Tyler Kpner begins:
The two men, both in their 70’s, with decades in baseball and a fortune to their names, huddled together in the runway outside the home clubhouse at Busch Stadium early Friday morning. They could have been caffeinated Little Leaguers at a pizza parlor, celebrating the most thrilling game of their lives.Pat Borzi begins:
He guessed right on a changeup, and once the ball left David Freese’s bat, he saw everything. The soaring drive deep to center field. Josh Hamilton chasing it for a few steps, then giving up. And a solitary usher in the bleachers trying to stop joyous St. Louis Cardinals fans from jumping onto the grassy batter’s eye in pursuit of Freese’s game-winning home run.It's a sportswriters' contest. Fabulous raw material. As the teams compete to determine who's the best in the land, so do the sportswriters.
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27 comments:
"Game 6" 1975 vs "Game 6" 2011 is kind of a toss-up. Nice to have watched both.
Jack Buck, the announcer for the Cardinals, succeeded his father, Jack Buck, for the same job.
In 1991, Jack Buck Sr made a call after a game-six-winning homer that ended with "...and we will see you tomorrow night!"
Last night, Jack Buck Jr did the same exact call, right down to the tone and pacing. It didn't take long for St Louisians to notice it.
Obviously...we're stoked. I've got a line on some corporate skybox tix, but that's a pipe dream. Come hell or high water, we're getting a sitter and will be downtown at one of the many bars/pubs watching the game tonight.
I wonder if the extremely few Occupy-STL'rs, or if ANY of the Occupy-anywhere'rs, will be watching two teams of 1%'rs play tonight. Probably not...its not soccer, after all.
Classic Series. The Cards fans remember fondly winning Game 6 and then 7 @ home in 1982. Brewers fans not so fondly. There is the classic 1986 Series where the Mets win miraculouly in Game 6 and the Game 7 @ home. The 1991 Series w/ the dramatic walk off solo HR by Puckett in the 11th of Game 6[I was in the cheap seats of the HHH Dome..Scott M, good analysis of Joe's tribute to his dad, Jack] and then 1-0 classic pitching duel to win Game 7. But lurking in the dark recesses of Cards fans is the 1975 Series. Carton Fisk walk off HR in the 12th inning of Game 6 @ Fenway. Meade remembers fondly what happened in Game 7.
Although I despise LaRussa I sense his players were picking him up last night for screwing up Game 5. That says something to me. We'll see what the Rangers are made of tonight. It could be a classic, but Game 7 is often anticlimatic. I have to pick the Cards.
This will definitely bring out the best in sportswriting. It's part of what makes baseball so great.
It's Braves and Giants
Two to two.
The pitcher's name is Hub Purdue
Jack Mur-ry is up at bat
(musical interlude)
My God would somebody look at that!
This song has been going through my mind all day, and I blame the World Series.
I love Freese's story, too. Local kid drops a pop up, then hits the walk-off homer. If you made it up, nobody'd believe you...
Heart-pounding drop dead wonderful -- we will see you tonight.
If you made it up, nobody'd believe you...
I've long noticed that extraordinary heroics in real-life sports make piss-poor sports fiction. Generally, what you say is true and the events are simply not believable.
Scott M, Several folks who aren't real baseball fans asked me after seeing Moneyball if the 20 game winning streak was made up. What has made Moneyball a crossover to non fans is the human story and therefore non fans can't believe a team could win 20 in a row..because it really is pretty unbelievable. That's why I have a hard time fitting in fiction to my reading list, nonfiction is more "imaginative".
Game 7 = Foregone Conclusion. It's 1982 redux.
"Game 6" 1975 vs "Game 6" 2011 is kind of a toss-up. Nice to have watched both.
Game 6 1986.. the little roller hit by Mookie Wilson trough Bill Buckner's legs.. The amazing Met comeback.
It doesn't compare with the Red Sox.
"Red Sox Sell Out Of Commemorative "Collapse 2011" Hats, T-Shirts"
How magnanimous for a NYT sportwriter to place a game involving 2 flyover cities in the august company of the elite northeastern cities...a crumb for the peasants. 1991 Game 6 ranks right up there w/ these 3 but it was Mn./Atlanta, and to NYT writers they started walking upright in those cities.
The trivia question on the TV broadcast was: "How many WS games have been ended with a home run?" The answer was three, and I bet they didn't expect it to change that night.
'91 was my first year in MN. I remember the homer and Jack Buck's call of it (it gets played around here all the time). Loved to see Joe Buck make the same call - probably gave him goosebumps. It was the first thing I thought of when Freese knocked it out, just an instant before Joe Buck said it.
I'm rooting for the Rangers, but don't care too much, so I'm glad there's a game 7. Time will tell if it is indeed anti-climatic.
This MN Twins fan will always remember Kirby Puckett's walk-off homerun and Jack Buck's call in 1991. Others may not remember it quite so much because Jack Morris' 10-inning shutout was a masterpiece.
The guy who got the home run ball returned it for a Freese signed bat and a team signed ball. He was there with his friend who was wearing a Cubs shirt!
http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/blog/big_league_stew/post/The-story-of-the-Cardinals-fan-who-returned-Free?urn=mlb-wp25597.
If I got that ball, I would have no idea what to do.
"As the teams compete to determine who's the best in the land, so do the sportswriters."
Isn't that the truth? As a kid I was interested in sports because I always read the sports pages for the exciting, irreverent prose.
It was an exciting game, too. Looking forward to the next one.
I was disappointed to learn that Meade was rooting for the Cardinals. I used to hold him in such high regard, but alas.
I was disappointed to learn that Meade was rooting for the Cardinals. I used to hold him in such high regard, but alas.
Heretic.
At the beginning of last night's game, Meade asked me what I wanted to see, and I said I wanted a fight that went back and forth with a lot of weird things happening. The gods of baseball heard me.
This morning, the question was what do you want to see tonight? I said, I guess this one is destined to be a low-scoring pitchers' battle. (They seem to be alternating between high runs and low runs, right?) But I'd love to see another crazy thrill ride like last night.
This Royal's fan prefers to mention 1985's game 6. I can get the Card's fans in my office by just mentioning the game, or saying, Denkinger. Works every time.
I'm honestly surprised, that since the Card's were involved in both games and because Denkinger's call in game 6 made #1 of ESPN's all-time worst calls, that this connection was not made.
Jimbo in KC
1991 game 6 was pretty awesome, too.
I see I'm not the only one here who remembers it.
Professor, The correct terms are pitchers duel and slugfest. There will be a quiz and this will be on it.
Go Cards!!!
Game 6 1975 was one of the best games ever played in a WS. 2011, was played with heart but neither hands nor mind.It was so bad played that the walkoff HR was almost erased . I was not sure that Freese touched home until the third replay.
The second best team of the last 50 years, Oakland, 1972-1974 been the best, against a extremely good team. The second and fourth worst defensive team of the season.
Seaver and Tiant.Two Donnie Moore in one game.
Try as they might, they still won't be Ring Lardner.
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