10/28/11 Texas Rangers 2, St Louis Cardinals 6

Busch Stadium, St Louis, MO
2011 World Series Game 7

TLR in suspended shock as David Murphy’s fly ball to Left-Center field is about to land in Allen Craig’s glove…


The Cardinals finish the series in what would have been a relatively exciting game, but in comparison to game 5 and game 6 the yawn factor was induced for some viewers…but not for me. This game had a lot of thrilling and tactically interesting moments; it was less than a “cake walk” as suggested by some, and more of an example of how a team whose chances of winning go from slim to none to all the way in just a few games.



Chris Carpenter had a fantastic start, not anything akin to his 3-hit shutout of the Phillies on October 7th in the LDS, but hey…

The critical flaw for the Rangers tonight had to be the almost predictable short start of Matt Harrison, but only marginally so…the concept of tournament baseball notwithstanding, Harrison’s 3 ER in 4IP could have been met with another reliever other than Scott Feldman, who gave up 2ER (on 2BB and a HB, more on this in a moment) in 0.2 innings. Would bringing CJ Wilson down instead of Feldman in the 5th inning have changed anything? Probably not, but after some of the relief pitching miscues from the Ranger’s stall in the 2010 World Series, you might wonder…as I do.

A lead-off hit by Ian Kinsler, given the circumstances of Game 6, lethally ignites the Rangers and simultaneously threatens to stun the home crowd at Busch Stadium. Yadier Molina’s subsequent put-out of Kinsler attempting to steal 2nd base on an 0-0 count to Elvis Andrus slammed a rally door shut, symbolically, so early in the game. The Rangers still manage to eke out 2 runs during this frame after Andrus walks and Hamilton doubles him in, followed by a textbook Michael Young RBI double scoring Hamilton, but from where I was sitting the Kinsler CS was a bold statement by the Cardinals.

In response, to further underline this, Matt Harrison walks Pujols and Berkman with 2 outs. David Freese, in his first at-bat since his historic walk-off win in Game 6, drives a deep fly ball into the gap in left-center to tie the game.

Allen Craig delivers a 1-out HR courtesy of Harrison in the 3rd, putting the Cardinals in the lead. Harrison sweats a lot in the 4th inning, allowing 2 Cardinals to reach on back-to-back singles with 1 out. He breaks 2 of Skip Schumaker’s bats in the same AB; Schumaker grounds out to 1B, Carpenter flies out to RF to end the inning, stranding both baserunners, and Harrison is done for the evening.

Scott Feldman picks up the ball in the 5th…again, why not CJ Wilson? After retiring Theriot (and breaking his bat as well) Feldman walks Allen Craig and hits Albert Pujols, who both advance on a Lance Berkman groundout… that’s 2 on, 2 outs, and David Freese is intentionally walked so that Feldman can pitch to Yadier Molina. Freese is 1-for-2 so far; I have no strength as a baseball strategist, but I am a vocal dislike of the intentional walk, even in “obvious” situations. So to me, this is less than obvious as to why Freese gets the IBB; I would give Mike Napoli a free pass way before David Freese but nonetheless, Molina is UNintentionally walked, walking in a run and giving the Cardinals a 2-run lead.

Just so you know, Matt Harrison also broke Pujols’ bat in the 3rd…so that’s a total of 4 BLS (Broken Louisville Sluggers, from my scoresheet notation) in the game, 3 of them by Harrison…

CJ Wilson’s very first pitch in relief of Feldman hits Rafael Furcal (who was shockingly 2-for-2 in this game, after being so silent offensively for so long), which allows Pujols to score. Feldman is charged with the run, Wilson shuts down Schumaker to end the inning, and is dominant until he is replaced by Mike Adams to start the 7th.

The real story from this point on is the Cardinals’ bullpen, carrying Chris Carpenter’s torch and handcuffing the Rangers for the rest of the game. Well, they had some help from Allen Craig in the 7th, who majestically robbed Nelson Cruz of a sure-fire solo HR in the 6th, but the line speaks for itself, the bullpen allowed no hits and no runs for the rest of the game, exclamation point.

And thus endeth by far, the best World Series I think I’ve seen in many, many years.

Cardinals win 4-3



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10/24/11 St Louis Cardinals 2, Texas Rangers 4

Rangers Ballpark in Arlington, TX
2011 World Series Game 5

His name is Mike Napoli…there should be no question as to the ‘now’ value of his signing to the Rangers this year. Jeff Mathis couldn’t do any of this.

