Sully Baseball Daily Podcast - July 19, 2013

 The Sully Baseball Daily Podcast today salutes Eric Hinske, wonders where Ryan Theriot is and gets ready for tonight's Red Sox/Yankee game.

No games were played yesterday, so nobody owned baseball.

To see the up to date tally of "Who Owns Baseball?," click HERE

Sully Baseball Daily Podcast - July 19, 2013

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Sully Baseball Daily Podcast - December 30, 2012

Today on the podcast, I remember Floyd Youmans and I make an observation about Ryan Theriot's career that could surprise you.

Ryan Theriot has a chance to be the most unique World Series champion in baseball history.
Listen to find out why.

Sully Baseball Daily Podcast - December 30, 2012






 

Fly balls to Matt Holliday in the post season are always interesting

Things get really exciting in a Cardinals post season game when someone hits a fly ball to left field. Matt Holliday has become the most unpredictable trouble magnet in left since Manny Ramirez played with the Red Sox.

In last night's 7-1 blow out by the Giants, the game was blown open when Marco Scutaro hit a two out bases loaded single to left field. (Earlier Holliday slid hard into Scutaro and eventually causing him to leave. Karma would strike Holliday.)

Two runs were going to score to make it 4-1. But the ball rolled through Holliday's legs and another run came in.

And his strange day did not end there. In the 8th, Aubrey Huff hit a fly ball that hung in the air about about a week and a half. The infielder ran all the way out to left field while Holliday stood there. It dropped in.

Now Sam Holbrook would have called that an infield fly, but it was another adventure in left.

In last year's World Series Game 6, he had a "I got it! I got it! YOU got it!" moment that dropped in between Holliday and Rafael Furcal.

Only the great Cardinals comeback put that into the background and made it an obscure footnote.

And of course there was the mother of left field miscues.

Game 2 of the 2009 Division Series. 2 outs and nobody on with St. Louis holding to a one run lead. With 2 strikes on the Dodgers' James Loney, he hit a pop up to left field to end the game.

Except of course it didn't.

Holliday dropped the ball and the Dodgers went on to rally for two runs and win the game.

The way the Cardinals were so invincible in 2006 and 2011 despite not having home field advantage, I can't help but wonder if the 2009 team would have done the same if they went back to St. Louis 1-1 rather than 0-2.

We will never know.

Something else we will never know is what will happen when a fly ball is hit to Matt Holliday.

It makes the post season a little more exciting.

His fielding highlights should be edited to Yackety Sax, the Benny Hill theme

Giants fans... THIS is why I was rooting for the Nationals

Before Game 5 of the Division Series between the Washington Nationals and the St. Louis Cardinals, I called up my dad, who is a rabid San Francisco Giants fan.

I told him I was rooting for the Nationals in the game because I thought they were a better match up with the Giants.

My dad wanted the Giants to play the Cardinals. They would have home field advantage and the Giants had a better record against the Cardinals. "We can beat them."

I said "That's what everyone said in 2006 and last year as well."

The Cardinals are an unstoppable force. They are unbeatable. And in the last two seasons, they had every reason to be completely shut out before the World Series was even near.

Last year they were lumbering behind the Braves for the Wild Card and played out the string. That was until the Braves collapsed and the Cardinals backed in.

Then the Phillies were the invincible team getting ready to steamroll through to the World Series. But they lost 1-0 in the deciding game.

Then the Division Champion Brewers sighed a relief that they didn't have to face the mighty Phillies. But the Cardinals outslugged them and as they did in 1982, broke Milwaukee's heart.

Then the Rangers had the Cardinals down to the last strike twice and couldn't close out the World Series.

This year the Dodgers couldn't get their act together even after trading for Hanley Ramirez, Shane Victorino, Adrian Gonzalez and Josh Beckett and lost the Wild Card in the last week.

