I've witnessed a few pennant races in my day, but I don't think I've seen one quite like the beauty that was the 2011 race for the post season. I've seen them go down to the last day of the season, and in a few cases, beyond. What I hadn't seen until this year was two playoff spots go down, not only to the last game, but to the last inning.
The Red Sox entered September with a nine game lead in the American League wildcard race. It seemed all but assured that the Yankees and the Red Sox would be in the post season yet again. The National League wildcard seemed to be firmly held by the Atlanta Braves, a team that surprised many through the course of the season. These two positions turned out to be anything but a sure thing.
By the time each team had completed their 161st game, the Braves were tied with the surging Cardinals for the National League wildcard and the Tampa Rays had evened things up with the struggling Red Sox in the American League. It all came down to September 28th, the last day of the season. Phillies vs. Braves .. Cardinals vs. Astros .. Yankees vs. Rays .. Red Sox vs. Orioles.
I was staying with a friend at the time, and made it known in no uncertain terms that if the games were close, I had to watch them. As the night unfolded, it was obvious early on that the Cardinals were going to win their game, and they cruised to a tidy 8-0 win over the Astros. The Yankees took an early lead over Tampa, and it looked as though the Red Sox, despite one of the worst September performances in recent history, may only need a victory over the lowly Orioles to squeak into the post-season. The Braves game was tight and until the 7th it looked like a tie break was in the works, but the Phillies evened up the game in the 9th inning, sending it to extras.
Even though the Braves game was close, I spent most of my time watching the Red Sox game, hoping that they would conclude their epic collapse and miss the post-season. The Yankees game seemed to be over and it looked like the Rays were done. After five innings, it was 3-2 Red Sox, and the Yankees were up 7-0.
During the 7th inning in Baltimore, the rain started to fall, so I flipped to the Yankees game. Shortly after that, the Rays struck. In the 8th inning, they scored 6 runs, capped by a 2-run homer by Evan Longoria, and all of a sudden it was a ball game again. An inning later, Dan Johnson homered to tie the game 7-7 to send it to extra innings. By this time, the Yankees had used ten pitchers and most of their A players were in the clubhouse. With the game in the hands of reliever Scott Proctor, things all of a sudden looked to be in Tampa's favour.
I didn't see the end of the Phillies game, but in the top of the 13th inning, Hunter Pence blooped a pitch into the outfield for an RBI single. The Braves failed to score and the Phils won 4-3. The Braves were done and the Cardinals were in.
For the next hour I flipped back and forth furiously as the Yankees and Rays went to extra innings and the Orioles and Red Sox resumed. As I sat and watched, I wondered when Scott Proctor would make a mistake that the Rays could take advantage of, and if the fragile Red Sox could hold on to their precarious lead.
The ninth rolled around in Baltimore with the Red Sox still clinging to a 3-2 lead. Jonathan Papelbon, one of the league's most reliable closers, came on with the Red Sox season hanging in the balance. Papelbon looked to have his A game, striking out the first two batters he faced. I thought at this point that the Red Sox had a chance. The next better doubled down the right field line, putting the tying run in scoring position. Nolan Reimold then tied the game with a ground rule double. I couldn't believe it.
The decisive play of the game will always stick with me for a number of reasons. With two out and the season on the line, Robert Andino, a name you may never hear again, hit a soft sinking liner to shallow left field. For a second, I thought Carl Crawford was going to get to it, but as he started to slide feet first I could see he wasn't. The ball short hopped him .. then he dropped it .. and before you knew it the game was over. His throw to the plate was no where near in time. The Orioles won.
As soon as my fit of laughter ceased, I immediately switched back to the Yankees game. The game was still tied 7-7 in the 12th inning. The Yankees were threatening, men on first and third and no one out. The runner on third was minor league call-up Greg Golson, and he made a fatal error. This mistake was largely overshadowed by what would follow, but it ultimately kept the Rays season alive. He wandered too far off third on a sharp ground ball to third, fielded by Evan Longoria, and he was done. He vainly tried to dive back to the bag, but Longoria tagged him for the first out. Dickerson struck out and Gardner grounded out to end the inning.
In the bottom half with one out, Scott Proctor finally made the mistake that I was waiting for. With the count 2-2, he served up a fastball to Longoria that barely cleared the fence and just barely stayed fair down the left field line for his second homer of the game. Fifteen minutes after the Red Sox crushing loss, the Rays won.
This night of baseball left me speechless. Two extra inning games and another decided in the bottom of the 9th. Talk about dramatic. Not only that, but the two American League games ended within minutes of each other, and both in walk-off fashion. It was one of those nights of baseball you see once in a blue moon and reminds you of why it is such a great game. You never know what is going to happen, and there are no sure things in the game of baseball.
-matt
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