield. Through Texas ineptness, they load the bases twice. Through their own ineptness, they load the bases *twice* and only score one run, and can only manage that one run when Molina is walked with the bases loaded.

The story of this inning? Can't Hit, Can't Pitch, Can't Field, Can't Throw!

As a comeback story, as a nail biter, brilliant game. As a baseball game?

TEX   9 15 2
STL  10 13 3

Baseball weeps.
posted by eriko at 6:47 AM on October 28, 2011 [4 favorites]

The Cardinals made every attempt to give the game away early, from Matt Halliday's bungling of a routine fly ball to Freese's bungling of a routing infield fly. Not only did Freese make up for his error by saving and winning the game, he kicked off a sweet 5-6-4 double play. Halliday, though, got picked off of third base when he was the go-ahead run, then was pulled from the game because he injured his pinky.

Joe Buck is the worst announcer in sports history. that walkoff call 'Freese hits it in the air to center... we will see you tomorrow night.' what a soulless, bored douche!

His dad, Jack Buck, said "And we'll see you tomorrow night!" when Kirby Puckett's home run won Game 6 of the 1991 World Series. Tim McCarver called the 1991 series with Jack Buck.
posted by kirkaracha at 6:47 AM on October 28, 2011 [5 favorites]

What a terrific, ugly game. In a game full strategically questionable moves and boneheaded plays, I think the biggest dumb move was a non-move. In the bottom of the the tenth, after walking Pujols, I would have walked Berkman too. You only need the one out, with the bases loaded you have a force everywhere, and you are more likely to get that out from ANYBODY on the Cardinals than Berkman or Pujols.
posted by dirtdirt at 6:49 AM on October 28, 2011 [3 favorites]

Wait. Baseball? Isn't that over?
posted by clvrmnky at 6:50 AM on October 28, 2011

Not in St. Louis it isn't!
posted by limeonaire at 6:56 AM on October 28, 2011 [2 favorites]

here's the thing, Jack Buck said it with some feeling i could associate with, Joe Buck says it like he's a middle manager leaving the office an hour early. fuck that guy.
posted by Mach5 at 6:57 AM on October 28, 2011 [1 favorite]

I like Joe Buck. He's one of the few sports announcers who doesn't lose his mind on a regular basis. Building excitement in a game should be left to the players, not some talking head.

Buck calls a great game.
posted by secondhand pho at 7:01 AM on October 28, 2011 [2 favorites]

Buck's lousy, but some of the intensity issues are a result of medical issues with his voice--he can't really raise intensity as needed.

Of course, some of it is that he doesn't actually like baseball.
posted by stevis23 at 7:15 AM on October 28, 2011 [1 favorite]

Mach5, Joe Buck occasionally will make reference to calls his father made in similar situations. He also has the tricky problem of being suitably dramatic while not sounding like a homer when the Cardinals do well.

This, a million times. I'm of the opinion that Joe Buck haters are football fans who want sound effects and boo-yahs coming out of their announcers. Buck's style is that of his father's, understated and professional, which is to say that he acts like an educated grownup on camera and not an overgrown frat guy.

You will also notice the general lack of stupid-ass animations of robots wearing baseball uniforms between innings. I like to believe these things happen by design.
posted by middleclasstool at 7:17 AM on October 28, 2011 [6 favorites]

nope, its not because of football that i hate joe buck, the guy ADMITTED that he doesn't even watch any sports, that he doesn't enjoy baseball, and that he prefers to watch the Bachlorette! and no, i don't like the godawful robots doing pushups. i just want an announcer who cares about the game and wants to be there.
posted by Mach5 at 7:28 AM on October 28, 2011

As a Cincinnati Reds fan, I usually pull for the NL team in the World Series (because it hasn't been the Reds in a while), but I really hate the Cardinals. Living in Memphis, home of their AAA team, I'm surrounded by lifelong Cardinal fans.

I hate my life. The Reds should've won the division this year, and then the Cards wouldn't even be in the playoffs. Instead, they sucked.

At least there might be an NBA season.
posted by epilnivek at 7:30 AM on October 28, 2011

I'm not much of a Joe Buck fan, but I appreciate that he called out the celebrities that showed up only to do the promos for their shows and left by the 7th inning. Those seats could have gone to someone who actually wanted to be there.
posted by dirigibleman at 7:40 AM on October 28, 2011 [3 favorites]

I tuned-in in the ninth just in time to see all the fun. What a great game. Freese hitting a triple to tie the game when the Cards were down to their last out, last strike, one swing away from losing the entire series, that will go down in history.
posted by caddis at 7:41 AM on October 28, 2011

Big League Stew has a story of the fan who caught and returned Freese's walk-off home run ball.
posted by gladly at 7:46 AM on October 28, 2011 [3 favorites]

You will also notice the general lack of stupid-ass animations of robots wearing baseball uniforms between innings.