Then the Braves got hosed on an infield fly rule. Then the Nationals had the second biggest meltdown of a game where Davey Johnson was one of the managers in history.

Every one of those teams thought the Cardinals were easy pickings.
Same with the 2006 Padres, Mets and Tigers.

Now look where we are.

Subpar Cardinals teams had World Championship Parades in 2006 and 2011 while the fan bases in San Diego, New York, Detroit, Atlanta, Philadelphia, Milwaukee, Texas, Los Angeles and Washington spent an off season wondering "How the hell did they beat us?"

And in San Francisco, the Giants fell 6-4 and gave up home field advantage to the defending World Champions.

And they will be facing Chris Carpenter, one of the best big game pitchers of the past decade.

This would NOT have happened with a young Washington team not throwing all of their best pitchers.

The Giants would have picked the Nationals apart for lunch.
Now I am about to lose my lunch at the thought of another OK but not great Cardinals team being crowned champions.

Get your act together, Giants.
My dad is rooting for you.

So is every other team that the Cardinals have clotheslined in the past six seasons.


 

Nationals win! I can't deal with another Cardinals title

Going to the bottom of the second inning in Washington and the Cardinals are up 4-0.
The Cardinals would be up 2-0 in the series if not for the Nationals 8th inning rally in game one.

But the wonderful Nats seasons would probably go up in smoke if they lose today. Their great season would be torpedoed by yet another OK Cardinals team that caught fire in the post season.

And I can't deal with that!
I have nothing against the Cardinals, although I confess I tended to root against them in the playoffs because I was never a Tony LaRussa fan.

And sure, a great franchise with a dedicated fan base deserves a World Series title, even with a not so great team like the 2006 Cardinals.

But they had another "Good but not elite" team win the title last year.

Now here they are looking to wipe out the Nationals. If they do who would they face? A Reds team who could be without Johnny Cueto or a Giants team who forgot how to hit.

If the Nationals don't win this series, we might be looking at ANOTHER St. Louis World Championship.

And people would look at 2004 to 20012 and say "Man, they won four pennants and three World Series titles. They must have been a dynasty."

And I guess they would be. A dynasty that coasts on a B- report card until October.

I don't want a champion like that.
I wouldn't mind seeing a team like the Nationals, great all season, win. Or the Giants who struggled against the Dodgers before turning it on or the Reds who were underrated all year represent the National League.

Remember the 2006 Padres and Mets? They had great regular seasons but they were clotheslined by that odd 2006 Cardinals team.

Remember last year's Phillies team that had visions of being the greatest sports team in Philadelphia history?

Remember the 2011 Brewers who looked to finally get back to the World Series?

History won't.
They'll remember a Cardinals team that got hot.

So now here we go. A Cardinals team that was the second Wild Card team is lining everything up for another World Series.

The Dodgers couldn't stop them.
The Braves couldn't stop them.
The Nationals are putting up a feeble defense.

Someone please stop them.

What an amazing middle finger to Colby Rasmus!

I thought I was tough on Colby Rasmus.
I trashed him when he was whining at the end of the 2010 season.
That prompted his defenders to start writing to me, saying he was one of the 20 most valuable players in the game. (?)

I poked fun at him when he was dealt to Toronto and wondered where he was watching the World Series as the Cardinals won without him.

And of course some readers thought I was overly harsh and unfair.
(I realize that he is a major leaguer and I'm not and I don't have 1/1,000,000th of his talent. I would also know not to whine myself off of the Cardinals.)

But my blog posts are not nearly as brutal as this picture I found on the CN Jersey's website.

They sell uniforms of many of the Cardinal players from last year's World Series.
Sure there is Carpenter and Pujols and others.

But a Rasmus Cardinals uniform with the 2011 World Series patch on it?
He was sitting on his Barcalounger watching the game, drinking a Schlitz during the World Series.

He was already a member of the Blue Jays while the pitchers he was traded for, Octavio Dotel, Edwin Jackson and Marc Rzepczynski (sic), were helping St. Louis clinch a title.

