One of the best World Series games ever

Game 6 of this 2011 World Series was a memorable one. The Rangers had the lead 7 - 4 at the end of the 7th inning, 7 - 5 at the end of the 8th inning and that's when the magic took place for the people of St. Louis. The Cardinals were down to their last strike two times, but somehow and some way they found a way to rally. David Freese had the two-run triple in the bottom of the 9th to tie it up. Josh Hamilton came up in the top of 10 and delivered what seemed to be the game-winning home run, but St. Louis had a different ending in mind.

David Freese especially did. He wanted to be the hero and save the series for them. He hit a long, towering fly ball, no doubt about it-- shot right over the center field wall. The Cardinals bench erupted along with Busch Stadium. It was a Cardinals victory.

As famously predicted right here, I chose the St. Louis Cardinals to beat the Texas Rangers in 7 games. Game 7 takes place tonight at 8:05 P.M. in St. Louis. The Cards send Chris Carpenter to the hill to take on Matt Harrison of the Rangers. Who wants it more?

The before.

The after.

Game 6 of the World Series is postponed

Game 6 was scheduled to take place tonight, but it was postponed because of rain in the forecast for most of the night. This is unusual to see a game canceled well before people arrive, but the Cardinals staff said they wanted to give people time to make arrangements. The game was rescheduled for Thursday, October 27, 2011, at 8:05 p.m.The pitching matchup is the same with Colby Lewis set to face Jaime Garcia.

If a Game 7 were necessary, it would take place on October 28, 2011, at 8:05 P.M. on Fox. With the extra day off, that gives the managers a few more pitching options to choose from. They both could be able to start their men on 4 days' rest or someone on 3 days' rest or just keep with their original rotation. It will be interesting to see how this rain-out will affect the pitching situation.

World Series Game 5

The Cardinals offense is nothing but Albert Pujols, and the Rangers offense is nothing but Mike Napoli. These two players need to be MVP, depending on which team wins the series. Napoli almost had another home run last night in the 6th inning that would have put his team ahead. Then he came up again in the 8th inning, and that's where the drama began.

Tony LaRussa called the bullpen to tell them that he wanted Jason Motte and Marc Rzepczynski to begin throwing to get loose. Normally this is a very easy thing to take care of and almost never happens during the regular season and rightfully should be. Cardinals bullpen coach Derek Lilliquist heard Rzepczynski, but did not heard Motte. He somehow heard the name Lance Lynn instead of Motte. LaRussa said after the game that Lance Lynn was unavailable before the game even started, and that's why Lynn just threw four straight intentional balls. Rzepcynski, a left hander, had to then face the right-handed hitter Napoli.

That was not the situation that the Cardinals organization wanted at all, and Napoli made them pay with a long double through the right-center field gap. That was all that the Rangers needed to win Game 5 of the World Series.

I'm not too sure how that happens. This isn't LaRussa's first game as a manager; it's actually the complete opposite-- he's been around forever. The bullpen coach needs to know that Lance Lynn was not available and needs to know that he may have misheard LaRussa and asked him if that's what he actually meant.

Some people might say that it was the crowd or that the phone wasn't working properly, but I don't buy that at all. In response to the crowd: Yes, they were loud. Yes, it might have been harder to hear than normal. The bullpen needs to know what is going on in that situation. They are not all rookies out there. In response to the phone not working: It has worked all year long, and nobody has ever complained about it not working. So I would find it hard to believe that it would stop working in Game 5.

The Texas Rangers hold a 3 - 2 lead in the World Series. Game 6 will take place at 8:05 P.M., October 26, 2011 on Fox. Jaime Garcia (0 - 0) will face Colby Lewis (0 - 0) in Busch Stadium, St. Louis, Missouri.

