Last night was, without a doubt, a memorable night for most baseball fans. Both wild cards were up for grabs in what was probably one of the more exciting finishes for a regular season in recent memory.
First we had the Tampa Bay Rays getting a Tom Glavine 2007esk performance completely taking them out of the game. Then, with some help from the Yankees, (Joe Girardi insisted he would not use his key relievers) the Rays rallied to beat the Yankees 8-7.
Then, the Red Sox had the lead before a late game rain delay, only to have Jonathan Papalbon blow the save in the 9th and lose to the Orioles.
The Braves took a one run lead into the 9th inning against the Phillies until another big time closer, Craig Kimbrel and his 46 saves, couldn't find the plate in a game the Phillies eventually won.
Then, in the least dramatic game, Chris Carpenter threw a complete game shutout to easily defeat the Astros.
I haven't seen a season end with that much action in recent years. Maybe someone can bring up some other times but not many I can think of in recent years. Of course, Met fans have the finishes of 2007 and 2008. The Twins/ Tigers play-in game was good a couple of years ago and so was the Padres/ Rockies game in 2008. What is interesting to me is how with 2 playoff spots on the line, there were 3 blown leads in the 8th or 9th inning and 3 of the 4 games were won in the last at bat.
Now that its over it is time to annoint the 2011 Boston Red Sox AND the 2011 Atlanta Braves as the new co-owners of the biggest September chokes in MLB history. Move over 1964 Phillies and 2007 Mets.
First we had the Tampa Bay Rays getting a Tom Glavine 2007esk performance completely taking them out of the game. Then, with some help from the Yankees, (Joe Girardi insisted he would not use his key relievers) the Rays rallied to beat the Yankees 8-7.
Then, the Red Sox had the lead before a late game rain delay, only to have Jonathan Papalbon blow the save in the 9th and lose to the Orioles.
The Braves took a one run lead into the 9th inning against the Phillies until another big time closer, Craig Kimbrel and his 46 saves, couldn't find the plate in a game the Phillies eventually won.
Then, in the least dramatic game, Chris Carpenter threw a complete game shutout to easily defeat the Astros.
I haven't seen a season end with that much action in recent years. Maybe someone can bring up some other times but not many I can think of in recent years. Of course, Met fans have the finishes of 2007 and 2008. The Twins/ Tigers play-in game was good a couple of years ago and so was the Padres/ Rockies game in 2008. What is interesting to me is how with 2 playoff spots on the line, there were 3 blown leads in the 8th or 9th inning and 3 of the 4 games were won in the last at bat.
Now that its over it is time to annoint the 2011 Boston Red Sox AND the 2011 Atlanta Braves as the new co-owners of the biggest September chokes in MLB history. Move over 1964 Phillies and 2007 Mets.
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