Rasmus is 25 now. This is the time he should be breaking out. Instead the 2009 season remains his high water mark. He was rotten in 35 games with Toronto at the end of last year and this year, has been plodding along at a .232 average and an unimpressive .708 OPS.

He DOES have 3 more homers this year than Albert Pujols.

In 2009, when Rasmus was a Rookie of the Year candidate and Pujols was running away with back to back MVPs, the two looked like they were going to be the foundation of many great Cardinals titles to come.

If St. Louis had announced at the end of the 2009 season that they were signing Pujols to an 8 year extension and locking Rasmus up beyond his arbitration and first year of Free Agency, the Cardinals would have been praised as a great long term thinking organization.

Here we are in 2012, Rasmus and Pujols are struggling. The Cardinals got 3 pitchers for Rasmus who helped win a title, will get 2 picks for Pujols and a decade of salary relief.

And oh yeah, the Cardinals are in first place.

They are indeed a great long tern thinking organization.

As for this Rasmus jersey? I'm just glad they are being sold as "Replicas."

I do NOT think this was a mistake.
I think there was someone there who is a Cardinal fan who thought "F--- that guy."



 

I see Nelson Cruz has no problem catching THIS ball!

I guess he didn't have to leap.

Yup... it's real, Cardinal fans

He's an Angel.
Albert Pujols belongs to another team.

For some reason it just seems real when spring training starts, more so than any press conference.

It looks odd.
I remember when Pedro left the Red Sox for the Mets, I never quite accepted it until I saw him in Spring Training.

I can't imagine what a 15 year old Cardinal fan who probably has no memory of a St. Louis team WITHOUT Albert must be feeling.

Take the solace that I had when I saw Pedro wearing an odd uniform:

The last time he played for MY team, he was winning a World Championship. (Both in St. Louis!)

And three seasons later, a Pedro-less Red Sox team won ANOTHER title.

So yeah, it sucks. But it isn't the end.

I covered that in my video.

The Rangers were 1 pitch away 15 times

A lot of people have written about how twice the Rangers were one pitch away from winning the 2011 World Series. But my friend Gar Ryness (better known as The Batting Stance Guy) pointed out an interesting fact.

They were an out from winning the World Series in back to back innings, but they weren't one pitch away from winning twice.

They were one pitch away from winning the 2011 World Series 15 TIMES!

On 15 different occasions, a Ranger pitcher threw a pitch that could have clinched the World Series if a reasonable scenario took place.

In the 9th inning with one out and runners on first and second, Allen Craig came up where a ground ball could have turned into a World Series clinching double play.

Yeah both David Freese and Lance Berkman had their at bats go down to the final strike, but they could have popped up or grounded out on the first, second or third pitches.

And I am not coming up with outlandish "Line Drive Triple Play" scenarios nor counting the four balls thrown to Albert Pujols when he was intentionally walked in the 10th inning.

Remembering my brother in Curse of the Bambino dialing my uncle for each pitch the Red Sox could have clinched in 1986, I know all too well that the expectation of excitement builds with each pitch.

Rangers fans, I feel for you.

And let's review all 15 pitches.


Bottom of 9th inning
Neftali Feliz Pitching
Texas 7, St. Louis 5
2 on, 1 out.