The World Series and the Texas Rangers work things up to a feverish pitch (pun completely intended) as a game that certainly seemed within the arms (pun also intended) of the Cardinals got out of hand. In true glitzy postseason fashion, the out-of-handedness turns out to be the fault of two botched calls, but not at the hands of an umpire…



The Cardinals did their thing and scored early, putting 2 on the board in the 2nd inning thanks to a Yadier Molina single-plus-David Murphy error and a Skip Schumaker groundout. The opportunity to drive a few more nails into the coffin expired when Nick Punto flew out to LF, stranding Molina. At this time, the most memorable moment had to be when Punto appeared to attempt a Bo Jackson Bat Break in frustration, only to vacate this idea without shedding a single splinter. Punto had a reason to be slightly miffed, as he was robbed by a brilliant David Murphy catch, the kind of catch that screams of redemption after his fielding error.

Mitch Moreland broke his postseason silence with this decisively clubbed solo HR response in the 3rd. After I recovered from my awe, I felt as if now that Chris Carpenter had tasted blood, he would work even better than he had up to this point, in this game. Adrian Beltre, after nearly striking out “on his knee” earlier, dismissed the taste of blood with a solo shot of his own in the 6th inning, again “on his knee,” and tying the game at 2 apiece.

Napoli seals the deal in the 8th, with a 2-RBI double off Marc Rzepczynski. Napoli is an OPS beast, and he loves pitches up in the zone. With all the strategy behind intentional walks and Pujols (who was intentionally walked 3 times during this contest), you’d think that TLR would consider offering Napoli free passes…pitching to him just isn’t working out.

Botched calls seemed to prevent the Cardinals from responding to the Rangers offense. I’m not a fan of isolating one event in a game (or even two) as a ‘turning point,’ each failed opportunity expires to present another opportunity. However, the two celebrated botched calls extended a postseason focus on communication issues that didn’t doom the Cardinals in this game, but they certainly didn’t help a bunch.

The first of these was a failed hit-and-run that was put on by Albert Pujols in the 7th, with Allen Craig caught at 2nd base on the play. Craig was caught again in Pujols’ next at-bat.

Then there was the call for Motte in the 8th…the Bullpen phone story is high baseball comedy at its finest…I must admit, I knew nothing of this until the next morning, when some of my associates thought it would be comical to outfit my cube with cans attached to strings; before I had a chance to watch the post-game press conference.

At best, this incident alone has led to a resurgence of phone humor, something I explicitly adore. I mean, I work with phones all day long…as a baseball fan on top of this, my cup definitely runneth over.

This image was originally posted by Big League Stew blogger Rob Iracane, and represents the best of the barbs out there so far…

SCOREKEEPER’S NOTE: Lance Berkman’s game-ending dribble ball was scored as a “dropped third strike” K, PO 2-3.

Rangers lead the Series 3-2




He said WHAT?!? Click on this link to see Tim McCarver’s Quote of the Game

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10/22/11 St Louis Cardinals 16, Texas Rangers 7

Rangers Ballpark in Arlington, TX
2011 World Series Game 3

Prince Albert makes his mark…

In only the 3rd game of the World Series, a World Series that is so far one of the best in recent memory, we’ve already seen 2 great games but didn’t have to wait long for a truly “historical” event to occur.



This one will certainly be remembered as ”The Pujols Game” for as long as Albert’s career will stand it…a dedicated response to his otherwise historically flat postseason performances, this year and in years past. Pujols’ first 2011 World Series hit in the 4th after a groundout to 3B in the 1st begins what would end as a 5-for-6, 6 RBI, 3HR outing; his 14 total bases establishes a new World Series record. If the line doesn’t cross your eyes, the highlights will.

But wait, it’s not just 3 homers…it’s 3 back-to-back homers, the third of which ties a World Series record for the most HR in a single WS game, a record also held by Babe Ruth and Reggie Jackson.

You can bet that if I had access to Photoshop, I would have added a picture of Nyjer Morgan here, with his eyes crossed, steam rising from his ears, sitting at home watching the game with a soda straw stuck in his teeth…

In what may erupt later (depending on how the series swings) as a “botched call” similar in scope (if not in urgency) to the controversial Don Denkinger call in the 1985 World Series, 1B ump Ron Kulpa completely and absolutely fouls up the call on this play at first during the 4th inning…Holliday was certainly out, but as the play didn’t affect the tide of the game (same as the 85 WS call, where that call wasn’t missed anywhere nearly as much as this one was) there would be no point in screaming about it any more than just about everyone watching it did at the time. Assume Holliday was the 2nd out, and assume further that all 4 of those runs in the 4th never happened…the Cardinals still win. Officials can make mistakes, Kulpa was in a peculiar POV, but it’s still kind of hard to understand how this one flew so far out of hand.

