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The most interesting pitch to dissect from the 2011 season is the 1-2 pitch that Texas Rangers closer Neftali Feliz threw to David Freese with two on, two outs and the Rangers leading the St. Louis Cardinals 7-5 in Game 6 of the World Series.

The image above shows the location of that pitch -- a 98 mph fastball on the outer third of the plate. Our department has a pitch-by-pitch database, with which we can look at every pitch thrown to an approximate location. This isn’t perfect science, given the imperfections of the Pitch F/X system, but it’s the best we can do at the moment.

In replicating this situation -- a two-strike pitch to a right-handed hitter in which Feliz threw a fastball -- we found six pitches, prior to the one to Freese, thrown to that approximate spot. Three of the pitches were fouled away. The other three were at-bat enders.

On May 7, the Rangers led the Yankees by the same 7-5 score with two outs in the ninth inning. Feliz had a little bit of breathing room in that one, with no one on base. He threw a 96 mph fastball that Derek Jeter grounded harmlessly to short for the final out in a Rangers win.

In June, he got Jason Bourgeois of the Houston Astros to ground out to second base; in July, he got Josh Willingham, then of the Oakland Athletics, to fly out to left center. Additionally, on June 12, 2010, Feliz gave up a pair of hits to Jonathan Lucroy and Rickie Weeks of the Milwaukee Brewers on 1-2 counts.

Since then, he had thrown 84 pitches on a 1-2 count to a right-handed hitter. He allowed a man to reach base on only one of those pitches, when he hit Allen Craig with a 1-2 curveball three days prior. He got 36 batters out (two hit into double plays) with those 84 pitches and allowed no hits. Of those 36, 16 struck out, most recently Austin Jackson, who swung through a 101 mph 1-2 fastball in Game 1 of the ALCS.

On this occasion, Freese would make contact. As it had been for Freese during the postseason, it was very solid contact. By our research, and again this is very unscientific, it was the second time he made contact against a two-strike fastball thrown to that spot by a righty (he also grounded out to first base against the Brewers in April 2010).

That brings us to the second aspect of the play.

The ball took off on a path between a line drive and fly ball to right field. It had a velocity of 101.4 mph and reached an apex of 60 feet; I’m told neither number rates particularly high. It hung in the air for four seconds. And it stayed in the ballpark, and that gave Rangers right fielder Nelson Cruz a shot at catching it.

What was Cruz’s chance of catching that ball? That’s a great question, and while we can’t answer it exactly, we can touch on a few pertinent pieces of information related to it.

Cruz rated above-average via BIS's Plus-Minus metric, at catching balls hit to the deepest part of right field. Over the previous three seasons, Cruz saved his team 29 bases on balls hit to the deepest parts of ballparks, though in 2011, he was only a plus-three. There was a time in his career in which Cruz had difficulties with right-field walls. BIS has logged 12 instances since 2009 in which Cruz either went back to the fence, and missed a ball that rolled past him, or had other wall-related issues trying to make a catch. However, only one of them came in the 2011 season.

Twice in the postseason, Cruz made a catch going back on a ball hit to deep right field, once against Brandon Inge in Game 6 of the ALCS, and then again against Albert Pujols in Game 2 of the World Series.

In this instance, Cruz reached for the ball. He came very close to it but missed. Two runs scored. Game tied. A few hours later, the series was tied. A day later, the Cardinals were celebrating a championship.

It was one pitch that made the difference between baseball jubilation and baseball devastation. One pitch with all sorts of fascinating intrigue.

The thing they tell you about baseball is that it’s a marathon and not a sprint. This isn’t a game for sudden changes, rash decisions or riding a hot streak for the whole season. This is a game where only collapses are noticed, and even then they are usually a long, drawn-out process.

Yet, on one late, rainy September night, the marathon all but finished, it’s those precious last few hours that will decide everything. Will the Red Sox and Braves complete historic collapses? Will the Rays and Cardinals complete miracle runs?

