I have witnessed a lot of clutch moments in my lifetime of watching sports, but what St. Louisan David Freese did last Thursday night in the bottom of the ninth of Game 6 of the World Series is instantly on my short list of the clutchiest moments ever. (Yes, I think I just made up a new word).
Freese’s two-out, two-strike, two-run, season-on-the-line triple which tied the game at 7-7 is forever seared into my sports memory bank.
Of course, the events that followed sent an already excited city into a complete frenzy. Lance Berkman tied the game at 9-9 with another clutch hit in the 10th inning, and Freese sent everyone home with a walk-off home run in the 11th to set up the Cardinals’ series-clinching 6-2 victory in Game 7 and ensuing parade for all of Cardinal Nation to rejoice.
The victory parade downtown culminated one of the most amazing and improbable runs to a world championship in history. To watch it unfold in the city that you live in was most exhilarating. I still cannot believe it happened, but it did. The best scriptwriters in Hollywood could not have created a better story that the one that unfolded here.
But, it was that at-bat. Man. That at-bat. I’ve watched it over and over again throughout the past week. Freese’s heroic at-bat kind of encapsulated everything that this team went through during the past seven weeks. The Cardinals were just one strike away from seeing their season end. One more strike, and it was over. Up until that point, the game was less than memorable. The Cardinals had made three errors, had a runner picked off third base with the bases loaded and looked the part of the team that fell 10 ½ games back in the wild card race.
But, when Freese scalded that line drive off the right-field wall to score Albert Pujols and Berkman with the tying runs, it sent Cardinal Nation off the chains. Once again, we were reminded that this was the team that overcame that huge deficit and all of the other in-season adversity to become world champions.
The Texas Rangers were a great baseball team worthy of being world champions. Unfortunately, the came up against a group of men who simply refused to let their season end. That’s a hard team to deal with.
As I said, I watched it over and over. The images on television were unforgettable.
There was the close-up of the Cardinals’ fan nervously chewing on his T-Shirt before Rangers’ closer unleashed that fateful 1-2 pitch towards Freese.
There was the look of Nelson Cruz’ face when he saw Freese’s missile approaching him. “Oh, (expletive), I’m not going to get this.”
There were the two little boys jumping for joy in the front row.
There was Cardinals’ manager Tony La Russa politely clapping his hands as if to say, “Thatsa by boy.”
There was Pujols, upon reaching the plate, turning back and pointing down the third-place line and screaming at Freese in elation. One could only imagine what The Mang was yelling.
Finally, there was the image of Rangers’ shortstop Elvin Andrus grabbing his head with both hands in the classic “Oh my God, we’ve let this thing get away” pose.
It was simply an amazing turn of events. One moment, you’re at the plate with two strikes on you and one pitch from your season ending in heartbreak. But, four days later, you are the hometown World Series MVP who’s hanging out with Jay Leno, Justin Bieber and Ellen.
This world title run was clearly one for the ages. I’m not sure I will see anything like it again.
Hoopin’
High school basketball practice got underway on Monday afternoon around the St. Louis metro area. After a tremendous season in 2011, it will be very interesting to see what the 2012 season has for us as an encore. We’ll be keeping an eye on a very loaded Soldan team that will be trying to make a run at the Class 4 title after two consecutive third-place finishes. At the Class 5 level, the early favorites seem to be McCluer and DeSmet, but several other contenders will be in the mix as always. On the East Side, Belleville East, East St. Louis and Cahokia are teams to look at. Individually, Cardinal Ritter’s Cameron Biedscheid is primed for a huge senior season. On the girls side, Incarnate Word and St. Joseph’s will be battling for supremacy in Class 5 once again. Stay tuned, it should be a fun winter.
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