World Series Update

In Game 3 of the World Series, played Saturday night, the St. Louis Cardinals went off and destroyed Ranger pitching. The main problem the Rangers had was getting Albert Pujols out. Pujols had a historic performance-- easily one of the best performances of all time in a World Series game. Albert went  5 - 6, with 3 home runs and 6 RBI's. The home runs that he hit were not cheap home runs either. Each and every one of them were long shots that went over 420 feet before they hit the bleachers. It was not only his amazing performance though that won the Cardinals the game. The Cards scored a whopping 16 runs. In the Seahawks and Browns football game this Sunday, those two only combined for 9 points. There is a final thought as to how good the St. Louis Cardinals offense was in Game 3.

After hitting the ball all over the place in Game 3, most people would think that the Cardinals would have another good offensive showing the night after. Maybe not the 16 run outburst, but that they would score a good amount of runs. If you thought that was going to happen, you turned out to be completely wrong. Derek Holland (1 - 0) was exactly what the Rangers needed. He had great command of each and every one of his pitches. Mangager Ron Washington said that his pitcher had excellent control and worked every corner of the stike zone. Holland ended up going 8 1/3 innings, not being able to finish the game because of a high pitch count and he walked the leadoff man, Rafael Furcal, in the 9th. I thought that Ron Washington made the right decision to pull his man in that situation. Its not about stats and finishing the game and letting him try to do it because he deserved to, its about winning the World Series. In the regular season, I probably would of left him out there to finish it, but this is the World Series and when you have a chance to win a World Series game, you take it.

The series between these two teams is tied up 2 - 2. Game 5 will take place on Monday, October 24, 2011 at 8:05 P.M. in Arlington, Texas. Chris Carpenter (1 - 0) faces C.J. Wilson (0 - 1) on Fox.

Game 2 of the World Series

The pitching in Game 2 of the World Series was a lot more than any manager could have asked for. Both pitchers held the other team scoreless for six innings. In the seventh, Colby Lewis was tagged with an earned run. Their were two men on, and then Ron Washington pulled Lewis in favor of Alexi Ogando for the second night in a row. LaRussa also went to his bench for Allen Craig to face Ogando with the game on the line. Ogando threw him basically the same pitch in the same location, and Craig did the same thing, a base hit to right field, scoring David Freese. It remained 1 - 0 up until the 9th when Jason Motte (0 - 1) was called on for his second save attempt in as many games. He was not able to close the door, allowing both Ian Kinsler and Elvis Andrus to score. The Cardinals were not able to rally in the bottom of the ninth against Rangers right hander Neftali Feliz (1).

An interesting local side note from Game 1:  Allen Craig and Jason Motte were both members of the 2006 State College Spikes.

Game 3 of the World Series will be played on Saturday, October 22, 2011, at 8:05 on Fox in Arlington, Texas. The Rangers, Matt Harrison will face the Cardinals, Kyle Lohse (0 - 0).

Ron Washington after winning Game 2 of the World Series.

St. Louis takes Game 1

The World Series started out a cold one with the temperature at 49 degrees. The pitching was not bad from either side, but it was not perfect or dominating either. It was just good enough to give both teams a chance at winning the game. Tony LaRussa won the game for the Cardinals, though. The Rangers pitched around the Cardinals eighth hitter in the line up, David Freese, in order to have Chris Carpenter step up to the plate with two outs. After C.J. Wilson threw the fourth ball, Carpenter was still in the on deck circle warming up and taking practice swings. The Rangers, still expecting Carpenter to bat, got Allen Craig instead. LaRussa caught Ron Washington off guard, and it paid of. Craig hit a RBI single down the right field line. After that single, it was 3 - 2 in favor of the Cardinals in the bottom of the 6th. Jason Motte (1) shut the door and got the save to end the game by getting Nelson Cruz to line out to right field. C.J. Wilson (0 - 1) took the loss for his team. Chris Carpenter (1 - 0) got the win.
The World Series is now 1 - 0, St. Louis Cardinals. Game 2 will be Thursday, October 20, 2011 at 8:05 on Fox. Jaime Garcia (0 - 0) will oppose Colby Lewis (0 - 0).

This is how close Nelson Cruz was to catching Allen Craig's RBI single.