Those fucking taunting, fratboy robots are why I cannot bear to watch football on television anymore. They fill me with such rage that I want to throw my remote through the TV screen.
posted by Threeway Handshake at 7:49 AM on October 28, 2011 [1 favorite]

Great story on the fan and the ball there. It was evident that guy ran out there to get that ball with singular purpose (premeditated, it turns out), and it's nice to see his motives were not profiteering.
posted by mcstayinskool at 7:50 AM on October 28, 2011

This is still going on? I thought the season was done when the Tigers were eliminated.

(Seriously, it sounded pretty exciting.)
posted by HostBryan at 7:50 AM on October 28, 2011

Unbelieveable game. Being a Diamondbacks fan and living through the cardiac moments of the 2001 series, I had to remind myself that nothing was over when the Cards were down two runs - twice - in a final inning situation. It's so friggin hard for a team to get to the Series, and there's an intensity for fans there that is crazy, a win because we may never see this again feeling. If the Cardinals win this whole thing, Texas fans are going to be scarred for a long time by game 6. One strike away. One strike away. And then all that work erased. MLB has gotten their mileage out of this season - it's been far crazier and full of don't-miss baseball than I can remember.
posted by azpenguin at 7:53 AM on October 28, 2011

I watched that video, Mach5, and he admitted neither thing. He said he doesn't spend every evening during the week watching ballgames, that he spends his downtime watching things that aren't his job (like most of us), and that the glut and increasing length of baseball games on TV nowadays makes watching them less special than back in the day before 24-hour sports coverage. As he said, back then, he was a religious viewer, despite having direct access to any and every Cardinals home game he could ever want to see.

Buck's a baseball guy through and through and was quite literally born into it. He doesn't need to be a rabid must-watch-every-game fan to prove it.

I agree with pretty much everything he said in that video, other than liking the Bachelorette, and I'm a fan. Baseball doesn't need 162 televised games per team per year. If there was only a Sunday game, I'd watch every week. But knowing that I can watch literally every Cards game any time I want for half a freaking year makes it anything but a special experience, until we get into the post season.
posted by middleclasstool at 7:56 AM on October 28, 2011 [3 favorites]

Buck is pretty bad, but at least this year from what I've watched I'm grateful they've managed to mostly put a muzzle on Tim McCarver's rambling. Sloppy, sloppy baseball last night, but a great finish! Looking forward to tonight's game.
posted by word_virus at 8:01 AM on October 28, 2011

Big League Stew has a story of the fan who caught and returned Freese's walk-off home run ball.

"He didn't tell me he was going to wear that shirt before we came," Huyette cracked. "This is ridiculous."

It's possible that guy standing there in the Cubs shirt is better than the walk-off homer, better than the triple to tie it in the 9th, better than Berkman tying it again in the 10th, better even maybe than Albert going berserk in game 3. As a baseball purist.
posted by dyobmit at 8:02 AM on October 28, 2011 [1 favorite]

This, a million times. I'm of the opinion that Joe Buck haters are football fans who want sound effects and boo-yahs coming out of their announcers. Buck's style is that of his father's, understated and professional, which is to say that he acts like an educated grownup on camera and not an overgrown frat guy.

I am a baseball fan, and hate the sound effects and the boo-yahs (and those f-ing robots) that come with football telecasts. But I also greatly dislike the play-by-play of Joe Buck. While his father Jack always came off as understated and professional, Joe to my ear comes off pompous and arrogant. He overreacts to anything that might be construed as unsportsmanlike, to the point where in my mind I think of him as the guy at work that would call me into my office to tell me my attire was not appropriate for the workplace. Also, he always sounds so passionless that even on this, the most exciting game I've seen in recent memory or maybe ever, he didn't seem significantly moved by the event. I like some decorum in a play-by-play announcer, but on unbelievable moments I want batshit insane screaming, so it feels like the announcer is sharing in the excitement. You know, GIANTS WIN THE PENNANT GIANTS WIN THE PENNANT.
posted by mcstayinskool at 8:02 AM on October 28, 2011 [1 favorite]

Love that a hometown dude (Freese) got it done (and redeemed that dropped fly ball.) Go Cards!
posted by evisceratordeath at 8:03 AM on October 28, 2011

On that Big League Stew link above, the video of the negotiation for the ball is pretty hilarious. The guy looks really serious about negotiating for a picture of Freese with him and his buddy before he gives him the ball. "Not an iPhone picture, a real picture"... Priceless.
posted by mcstayinskool at 8:07 AM on October 28, 2011

STLian here.

