The great game 7
It's easy for me to be cynical and negative about baseball: steroids, revenue disparity between teams, and an incompetent commissioner that has let it all happen has made me weary of the game I love.
My interest in baseball also subsided this year because my two favorite teams, the Cleveland Indians and Cincinnati Reds, both missed the playoffs. Neither had a winning record. Baseball has had me down lately.
Thursday night's game reminded me why I love the sport so much. The National League Championship series between the St. Louis Cardinals and New York Mets was the first series to go seven games in two years.
There was drama in the first six games, but the final one was as memorable and nerve-racking as any I've seen in years - and I don't even care about either team that much.
But the game had everything.
What a gutsy performance by Cardinals' starter Jeff Suppan. He gave up a run in the first inning when a good pitch to David Wright was hit for an RBI single. From then on, Suppan was brilliant, escaping a horrible situation in the sixth when the Mets loaded the bases with one out thanks to an error by Scott Rolen.
Suppan finished with seven innings pitched and two hits allowed. The Mets' Oliver Perez was almost as good. Despite a 3-13 record and a 6.55 ERA during the regular season, Perez kept St. Louis to just one run over six innings.
It would have been worse, but a home-run saving catch by Endy Chavez (a leaping, snow cone grab over the left field wall) kept Perez from an L. I mentioned before that the game had everything. If you haven't seen the Chavez catch, go somewhere and watch it. At the time, it looked like it might be the momentum swing the Mets needed. But Suppan, as he had all night, kept the Mets from a rally.
When the tie broke in the top of the ninth, it was not Albert Pujols, Scott Rolen (who was robbed by Chavez) or Jim Edmunds. Instead, it was the Cardinals' catcher, Yadier Molina, who hit .216 in the regular season, who put the Cards ahead.
Six homers all season. But one swing turned Molina from a defensive catcher into a postseason titan. Molina's 2-run homer off the Mets Aaron Heilman made it 3-1, and appeared to put St. Louis in control.
The game had one last twist. Before 2006, Adam Wainwright had pitched in exactly two major league games. In the regular season, he had been good, but had recorded just three saves. Now manager Tony LaRussa called on him to record three outs to send his team to the World Series.
The 25-year old must have wondered what he was doing in this situation. It was an inning tailor made for Jason Isringhausen, an experienced, 34-year old closer with 249 career saves. But the Cardinals closer is hurt. One of the interesting things about sports is how the misfortunes of one can provide an opportunity for another.
Wainwright had a chance to be remembered by every Cardinals fan for years to come. After the first two hitters, it appeared Wainwright would be remembered - for blowing the series. He gave up back-to-back singles to Jose Valentin and Chavez.
In a curious move, Mets' manager Willie Randolph called on hobbled Cliff Floyd to pinch-hit. While Floyd had the power to win the game, he's not exactly a player who has made his reputation on bat-control. This gave the pitcher and the defense advantages - they knew Floyd wasn't up there to bunt, so they could react without much confusion.
As it was, it was Floyd who was left looking at a perfect breaking ball from Wainwright.
Wainwright then sent all of St. Louis into convulsions when he walked Paul Lo Duca to bring up Carlos Beltran with the bases loaded.
Beltran hit 41 homers and drove in 116 runs in the regular season, but it was the last pitch he saw that he will likely think about all winter. Beltran took the two-strike pitch, and the series was over. The win went to Suppan; the save to Wainwright.
With that, Shea Stadium, so loud all series, was silent. For me, it was a fitting end. But it was also a reminder. I felt at times like I was watching a drama, with a slow build to a stunning conclusion. In a fall where dramas have been cancelled faster than a Joel Zumaya fastball, it was nice to see that the best production of the season can still be brought to us by the national pastime.
Also can be read at www.blogcritics.org