The World Series is set

We have now eliminated 28 other teams in the race for the World Series, and the final two remaining are the Texas Rangers and the St. Louis Cardinals. The Rangers were the first of the group to punch their ticket by defeating the Detroit Tigers, winning the series 4 - 2. The MVP of that series was Nelson Cruz and rightfully so. He could not be stopped at the plate, no matter who the Tigers put in to face him. He set a MLB record by hitting seven home runs. Cruz did all of that in six games and not even a full seven as the series could have gone. I thought at some point the Tigers were going to pitch around Cruz or even intentionally walk him, but they kept pitching to him, and he kept making them pay.

The St. Louis Cardinals simply dominated the Milwaukee Brewers throughout the series. Every game they simply went out and outplayed the Brewers. Even during the games that they lost, they were still very competitive and made it difficult for the Brewers. The main question for the Brewers now becomes this, "What do we do about Prince Fielder?" Prince has said that this will most likely be his last year in Milwaukee. Of course, though, the Brewers would like to be able to afford to keep such a good player. Could the Brewers allow C.C. Sabathia to leave and then have Prince leave just a few years after? How will they tell their fans that they didn't keep him? Will they be good without him? These are just a few of the questions that the Brewers face now.

Game 1 of the World Series is Wednesday, October 19, 2011. First pitch is set for 7:57 p.m in St. Louis. If you would like to watch the game on TV, it will be on Fox. If you are in the car or like to listen to the game on the radio, you need to tune into ESPN radio. Chris Carpenter of the Cardinals will face C.J. Wilson of the Rangers.

My prediction: The St. Louis Cardinals will win the World Series in seven games.

Theo Epstein Out

In had been reported yesterday that Theo Epstein has left his position as General Manager of the Boston Red Sox to take a position for the Chicago Cubs. The deal is reported to be worth $20 million over five years. The Cubs have not announced what position Epstein will take in their front office.

This surprised me because there was no real reason for Epstein to leave a successful organization with an amazing fan base. The Red Sox still, and always will, have money as well. Theo was not in a tough situation at all. I believe that he wanted a new challenge, if you will. The Cubs have not won a World Series in 103 years, and he wants to be the man to end that extremely long streak.

Things that have happened since the Chicago Cubs last won a World Series:

• Baseball added 14 new teams
• Haley's Comet passed Earth twice
• The NBA, NHL, and NFL were all formed, and Chicago teams won a championship in each
• 16 presidents have been elected
• There have been 11 amendments to the Constitution
• The Titanic was built, sank, and then discovered
• A combination of 40 summer and winter Olympic Games have been held
• 13 players have won the triple crown
• The Cubs have played over 14,000 regular season games
• Alaska, Arizona, Hawaii, Oklahoma and New Mexico have become states

In you are interested in the Cubs and the Steve Bartman play, there is a good documentary on ESPN about this incident. I watched it myself and found it very interesting.

Down to four

The Major League Baseball playoffs has only four teams left. The National League Championship series has been dominated by hitting to this point. In game one, the big bats of Ryan Braun and Prince Fielder each had important home runs that were the key to their victory. Game two of the series was taken over by Albert Pujols of the Cardinals. He went 4 - 5, three doubles, a home run, and five RBI. Pujols proved to everyone in America why he is one of the best, if not the best hitter in all of baseball. Only four people in the history of baseball have had four extra base hits in one game: Frank Isbell, Bob Robertson, Hideki Matsui and now Pujols. Pujols also made history by having two career postseason games with three or more extra base hits. The other's to do so are: Babe Ruth, Duke Snider, George Brett, Evan Longoria, Alex Rodriguez and Albert Pujols.

The American League Championship series has been much closer. Game one was delayed by rain two separate times and ended up resuming around 11:45 and ended in the early morning hours. Justin Verlander went in game one for the Tigers, so he was only able to go four innings. In game two, the Tigers had the lead until Nelson Cruz hit a home run to tie it up. The game remained tied until Cruz came up again, with the bases loaded, a chance to win the game. He then went on to hit a walk off grand slam to give the Rangers the win at home in Arlington.

