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

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.

Nominate Bill Buckner for an Emmy!!!

Who knew that Bill Buckner could keep up with Larry David on Curb Your Enthusiasm?!

He was terrific... poking fun at himself, making fun of Michael Jordan's Hitler mustache, showing his incredible class and withstanding Susie Essman screaming at him (probably worse than any abuse he got from Boston fans.)

And his redemption at the end of the show was wonderful. I won't spoil it. Watch the show, if for no other reason than seeing Bill Buckner at a minyan.

BUT... as I said many times in my life and on this blog... Bill Buckner's error in the 1986 World Series is THE MOST OVERRATED PLAY IN THE HISTORY OF AMERICAN SPORTS!!!

The myth is that if he made the play, the Red Sox would have won the World Series.
FALSE! The game was tied after the Wild Pitch by Bob Stanley.

And the other part of the myth is that the Mets won the World Series after he made the error.
FALSE! The play ended Game 6. There was a Game 7.

But the oversimplification of that bizarre inning led to Bill Buckner taking the brunt for the series because of a play that could not have won the Series for the Red Sox nor did it clinch it for the Mets.

I am glad Red Sox fans in 1990 gave Bill Buckner a standing ovation when he returned to the team.

I am glad Red Sox fans gave him a standing ovation in 2008 when he returned.

And I am glad Buckner is such a cool guy that he would poke fun at himself with Larry David.

Now put his myth to rest. He was a wonderful player (and a former batting champ) who got way too much crap.

He may not have ever earned a World Series ring. But he is eligible the Emmy for Best Guest Performance by an Actor in a Comedy Series!

I hope he gets it!

Nice to see the Pirates play like the Pirates for one game

Well it turns out the Red Sox were NOT swept by the Pirates this weekend. Man I have lowered expectations for a successful 3 games.

And it helped matters that the Pirates made 4 errors to help lead to the Sox win.

When I saw the score was tied going into the 7th, I wrote in my mind my "I can't believe the Sox got swept" post.

But a nice Sox rally gave Andrew Miller a win and the Sox a little dignity.

Let's update the tally.

DODGED BULLET GAMES - 22

April 8 - 9-6 win against the Yankees. (The Sox end their 6 game losing streak with a slugfest. John Lackey stinks but Phil Hughes stinks even more.)
April 10 - 4-0 win against the Yankees. (Beckett and Sabathia duel in a game that was 1-0 until the late innings.)
April 20 - 5-3 win in Oakland. (Red Sox survive a lead off homer and two bases loaded situations and facing the tying run at the plate to win their first road game.)
April 21 - 4-2 win in Anaheim. (The Red Sox stranded 15 men on base and Josh Beckett's went 8 strong with no decision. But the Sox rallied in the 11th to win.)
April 22 - 4-3 win in Anaheim. (Peter Bourjos makes a 2 run errors and the Red Sox survive a bizarre passed ball by Jarrod Saltalamacchia that let a run scored from second.)
May 1 - 3-2 win against the Mariners. (Ichiro loses a ball in the sun that turns into a 9th inning triple for Lowrie. Crawford singles him home for the win.)
May 8 - 9-5 win against the Twins. (Dice-K lets up 3 runs in the first but settles down as the Red Sox clobber Carl Pavano.)

May 9 - 2-1 win against the Twins. (A bullpen breakdown cost Beckett the decision but Cark Crawford ended the game with an 11th inning walk off hit.)
May 13 - 5-4 win in the Bronx. (Youkilis homers off of Joba and Bard and Papelbon make it more interesting than it needed to be.)
May 15 - 7-5 win in the Bronx. (Sox fall behind 4-1 but come back as Youk, Papi and Salty all homer.)
May 16 - 8-7 win against the Orioles. (Down 6-0 after 6 innings, the Sox rally and win it with a 2 run walk off double by Adrian Gonzalez)
May 18 - 1-0 win against Detroit. (With 2 outs in the 8th, Salty doubles home Crawford from first for the only run. Papelbon gets himself in and out of 9th inning trouble.)
May 19 - 4-3 win against Detroit. (Bard blows Beckett's lead but Carl Crawford wins it with a walk off hit.)
May 24 - 4-2 win in Cleveland. (Varitek throws two runners out and homers as the Red Sox win their first game against the Indians.)
May 29 - 4-3 win in Detroit. (The Red Sox blow an early 3-0 lead but David Ortiz wins the game with a pinch 9th inning homer.)
June 3 - 8-6 win against Oakland. (Buchholz lets up 4 runs in the first but the Sox come back thanks to Carl Crawford's 2 run single.)
June 4 - 9-8 win against Oakland. (Red Sox blow a 4 run 9th inning lead and trail in the 11th before Ellsbury ties it and Drew wins it in 14.)
June 7 - 6-4 win in the Bronx. (Papelbon strikes out A-Rod to end the game with a runner on base.)
June 9 - 8-3 win in the Bronx. (Down 2-0 to Sabathia in the 7th, the Sox score 7 runs as Papi exacts revenge after getting plunked. A 3+ hour rain delay pushed the game past 1:30 AM)

June 15 - 3-0 win in Tampa Bay. (Youkilis homers in the 7th for the only runs in Beckett's 1 hit masterpiece.)
June 16 - 4-2 win in Tampa Bay. (Papelbon wiggles out of a 2 on, nobody out jam in the 9th thanks to Youk's diving catch.)
June 26 - 4-2 win in Pittsburgh. (The Pirates make 4 errors and the Red Sox score 2 in the 7th to avoid a sweep by the Bucs.