Without a doubt the most insane game of baseball I've ever watched. Down to their last strike TWICE. Hometown boy goes deep for a walk off in the 11th. So much history here.

But this whole season has been insane. Our best pitcher was injured in spring training and was out for the season. Plenty of fans called the season a loss right there. Then our bullpen gave up so many saves early in the year. The Cards were 10 and a half games back August 25th. Stl was despondent. We started talking about next year. Put in the young kids so we can see what they've got cause it's over. Not one person in the national media thought the Cards could come back and get the wild card. No one thought we could beat the Phillies. Few thought we could beat the Brewers. And most thought this series wouldn't get to a game 7. However things go tonight, this season will go down in history as one of the greatest comebacks of all time.

I'm going downtown tonight!
posted by saul wright at 8:08 AM on October 28, 2011 [2 favorites]

One thing I'm surprised I haven't more about in the media is that Freese's 9th inning triple should have easily been caught by Cruz, which would have won the World Series for the Rangers.
posted by mcstayinskool at 8:11 AM on October 28, 2011 [2 favorites]

I had to agree with Joe Buck, who correctly predicted that the "routine-but-not-so-routine-tonight" fly to Third would be dropped.

That was a weird, crazy moment. It was like seeing a player insta-jinxed by a commentator live on national television.

Is Bush still an owner of the Rangers? I thought a while back (pre-president, even) he sold his share (for a hell of a lot more money than it was worth, or somesuch)?

I believe that is the case, though GWB (and his wife) sat with Nolan Ryan and his wife for the Rangers home games during the series, and could be seen high-fiving Ryan whenever the Rangers made a big play, so it's clear he's still very sentimentally attached to the team even if maybe not financially. Speaking of Ryan, I hadn't really seen a picture of him in years, and seeing him old, bloated, and very cranky-looking was a shock.

I find it fascinating that the Rangers had Endy Chavez, a guy who has under his belt most amazing catch in playoff history, on their bench as a defensive replacement yet didn't use him

Speaking as a Mets fan, I have a fondness of Chavez though I know well he's an inconsistent player (despite the famous catch), one of those enthusiastic but under-utilized second stringers the Mets always had lingering on their bench during the Omar Minaya era. However, even that lingering fondness for Chavez can't make me root for Texas. (Another of the under-utilized former Mets, Carlos Gomez, is on the Brewers and was seen a few times in the playoffs. (We used to see him with the Binghamton Mets, years ago - he must have still been a teenager then!)
posted by aught at 8:14 AM on October 28, 2011

Freese's 9th inning triple should have easily been caught by Cruz

It did seem like Cruz kinda just trotted after it, then realized it was going away from him too late. The Rangers under Washington have tried to distinguish themselves with good fielding & smart baserunning as much as pitching and hitting, but they sure didn't show it last night. There was some boneheaded strategy out of Washington, too. Ultimately, they lost that game fair & square.
posted by Devils Rancher at 8:16 AM on October 28, 2011

The Rangers under Washington have tried to distinguish themselves with good fielding & smart baserunning as much as pitching and hitting

He may emphasize that, but it sure ain't working.

24th in the league in errors, 26th in the league in fielding percentage, 26th in assists, 24th in putouts. FWIW, the Cardinals were similarly porous in the field.

I think that triple wasn't an error only because Cruz misplayed it so badly he didn't even touch it with his glove. On the replay he runs hard at it, then backs off it because he thinks he's under it, then WHOOPS, and it hits the wall and rolls back toward the infield.

Regardless, spectacular game and I'm really quite glad that he missed the catch. I joked with my pals that were watching the game with me that after the Game 5 in Texas, Dubya held up a "Mission Accomplished" sign after the Rangers won. Sadly I suppose, they all believed me.
posted by mcstayinskool at 8:27 AM on October 28, 2011

I'm not much of a Joe Buck fan, but I appreciate that he called out the celebrities that showed up only to do the promos for their shows and left by the 7th inning.