We believe we’re in for a wild night. We want to believe we’re in for a wild night. Even if such anticipation often ends in predictable disappointment, maybe tonight won’t, maybe the possibilities that are there will come to pass. Maybe the Orioles will beat the Red Sox (again), maybe the Rays will come back against the Yankees, maybe Craig Kimbrel will blow the one save that really matters. We believe because baseball tells us it’s OK to believe, because Kirk Gibson showed us that you don’t need both legs to hit, and Jim Abbott showed us that you don’t need both hands to pitch.

We believe because we can.

* * * *

The season starts in March.

That alone should be telling; in the 85-year history of the old Yankee Stadium, no game was ever played in March.* Three seasons into the life of the new Yankee Stadium, and a crowd wearing so many layers it ends up waddling more than walking, packs into the concourses before the NCAA has yet to crown a men’s basketball champion.

The Yankees aren’t the only team to open on March 31; it’s a new thing they’re trying this season so that maybe the World Series ends before Halloween, the way it used to when you were still a child.** Still, while they’re introducing the 2011 Yankees, there’s some feeling this is a second-place team -- they missed out on Cliff Lee, missed out on Carl Crawford and signed Freddy Garcia, Bartolo Colon, Russell Martin and Eric Chavez. There isn’t the certainty here there is in Boston, or in Philadelphia.

It’s perhaps strange to think the biggest move of Philadelphia’s offseason was the acquisition of one single pitcher. Sign Cliff Lee. Keep everyone healthy. Win. It’s a simple formula, and it works well enough to produce the best record in the majors, the only team with 100 wins.

Boston, though, is a different story.

*There was supposed to be a March opener in 2008, but the weather intervened.

**Although the World Series has kept happening at a later and later date, November baseball itself first came about after a week of the regular season was lost in the fallout of 9/11.

* * * *

If you lose the first game of a baseball season, it’s no big deal. Sure, you prefer to start on a high note, but even the best baseball teams in history have lost close to 50 games. Things happen. A pitcher has a bad day, the offense struggles to hit in the cold damp of early spring. So when the Red Sox lose their first game, there are no alarm bells ringing, no bridges or ledges to check. If Carl Crawford goes hitless in four at-bats -- with the hat trick -- you shrug your shoulders and wait for tomorrow.

When you lose the next game, however, and the game after that, and the one after that, and so on until you’ve been swept in the first two series you’ve played, you’ve gone from unconcerned to outright panic. It takes a while in baseball to notice trends; sabermetricians and statistics buffs will tell you that the ultimate sin in baseball analysis is falling victim to the fallacies of small sample size. One good start cannot outdo a season of poor ones (ask A.J. Burnett), and one poor start cannot undo a season of good ones (ask Justin Verlander). Oh-and-one isn’t a concern, but 0-6 is, and by the time you get to 2-10, you’ve become familiar with the maxim: You can’t win a pennant in April, but you can lose one.

By the time Sept. 28 arrives, there’s one overriding question regarding the Red Sox: What if they had won just a few more games in April? What if they had won just one more game during those long nights?

* * * *

The Red Sox aren’t the only team to struggle out of the gate.

The season’s already seven games old by the time the Rays take their first lead.

* * * *



On April 2, Erick Almonte plays in a major league baseball game. It’s his first major league game since 2003.

He has four at-bats, and in three of them, he doesn’t reach base. The other at-bat is a home run.

Bartolo Colon returns from a year out of the majors. He pitches 164.1 innings for the Yankees (the team with the endless payroll signs him for just $900,000) and posts a 4.00 ERA. The last time he threw even 100 innings in one season? 2005.

If the Yankees strike gold with Colon, what do the Giants find with Ryan Vogelsong?

In the six years from 2001 to 2006, Vogelsong, pitching for the Giants and Pirates, had just one season with an ERA under 5.00, and just two with an ERA under 6.00.

