A Sublime, Heavenly Game Seven...

What a wet, wild night of baseball it was, and in the end despite the efforts of Endy Chavez, the Cardinals rained down on the Mets, just as the heavens rained down on Shea. Game 7 of the NLCS, a game started by arguably the worst pair of pitchers in a game seven ever. But what was most surprising: those same two pitchers throwing gems; Scott Rolen seemingly escaping Tony La Russa’s dog house by depositing a Oliver Perez fastball a foot over the fence; Chavez going that foot above the fence to bring that ball back and then doubling Jim Edmonds off first to boot; Rolen responding by tossing an easy grounder, with a man running from first, over the Hudson into Manhattan, or Jeff Suppan getting out of that mess, with the bases loaded and one out. Where do you begin? Do you start with the efforts of NLCS MVP Suppan and his two hitter, or the game winning two run home run by Yadier Molina. Or, do you start with the finish, where rookie Adam Wainwright, with his college freshman scruff, allowed the bases to load with two outs and Cardinal killer Carlos Beltran (9 home runs and a Bonds-esque 1.280 OPS in 51 post season at bats against Cardinal pitching) coming up.

Yet earlier in that inning, did Mets manager Willie Randolph make a mistake by sending Cliff Floyd to the plate, after Jose Valentin and Chavez made the chests of Cardinal fans everywhere tighten, by hitting dinky little singles? Does Randolph deserve to be second guessed? Absolutely not, because he managed brilliantly in this series, but would the Mets have been better served sending somebody mobile to the plate? Floyd could not run, he was a huge threat to hit into a rally killing double play, he’s not a good bunter so he wasn’t going to move the runners, he was up there solely to deposit the ball over the fence… instead he struck out. Wainwright’s big looping curve ball falling from the heavens like the rain that continually plagued this series. Falling from above and dropping right into the strike zone. What a curve ball, incredible.

Of course, Wainwright couldn’t find the strike zone when he walked Paul Lo Duca, which brings us back to Carlos. As Beltran walked to the plate, I had enough time to email my girlfriend at work, update the situation and then email her again to say that the tension was going to make me ill, tension for whom? Certainly not for Wainwright, who after losing the Mets worst hitters, throws his curve for a strike, a fast ball which Beltran fouls off, and… that curve again, that sublime looping curve falling, falling, falling… Beltran… watching. Bases loaded, up two runs, facing the other team’s best hitter, Adam Wainwright throws three pitches, only one of which Beltran even swings at, and home plate umpire Tim Welke punches St Louis into the World Series. It really doesn’t get any more sublime.

Surely to some degree, this victory erases a few of Tony La Russa’s playoff demons. If the Cards win the Series, then it certainly makes up for 1988 and 1990 when La Russa’s superior Bash Brother A’s lost to the LA Dodgers and Cincinnati Reds. Tony’s critics argue that his teams play tight. Superior teams quailing under the expectations, and thus, despite a sterling regular season record, failing in October. This team had no expectations. None. Every pundit ranked them eighth of the eight playoff teams, but now they are in the World Series. And La Russa got there without a huge contribution from Albert Pujols, who was intentionally walked twice last night. When you only have one great hitter, the decision to give him a free pass is an easy one, why get beat by Pujols? Make somebody else hurt you. For the Mets it was a successful strategy --- certainly cleanup hitter Juan Encarnacion didn’t hurt them --- until Yadier Molina came up in the eighth. The catcher hit 6 home runs in 417 at bats during the season, but smacked 2 homers in 23 at bats in the NLCS. For sending a ball soaring up into the sky, where rain had pelted down all night, Molina is the hero. It’s all about timing and Molina’s timing Thursday night was perfect. It wasn’t Carpenter, it was Suppan. It wasn’t Pujols, it was Molina. It wasn’t pretty, but for La Russa and the Cardinals, it was heavenly.