As a long time Met fan, this is a tough one to swallow. The Saint Louis Cardinals have won their eleventh World Series title a mere five years after they defeated the New York Mets in another dramatic seven games even though that one was for the NLCS. It was still the road to the World Series which they also won that year when they defeated the heavily favored Detroit Tigers. Of course I still remember the heartbreak, and the frustration of watching that loss. No one expected the Cards to win it that year just like no one expected them to win it this year…again.
But win it they did and in so much dramatic fashion coming from that game 6, when the Texas Rangers failed to end it being two strikeouts away. Twice. What can I say to that? The Rangers failed to get it done having two chances to do so. Feliz didn’t get the save. Nelson Cruz didn’t catch a ball that should have been caught. So with game seven the Cardinals get their chance to put Chris Carpenter to pitch and what does he do? He continued his postseason undefeated streak.
I have to agree with Gregg Miller who wrote in his own column Who’s Huge in Sports “I think everyone sensed that after blowing two different run leads late in game 6, it would be too much for the Rangers to overcome and comeback and win game 7, despite leading 2-0 in the game.” That was true enough. We can debate on so many things the Rangers could have done differently, but the bottom line is they failed to get the win during two crucial opportunities.
What a tough pill to swallow. A very bitter one indeed. But I have to give those darn Cardinals their due. They refused to lose. They kept coming back. I wasn’t surprised that they would give the Rangers bullpen some trouble, but in no way did I expect them to beat them. Not when they were a strike away from elimination not once but twice. I cannot stress that enough.
It’s exactly what they did. They came back to win game 6, and went on to win game 7 in the way one is expected to do after coming back so dramatically. With so much resiliency. That never say die attitude I still wish my New York Mets had shown.
My condolences to Texas Ranger fans. Congratulations to the Saint Louis Cardinals 2011 World Series Champions.