Game time is almost here, and I wanted to get these out there before the first pitch.
There hasn’t been a Game seven in the World Series since the Rally Monkey Angels beat Dusty Baker’s Giants back in 2002. The nine-year stretch without a Game seven is the longest in the history of the World Series. We we’re overdue for one of these, so let’s hope it lives up to the hype.
When I was born in 1968, the Cardinals were a perfect 6-0 in Game sevens (they won in 1926, 1931, 1934, 1946, 1964, and 1967). In my lifetime, though, they’re just 1-3 (winning in 1982, but losing in 1968, 1985, and 1987). If the Cardinals don’t win tonight, I’m sorry.
The best Game seven memory I have is from 2001. I was in Huatulco, Mexico, and my wife and I were having dinner in this little Mexican town when Alfonso Soriano hit a home run to put the Yankees up late in the game. As he was circling the bases, we decided that the Series was over, but once we got back to our resort I turned on the television anyway. I was then treated to the dual beauty of moonlight over a tropical bay, and a Yankees collapse in the ninth inning. It was a sweet evening, indeed.
In 1987, the Cardinals jumped out to an early 2-0 lead. In the next half inning, the Twins got one of the runs back to stay in the game, and they eventually scored later in the game and won the Series. A big hit was delivered by one Steve Lombardozzi, a career .233 hitter who somehow hit .412 in that World Series. When the Twins returned to the Series in 1991–this time beating the Braves in seven games–Lombardozzi was out of baseball altogether.
And finally, Gary Carter was the only Mets regular player to go 0-4 in Game seven of the 1986 World Series. His heroics in the series came the night before, when his rather harmless-looking single with two outs in the tenth inning of Game six turned into an inferno that swallowed Bill Buckner and the Boston Red Sox. The Win Probability for the Red Sox when Carter stepped in was at 99%. But without a game clock, anything truly can happen in baseball.
Hope you enjoy tonight’s game!
Blue Batting Helmet 