I loved that, too. I was shocked that a Fox Sports announcer would so blatantly undermine a Fox promo like that.
posted by MegoSteve at 8:30 AM on October 28, 2011

More Beltre love: his defensive play at third base when Napoli threw out Holliday was just amazing. He blocked the bag with his foot, preventing Holliday from getting back with his hand. Holliday would have been back easily if Beltre didn't do that.
posted by MegoSteve at 8:34 AM on October 28, 2011

Like TheSecretDecoderRing, I'm an Angels fan, so I find myself rooting for the Cardinals in this series with the intensity of a lifelong fan.

Because of that passion, I try to protect myself from too much pain and disappointment. I can accept that the Rangers have supplanted the Angels as the best team in the AL West and that Mike Napoli, who ended up on the Rangers this year after having spent his entire career with the Angels in what I'm sure will go down as one of the all-time boneheaded trades in major league history, will very likely end up as the World Series MVP. But I don't have to watch it (sort of like accepting that a girlfriend has moved on to a new guy, but I don't need to watch their online sex video either).

All of which is to say that I shut off the game last night after the Rangers hit back to back homers in the top of the 7th, figuring all that was left was the jumping around and champagne showers.

(This is pretty typical self-preservation behavior from me, which has prevented me from catching some other dramatic moments in sports history as they happened, most memorably Derek Fisher's 0.4 second buzzer beater in the 2004 NBA playoffs, which I shut off as soon as the Spurs took the lead in the final seconds of the game).
posted by The Gooch at 8:40 AM on October 28, 2011

Derek Fisher's 0.4 second buzzer beater

Ugh, I remember that. Goddamn Lakers. They're the Yankees of the NBA.
posted by kmz at 8:46 AM on October 28, 2011 [1 favorite]

My opinion of Joe Buck might improve a lot if he wasn't perpetually teamed with Tim "Mr. Obvious " McCarver. Good lord, the man is insufferable in a way that makes me want to quickly mute my tv immediately after Buck says anything because I know that's McCarver's cue to chime-in with some declaration of obviousness an inanity. I think he took a few too many foul tips.

Buck, on the other hand, has always seemed to be constantly auditioning for a spot with FOX News, his stentorian, end-of-the-world narration giving every swing of a bat, or easy out, dark overtones of some impending scandal or failure. I never heard that he actually doesn't like baseball, but that makes a lot of sense in retrospect.

I can't fault FOX Sports' direction or camera coverage. It's great. And I applaud them for not painting the games with the same CG crap they festoon their footballs and NASCAR broadcasts. But, lord, they need new voices. Preferably voices that actually like the game and can speak about it without sounding like simpletons.
posted by Thorzdad at 8:48 AM on October 28, 2011 [1 favorite]

I was at the game last night. Best game I've ever seen. I've never been in a baseball stadium with a crowd at that level of intensity - of course, then again I've never been to a World Series game before. But when Freese hit the homer, we were high fiving and hugging complete strangers.

Took Metrolink home, and at every stop, the announcer would say "This is a Blue Line train westbound to Shrewsbury . . . and the Cardinals won!" and "Please stand clear of the doors . . . and the Cardinals won!" Every time she did that, the whole (packed) train would go nuts again. I had a grin on my face for a solid 2 hours after the game, not just from the win but from the sheer joy all around me.
posted by Chanther at 9:01 AM on October 28, 2011 [13 favorites]

Derek Fisher's 0.4 second buzzer beater

That night I was in the birthing room with my wife while she was in labor with my first daughter. We had the TV on and watched Fisher's shot, which caused us both to be muttering "fucking Lakers" for a good part of the next 9 hours of labor. True story.

Also that night, the series finale of Frasier, where Daphne gives lightning quick birth to a well groomed infant who appeared to be 4 months old. Boy was there a lot of infuriating TV going on in that hospital room that night.
posted by mcstayinskool at 9:12 AM on October 28, 2011

But, lord, they need new voices. Preferably voices that actually like the game and can speak about it without sounding like simpletons.

As long as I cave in and buy the MLB app, I can have my team's announcers instead of whichever network duds I'd normally have to listen to. I spend all season long listening to games that way, so during the most important games of the season the very last thing I'd want is to hear random announcers calling the game. I want my guys.