TEETH GRINDER GAMES - 21

April 1 - 9-5 loss in Texas. (The Sox tie Opening Day in the 8th with an Ortiz homer only to have Bard implode and the Sox let up 4 in the bottom of the 8th.)

April 5 - 3-1 loss in Cleveland. (The Sox drop their 4th straight as the bats are dead in Cleveland.)
April 7 - 1-0 loss in Cleveland. (Sox blow a great Lester performance on a squeeze bunt and Darnell McDonald overrunning the bag to end the game.)
April 12 - 3-2 loss to Tampa Bay. (A solid Lester performance is wasted as Kyle Farnsworth of all people shuts down the Sox.)
April 15 - 7-6 loss to Toronto. (Bobby Jenks implodes with a 4 run seventh inning as the Red Sox waste Pedroia and Youkilis homers and a clutch RBI double by Scuatro.
April 19 - 5-0 loss in Oakland. (Pedroia gets picked off, the Sox bats go dead and waste a solid Lackey start.)
April 26 - 4-1 loss in Baltimore. (Buchholz pitches tentatively and the Sox let Kevin Gregg of all people to close out the 9th.)
April 27 - 5-4 loss in Baltimore. (The Sox tie the game with a 3 run 8th only to have Bard lose it in the bottom of the 8th.)
April 29 - 5-4 loss to Mariners. (Bobby Jenks blows a 7th inning lead, wasting 2 Mike Cameron homers.)
April 30 - 2-0 loss to Mariners. (The Sox strand 11 runners and let Milton Bradley double home the go ahead run.)
May 4 - 5-3 loss to Angels. (7 hours with rain delays and stranded runners. Marco Scutaro was thrown out at the plate in the 12th)
May 10 - 7-6 loss in Toronto. (8th and 9th inning heroics, including a homer by Adrian Gonzalez, are undone by a walk off sacrifice fly by David Cooper.)
May 21 - 9-3 loss to Cubs. (Up 3-1 in the 8th inning, the bullpen and defense implode. The Cubs score 8 runs while both teams wear their 1918 uniforms.)
May 23- 3-2 loss in Cleveland. (The Sox blow a 2-1 8th inning lead when the Indians rally with 2 outs. Crawford ends the game on a double play.)
May 29 - 3-0 loss in Detroit. (Verlander keeps the Sox off base and prevents the sweep.)
June 1 - 7-4 loss to White Sox. (Konerko drives in three, spoiling a game tying Ortiz homer.)

June 14 - 4-0 loss in Tampa Bay. (Wakefield's solid outing is spoiled. Longoria scores on a passed ball.)
June 18 - 4-2 loss to Milwaukee. (The Brewers hit three homers early off of Lester and hang on.)
June 21 - 5-4 loss to San Diego. (Ortiz hits a double play in the 9th to stifle a potential winning rally.)

June 24 - 3-1 loss to Pittsburgh. (The Red Sox strand 7 runners in scoring position.)
June 25 - 6-4 loss to Pittsburgh. (The Red Sox fall out of first as Pedroia's error leads to a Pirates run.)

Up to +1.

Still not in first place but at least keeping pace with the Yankees.
On to Philadelphia for the World Series preview.

As for the Pirates?
I hope they go on a nice 20 winning streak.

Brooks had a very bad day

Yeah yeah yeah... three errors including 2 that produced runs in a 3-2 game.
Lest we forget he ALSO screwed up a sacrifice bunt in the 8th inning.

I feel very bad for him.
9 years in the minors... he scrapped and clawed his way to the big leagues.... he played 5 different positions in the minors trying to get a big league shot... He gets to the big leagues... hits a dramatic walk off grand slam earlier this year... and now finds himself starting in the post season.

It should be a feel good story about a guy who just wouldn't quit.
And now he is going to be remembered as a post season goat.

I can't help but feel bad for the guy.

A silver lining? He plays in Atlanta which isn't exactly an intense baseball town. If he did this in New York, Boston or Philadelphia, he'd be burnt in effigy.

Luis Valbuena needs a hug

The Indians are struggling to get out of the AL Central cellar but were one out away from winning this afternoon.

With 2 outs and the Tribe up by two, Aaron Hill grounded out weakly to shortstop Luis Valbuena to end the game.

And it went right through his legs and allowed a run to come in to make it a one run game.