In less interesting review, Matt Harrison and Kyle Lohse both had very un-interesting outings, neither pitcher able to complete more than 11 outs.

During the 7th, a fan is ejected when a corny rubber white ball is thrown into the outfield in what seems to be an attempt to confuse Matt Holliday. TLR argues “fan interference” (by the letter of the ‘law,’ no fan touched the ball in play, so no fan interference) but you can almost bet that he would, as millions of Cardinals fans know that a mere shift in the direction of the wind can result in Holliday with something bruised or strained.

Cardinals lead the Series 2-1



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The Cardinals? All the way? I called it…sort of

Really, I sort of did.



I like to think I’m like most baseball fans who struggle with two sides of baseball fan psyche behavior. I have a child’s love of the game and a tunnel-vision view of how the Cubs (and the Royals) will do for any given season. On the other hand, I have an adult’s perception and respect for the numbers and strategic elements that have no respect for childish admiration of “my team”…or anyone’s team for that matter.

Obviously, the latter hat is one when you should wear when you’re a Fantasy Team owner. And the former is the one you should wear when the Cubs are down 8 runs with 2 outs in the bottom of the 9th against the Pirates and you know they can pull off a 9-run rally…despite the fact that Blake DeWitt is pinch hitting and nobody is on base.

I also have this funky set of “baseball rules” I apply to myself, some which make sense only to me…one of them is that in the NL Central, I embrace competition for the division title between the Cubs and Cardinals only…so if either team is definitively out of the race (the Cubs, for example) then theologically, the only team in the division I should root for is, indeed, the Cardinals…to be fair, there are many reason for this the likes of which I don’t want to go into right now. I’d only like to highlight one: In the NL Central, next to Cubs fans of course, Cardinals fans are really, for the most part, very good to most of us Cubs fans. Case in point: The worst time I was heckled for wearing Cubs gear at another ball park was in Milwaukee by a stupid teenager who felt I had no right to be there. By comparison, at Wrigley, with the Cardinals in town, a conversation with Cardinals fans sitting in front of us lead to free club-level tickets in St Louis several months later. The Cubs/Cardinals rivalry is one of the best, most fun, and least mean-spirited rivalries in baseball. I like it that way.

At any rate, I don’t think I should brag about this, but I do need to let everyone know…I was right.

After listening to Beyond the Box Score Podcast Episode 9 “Ian Snell’s Legacy”, posted on 3/16/11, I had some questions and comments on host Dave Gershman’s preview of the NL Central with guest Mike Petriello (of Mike Scioscia’s Tragic Illness fame). I sent Dave an email on 3/25/11 with the hopes that my comments would be addressed on the podcast. They weren’t, but I saved the email anyway because I thought at the time “what the heck…maybe I really am right about this…”

For your edification, here’s the letter I sent:

RE: BTB Podcast Episode 9 - Dave, excellent episode…having Mike on was great, I enjoyed your review of the NL Central so much I was talking to you guys several times during it, but you couldn’t hear me while I was doing so.

As I am a Cubs fan, and loathing over this division for many years, and also ‘close’ geographical to the Reds and their AAA affiliate Louisville Bats (I am in a Season Ticket partnership there), I wanted to make a few comments/pose a few questions.

Analysis isn’t my strong suit…I merely ABSORB the work of the likes of you and save analysis for discussion with my kids, so go easy on me…

So, a few things:

1. Homer Bailey…argh…if I have to hear “this is a breakout year for him” or anything similar I’m going to be sick. When he was a poster child for the Bats, lumps of praise and projections were wasted on this guy. I’ve seen him at work, I’ve seen most of his failures, and my opinion is those failures far out shadow his potential. I understand the focus of scouting and what it involves, but let’s face it…don’t drink the kool aid! Bailey is far less than a stud pitcher; his stuff is just not that good, his work is very inconsistent, and he is more prone to injury than a front-line soldier in a holy war border skirmish. If he’s been consistent at doing one thing, it’s been at being a disappointing pitcher, period. His handful of decent performances are hampered ultimately by his string of grotesque failures. After so many years of this self-deprecating cycle of his, I am a little surprised you both still think he can do something for the Reds or for ANYONE (but I applaud your confidence in stating your position just the same).