When I'm just tuning in as a fan of the game, not necessarily as the fan of one team, I'm less critical. But, just like mcstayinskool, I want emotion conveyed during big moments! I'd also love a little more quiet from the booth. Baseball has natural moments when it's not necessary to "call the game." You can build tension during a batter's load on a 3-2 count with two outs just by letting fans hear the crowd. I know that's just not how TV does it.
posted by gladly at 9:15 AM on October 28, 2011

My vote for best moment of the game is for Napoli and Beltre's pickoff of Holliday in the 8th. That was effing beautiful, and the fact that Napoli fired it off from his knees because of a twisted ankle just doubles the awesome.

Unfortunately this all bodes ill for the 7th being a good game, both teams I think have completely wiped themselves out.

And as a Giants fan, I say, "... whatever. Beat both these teams last year."
posted by zomg at 9:15 AM on October 28, 2011

I'm of the opinion that Joe Buck haters are football fans who want sound effects and boo-yahs coming out of their announcers. Buck's style is that of his father's, understated and professional

Man, I disagree so much. Joe Buck isn't understated and professional. He's boring and often wrong. Tim McCarver is worse. Jack Buck was understated, professional and allowed the game to entertain you. It always feels to me that Joe wants to be on camera, smirking.
posted by DigDoug at 9:18 AM on October 28, 2011 [1 favorite]

But, lord, they need new voices. Preferably voices that actually like the game and can speak about it without sounding like simpletons.

I would have liked Ron Darling and John Smolz (who TBS used for playoff games) in place of Buck and McCarver. Smart former greats.
posted by aught at 9:25 AM on October 28, 2011

And I applaud them for not painting the games with the same CG crap they festoon their footballs and NASCAR broadcasts.

The other production-related thing I noticed is that FOX has surprisingly been much more restrained with their use of the strike zone ball-placement radar graphic (I don't know if there's a more concise term for that) especially compared to TBS, who had it up all the time - which I found distracting considering that it's: 1) not 100% accurate, and 2) there's no way the subjective call of the umpire is going to match their graphic every pitch).
posted by aught at 9:29 AM on October 28, 2011 [1 favorite]

24th in the league in errors, 26th in the league in fielding percentage, 26th in assists, 24th in putouts.

2nd in Defensive Efficiency Rating (roughly speaking, balls in play turned into outs.) You realize the number of putouts recorded is primarily a function of the number of innings played, right? The only team variation should be extra innings, rain-shortened games, walkoffs (e.g. only get one out in the 9th), and number of times you lost on the road and didn't need to take the field in the bottom of the 9th.
posted by stevis23 at 9:38 AM on October 28, 2011 [1 favorite]

May the Rangers get 16 runs...

May the Rangers get the runs, 16 times.
posted by msalt at 9:41 AM on October 28, 2011 [1 favorite]

Joe Posnanski wrote a nice bit on the game
posted by exogenous at 9:50 AM on October 28, 2011

mcstayinskool,

If you look at errors and fielding percentage, the two teams look pretty similar defensively, but if you look at other (better) defense metrics, you get a completely different story.

Looking at team UZR, for example, Texas was the sixth best defensive team in all of baseball this year; whereas, St. Louis was fourth from the bottom.

Anyway, go Cards, I hope they blow 'em out in Game Seven.
posted by Jonathan Livengood at 9:50 AM on October 28, 2011 [1 favorite]

As an Angels fan, I have to root against Texas more than for St Louis. And the thought of Napoli lifting the MVP trophy would be too much to take.

lol. Napoli is pretty much the only reason to root for Texas. Here's a guy who was .320/.414/.631 in the regular season (.333/.424/.519 playoffs), and your idiot guys couldn't figure out how to keep him as a starting catcher. You are mad at the wrong person.

I'm of the opinion that Joe Buck haters are football fans who want sound effects and boo-yahs coming out of their announcers.

No, we just want Jon Miller.
posted by mrgrimm at 9:53 AM on October 28, 2011 [1 favorite]

No, we just want Jon Miller.

Yes, please. I'd even want Miller if it meant the return of Joe Morgan. Er... hm. I'm not sure if that's true. Because Morgan was terrible. But Miller is just great: classy, funny, intelligent. I used to watch the game on TV with the sound muted and turn on the radio just to hear him call the game.
posted by notmydesk at 9:57 AM on October 28, 2011

Fair enough re: the defensive metrics on the Rangers. I withdraw my earlier arguments. You have to admit though, there has been some mighty sloppy defensive work in parts of many of these games, including Cruz's non-catch of the "triple" in the 9th. Alternatively though, man that pick off of Holliday at 3rd was something special.
posted by mcstayinskool at 9:59 AM on October 28, 2011

You have to admit though, there has been some mighty sloppy defensive work in parts of many of these games.

