Running 2011 Baseball Thread, Vol. I: Dedicated to spnited

I know it won't happen. But if Grady Little could get fired simply because he left his ace in a few batters too long and cost his team a pennant, you could definitely make the case for canning Ron Washington after all the tactical blunders he committed last night.

 

I'm definitely with you guys on this. I said it right along with him. My wife was like, "How did you do that!?"

Ten seconds later, I get a text from my friend in St. Louis: "And we'll see you tomorrow night."

I think it was already on everyone's mind after they showed the clips montage of the great Game 6's a few minutes before.

 

I was just thinking last night, the home runs were great but the triple was the swing of the game. A great outfielder would have definitely gotten to it but what a great swing to put on the ball in the most pressure-packed at bat of the series; one strike away from the end of the series.

 

I actually thought it was gone off the bat and when I first saw Cruz racing back.

 

Hey can someone with a greater baseball IQ than me explain everybody's problem with the Rangers playing "no doubles" defense in the 10th? Seems to me that a single probably ties the game no matter what in that situation, while a double would win it for the Cardinals. What am I missing? And when you look at Berkman's single, if the CF is playing up, there's a good chance that the ball does go into the gap; I'm not sure the CF is able to cut that angle considering where he was aligned on the field.

 

Two reasons:

(1) A bloop single that otherwise may have been caught now may drop in for a game-tying hit.
(2) No chance to throw the guy out at home or hold him at third. Like you said, though, it's doubtful that you'd do that anyway with two outs and the runner going on contact.

 

I was actually driving in a car when the Freese homer was hit, and even though I did not see it, the Sirius radio call from the St. Louis station was really good.

Of course when he is hitting you can hear the crack of the bat before the announcer can start to describe the play, but when the St. Louis radio guy starts yelling at the ball while in flight "Get up! Get up!" a pretty good picture was painted in my mind.

I cannot remember the last time I listened to baseball rather than watch it, but it really gives a different perspective on the game. Every foul ball sounds like a home run or a line drive.

 

When the Cardinals are in the series, betting on 7 games is a wise choice.

Of their 18 World Series appearances, 11 will have now gone 7 games. That ties them with the Yankees for most WS game 7s.

They are 7-3 in previous game 7s, but have won only one of the last four after starting 6-0. Won against the Brewers in 82, lost to Detroit in 68, melted down in KC in 85 and were Metrodomed in 87.

 

So, if the Rangers win tonight...

...shouldn't it be considered a big upset?

After all, the sports world this morning has written them off.