I didn’t grow up playing baseball, so I understand that it is definitely an acquired taste. But there is something about its history and traditions that I just love. Its image has come under serious fire – the home run chasing, TV ratings obsession of the 90′s, which legalized performance enhancing drugs was a blight on the sport. Yet It is still genuinely America’s game. Just a guy with a round bat trying to hit a round ball. Same as it was a century ago.
The St Louis Cardinals just won the world series. This despite sneaking into the playoffs on the last day of the regular season, and with the worst overall record of all the playoff contenders. They were further helped by the fact the National League won the all-star game, giving the Cardinals crucial home field advantage in the final series (this is a move the NBA could look at to actually make the all-star game mean something).
Despite my previous rants on what’s wrong with the MLP playoff structure, it was hard not to enjoy the Cardinal’s clutch play. Albert Pujols had the single best hitting performance in world series history in game 3. And David Freese lived out the childhood dreams of millions in game 6 with a game tying hit with 2 out in the bottom of the 9th inning – St Louis would have lost the series if he got out – followed by the game winning home run in the bottom of the 11th inning. This drama gave the game 7 decider its highest TV ratings in almost 8 years.
I liked both views of this historic hit. You only need to watch the first 60 seconds or so.