2. Aroldis Chapman…don’t get me started on this guy. I’ve been watching him since he single-handedly LOST THE GAME between Cuba and Japan in the 2009 WBC. When I heard the Reds had signed him for so much money I fell out of my chair laughing. My laughter turned to horror when I watched him destroy several games for the Bats in his first year here as the majority of his outings resembled his epic fail in the WBC. There are many ‘uneasy’ starting pitchers in AAA ball, but none have been as unmistakably predictable in their lack of actual talent (not potential talent…ACTUAL talent). As a starting pitcher, he was the WORST I’ve ever seen in Louisville, hands down. I’m not sure what many scouts are smoking or drinking as they observe and report his “potential” but its effect has warped their minds. So he can throw 95-100 mph nearly effortlessly and in the words of Kevin Goldstein “has an 80 fast ball”…BIG DEAL. His location is abhorrent. My vote for AAA International League MVP of 2010 goes to Wilkin Castillo, this guy looks and moves like a windmill when he’s catching Aroldis. There’s your top prospect for the Reds farm system, a guy who can save 20 wild pitches per game (even per inning!)…I’ve seen Castillo leap from his crouch and snag those Kevin Goldstein 80 fastballs at 104mph from 2 feet behind a batter’s back. He can throw like the wind, but he can’t locate when he needs to. He’s also not the most athletic guy, sure his mechanics are sound but pretty soon now, his elbow is going to go and that will be it. I am more impressed with his performance as a relief pitcher, but as a closer? Take a look at this game, for instance…would you hand the ball to a closer who has the potential to annihilate a game when he does this on a regular basis? (sure, I’ve seen him do better…BUT…just look at his line…not kool! His bad games are as bad as his good games are good)

3. As for your analysis of the Reds…yes, it seems like they have all the pieces, but the Reds have a critical flaw…that flaw is Dusty Baker. As a Cubs fan, I will be happy to testify. 2010 was a good year for the Reds, but look at their track record with Dusty for the years previous…start strong, fade fast. How does 2010 wipe out their past performance under his leadership? Expectations should be high, but projections should be conservative. Should one put as much faith in Baker’s 2011 Reds as in Baker’s 2004 Cubs? His trend for the Reds is going in the reverse as the Cubs, so this year will really validate the whole picture, but for now all we know about Dusty is since he left San Francisco “one GREAT year followed by one ABYSMAL year.” Again, I’m not much of an analyst, but from where I sit all I can do is expect this from Dusty Baker after what happened in 2003 (and what didn’t in 2004).

4. As far as your analysis of the Cardinals…yes, I agree with you both and things really aren’t looking great but the Cardinals have a critical asset…that asset is Tony Larussa. I’ve always respected him as a manager, after reading George F. Will’s “Men at Work” TWICE my respect has mushroomed into my abject recognition of Larussa as the most scientific manager in professional baseball. It’s true, in STAR TREK Kirk always managed to save the day with Lou Piniella-like instincts and Mr. Spock never really got his props for building a TV set in the pre-technology ERA United States of America. If anyone can build a TV set with technology that doesn’t exist, I believe Tony Larussa can forge a winning team that really could surprise the heck out of everyone. With or without Ryan Theriot. I will never discount the Cardinals under Larussa in the same manner I will never preach the gospel of the Reds under Baker.

5. One thing is certain, the NL Central is very tight, most folks have a tight race towards the top. As a Cubs fan, I think we may surprise a lot of people. I look at the 2010 NL West projections for my inspiration…the PADRES. What the hell. Nobody saw that coming, and nobody could. Regardless of which team, I think there is a very good chance that the NL Central will have the same gap in how it ends and how it looks this year.

Dave, I am enjoying your podcast very much, keep up the good work.

Your friend,
Stevo-sama

Keep in mind, I really am a fan of the podcast…and I don’t typically email questions and/or comments to other podcasts, so this missive really was something I felt strongly about, and in the back of my mind, I just couldn’t let it go without stating my opinion.

Fast forward to a month or so ago, when I started to realize that what I had commented on in all of my points had started to become concrete over the course of the season. Upon the cusp of the close of the regular season, and onward to postseason, I began to tweet my comparison of Tony LaRussa…now changed from Kirk/Spock and STAR TREK to Commander Adama and BATTLESTAR GALACTICA…for obvious reasons. TLR really IS the Commander Adama of Baseball, and the 2011 Cardinals are his ragtag fleet. How many times have you seen a front line of Cylons as far as the eye can see wiped out by Adama’s 10-fighter squadron running on fumes? This is real, TLR is real, and just like that…the GALACTICA secured the Wild Card berth and last night…WOW, they are really headed for the WORLD SERIES.