Batter Allen Craig

PITCH 1 - Low, 1 Ball 0 Strikes.
PITCH 2 - Low, 2 Balls 0 Strikes.
PITCH 3 - Called Strike, 2 Balls 1 Strike.
PITCH 4 - Lined Foul to left, 2 Balls 2 Strikes.
PITCH 5 - Popped foul behind the plate, 2 Balls 2 Strikes.
PITCH 6 - Called Third Strike


2 Outs

Batter David Freese

PITCH 7 - Low and Outside, 1 Ball 0 Strikes.
PITCH 8 - Called strike on inside corner, 1 Ball 1 Strike.
PITCH 9 - Swinging strike, 1 Ball 2 Strikes.
PITCH 10 - 2 Run Triple to Right Field to tie the Game




Bottom of 10th inning
TEXAS 9, ST. LOUIS 8
Scott Feldman pitching
2 on, 2 outs







Batter Lance Berkman

PITCH 11 - Fouled back out of play, 0 Balls 1 Strike.
PITCH 12 - Inside, 1 Ball 1 Strike.
PITCH 13 - Swinging strike, 1 Ball 2 Strikes.
PITCH 14 - Low, 2 Balls 2 Strikes.
PITCH 15 - RBI Single to Center Field to tie the Game.




Pain.
Agony.

After Berkman's single, the Rangers were never a pitch away again.
Of the 15 pitches, 9 came with 2 outs, where a pop up in the infield or a grounder (or Nelson Cruz timing his leap correctly) would have made champs out of Texas.

Alas, 15 pitches weren't enough.

Mike Matheny?

Look, I am sure Mike Matheny is a good solid baseball guy.
I have no doubt that he has the chops to become a big league manager.

And as a former St. Louis Cardinal, he played 5 years under LaRussa, won 3 Gold Gloves and played for the 2000, 2001, 2001 and 2004 playoff teams.

But call me crazy, shouldn't the Defending World Series Champs be managed by someone with managerial experience?

Is Matheny going to be the manager at the All Star Game?
He was a minor league instructor. He wasn't even on the coaching staff! (Jose Oquendo, anyone?)

"Hey, you might be a good managerial candidate. You should get your feet wet."
"Great. Do you mean with the Batavia Muckdogs? Or the Memphis Redbirds?"
"No, we were think of The Defending World Champion St. Louis Cardinals. That's a good place to get started."

Since 1981, the Cardinals have been managed by Whitey Herzog, Joe Torre and Tony LaRussa.
Whitey is in the Hall of Fame. Joe and Tony are working on their speeches.

Red Schoendienst managed for a few games in 1990. He's in the Hall of Fame.
Mike Jorgensen was an interim manager in 1995 when they were waiting for LaRussa to become available.

But for the last 30 years, save for Jorgensen keeping the seat warm, the Cardinals managerial post was filled by experienced man who will be in the Hall of Fame.

Now they are giving it to someone who has as much managerial experience as Lisa Kudrow.

He might turn out to be great.

Maybe the Cardinals know something I don't.
But call me crazy, but the first line up card you fill out should NOT be the Defending World Champs.

And this is the second high profile franchise to fill their managerial post with someone with NO experience. (Hello Robin Ventura and the White Sox!)

And somewhere Chris Chambliss is saying "I can't even get an interview!"

The (Arthur) Rhodes less traveled

Arthur Rhodes was going to get a World Series ring no matter what.
He was a member of both the Rangers and the Cardinals this year. But no doubt it will be sweeter that he got his ring with the club he actually played for in the World Series.

20 seasons in the bigs... and this was his first trip to the World Series.

He was a respected veteran who put up a few tremendous seasons as a middle reliever.
I know it isn't cool to talk about win totals, but he DID go 19-4 between 1996 and 1997, both playoff seasons for Baltimore.

Between 2001 and 2002, he went 18-4 with the Mariners, including the '01 Division Winners.

He was an Oriole when Ripken passed Gehrig and Jeffrey Maier interfered with Jeter's flyball.
He played along side A-Rod, Edgar Martinez, King Felix and Ichiro in Seattle.
Played with the three Moneyball aces in Oakland.
He relieved CC Sabathia and Cliff Lee in Cleveland.
He played with Howard, Utley, Rollis, Ruiz and Cole Hamels in Philadelphia.
He was teammates with Hanley Ramirez in Florida.
He was on the Reds team that finally made it back to post season in 2010.
And of course with BOTH pennant winners in 2011.