Playoff Update

Last night, October 4, all eight teams were in action. The first game that took place was the Rangers at Tampa Bay. This was a decisive game for Tampa Bay, because if they were to lose, they would be eliminated and their season would be over. The Rays sent their young right hander Jeremy Hellickson to start the game. He opposed Matt Harrison of the Rangers. Hellickson was shaky at the beginning and never was in control. He allowed three solo home runs in only four innings of work. Two of those were hit by Adrian Beltre who tied a major league record by hitting three home runs in a series-clinching game. The Rays kept battling back and were never really down by more than one run. They just didn't have enough hitting to win the game. If you were to read just the box score of the game, you would find that Casey Kotchman singled to center field, and Sean Rodriguez scored. What actually happened was that Kotchman hit a line drive towards the gap in right - center field, Rodriguez was standing on first and was going home on the play, no matter what. Nelson Cruz had a perfect throw to Ian Kinsler who had a perfect one-hop throw to Mike Napoli. The play couldn't have been any closer than what it was. As soon as the ball hit Napoli's glove, Rodriguez was there to meet him, and the two collided. The ball popped out of Napoli's glove because he didn't have enough time to really squeeze the mitt and get a grip on the ball. The two were fine and not injured. The trainers for the Rangers came out to see whether Napoli was okay, and when they did, you could see he was smiling and laughing because of the play.

The second game of the night was the Phils and Cards. This game was played in St. Louis at Busch Stadium. No scoring took place until the 7th inning because Cole Hamels and Jaime Garcia were locked in. Ben Francisco came up as a pinch hitter with two men on, and that's when trouble came for Garcia. He was getting tired and left a pitch at waist level; Francisco made him pay with a three-run shot to left field. Then in the 7th and 9th, the Cardinals scored one run in each inning to make it 3 - 2. The Cardinals had a great chance to win the game, though, because they stranded an amazing 14 runners on base. In the playoffs, you have to score those runs, not leave them stranded. I believe that is why the Cardinals lost this game.

The Yankees and Tigers played the third game. The Tigers had a chance to move on with a win over the Yanks because it is only a best of five series. The Yankees season rested on the arm of A.J. Burnett, and that was a very shaky arm all season long. Burnett received a lot of heat from Yankee fans and New York media all year for his inconsistency. This was a chance for him to win over his critics with a good start. I went into that game thinking that he would start out okay, but they would not let him lose them the game-- exactly what they did. Burnett went 5.2 quality innings. The Yanks had faith in their bullpen to keep the lead that they had, and they didn't disappoint. The offense jumped on 22-year-old Rick Porcello for four runs, then Phil Coke for three runs, and Al Alburquerque for two more runs. The final score was 10 - 1 Yankees.

The final game of the night was the D-Backs at home against the Brewers. Paul Goldschmidt carried the offensive load for the D-Backs by hitting a grand slam and driving in another with a single. Shaun Marcum got shelled and let up seven earned runs and going only 4.2 innings. The Diamondbacks went 5 - 10 with runners in scoring position, a key to their victory. Josh Collmenter certainly helped by pitching seven innings and only allowing two hits.

Summary:
Texas Rangers vs. Tampa Bay Rays. Series over, 3 -1, Rangers.
Philadelphia Phillies vs. St. Louis Cardinals. Series is 2 -1, Phillies. In St. Louis.
New York Yankees vs. Detroit Tigers. Series tied 2 -2, heading back to New York.
Milwaukee Brewers vs. Arizona Diamondbacks. Series is 2 -1, Brewers. In Arizona.

The Quest Begins

In the American League, the Detroit Tigers made a trip to New York to play the Yankees. The highly anticipated pitchers' duel between Justin Verlander and C.C. Sabathia was put on hold due to the rain. Doug Fister and Ivan Nova were sent to the hill once play resumed. It was 2 - 1 Yankees heading into the 6th inning of play and that was the end for the Tiger's. Brett Gardner drove in two to make it 4 -1 Yanks. In that same inning Robinson Cano came up and delivered a grand slam. That ended any hopes for a Tiger's victory and the Yankees went on to take game 1, 9 - 3.

