The Baseball Desert

Sunday, August 08, 2004

Tempting fate

It's a good thing Larry Walker didn't get traded to Boston - Red Sox Nation would have an apoplectic fit if they read that their new star signing had cancelled a planned October fishing trip because of the playoffs. However, the comment doesn't seem to have affected the Cards, who won a tight game against the Mets in dramatic fashion yesterday.

Kris Benson and Woody Williams each pitched seven great innings, and in the end it all came down to the bottom of the ninth. The Cardinals had runners on second and third with two outs, with pinch-hitter Larry Walker due up (Walker had made his first appearance in a Cardinals uniform in the seventh inning, getting a standing ovation both before and after striking out - welcome to a great baseball town, Larry!). Mets reliever Mike Stanton decided to walk Walker to get to rookie Yadier Molina. In the FOX booth Tim McCarver (who was starting to get on my nerves after nine innings) was saying that it was the wrong move, but it seemed to make sense to me. Molina swung at the first pitch from Stanton - shattering both his bat and my dreams of becoming a baseball analyst - and looped the game-winning RBI single into shallow left field. Like Maddux's effort in San Francisco, Molina's hit wasn't pretty, but it got the job done.

Great ballgame, great team. Larry was probably right about that fishing trip...