But something struck me about his career.

He made his big league debut as a member of the Baltimore Orioles on August 21, 1991 against Texas.

Some of the batters he faced that day included Julio Franco, Brian Downing and Gary Pettis.

On August 27, 1991 he pitched his first home game in Baltimore.
NOT in Camden Yards. He was pitching in Memorial Stadium. His career predates Camden Yards!

On September 10th, 1991, he was playing New York, a full 10 years and 1 day before the attacks.

He faced a Yankee team filled with mismatched parts as they were floundering through the Stump Merrill years.

Steve Sax, Roberto Kelly, Hensley "Bam Bam" Meulens, Matt Nokes, Pat Kelly, Randy Velarde, Alvaro Espinoza and Pat Sheridan were all in the lineup.

Poor Don Mattingly, stuck with such a rotten team.
(The lead off hitter was a young Bernie Williams, a preview of better days for the Yankees.)

But something struck me about the box score that day.

Dwight Evans played that game for the Orioles. He came in as a pinch hitter for Sam Horn (yeah, THAT Sam Horn).

Evans played his final season in Baltimore. Arthur Rhodes was his teammate.
A pitcher in the 2011 World Series was once on the same team as Dwight Evans. It seems like it was 4 or 5 generations ago that Evans played.

Arthur Rhodes pitched before the Yankees got to be good again, before there was a Camden Yards and played along side Dwight Evans.

Think of the young players from this Cardinals team.
24 year old Daniel Descalso can now be connected to Dwight Evans in one move.

Let's hope Daniel plays as long as Arthur Rhodes.

Congrats on your World Series ring, Arthur.
You have truly earned it.

Selig's main requirement for a new Dodger owner: SIGN PUJOLS!

I don't believe in random events.
I don't believe in first causes.
I don't believe that actions take place in vacuums.

Even me typing this blog post is the result of a long chain reaction of events.

And a chain reaction of events could be conspiring to bring Albert Pujols to Dodger Stadium.
I have no evidence to back up these theories. But I still think it makes sense.

- Albert Pujols launches 3 home runs in one World Series game, putting him in World Series history with Reggie Jackson and Babe Ruth. And he helps spark one of the World Series saving rallies in Game 6. (The fact that he was basically a non factor in the other World Series games is forgotten by everyone.)

- Albert Pujols is a free agent... a perennial MVP candidate and one of the few marquee stars in the game. Plus he is a class act, free of scandal and has multiple rings in St. Louis. He's probably staying in St. Louis with his father figure, Tony LaRussa.

- LaRussa retires, ending his career with his crowning achievement. He can spend his days saving animals and writing his Cooperstown speech.

- SO Pujols has nothing left to prove in St. Louis. He can leave St. Louis on top and take on a new challenge and more money than any of us can ever dream of. ($30 million a year?)


Meanwhile in Los Angeles...

- The Dodgers fiasco might be finally grinding to a halt. Frank McCourt, in denial like William H. Macy's character in Fargo, might finally realize that he ISN'T just one deal away from keeping control of the team. MLB might take over the Dodgers. They did that once before with the Expos.

- This is a different scenario. That was saving a team from contraction and getting them to Washington DC. The Dodgers need to be lifted from the humiliation of bankruptcy and mismanagement. The Dodgers SHOULD be one of the glamorous franchises. And it would behoove baseball to have a big west coast superpower (sorry Giants fans. Your team isn't a superpower.)

- So if MLB takes over the Dodgers, they can hand pick whomever takes over the team. They will have to be committed to turn the Dodgers back into a powerhouse, make L.A. as baseball crazy as New York and Boston and bring some star power to Dodger Stadium.

- The Dodgers just HAPPENED to have a hole at first base (sorry James Loney). They just HAPPENED to have an MVP candidate to protect Pujols in the lineup with Matt Kemp. They just HAPPEN to play in a winnable division. (Sorry Diamondbacks.) And unless Juan Uribe has more pull than I thought, #5 just HAPPENS to be available in Los Angeles.