Another American League battle put the Tampa Bay Rays in Texas to play the Rangers. The Rays started rookie Matt Moore and nobody could have expected him to do what he did. Moore ended up going 7 innings, while only allowing two hits and no runs. I was very impressed with the young right hander. He showed control of the game and no nerves at all. He was definitely the key to the Rays taking game 1 from the Rangers, 9 -0.

To the National League now. The first NL game was the Milwaukee Brewers and Arizona Diamondbacks. Pitching, as usual, was the story in this playoff matchup. Ian Kennedy of the D-Backs pitched well for them up until the 7th inning when he gave up a 2 run home-run to Prince Fielder. I was surprised that they decided to pitch to him because they had first base open. Prince then made them pay by hitting a laser to right field. That was the end of the night for Kennedy. Gallardo of the Brewer's went 8 innings and only allowed a home run by Ryan Roberts. John Axford came in to shut the door with no problems for the Brew Crew.

The next game to take place was between the Philadelphia Phillies and St. Louis Cardinals in Philly. The game started out extremely shaky for Roy Halladay and the Phils. Rafael Furcal hit a single to right to lead things off. Then, two batters later, Albert Pujols took a four pitch walk with Lance Berkman coming up to bat. He wasted no time at all by hitting a three run homer on the first pitch he saw. This surprised me as well because Halladay is such a dominating pitcher, and to see the Cardinals jump right on him was surprising. Like I said before though, it all comes down to pitching. Kyle Lohse was cruising right along until the 6th when he let five Phillies cross the plate. Halladay settled in nicely going eight strong and allowing those three first inning runs. The final score was 11 - 6 in favor of the Phillies.

Game two of the Rays, Rangers series took place as well. James Shields went for the Rays and Derek Holland for the Rangers. Tampa Bay had a 3 - 0 lead in the 3rd inning, but the Rangers scored seven unanswered in the next three innings to take the lead. Evan Longoria continues to swing a hot bat by hitting a three run home run in the 7th. That wasn't quite enough for the Tampa Bay Rays to take game two. The Texas Rangers won, 8 -6.

I've mentioned it already, but you can't stress this enough. Pitching wins you games in the postseason. Another perfect example of this was Max Scherzer throwing six no hit innings for the Tigers. The Yankees got their first hit in the 7th on a blooper by Robinson Cano. Miguel Cabrera went 3 - 4 with a home run and three RBI's to carry the offensive load. Jose Valverde came in during the ninth and was very shaking allowing two runs to cross, but he did not implode, sealing a 5 - 3 victory for the Tigers.

The Brewers allowed the D-Backs to hit three home runs during game 2 of the NLDS, but still went out and won 9 - 4. Neither of the starters for either team were impressive, but the bullpen decided this one. The Brewers bullpen went four innings with no runs scoring. Meanwhile, the Diamondbacks bullpen went two and two thirds of an inning, allowing the deciding four runs to score. Pitching counts people. Ryan Braun went 3 - 4 with a homer in this one, along with 3 RBI's.

That sums up all the weekend action that took place from September 30th to October 2nd. With the exception of game 2 of the Phillies vs. Cardinals series. That one is currently in the top of the 2nd, with the Philadelphia Phillies holding a 3 - 0 lead. If anyone is interested in watching that one, it is on TBS.

Summary of all the action:

New York Yankees vs. Detroit Tigers. Series tied 1 - 1, heading to Detroit.

Texas Rangers vs. Tampa Bay Rays. Series tied 1 - 1, heading to Tampa Bay.

Milwaukee Brewers vs. Arizona Diamondbacks. Series 2 - 0 in favor of the Brewers, heading to Arizona.

Philadelphia Phillies vs. St. Louis Cardinals. Series 1 - 0 in favor of the Phillies. Game 2 is taking place now.