In 28 starts with the Giants in 2011, the 33-year-old Vogelsong’s ERA will finish at 2.71.

It’s the fourth-best ERA in the National League.

* * * *

On April 30, for the White Sox, Adam Dunn is hitting .160/.300/.267, with two home runs. It’s a slow start, but other players have April slumps too -- Nick Swisher hits just .226/.340/.286 in the season’s first month.

Swisher will ultimately recover from his slump, and end the season with an .822 OPS. It’s not an All-Star season, but it’s perfectly respectable, the type of season some teams would kill to have from just one of their hitters.

Adam Dunn, however, does not recover.

His final line of .159/.292/.277 is, in some respects, worse than his April line, a historically bad season for a hitter, especially a player known for perennially finishing with 40 home runs ends the season with just 11.

* * * *

Dunn doesn’t hit home runs in 2011, but plenty of other players do.

Jose Bautista, as if to prove that he’s not a one-year aberration, does a Barry Bonds impression in the first half and finishes the season with 43 home runs. Curtis Granderson has 41. Mark Teixeira and Matt Kemp both have 39.

Everyone knows Derek Jeter will get his 3,000th hit in 2011, they just don’t know when. They do know, however, that the 3,000th hit won’t be a home run.

Except, it is.

What’s more, the fan who catches it, Christian Lopez, who can ask for the world in return for that ball, asks for absolutely nothing.

Then, on another night: Jim Thome hits his 599th and 600th home runs in the same game, giving his fans in Minnesota a lone night to cheer.

* * * *



The last time the Pirates finished a season with a winning record was 1992 -- when a man named William Jefferson Clinton was on the Democrats’ ticket for the White House.

The Pirates had a rookie pitcher that year who did quite well, with an 8-1 record and an ERA of 2.14 in 13 games started. His name? Tim Wakefield.

In 2011, when Tim Wakefield will notch his 200th win, there are three separate occasions in July, where, for a total of five nights, the Pirates go to sleep in first place.

The Pirates are undone by a 19-inning marathon with the Braves, a game that Scott Proctor actually wins, a game that, believe it or not, doesn’t have a position player pitching for either team, a game that sees a combined 39 runners left on base ... a game that ends on a blown call at home plate.

Pittsburgh fades into the quiet summer night. The Braves linger. For a little while, anyway.

* * * *

After losing 97 games in 2010 the Diamondbacks are branded underachievers. That young crop of Justin Upton, Stephen Drew, Miguel Montero, et al, has failed to mature. The bullpen is so noxious that someone jokes that the next time the phone rings, the bullpen coach should just let it go to voicemail*.

Kirk Gibson, who might know a little something about believing, somehow figures it out. Or, rather, if he doesn’t figure it out, it’s under his watch that his players do.

Arizona starts to win, and then they win again, and again, and when San Francisco can’t overcome injuries to Buster Posey and Brian Wilson, the Diamondbacks sense an opportunity.

They bite.

*via @Haudricort

* * * *



After 2010, one might think the Diamondbacks learned their lesson about bullpens.

Relief pitchers are supposed to have short lifespans.

They are supposed to come up, throw fire, be untouchable for a season or two, be emphatic in their celebration, and then fade into a sort of obscurity, only being remembered for that one World Series they helped their team win -- or, more often, lose.

They are not supposed to stick around long enough for 600 saves.

Yet, on a September afternoon, in what has been an unlikely season for the Yankees, a season of roster patches and Curtis Granderson home runs, Mariano Rivera stands on the mound, notches save No. 2 602, the all-time record, and celebrates with a handshake and hugs with his teammates.

Jorge Posada has to push the Yankees’ closer back to the mound, and force him to enjoy the adulation he’s earned.

* * * *

If only the Red Sox had Rivera.

If only the Braves had Rivera.