You certainly wouldn’t dismiss Adama in any Cylon-thick situation…as a baseball fan, I wouldn’t ever dismiss TLR for the very same reasons.

Again, my message here is not to brag about my extraordinary baseball analysis skills (I really have none) but hey…don’t dismiss Tony LaRussa. Re-read what I wrote above. Embrace the truth. Now will come the onslaught of sports outlets and blogs posting “How LaRussa Did It.” I’ve known all the time, George F. Will (also a Cubs fan!) showed us all in Men At Work…if you haven’t read it yet, why not!?! Now would be a great time to do so, if you haven’t.

Cardinals fans, I can’t guarantee the same for next year (regardless of how the World Series ends this year) but I do predict victory over the Rangers and I just want to say, any time you have less faith in your team than you think you should, give me a holler. Think about how your season started: Wainright out, Franklin hosed, etc. You pwned “the greatest pitching rotation in Baseball history” to advance to the LCS, and now you’re headed for the show against a team that was favored to win last year based on their offense, and are highly touted to have an advantage this year based on their offense. Just ask a Giants fan how they felt about that. Yes, the Rangers’ bullpen is better this year but Milwaukee’s bullpen was pretty darn good as well.

So, I was right. I called it…sort of. I’m just as surprised as the rest of you are, I predicted success, sure...but WORLD SERIES? In hindsight, I really believed it would happen. Good Luck, Cardinals, and regardless of what happens in October…we’ll be seeing you for sure next year!!!


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10/2/11 St Louis Cardinals 5, Philadelphia Phillies 4

Citizens Bank Park, Philadelphia, PA
NLDS Game 2

Allen Craig…he does it again!


Another postseason classic pitching match-up ensues; Cliff Lee versus Chris Carpenter at Citizens Bank Park: The CLASH of the TITANS!



The Phillies took game 1, and just like that the Cardinals’ win expectancy yielded a few percentage points when facing “the greatest rotation in history”…or so they say. Lee hangs in for 6 innings, fanning 9 batters, and outlasts a seemingly struggling Carpenter who leaves the game after three mushy innings (5H, 4ER, 3BB, 2K). It seems as if LaRussa is playing the tournament baseball game so soon in the NLDS; many ask “why?” but so few understand…there is no need to wait any longer, the Cardinals are still on a roll. TLR intends to keep it that way.

The majority of the Phillies’ damage to the Cardinals erupts in the very first inning, an exhaustive combination of patient plate discipline and timely hitting (in the first inning!) where 3 runs scored on 3 hits. Another run scores in the 2nd, and after 3 innings the Phils are up by four and the Cards are still scoreless.

The Cardinals find their teeth in the 4th, and do so immediately. After Lance Berkman’s full-count walk and David Freese is called out on strikes, Yadier Molina, Ryan Theriot, and John Jay open up a can of hot sauce and tag Lee for 3 runs on 4 hits, leaving 1 behind as Jay is thrown out at home on a 7-2 flyball by Rafael Furcal. We already know Carpenter is done when Nick Punto bats in his spot (and strikes out); LaRussa summons Fernando Salas to the mound and the game is on.

Salas handles the Phils with 3 groundouts, Lee returns in the 5th to strike out two and get Berkman to pop out but in the 6th, Theriot doubles and is brought home by another John Jay spray single. The inning ends with the score tied, and Lee at 101 pitches. The Cardinals take the lead in the 7th when Allen Craig belts a husky triple on a fly ball to CF and Albert Pujols’ go-ahead RBI single scores Craig easily. He does it again, Berkman reaches on a bloop single to RF, and Lee leaves the game after 110 pitches and 5 ER.

Of interesting note during this frame is Pujols’ exceptional attempt at a productive out, Freese’s dribbler bounces near the mound; with Pujols at 3rd and Placido Polanco recovering the ball, Pujols induces a 5-2 Fielder’s Choice rundown that allows sneaky Lance Berkman to advance from 1st to 3rd without a throw. Pujols claps joyously as he is tagged out by Carlos Ruiz and Berkman is standing on the bag, now in scoring position with only 1 out, and 2 men on base. This prompts an intentional walk to Molina, and the stage is perfectly set…until Theriot ends this crafty exercise by grounding into a 6-4-3 DP. You can’t knock Prince Albert for trying!