You'll get no argument from me on that one!
posted by Jonathan Livengood at 10:00 AM on October 28, 2011

This is why the Rangers lost.
posted by saul wright at 10:00 AM on October 28, 2011 [2 favorites]

Joe Posnanski wrote a nice bit on the game

Great article, but I disagree with this part:

"I have a friend who says that the biggest difference between football or basketball and baseball is that in football and basketball two bad teams can play a wildly entertaining game if they are equally bad, but that in baseball it isn’t so."

I've thought about this a lot, and I disagree. It works in both baseball and football, which are as much games (rules a plenty, lots of breaks in the action, elaborate systems of governance) as sports, but not with sports that are more sports than games (less rules, more fluid action)--basketball, soccer, hockey. Two teams playing horrible basketball are very hard to watch, regardless of how close the game is.

Also, as the famous shithouse poet once said, "here i sit, my buns a flexin', giving birth to another Texan." :P

GO CARDS!
posted by mrgrimm at 10:02 AM on October 28, 2011 [1 favorite]

Just came in to say that was a hell of a game. The Cards were fighting to keep up the whole time, but damned if they didn't answer every inning. Go Cards.
posted by Civil_Disobedient at 10:12 AM on October 28, 2011

Thank you. I was just about to get over my frustration about this and return to a functioning person, so I'm glad you reminded me how my home town team blew the closest chance we have ever had to winning the Series. Now, I can stew for the rest of the day as well!
posted by dios at 10:17 AM on October 28, 2011

I've been listening to ESPN Radio when possible. I don't know how Valentine has been received as an analyst, but Hershiser is great to listen to. (Funny how they have Rangers ties, and the Fox duo has Cards ties.)

Only problem is that the feed is 5 sec ahead of TV. But at least there's no creepy Viagra commercials.
posted by TheSecretDecoderRing at 10:19 AM on October 28, 2011

Dios mio, it's dios.
posted by kmz at 10:19 AM on October 28, 2011 [7 favorites]

My whole family are passionate Cardinal fans. I have a picture of a cake-smeared me at my first birthday party wearing the Cards hat and tee shirt my uncle had just given me. He was probably the most informed and serious fan out of us all, my uncle. Even as an awkward teen, when I didn't have much to say to anyone in my family, we always had the Cards. My uncle was the first person I knew to get a high definition TV, I was dying to see what it looked like so I dropped by one day for a look. Do you know he wouldn't turn it on until the Cardinal game that evening because he didn't want to taint my first HD experience with anything other than the greens of the field and the red of their uniforms.

My uncle killed himself a few months back. It was really sad. Still is. He wasn't a religious man so his buddies, my father and a few others held a "memorial service" at a Cardinals double A game, which is there in town. They bought him a ticket, brought his St. Louis ball cap and his old baseball glove and sat them there in his seat. I wasn't there but that image of his hat and glove in an empty seat makes me teary every time I think of it.

Maybe the Cards winning would be a beautiful and poetic end to a season that my uncle never saw through. Or maybe it's a little bit cruel, knowing how happy it would have made him. Maybe it's just a game. I guess it's probably a little bit of all of them, huh?
One way or another, I'll be rooting for the Cards tonight because that's what we do.

btw, this is my first post from a long-time lurker. way to bring down a fun sports thread, new guy.
posted by tricolourfree at 10:34 AM on October 28, 2011 [15 favorites]

I don't know how Valentine has been received as an analyst, but Hershiser is great to listen to.
Valentime has actually been pretty good, in the games I've seen him working. Cocky as hell, but really good, and not afraid to debate fine points with his booth-mates, which is great for anyone who loves inside-baseball discussions. Hershiser is a gem of a broadcaster.
posted by Thorzdad at 10:38 AM on October 28, 2011

This may be the first time I've seen someone on Metafilter use the phrase 'inside baseball' to refer to baseball.
posted by box at 10:50 AM on October 28, 2011 [3 favorites]

dios: "Thank you. I was just about to get over my frustration about this and return to a functioning person, so I'm glad you reminded me how my home town team blew the closest chance we have ever had to winning the Series. Now, I can stew for the rest of the day as well!"

We'll get 'em next year.

Maybe.

Ok, probably not.

Until then, there's always football.

