Couldn't Write a Better Script...

Game 6 of the 2011 World Series will go down in the history books as one of the most memorable games in history. The game played out much like a movie script, though I'm not even sure Hollywood could write a better one.

First off, you set the scene. Busch Stadium, home of the St. Louis Cardinals. The air is cold and crisp, as it typical in fall in St. Louis. Hometown fans are nervous, as they know it's do or die time for their team. Visiting team is confident, having a 3-2 series lead and coming off a win at home.

Game begins and right off the bat, Garcia, the starter for the Cards gives up a run. Not to worry, the Cards come back in the 1st with 2.

The game continues with back and forth scoring, and silly errors committed by both teams. Holliday drops a fly ball. Salas has a bad throw to 2nd. And so it continues, until the game is tied 4-4.

Top of the 7th. Texas strikes big scoring 3 runs. The hometown crowd is stunned, but still hanging in there knowing there's 3 more at bats for the Cardinals. Bottom of the 7th, Cards get no runs. Suddenly, a dark cloud forms over Busch Stadium for the home team.

8th inning. Cards shut Texas down, but only get one run out of the inning. Score now 7-5, 2 run deficit.

Cards escape the top of the 9th without giving up a run. Theriot strikes out. Texas is 2 outs from winning their first WS title as Albert "El Hombre" Pujols comes up to the plate. Pujols hits a double and the tying run is at the plate. Berkman walks. 2 on. Craig strikes out. 2 on, 2 outs. It's all up to hometown boy, David Freese, who triples, scoring Pujols and Berkman. Tie game.

It's now in extra innings and the vibe is tense. Jason Motte, the not-quite-officially-named closer is up, trying to get a 1-2-3 inning. Pop up. 1 out. Then, Elvis Andrus hits a single. 1 on, 1 out. Next batter flies out. 1 on, 2 out with Josh Hamilton limping to the plate. Homerun, 2 runs score and now it's 9-7 Texas in the 10th.

But the resilient Cardinals would not back down. In the 10th the 1st 2 batters single, and with the pitcher's spot up Lohse sacrifice bunts and advances the runners to 2nd and 3rd. 2 on, 1 out. Theriot grounds out, and here comes Albert Pujols. They walk him. Lance Berkman is now the last hope for the Cardinals. Down to the last strike for the win for Texas, Berkman hits a line drive and the runners score. Game tied 9-9.

Top of the 11th. Cardinals bring in Westbrook, a pitcher who's hardly seen any postseason time. No problem, the Cards get through the inning with no runs and now it's the bottom of the 11th.

David Freese is up to bat. He had been money in the 9th, driving 2 runs in. Here's the pitch...swing and back back back...we will see you tomorrow folks! Freese hits the game winning home run, forcing a game 7 to be played tomorrow night in St. Louis.

Even Disney can't write a script like this. It is so...indescribable. This Cardinals team, who came back from 10.5 games behind in the wild card as of August 24th, just won't quit, as Joe Buck stated. They would not accept defeat and somehow, with their backs to the wall over and over again, they delivered. I'm not sure I've ever seen anything like it.

And I know I've never seen a game like game 6 of the 2011 World Series, and probably won't see it's equal ever, or at least not for a long time. It might be the craziest game I've ever seen.

And now we look to game 7. In St. Louis. At Busch. With potentially ace Chris Carpenter starting on short rest, thanks to the rain out on Wednesday. I like the odds. I think the Cardinals have a real solid chance of pulling this off.

After all, after a win like that, how can momentum not be in your favor? Plus you have the home crowd behind you?

Anything can happen of course, but one thing this team has taught me is to ALWAYS believe.

And I do believe. I said Cardinals in 6, but I'll take Cardinals in 7.

We'll all know the answers soon. For now, as the legendary Jack Buck would say "that's a winner!" and we'll "see you tomorrow night."

Cardinals are in the World Series!

Okay, so this post is a couple of days late. But to my credit, I've been in a bit a shock about the whole thing. The St. Louis Cardinals are in the World Series after winning game 6 of the NLCS.

The NLCS was not pretty by any means. In fact, the Cardinals relievers pitched more innings than their starters. That's...unnerving. But, at the same time, the bullpen really stepped up. However, one has to wonder how they'll manage the World Series. We could use some good outings from our starters, particularly Carpenter, Lohse and Garcia. Jackson was taken out of game 6 of the NLCS after 2 innings! Though to be fair, the Brewers had to pull Marcum after the 1st. Game 6 was pretty ugly when it came to pitching, the Cardinals just ended up pulling out more offense.

