Collideoscope

Posted by: kdc

This is why we follow sports – unexpected moments with everything in the balance. Later we realize that those moments don’t just define games, but careers and lives (as well as the alcohol intake of millions).

It was like a movie really: 2 outs, 2 men on base, Astros winning 4-2 in the top of the 9th. Lidge, the Astros (perhaps the game’s?) best reliever, was pitching, having just walked Jim Edmonds after David Eckstein had started a rally w/a poke single between shortsop and third. Minute Maid rocked. The Fox sports crew was already showing past footage of the Astros playoff futility in delightful counterpoint to the current moment anticipating World Series joy.

The only problem? Albert Pujols, the game's most dangerous hitter not on steroids, was at the plate. The Astros huddled at the mound w/manager Phil Garner. It had to be a simple conversation: Do we walk him to load the bases for Reggie Sanders? Lidge must've insisted he could get Pujols out & ensure a trip to the World Series. This is why we watch sports - the National League's best reliever against baseball's best hitter. How could Garner doubt him now?

Lidge blew a strike by Pujols.

Lidge threw a ball.

Minute Maid rocked. Just rocked. Everyone was on their feet, the Astros dugout rang out with gleeful players.

Then Lidge threw a slider down the middle.

And just like that, Mighty Mo swung Red.

It was like Pujols was hitting a tennis ball. It sailed higher and higher, eventually pinging above the railroad tracks over the left field wall. Minute Maid swallowed its collective tongue and
literally stood petrified in an awed silence.

Pujols savored this one, savored it a lot, ambling slowly down the first base line in a watchful gaze until it pinged, then ricocheted into the stands below the tracks. Like the total pro he is, he ran the bases w/out fanfare and touched home plate.

Cardinals 5, Astros 4

The baseball gods smiled and the Astros first two outs went to - who else? - Pujols, who beat each batter to first base. The final out was a fly to right field, but the game had been long over.

As the Cardinals congratulated each other, only a 3 man TV crew went onto the field for closer shots. The stands remained an unmoving forest. Fox's post game duo couldn't figure out what to say except the Astros still just needed to win 1 of 2 instead of 1 of 3. The script had been shredded.

During the congratulations, manager LaRussa cupped Pujols neck after the game and whispered in his ear. He just whispered 3 words: “The Great Pujols.”

*****

I would never presume that the Astros, a team of great character and superior pitching, are out of this series. I said all along this would go 6 (& now I plan on it going 7).

I do know that St. Louis will be The Red Sea on Wednesday, the likes of which few have ever seen. I am not a huge baseball fan (I prefer the manlier pursuits of football), but St. Louis is a baseball town bar none. In a metro area of 2.5 million people, it regularly draws over 3 million people a season. The call-in shows start discussing Spring Training immediately after New Year's. Expect Busch Stadium, one lose from the wrecking ball, to be rocking in Red.

And the one intangible the Astros have been able to leverage this entire series (and to their credit) - momentum - is now wearing Red.

As Pujols said, "We just need to win two before we lose one."

Only a fool would bet against him now.

*****

* Tip of the hat to the eloquent Lamont who mentioned the "tennis ball" analogy to me as we gushed about the new Great One.