- The Dodgers also just HAPPEN to be a team in a desperate situation to have some positive press after all the off the field embarrassment. And they need something, besides a face who ISN'T Frank McCourt, to jumstart season ticket sales.

- If MLB can control who buys the Dodgers, they COULD make "Will you make a big push for Albert Pujols?" a requirement. It would be good for the franchise and could make the Dodgers a marquee franchise again.

Fans are going to show up in St. Louis. It's a new era there anyway.

Pujols (paired with NL MVP candidate Matt Kemp and Cy Young candidate Clayton Kershaw) could have his new challenge.

Bud Selig, someone NOT above colluding, could be in a unique position to handpick someone to bid on Pujols.

Where else is Albert going? Sure Theo Epstein wants to make a big splash with the Cubs, but he has to weed OUT big contracts before bringing in a new one. The Mets are a mess. And maybe the Marlins would make a run at him, but they are a dark horse at best.

Of course the Rangers, White Sox, Nationals and Orioles are never shy about throwing money around. But I can't see Albert going to any of those places.

The Dodgers are the most logical landing place in many ways.
It's a boost to the franchise.
It's a bump in West Coast baseball's interest.
And it could make Albert even more marketable than he is now.

Don't think this ISN'T going through Bud Selig's mind.
It's a chain reaction of events... and it could lead to the image of Albert Pujols playing first base for the Los Angeles Dodgers.

(For the record, I think Pujols is staying put... but you never know!)

Hats off to Tony LaRussa

I've never been a Tony LaRussa fan... but man you have to respect him.
He is probably the greatest manager of our time. If he's not, he's in the conversation.

And he retired as a World Series champ.
No backstabbing, book writing, passive aggressive swiping at management here.

This isn't Torre or Francona's ending where you need to remind people of the good times.

He's out on top after winning the best World Series in a decade.

He has three World Series titles. No need to apologize for not winning more. He has as many World Series titles as Leo Durocher, Earl Weaver and Whitey Herzog combined.

I was never a fan.
But man I am an admirer.

Ozzie Guillen, Bruce Bochy, Charlie Manuel, Joe Girardi, Davey Johnson, Mike Scioscia and Jim Leyland are the only current managers who have won a World Series title now.

None more than one.

Who will take the title of "Best Current Manager?"

We'll see.

Sharing an all time classic with my dad

The Game 6 classic was truly one of the greatest baseball games I ever saw in my life. It was insane. It was bonkers.

By the 6th inning with all the errors I thought "This is one nutty game."
Then the home runs...
Then the Cardinals came back down to their last strike...
Then Hamilton homered...
Then the Cardinals came back down to their last strike AGAIN...
Then they won.

It was so obviously a classic. I was kind of shaking when the game was over. And I desperately wanted to talk to someone.

I called my dad. Now I had no idea if my dad was watching the game recorded.
"Yeah."
"Dad, how much time did you leave at the end?"
"Normal length. Why did it go long?"

I paused. I knew there was NO WAY he was going to record the whole thing. He would be watching it and somewhere it would run out.

"Yeah dad. It went long."

So I proceeded to tell my dad all about the game.

I could build the suspense and hear my dad saying "No!" or "Oh my god!" as I told him how the Cardinals kept creeping closer and coming back.

And then I described the finale.
Long pause.

My dad said "Wow."

And then we started talking about the greatest World Series games we ever saw.

Clearly this was a top 5 game for me.
And my dad experienced it with me telling him the highlights by cell phone.

And in a wonderful way, I got to experience it again... but this time it was a gift to my dad.

And THAT is a Fall Classic.

Hey Colby Rasmus! Where did you watch the game?

Hey! If you could have not pulled a Diva act and whined your way out of St. Louis, you might be a World Series champ!