*spits*
posted by zarq at 10:51 AM on October 28, 2011

Okay, boycotting the rest of the postseason after the Phillies' choke-job was clearly the wrong move. That's a hell of a game I wish I'd seen.
posted by Holy Zarquon's Singing Fish at 10:54 AM on October 28, 2011

One of the most amazing games I've ever seen. I was out, DVR'd it, and started watching at 11pm - Watched every pitch. I've rarely had a better reason to go to bed at 2:45am... and I'm a Yankee fan.
posted by jalexei at 11:00 AM on October 28, 2011

[Joe Buck] overreacts to anything that might be construed as unsportsmanlike
A great example of this is when Randy Moss faux-mooned the Packers fans. Buck clutched his pearls and called it "a disgusting act" on the way to the fainting couch. He didn't mention that the Packers fans had a tradition of actually mooning opposing teams' buses.
posted by kirkaracha at 11:01 AM on October 28, 2011 [1 favorite]

Extremely entertaining game, and a perfect example of "It ain't over till it's over" (attributed to Yogi Berra, although Berra once stated, "I really didn't say everything I said.")

I am constantly amazed at the insights Rick Sutcliffe gives to those of us watching in Canada on SportsNet. He calls many of the mistakes before they happen, and his analysis is second to none.
posted by weapons-grade pandemonium at 11:41 AM on October 28, 2011

Dios!
Good to hear from you.
posted by caddis at 11:52 AM on October 28, 2011 [1 favorite]

Dios mio, it's dios.

And he's a Rangers fan. Why I am not surprised? *winky face*

a perfect example of "It ain't over till it's over"

That's really what sets baseball as a sport (and tennis too) apart, and one of the reason I love it so. Sure, no one has come back from a 15-run 9th inning deficit, but it certainly could happen. In football, basketball, hockey, soccer, etc., the game can be "over" long before it's over.
posted by mrgrimm at 12:17 PM on October 28, 2011 [1 favorite]

Jesus Christ, does every thread have to be about dios?
posted by mr_crash_davis at 12:25 PM on October 28, 2011

Ronnie was awesome and that's a fact.
posted by Holy Zarquon's Singing Fish at 12:54 PM on October 28, 2011

I didn't see Freese's home run. Although I was enjoying the game, I had shit to do this morning and finally gave up and went to sleep after Berkman tied it in the 10th. I know part of the beauty of baseball is that it's the only game without a clock, but MLB needs to get these games started earlier.
posted by IanMorr at 1:04 PM on October 28, 2011

Looks like I picked the wrong night to fall asleep on the couch year to move away from St Louis.

Also, Joe Buck is an insufferable douche.
posted by slogger at 1:30 PM on October 28, 2011 [1 favorite]

Is Bush still an owner of the Rangers?

He sold his interest in the Rangers after he became governor in 1994. Connecting Bush to the current Rangers is pretty silly. It's like saying you hate the Red Sox because they sold Babe Ruth.
posted by dw at 2:12 PM on October 28, 2011

And there's no doubt the Cardinals will win tonight -- they have fewer former Mariners (Arthur Rhodes) than the Rangers (Endy Chavez, Adrian Beltre, Yorvit Torrealba, and Mark Lowe [the pitcher that gave up the Freese HR]).

Any involvement with the Mariners is a curse in itself.
posted by dw at 2:14 PM on October 28, 2011

>Baseball doesn't need 162 televised games per team per year. If there was only a Sunday game, I'd watch every week. But knowing that I can watch literally every Cards game any time I want for half a freaking year makes it anything but a special experience, until we get into the post season.<

Just the opposite for me. When I had the package on Dish and could watch any game any time we watched a LOT of baseball. After the MLB-Dish kerfuffle we have had a hard time staying interested and weren’t really able to follow it much. Part of that is because our team is on the other side of the country though. Now I just have to get back in the habit.

Isn’t anyone going to come on here and say baseball sucks?
posted by bongo_x at 2:33 PM on October 28, 2011

Fair weather sports fan here. Go Cards!