On Sept. 5, the Red Sox (they don’t know it yet, but The Collapse has already started) have a seven-game lead over Tampa Bay for the AL wild-card spot. The AL East, with the Yankees leading by just 2.5 games, is not out of reach.

On Sept. 5, the Braves lead the Giants and Cardinals by 8.5 games for the NL wild-card berth. The Phillies are too good for the NL East title to be realistic, but the Braves have such a cushion on the wild-card that the playoffs seem inevitable.

Baseball, though, is a marathon, and no one sees trends right away. The Red Sox lose a game here, the Braves lose a game there.

It’s OK, though -- it would take a miracle for the Cardinals or the Rays or the Giants or the Angels to pose any sort of threat. The Rays waited too long to call up Desmond Jennings and Matt Moore. The Cardinals are too busy worrying about Albert Pujols’ impending free agency. It can’t happen.

You know it can’t happen. There’s no possible way. It’s just a September slump.

Until it’s not.

Until you look up one late September day and realize the Red Sox need the Yankees to beat the Rays, not just so that their cushion doesn’t get any smaller, but instead, for their very survival.

Until you look up one late September day and realize that the Cardinals might actually have an easier time beating the Astros than the Braves will have beating the Phillies.

Until you look up one late September day and realize that barely averaging three runs a game for a month, even in a year of depressed offense, isn’t going to cut it when the other team has Albert Pujols (and even when they don’t).

Until you look up one late September day and realize that the Yankees, having clinched everything there possibly is available to clinch in the regular season (playoffs, division, home field), the Yankees have nothing to play for except the pride of not seeing the Red Sox in the playoffs, and the Rays now have everything on the table.

Until you look up, and believe.

* * * *



So we believe.

We believe even as the Braves are just two outs away.

We believe even though the Yankees lead 7-0 lead in the eighth inning.

We believe even though the Red Sox have the Orioles down to their last strike.

There’s no Kirk Gibson one-legged home run on this night, no Jim Abbott no-hitter, but we don’t need them.

We have 13 innings in Atlanta, 12 in Tampa and nine in Baltimore, maybe the most dramatic of all.

We get a two-strike, two-out, bottom-of-the-ninth pinch-hit home run from Dan Johnson. We get a two-strike, two-out double from Nolan Reimold off Jonathan Papelbon.

We get a Robert Andino single, a Carl Crawford misplay, and an Orioles win, and then, not five minutes later, we get an Evan Longoria home run just to the right side of the left-field foul pole. A cheap shot, one might argue on another day. Not tonight.

This is the night of the baseball miracles. A month long in the making, a month long to notice, but tonight they’re here, right before our eyes.

We believe because it’s real.

* * * *



Matt Moore has had one career start. Just one, and he’s tapped to start Game 1 of the ALDS for Tampa Bay, with his team on the road, with his team facing the offense of the Texas Rangers, at Arlington. The Rays can’t possibly win this game. Moore can’t possibly succeed with this sort of pressure.

Until he does.

One game won’t make a career, but we believe in courage.

Josh Collmenter’s a rookie, too. He’s a rookie, and he’s on the mound with his team down two games to none. Win or go home, kid, it all hangs on you.

Seven innings, two hits, one run, and the Diamondbacks will live to play another game.

We believe in hope.

Jorge Posada is not a rookie.

The last season of his contract has been an unmitigated disaster, on the field and, for a time, off it, but Posada battles.

His .429/.579/.571 batting line in the ALDS is the best of any Yankees’ hitter. Better than Robinson Cano or Granderson, better than Jeter or Alex Rodriguez, better than Teixeira or Swisher.

We believe in fight.

The Phillies sail through the regular season. Pitching and more pitching, a Roy Halladay-Cliff Lee-Cole Hamels starting three is a dream rotation; the Phillies get spoiled even further with Vance Worley and the best team ERA in the majors.

With that staff, the last image of their season isn’t supposed to be Ryan Howard clutching his ankle after rupturing his Achilles, but that’s what it is.