LaRussa brings on the bullpen now, as if he is negotiating a sinister chess match…well, he is. Marc Rzepczynski hits Chase Utley to start the 8th, and Hunter Pence hits a sure-fire double-play ball to Furcal. There are no easy outs; Utley masterfully breaks up the DP by uprooting Theriot at second. However, the Phillies are unable to score; TLR summons 2 more pitchers to face the next 2 batters with 1 on and 1 out and the shut down is executed.

The Phillies can’t touch Jason Motte, brought in for a 4-out Save, and the Cardinals slide their way into a win.

The attendance of 46,575 sets a Citizens Bank Park attendance record.

Series tied 1-1



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6/17/11 Kansas City Royals 5, St Louis Cardinals 4

Busch Stadium, St Louis, MO
Game 1 of 3


MOOOOOOOOOOOOSE!!!

How kool, the boy isn’t afraid to eat some dirt. A1 (that’s Alex Gordon) helped the Royals contend against the Cardinals early on with a bases-clearing single, but if it weren’t for Moose Mikestakas charging home plate face first to cross just in time on an error by Prince Albert Pujols…the game could have gone somewhere else.



Felipe Paulino let it all hang out in the 3rd inning, with the Cardinals batting around and scoring 4 times. Paulino has to learn, when the bases are loaded with 2 outs, this still isn’t a great time to pitch to Lance Berkman. At least not this year. But the Royals offense took advantage of “you get what you get and you don’t throw a fit” in capitalizing on an uncharacteristic shaky start by Chris Carpenter to scratch out 4 total runs in the first 4 innings to tie the game. All without an extra base hit by the Royals during the entire game.

While I’d usually say that TLR knows Carpenter best, he must not have read his tea leaves right today and left tall and goofy in for an inning too many, as the error-scoring face-first-slide run occurred during Carpenter’s last inning in the 8th…and with 2 outs already on the board.

By the way, I accidentally charged that 5th run to Carpenter…not in time to fix the scan but don’t worry, my paper copy has been revised.

This was St Louis’ 7th consecutive loss, and also the 3rd PIDP (popped into double play) I’ve scored in one month’s time after never scoring one in my life until now. Go figure.

10/8/83 Baltimore Orioles 3, Chicago White Sox 0

1983 ALCS Game 4
Comiskey Park, Chicago, IL

Ah, the 83 White Sox…on the threshold of their first potential AL pennant since 1919 and first subsequent World Series appearance since 1917, the beloved south-siders in their enormously beautiful multi-colored team gear (led by Tony LaRussa) were the hottest thing since boiling cannelloni. Even entering the series behind the Orioles (2-1), there was more than a chance of the unbelievable happening…and more than a chance for things to, literally, ‘go south.’

Two skilled starting pitchers pitched several effective innings that ended in a nail-biting 10th inning decision fired off by a lesser-known utility player.

BAL 3 9 0
CWS 0 10 0

Britt Burns (CWS) pitched 9.1 remarkable innings; Storm Davis (BAL) lasted 6. As Davis gave up a lead-off single to Greg Walker in the 7th, we was yanked in favor of Tippy Martinez, who nearly gave up the game but was rescued by a classic base-running blunder by the White Sox. With Vance Law at 2nd and Jerry Dybzinski at 1st, Julio Cruz singles sharply to left-center field. Law doesn’t pick up the call and holds up at 3rd – Dybzinski ‘runs into an out’ and in a 7-5-4-2 relay, makes it back to 2nd while Law is tagged out at home – a wasted opportunity. Not to be topped by atypical game blunders, Martinez attempts to pick-off Cruz during Rudy Law’s AB but there’s nobody covering at 1st! The official call is an ‘automatic balk,’ the runners get a base but two pitches later, Rudy flies out to LF Gary Roenicke and this corny inning is over…and the game is still scoreless.

Burns is nearly wiped out into extra innings, and shows it with a solo HR by Tito Landrum, acquired from St. Louis by the Orioles that very same year, and sporting a single HR during the regular season (and 26 games played for the Os). 2 more runs and 3 CWS pitchers later, the Orioles leave their 10th with a 3-0 lead and Martinez effectively holds of the White Sox to get the pennant and a trip to the World Series. The Orioles ended up winning it, and Landrum ended up returning to the Cardinals the following year.

I scored this came on 12/24/09.