And naturally the very next batter, Adam Lind, homered to give Toronto the lead.

The next ball hit to Valbuena he also booted, and the few fans left in Cleveland let him have it.

Poor guy.

If any of you know him, tell him it will be alright.

Vlad Impaled

Maicer Izturis is probably going to be the goat for tonight's game. Throwing an easy ball away and not taking the sure out at first base, costing your team the game will do that to you.

But the staff at Sully Baseball all agree the true goat is Vlad Guerrero.

In a 13 inning one run game, he left 8 men on base.

8!

How is that even possible?

I'll tell you how it is possible... you keep batting with the bases loaded and swinging at pitches that even Eric Gregg would have called a ball during the Livan Hernandez game.

He had the bases loaded, 2 outs and a tie game at one point... he swung at one pitch that he had to lunge over the plate to foul off and struck out with a ball in the dirt.

Hey Vlady, I know I shouldn't give advice to you, a former MVP, but here it is anyway.

When you find yourself lunging over the plate for a pitch, you should probably take it.
When you see a ball kicking up dirt faster than a gopher at Bushwood, maybe take it.

And if taking this pitches could mean taking the damn lead in a playoff game, then forget that whole free swinging reputation you have.

Just an idea.

(Isn't it great... against Papelbon he breaks the Red Sox backs, but against the Yankees he's 1-7 and was approaching double digits in the ole L.O.B. column.)

I knew this game was over in the first inning

I was preaching the Angels chances of upsetting the Yankees like a mantra.

Mistake free baseball!

That's what the Angels were going to play.

No overrunning the bases like the Twins or abandoning their hitting plan.

No closers refusing to throw strikes.

Mistake free baseball... sound fundamental baseball... it would be as if Tom Emanski himself was defeating the Yankees.

So what happened? In the first inning the right fielder threw to a base where nobody was covering, allowing Johnny Damon to take second.

Then a lazy pop up dropped between two infielders with 2 outs, which would have ended the first inning with only 1 run.

2/3 of a inning into the game and I knew the Angels were toast.

As my friend, the great Fox Sports writer Kevin Hench wrote to me today "teams that spend $426M on free agents AND get lucky can't lose."

Yankee haters around the world need to watch tomorrow. If the Angels don't win, don't even bother watching the rest of the ALCS.

By the way, read Kevin's great column about instant replay. He is dead on (and that DOESN'T need further review.)

Matt Holliday's legacy

Matt Holliday is obviously a terrific player.

He was an MVP runner up in 2007 and was the catalyst for the brilliant post season run for Colorado.

He hit the game tying triple off of Trevor Hoffman in the mind boggling one game playoff against the Padres and scored the playoff clinching run.

He was the NLCS MVP in 2007 and hit a home run in the World Series that for a moment brought the Rockies to within 1 run in Game 3.

And he had a terrific second half of the season with the Cardinals.

And guess what?

All of that is thrown into the trash can. His legacy is the dropped fly ball.

He already had a bone head moment on his resume when he was picked off of first in a critical point of Game 2 of the 2007 World Series... but that is nothing compared to this.

He dropped a ball that Morris Buttermaker would expect Timmy Lupus to catch.

He dropped a ball that HIT HIS GLOVE!

He dropped a ball that if he caught it, the Cardinals would have a split and have a chance to be in control of the series.

Instead the Cardinals, the team that both Vegas and I picked to go to the World Series when the playoffs began, could be eliminated before Sunday!

Is it harsh to say this will be his legacy?

What is the first highlight you think of when you hear Dennis Eckersley?

Come on... admit it. It's Kirk Gibson's homer. And Eck clinched a World Series the next year and won the Cy Young and the MVP a few years after that and got elected to the Hall of Fame. 

But everyone, from EJ and the gang in the studio to Bill Cosby brings up Gibson to Eck.

Mike Torrez clinched a World Series and was the pitcher who everyone mobbed in 1977. Who remembers THAT? Not as many people who remember him serving up Bucky Dent's shot.

Lonnie Smith? The guy was a World Champion with three different organizations, but he was the guy who fell for the Gagne/Knoblauch decoy play and couldn't score in Game 7 of the 1991 World Series.

What about Chuck Knoblauch? The guy was an All Star, hit big World Series homers and helped prevented Lonnie Smith from scoring and bunted Danny Gladden over in the World Series winning rally in 1991.

But he is best remembered for blowing a bubble while complaining to an ump in the 1998 ALCS while two runners scored. And the Yankees WON that series!

Ralph Branca was a 21 game winner, a 3 time All Star and got MVP votes in 1947 and 1948. Who remembers that? Not the people who replay the Bobby Thomson homer.

Hey! When you hear the name Bill Buckner, do you think about his batting title? His All Star appearance? His 22 year career and 2715 hits? I bet not.

Well Matt, you had better hope the Cardinals win this series... other wise you are going to be part of a REALLY BAD montage for the rest of your life.