We believe in unexpected.

The Brewers aren’t afraid of Nyjer Morgan or Yuniesky Betancourt or Mark Kotsay, even when other teams shy away, even when the narrative is about Morgan’s character or Betancourt’s defense or Kotsay’s (lack of) hitting. They aren’t afraid to trade for Zack Greinke and Shaun Marcum, even if it costs their entire farm system.

They have one season left to try to get Prince Fielder a World Series ring, the same Prince Fielder who hits a home run in the All-Star Game that will guarantee home-field advantage for whichever National League team makes it to the World Series.

If there is a season for the Brewers, this is supposed to be it.

We believe in going all-out.

Justin Verlander’s year has been so good that the debate isn’t whether or not he should win the Cy Young; it’s whether or not he should win the MVP. Yet, even with that performance, the move that puts the Tigers over the edge, that moves them from possible AL Central winners to probable American League contenders, is a trade for a pitcher who was 3-12 with a team that would go on to lose 95 games.

It isn’t Verlander to whom Leyland gives the ball in Game 5 of the ALDS; it’s Doug Fister.

We believe in second chances.

The World Series runners-up from 2010 have something to prove in 2011, and even while all the attention is on the Red Sox and the Phillies and the Yankees and the Brewers, the Rangers are still there, winning game after game.

This, we are told, is the Year of the Napoli. The Angels favored Jeff Mathis -- he of the career .194/.257/.301 batting line -- so Mike Napoli went to Texas instead, went to Arlington and posted a 171 OPS+ for the season, and then he kept hitting in the postseason, too.

Josh Hamilton’s story is such that if you pitched it as a Hollywood script they would tell you no, things like that don’t happen, that you can’t come all the way back from drug and alcohol problems to hit 28 home runs in the first round of the Home Run Derby in 2008 and then lead your team to the World Series in 2010 and 2011, that you can’t hit the extra-inning, go-ahead home run in the 10th inning of Game 6, and yet this is exactly what happens.

We believe in redemption.

The Cardinals are 10.5 games out in August and 8.5 back in September. Adam Wainwright doesn’t throw a single pitch for them all season. Ryan Franklin loses his job as the team’s closer and on June 17 Chris Carpenter is 1-7 with an ERA of 4.47. Matt Holliday loses his appendix and busts his finger; Albert Pujols breaks his wrist.

The Cardinals shouldn’t make the playoffs. They shouldn’t make the Phillies go five games, and then win because of Carpenter's complete game shutout (not when Tony La Russa’s managing, anyway). They shouldn’t beat the Brewers in Milwaukee, and they certainly shouldn’t have home-field advantage in the World Series.

They shouldn’t, but they do, and then they do more.

Albert Pujols echoes Reggie Jackson and Babe Ruth, hitting three home runs in one World Series game, arguably the best single-game offensive performance in postseason history.

In Game 6, the Cardinals are twice down to their last at-bat, twice down to their last strike, twice one pitch away from losing the World Series. Each time, the Cardinals come through, as though the idea of losing the game never occurs, and a team that loses its ace before Opening Day forces a Game 7 in the World Series.

Baseball is a marathon, not a sprint. This is what they tell you. One game can’t tell you anything, one game can’t make or break you, but this is what happens in the World Series. One game is all that stands between St. Louis and a World Series championship that few, if any, expected.

One game, and the Cardinals have Chris Carpenter on the mound.

We believe in impossible.

Rebecca Glass works for ESPN Stats & Information and is a contributor to ESPN New York's Yankees blog.

Congrats to the St. Louis Cardinals! On Monday's Baseball Today, Mark Simon and I gathered to not only wrap up what was a fantastic World Series, but discuss plenty of other news as well!

1. We talk about how Game 7 went all Cardinals after the Rangers scored first, and look ahead to what these teams could look like in 2012. Could they meet again?

