Thursday’s World Series Game 6 between the St. Louis Cardinals and Texas Rangers may have been the best baseball game I’ve ever seen.
It surely wasn’t the most well played game by any stretch of the imagination. Truth be told, it was one of the most bizarre games I’ve witnessed in nearly 50 years.
But for pure intrigue and excitement, Game 6 of the 2011 World Series has no equals.
The Cardinals committed three errors and the Rangers booted it twice. Popups were dropped, baserunners were picked off and balls were misplayed in the outfield.
In short, neither team exactly put on a clinic of sound fundamental baseball. If you wanted to make an instructional video, this wouldn’t be the game you used as an example.
St. Louis overcame a 7-4 Texas lead to tie it in the 9th, then had to overcome a 9-7 Rangers lead in the 10th inning.
In the bottom of the 10th, St. Louis pitcher Kyle Lohse laid down a sacrifice bunt that went over the head of Texas third baseman Adrian Beltre.
Had Beltre caught the ball, it could have resulted in a triple play and given the Rangers their first World Series title.
But the end result led to Lance Berkman sending a line drive into center that brought home the tying run to set up the dramatic conclusion.
Leading off the bottom of the 11th inning, Cardinals’ third baseman David Freese nailed a 3-2 changeup thrown by Rangers reliever Mark Lowe and sent it sailing over the centerfield wall to give St. Louis an improbable 10-9 win.
In a season filled with improbable moments for the Cards, it was another unlikely scenario that St. Louis turned into a victory.
To put the game into perspective, every player interviewed said it was the most incredible game they’ve ever been a part of.
And for fans, it was another in a long list of epic games that you can tell people about who don’t understand your love of sports.
These are the times that define why we’re sports fans, because even if you aren’t a baseball fan you can still appreciate the magnificence of this game.
Following the game, a representative from the Baseball Hall of Fame went to the Cardinals’ clubhouse to get Freese’s bat and jersey.
Seeing the bat and jersey of the man who capped off Game 6 in Cooperstown won’t begin to explain what will go down in history as one of the greatest games ever played.
But for the generations to come, Freese’s bat and jersey will serve as a small piece of why we love sports.
This isn’t the best video – there’s virtually no sound – but it was one of the few I could find that MLB didn’t have removed from YouTube.
If you didn’t see the game, watch David Freese win it for the Cardinals in the 11th with his home run to center.