But I'm sure you made the right decision.

These Cardinals seemed like a really tough group to play with.

And yeah, the Cardinals made such a bad move dealing a pain in the ass player with one pretty good season under his belt for pitching depth.

Rasmus is going to get a World Series ring.
I hope LaRussa presents it to him on his middle finger.

If this WAS Pujols' last game... you can not blame him

Pujols is probably going to return...
The Cardinals could finally become a National Brand.

But it also makes sense if he says "I've done EVERYTHING I can possibly do in St. Louis. Maybe I need a new challenge."

The new owner of the Dodgers would want to show the fan base that they spend money on the team instead of on their homes. (And I assume they won't blame victims when they get beaten in their poorly lit and lightly secured parking lots.)

Bringing in Albert Pujols makes all the short term sense in the world for the Dodgers.

If he goes to Chavez Ravine, then I not only don't want to hear CARDINALS fans boo him but I also want to hear nobody in all of baseball boo him.

If he wants to get top dollar, he has done everything he could have possibly done in St. Louis.

But I said all of that before.

Was this Gerald Laird's last ever game as a member of the Cardinals?

Salute him.
It could be the end of an era.

I think Arthur Rhodes prefers THIS World Series ring

No matter what, Arthur Rhodes was going to get his first World Series ring.
He played for the Rangers AND the Cardinals.
If the Rangers got that last strike last night, it would be a Rangers ring.

Call me crazy, I think this will be sweeter for him.

He has pitched over 20 years in the bigs with 9 different teams.
Now he has a World Series ring.

I feel good for Arthur Rhodes.
How could you not?

This could be the best video ever on the internet

I love this video.
I have never seen a "Fan shot video at the ballgame" that has included all the emotions of an amazing dramatic moment more than this.

It's shot from left field with the Cardinals down to their last strike in the 9th inning and David Freese facing Neftali Feliz.

The crowd is nervous.
Then the fly ball to right field and there is a combination of tension, hope and possible sadness as it looked like the Rangers were going to win the World Series.

Then the delirium that not only was the game NOT over... not only were the Cardinals still alive... but somehow the game was tied.

The fans going insane... then the camera zoomed into the Rangers fans.
That slumped look of disgust...
I know it well. The feeling of "I thought I was about to jump up in the air with all of my baseball wishes fulfilled... and instead I am pissed.

So much in this one video.
So much of it perfectly captured.

Please don't take it down, YouTube.

Nelson Cruz's play was worse than Bill Buckner's error

David Freese hit a walk off, game winning World Series tying home run last night... and it wasn't even his most dramatic hit of the night. Not by a LONG shot.

He got his homer off of Mark Lowe... a guy who wasn't even on the playoff roster for the Division Series and ALCS. And the game was tied.

In the 9th he faced an All Star closer in Neftali Feliz and was down to the last strike before elimination.

And his drive to right field looked like it was well hit but not good enough.

Admit it, you thought the World Series was over. Nelson Cruz looked like he was slowing up with a beat on the ball. And up he leaped.

And he didn't have it.

He jumped up too soon, like he didn't know where the wall was.
The ball sailed over his head and off the wall. The two runs scored.

So why is that worse than the Buckner play?
Unlike Bill Buckner's error, this play COULD have won the World Series!
Buckner's error ended Game 6 of the 1986 World Series... but the game was tied on the Wild Pitch.

If Cruz caught the ball (and we ALL thought he was about to) then that would have been it.
The Texas Rangers would have been the World Champs.

Who knows how this series will unfold tonight?
Who knows if there will be another highlight that will overshadow last night's game. (Think that's not possible? Remember how 1991 and 2001 had Game 7 finales that become the main highlight?)

A Rangers win tonight would make his play a forgotten footnote (like the wild pitch that tied Game 6 of the 1986 World Series.)

If they don't, then you can RIGHTLY say they would have won the World Series if he made that catch.