2. Breaking news: Cards skipper Tony La Russa steps down. We discuss our surprise and what’s next for the champs, but also put La Russa’s career in perspective.

3. Would Albert Pujols really bolt St. Louis for more money? It’s time to really talk free agents, and we give some predictions on landing places.

4. For those not familiar with the statistic Win Probability Added, Mark gives a cool primer about the historic nature of Game 6.

5. Don’t miss the "Baseball Tonight" Gold Glove awards show Tuesday night on ESPN2. Mark looks ahead to potential winners.

So check us out on Monday’s Baseball Today podcast! No, we’re not done yet! We’re never really done. Our next show is scheduled for Wednesday with me and Keith Law, as we delve further into the offseason. Thanks for listening!

ST. LOUIS -- You fight through the monotony of fielding practice in spring training. The sore elbows, the back pain, the starts when you leave your fastball in the bullpen, and maybe a surgery or two at some point in your career.

Chris Carpenter missed an entire season with shoulder surgery. He missed another season after injuring his elbow on Opening Day and undergoing Tommy John surgery. When the St. Louis Cardinals reached the World Series in 2004, he couldn’t pitch due to nerve problem in his right biceps.

A couple days ago, Tony La Russa wasn’t sure if Carpenter would be able to pitch Game 7. For one thing, the Cardinals had to win Game 6. La Russa and pitching coach Dave Duncan didn’t officially decide to go with Carpenter until Friday, going with their staff ace on three days’ rest.

There was a time, of course, when that wouldn’t have been a big deal. Christy Mathewson once tossed three shutouts in the World Series over a six-day span. Sandy Koufax pitched a three-hit shutout in 1965 on two days’ rest. Jack Morris’ famous 10-inning shutout in 1991 came on three days’ rest.

But Carpenter had only done that once before in his career -- three weeks ago, in Game 2 of the Division Series against the Philadelphia Phillies. He lasted three innings. It wasn’t pretty. He said he’d learned a few things from that experience. La Russa made the call: Go with the big guy, the 6-foot-6, 36-year-old veteran from New Hampshire with a scruffy growth of beard, and on this day, in the biggest game of his career, a toolbox full of pitches.

The St. Louis Cardinals beat the Texas Rangers 6-2 in a Game 7 of the World Series that couldn’t match the impossible drama and excitement of Game 6. The Rangers played hard, but their pitching staff simply ran out of gas, exemplified by the Cardinals’ fifth inning, when they scored two runs without getting the ball out of the infield -- without even getting a hit. Rangers pitchers walked three batters and hit two more, turning a 3-2 game into a 5-2 deficit. Critics will put a lot of blame on manager Ron Washington for the Rangers’ defeat, and deservedly so, but in the end the Rangers simply couldn’t throw enough strikes and couldn’t get the final out they needed in Game 6.

On this night, however, the Cardinals made the big plays: David Freese with another clutch hit, a two-out stinging double into the gap in left-center to score two runs in the first (giving the World Series MVP a postseason record 21 RBIs); Allen Craig with a go-ahead home run in the third, fighting back from a 1-2 count to hit a 3-2 Matt Harrison fastball into the St. Louis bullpen in right-center; Craig later robbing Nelson Cruz of a home run.

But the key was Carpenter. "Dave had a real heart-to-heart with him to gauge just how ready he was to pitch just physically, not mentally, but physically," La Russa said before the game. He then added, "The last thing is ... what he means to our club. I think our guys feel better about him starting than anybody."

Carpenter pitched into the seventh and became the first pitcher to win two do-or-die games in one postseason, after also winning Game 5 of the division series. No, it won't quite go down alongside Mathewson and Koufax and Morris, but it was a terrific effort, especially since he almost didn’t get out of the first inning. The first four batters all reached base as Carpenter fell behind each hitter. But Ian Kinsler slipped while taking an aggressive secondary lead and Yadier Molina picked him off. The play proved enormously costly when Elvis Andrus walked and Josh Hamilton and Michael Young doubled to right field. Carpenter struck out Adrian Beltre and got Cruz to ground, maybe the two key at-bats of the game.