What?? I was born in St. Louis, so I'm entitled.
posted by zardoz at 2:36 PM on October 28, 2011

I wonder if the people in the mythical Box Elder, MO were celebrating.
posted by juiceCake at 2:58 PM on October 28, 2011

This Series (including the playoffs) has made a fan out of my wife and reminded me why I love the intersection of strategy and fate that can make baseball so interesting. My distaste of Texas helped sway her loyalty but she thinks the Texas players are definitely hotter.
Interesting to see how many players will be free agents after the Series - Prince Fielder in his last game seemed to be almost like an unnamed Cleveland basketball player in his last game, and part of me wonders how that will affect his contract. ($25.8 mil/year instead of $26 mil?) Pujols could score the better contract but I wonder if he will leave St. Louis. Also quite a few of the pitchers could be gone as well.
This Yankees fan is really getting a kick out of the series - I wonder what the TV ratings will be tonight. However I much prefer watching a game at 5:05 on a weeknight instead of watching a Buffalo Bills game at 10 on a Sunday morning. Go Cards!
posted by TomSophieIvy at 3:01 PM on October 28, 2011

However I much prefer watching a game at 5:05 on a weeknight instead of watching a Buffalo Bills game at 10 on a Sunday morning. Go Cards!

Seriously. Sometimes I forget not everyone is on the US West Coast and the East Coast has to wait until 8-9pm for big sports games.

What do you do between 5pm and 8pm ... just sit around and drink? And then your whole night is shot...

Yeah, the morning games blow, but it's so worth it for the big-time games at reasonable hours. I feel bad for the East Coast kids whose parents won't let them stay up (... and West Coast drones who get stuck working late).
posted by mrgrimm at 3:30 PM on October 28, 2011

Well, I haven't watched much baseball in decades, but I'll watch tonight.

I was a Beatlemaniac and Cardinals fan back when Lou Brock was stealing bases and Bob Gibson was pitching AND hitting (before that rule we still hate was a rule...you know what I'm talking about) - both guys in the linked picture - and Tim McCarver was catching and hitting almost as well as right fielder Curt Flood (a good painter, too). My favorite player, for no particular reason, was shortstop Julian Javier. They won a couple of World Series, as I recall, and I was considered old enough in those less paranoid times to sleep outside the old Busch Stadium with a friend to be in line for tickets.

These days, as a teacher, I ask kids to take out their earbuds. Back then, when games were in the daytime, during the school day some of us would hide our transistor radios in our pockets and sneak a little earphone into our ear now and then and the teacher would probably understand and notice and not say anything, as I recall. I'm sure we knew which classes we would not try this trick in.

Everyone has heroes when they are young. You are wondering what a man - or a woman - can do in life, and you are watching someone do it well. You never forget your childhood heroes.
posted by kozad at 3:59 PM on October 28, 2011 [2 favorites]

GO CRAZY, FOLKS
posted by middleclasstool at 8:27 PM on October 28, 2011 [6 favorites]

GO CRAZY!
posted by Jonathan Livengood at 8:29 PM on October 28, 2011

I was kinda-sorta rooting for the Rangers, but it's always fun when the home team wins. I love it when the entire crowd yells, "YEAH!" and you can hear the Y just before the eruption.

Anyway, this was an amazing month+ of baseball. The 2011 Cardinals has to rank as the most amazing comeback for a team ever.

So, Spring Training begins in a little over four months. I'll see you guys then. Err, wait. I guess I'm not actually going anywhere...
posted by dirigibleman at 8:37 PM on October 28, 2011

Kozad, I don't mean to harsh on your Cardinals nostalgia, as I'm a third generation fan who also grew up cheering for Bob Gibson and Lou Brock, but in fact, Curt Flood played center field (winning seven straight Gold Gloves there), not right field, and Julian Javier was a second baseman, not a shortstop.

The Cards' right fielder for their world championship team in 1964 was Mike Shannon. Shannon moved to third base when the Cardinals acquired Roger Maris, who played right field for the pennant-winning teams in 1967 and 1968. Dick Groat was the shortshop on the '64 Cardinals, while Dal Maxvill played SS in '67 and '68.

This year's team was remarkably resilient and a lot of fun to watch. There's much happiness in "Cardinal Nation" tonight!!
posted by Nat "King" Cole Porter Wagoner at 10:26 PM on October 28, 2011

I was so wrong. This World Series ended up not so boring after all. It was a hell of a series, probably the best since 2002. Damn, I feel for Wash but at the same time, I wish he was still with the A's.
posted by soltini at 10:56 PM on October 28, 2011

I don't think it necessarily calls for another FPP, but Tony La Russa announced today that he is retiring.
posted by mysterpigg at 7:38 AM on October 31, 2011

I wonder if the people in the mythical Box Elder, MO were celebrating.

Nah, they were listening to old Pavement songs.
posted by msalt at 6:59 PM on October 31, 2011