The Cardinals Pass Their Greatest Test--Bernie Miklasz
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In the 179th game of this long, wholly improbable 2011 campaign, the Cardinals finally appeared to be out of time in Game 6 of the World Series. They were doomed. Down to their final out, down to their final strike. Not once, but twice. Down to the final minute of their impossible dream of a season.
In a few seconds, it would all be over. That was true in the ninth inning. It was true again in the 10th inning. What a sad way to end it all. The lights were about to be turned off at Busch Stadium, the happiest place in baseball. Cardinals fans would walk slowly to their cars, and drive home in silence.
The Cardinals had trailed Game 6 for much of the night, with the Texas Rangers having leads of 1-0, 3-2, 4-3, 7-4, 7-5 and 9-7. The Rangers led the World Series 3-2, and had repeatedly knocked the Cardinals down in the run-up to a victory.
How many times could the Cardinals rally? When would their hearts finally give way? Even the most resilient competitor has a limit, reaches the breaking point. There comes a time when you simply cannot go on. The Rangers were going to own the night and take the World Series championship back to Texas.
Well, if there's one thing we've learned about this gallant, gutsy Cardinals team, it is this: Their strength never wanes. Their will to win never fades. Until the end, this proud and resilient team believed. They knew that somehow the dream would stay alive.
At the bleakest moments, these foolish, stubborn men in the Cardinals uniform really thought they were going to pull this off.
They honestly believed they'd lift St. Louis off its moorings and shoot down the star that was twinkling over the great state of Texas.
"It's Cardinal baseball," third baseman David Freese said. "This is how they teach us. You never give up."
At 11:39 p.m. on Thursday, leading off the bottom of the 11th inning, Freese squared up on a 3-2 pitch thrown by Rangers reliever Mark Lowe. It was a change up, an opportunity that could not be turned down. Freese got all of it, jolting the World Series in a way that was so shocking, so incredible, that we'll be talking about this classic forever.
Parents and grandparents will grow old, talking about the night they danced in the aisles, jumping into each other's arms and into the embrace of strangers, as they celebrated one of the greatest moments in franchise history. The kids who watched this will grow up, savoring the wonder of it all, and passing the story down through the years. Through these stories, this unbelievable night will live forever.
Freese, the hometown hero from Lafayette High, sent a miracle soaring above the diamond, rising above the wall in center field to land in the beautiful green grass that no glove, no Ranger, could reach.
Home run. Then, delirium.
Freese circled the bases, his right arm raised in triumph, taking a victory lap, and all of St. Louis wanted to be at his side, running with him.
The thunderbolt gave the Cardinals a scintillating 10-9 win that was a testament to their pride and indefatigable desire. We witnessed one of the greatest games in World Series history, one that quickened and slowed the pulse, one that lifted us up, slammed us down, and raised us back up again during 4 hours and 33 minutes of bedlam.
"It was all about surviving," Freese said. "It was all about getting to tomorrow, and Game 7."
All of this wonderful, spectacular chaos and Freese made it possible by keeping it simple.
"It's all about knowing that this is the same game as when you're six years old," he said. "It's just elevated on a stage, and everyone is watching. But you have to keep reminding yourself it really is the same game."
Game 7 is tonight at Busch Stadium. The first pitch is set for 7:05 p.m. Make sure to bring medication, oxygen, and hope. The Cardinals and the Rangers will go at it one more time, winner take all. We will not exhale for nine innings, or for as long as it takes.
Freese had saved the Cardinals in the ninth on a 1-2 pitch from Texas closer Neftali Feliz, ripping a 98 mph fastball over the head of right fielder Nelson Cruz for a two-run triple that tied the game at 7-7.
Surely, Freese's clutch hit - delivered against all odds - would catapult the home team to a dramatic victory and an appointment with the Rangers in Game 7. But Rangers slugger Josh Hamilton answered, rocking Cardinals closer Jason Motte for a two-run homer in the 10th, giving the Rangers a 9-7 lead and taking them a giant step closer to the thrill of victory. The champagne was on ice.
In the bottom of the 10th, the Cardinals cut the lead to 9-8 on singles by Daniel Descalso and Jon Jay, a sacrifice bunt by pitcher Kyle Lohse and a run-producing ground out by Ryan Theriot. Lohse was pinch-hitting; the Cardinals were out of position players. The situation had become increasingly desperate.
Lance Berkman was up next. At 2-2, down to his last strike, The Puma lined a single to center off Texas reliever Scott Feldman, with Jay dashing home with the tying run. It was 9-9 now, and Busch Stadium was literally shaking.
Berkman put in his precious piece setting Freese up for the grand finale, the home run that made an entire town go nuts. A representative of the Baseball Hall of Fame showed up in the Cardinals' clubhouse to receive Freese's bat and jersey. And why not? This was instant baseball mythology.
What a game. What an impossible, insane, incredible game.
"You had to be there to believe it," Cardinals manager Tony La Russa said. "We never quit trying."
And it's been that way all season, through all of the injuries and turmoil. It's truly been that way since Aug. 25, when the Cardinals began a ridiculously unlikely comeback from 101/2 games out of a playoff spot. This same tenacity carried them through Game 6, a game that seemingly had been lost several times. But these are the 2011 Cardinals. They are ferocious and fearless. And they have one more day to go, one more victory to claim, until they can rest.