From there, the St. Louis' bullpen mowed down the Rangers, Busch Stadium getting louder and louder with each out, erupting when Arthur Rhodes retired Yorvit Torrealba and Octavio Dotel struck out Kinsler, raising the decibel level when Lance Lynn fanned Beltre to end the eighth, the anticipation building into a loud chant of "Let's Go Cards!" in the ninth and the crowd releasing into a deafening explosion of joy as Jason Motte recorded the final out on a fly ball to left field.

Maybe Game 7 was over as soon Freese hit his home run onto the grass in Game 6. Many people said it was. I didn't think that was the case; I thought the Rangers had a chance. You make your own breaks, but the Rangers sure didn't catch any: Craig steps in for the injured Matt Holliday and has a great game; that 3-2 pitch to Molina with the bases loaded in the fifth could have been called a strike and changed the momentum of the game.

But give credit to Chris Carpenter and the St. Louis Cardinals, a team that could have given up in early September. A team that made the playoffs on the final day of the regular season, that needed to beat Roy Halladay just to reach the National League Championship Series, that was down to its final strike twice in Game 6, and figured out how to win the World Series. A worthy champion and one to be remembered.

* * * *

Of course, this World Series will also be remembered for the many questionable decisions by Washington, moves that led to the Rangers suffering one of the most painful defeats in World Series history. Before we get to that, keep this in mind: Rangers pitchers walked 41 batters, a World Series record worst. They walked six more in Game 7. Too many walks, too many walks.

• Washington didn't help matters by issuing another ill-timed intentional walk. I said it all series long: the intentional walks were going to come back to haunt the Rangers. A free pass to Lance Berkman hurt the Rangers in Game 6. In Game 7, Washington walked Freese with runners on second and third, which was followed by Scott Feldman's walk to Molina and then C.J. Wilson hitting Rafael Furcal to force in another run.
• I didn't necessarily have a problem with using Feldman to start the fifth. The best option might have been Mike Adams, but Washington hasn't shown a lot of confidence in Adams' ability to go more than three outs. He was hoping Feldman could get him a couple innings. (Needless to say, using Alexi Ogando would have been a likely disaster).
• Washington's decision to have Andrus bunt in the top of the fifth after Kinsler's leadoff single was odd. Down by one on the road, top of the order, giving up an out? Play for one, get none. Carpenter got Hamilton to pop out to third on a 3-1 fastball -- Freese made a nice catch as he leaned over the dugout railing and stumbled to the ground -- and struck out Young on a 1-2 cut fastball.
• In the bottom of the fourth, St. Louis up 3-2, Molina and Furcal singled with one out, bringing up Skip Schumaker and Carpenter. Washington had Feldman warming up, but it made sense to leave in Harrison at that point since Schumaker is a career .210 hitter against left-handers. Schumaker grounded out to first to move up the runners, leaving La Russa with a choice: Hit for Carpenter? There were calls on Twitter to do so. At that point he’d thrown 63 pitches, 34 for strikes, but had retired 11 of the previous 14 Rangers hitters. I thought it was too early remove Carpenter, who had settled down, and especially considering La Russa's own bullpen didn't have a lot of pitches left in it.
• In the seventh inning, Albert Pujols came up for maybe the final at-bat of his Cardinals career. Oddly, there was no chant, no standing ovation, just a bunch of flashes going off as he struck out. The crowd did stand and applaud as he walked back to the dugout after striking out.

There have been 35 Game 7s played in the World Series. They provide many of the most indelible moments in the sport’s long history: Bill Mazeroski’s home run, Jack Morris’ shutout, Luis Gonzalez’s blooper, Joaquin Andujar going nuts.