Also, the Brewers made a ton of mistakes. There were so many fielding errors in this series. While I'm happy to see my Cardinals in the series, I do feel bad for Milwaukee. They are a better team than the one we saw in the NLCS. But, as we seem to see every year, teams that get hot late in the season can be very dangerous. And if there is one thing I've learned from the 2011 Cardinals team, it's that they have heart, passion and drive to succeed.

So, here we are. Tomorrow is game 1 of the World Series, in St. Louis (thanks to the NL's win in the All-Star game) against the Texas Rangers. The Rangers don't scare me for some reason. I'm not saying they aren't good, they most definitely are. Nelson Cruz scares me a bit since he's been hot in the postseason. But the Rangers pitching has not exactly been lights out. They are beatable.

We'll see how it goes. I am just thrilled to see the Cardinals make it this far. Of course, I hope they win and if they lose I'll probably be in a bad mood for a few days (come on, there is nothing worse than seeing your team make it to the big game only to lose. Believe me, I know. Superbowls XXXVI and XLIV still hurt). But I will know that this was a team that was never expected to get this far, and they performed far better than I had hoped (at least as of August of this year. You never give up hope, but certainly in August I thought it was a total long shot).

So, let's do this Cardinals. Bring St. Louis that 11th World Series title. 11 in 2011!

Is This Thing On?

Remember when I thought it was an awesome idea to have a blog? Right. Last time I posted something in this blog the St. Louis Cardinals were thought to be completely done for the season. This week they just beat the Philadelphia Phillies in a nail biting game 5 of the NLDS to advance to the NLCS against division rival, the Milwaukee Brewers.

Just goes to show you, never give up. I am truly amazed and proud of my hometown team. This team really pulled it together in the last month and half of the season and every day, there seems to be a new hero on the team. Sure, Pujols, Carpenter and Molina are still leaders. But did you see that amazing play bu Furcal in the game on Friday? And how about Theriot's hitting?

Or maybe it's the rally squirrel. Have you all heard about this? A squirrel ran across home plate right as the pitch was being delivered. See the video here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EsQYS5zS5u4. Brave squirrel, indeed.

It's very exciting, and I'm so happy to see my team have the chance to make the World Series. And strangely, enough, the last time the Cardinals were there they played the Detroit Tigers. Who are currently competing in the ALCS against the Rangers. Potential for a Cards-Tigers rematch? Perhaps.

The Brewers are good. This is going to be a very tough series, for both teams. The Cardinals have this amazing momentum though. Anyway, game 1 is tomorrow and I am looking forward to watching the series.

In football...my teams are both 0-4. The Rams had such promise going into the regular season. Sure, they've had to play the Eagles, the Giants and the Baltimore Ravens and haven't played a single division rival in the NFC Worst yet but wow, has it been ugly. They actually had a chance to beat the Redskins, but the offense is lacking. Not sure what's going on there but changes are needed.

In Colts land, they lost Peyton Manning for the season due to him having to have a 3rd neck surgery. Isray hasn't said he's out for the season, but he is. It's a 2-3 month recovery time, and since he had the surgery right before the start of the season, out for the season.

The Colts pulled Kerry Collins out of retirement to try and lead the team but it's been pretty disastrous. Collins got injured, and Curtis Painter, who looks more like the poster child for a surfing championship than a QB, had to step in. The Colts actually had some life last week against Tampa Bay. Painter threw 2 long TD passes to Pierre Garcon. But, LaGarette Blount was able to run through Indy's D and ultimately TB won. Was nice to see some life in the Colts offense, but it seems to be the "suck for Luck" sweepstakes.

Which isn't a bad idea for the Colts. Peyton is one of my all-time favorite players. But he's had 3 neck surgeries in the last year. That's very troubling, not just for fans, but for him as well. He needs to rest and take care of himself and hope that he's able to play next year.

But the fact remains that Painter is not the future of the Colts team, so taking advantage of this wash of a season to draft Luck? Smart investment. Peyton could come back and give another 3-4 years of greatness. Or, he could be completely done and have to retire. If it's between playing and risking paralysis or not, would you do it? Not saying it will happen but it's possible. 3 neck surgeries is serious.

I hope Peyton is back. I want to see more. Either way, he won't go away. Peyton will be a coach one day, I'm sure.

In other sports news, hockey is back, and the NBA may not happen. No NBA? But what will Ron Artest, excuse me, Metta World Peace do? Dancing with the Stars of course! Oh but wait, he was so terrible he was the first one voted off this season. Stick to basketball Metta.

That's all I have folks. Hope to update this a little more frequently. GO CARDINALS!