Now we have 36, the first one since the Angels beat the Giants in 2002. As Matt Harrison prepares to face Chris Carpenter, here is an abbreviated history of Game 7s, which usually feature three primary ingredients:

1. They are close. Thirteen of the 35 games were decided by one run and another seven by two runs.

2. Good pitching. There have been nine shutouts altogether, and in the past five Game 7s, no team has scored more than four runs and the team average over those five is just 2.2 runs per game.

3. The home team does well -- at least recently. It has won the past eight Game 7s. The last road team to win was the 1979 Pittsburgh Pirates.

Best pitching performances
1. Jack Morris, Twins, 1991: Ten scoreless innings. Game score: 84.

2. Sandy Koufax, Dodgers, 1965: Pitching on two days’ rest, pitched a three-hit shutout with 10 strikeouts. Game score: 88.

3. Ralph Terry, Yankees, 1962: A four-hit shutout to win 1-0. Game score: 83.

4. Johnny Podres, Dodgers, 1955. Scattered eight hits, but blanked the mighty Yankees to finally deliver a title to the Bums. Game score: 73.

5. Bret Saberhagen, Royals, 1985. The youngest pitcher to start a Game 7 (21 years, 1999 days), he only struck out two, but threw just 92 pitches in limiting the Cardinals to five hits and no walks in an 11-0 victory. Game score: 79.

Best hitting performances
1. Yogi Berra, Yankees, 1956. Only five times has a player driven in four runs in a Game 7 -- Berra and teammate Bill Skowron each did it twice, and Detroit's Paul Richards did it in 1945. Only once has a player hit two home runs, and that was Berra in 1956. He hit two-run homers in the first and third innings to stake the Yankees to a 4-0 lead, added two walks and another run scored.

2. Willie Stargell, Pirates, 1979: Went 4-for-5 with two doubles and a two-run homer in the sixth that gave the Pirates a 2-1 lead in an eventual 4-1 victory.

3. Max Carey, Pirates, 1925: Went 4-for-5 with three doubles, three runs and two RBIs in Pittsburgh's 9-7 win.

4. Ken Boyer, Cardinals, 1964: Singled and scored in the fourth, doubled and scored in the fifth, homered in the seventh.

5. Bucky Harris, Senators, 1924: Went 3-for-5 with a home run and two-run single in the eighth that tied the game.

Managerial blunders
1. Bucky Harris, Senators, 1925: Left Walter Johnson in to surrender 15 hits and nine runs -- including five over the final two innings in a 9-7 loss.

2. John McNamara, Red Sox, 1986: The game after Calvin Schiraldi helped blow Boston's 10th-inning lead, McNamara brought Schiraldi back in with the game tied in the seventh inning. He immediately gave up a home run to Ray Knight, two more hits and a wild pitch and left after recording just one out (and that was on a sacrifice bunt).

3. Dick Williams, Red Sox, 1967: He brought back ace Jim Lonborg on two days' rest and left him to give up 10 hits and seven runs in six innings.

4. Charlie Grimm, Cubs, 1945: Hank Borowy had started Game 5 and pitched four innings in relief to win Game 6, but Grimm went to the well once too often. Borowy couldn't retire a batter as the Tigers scored five runs in the top of the first.

5. Whitey Herzog, Cardinals, 1985: The Royals were already on their way to an 11-0 blowout, but Herzog never should have brought in mercurial right-hander Joaquin Andujar in relief. Andujar exploded twice at home-plate umpire Don Denkinger, leading to him and Herzog getting ejected in an embarrassing meltdown.

Managerial strokes of genius
1. Walter Alston, Dodgers, 1965: Sandy Koufax or Don Drysdale? Alston chose Koufax on two days' rest over the more rested Drysdale and Koufax pitched a three-hit shutout.

2. Tom Kelly, Twins, 1991: He left Morris in for a 10th inning. It worked out.

3. Alston, Dodgers, 1955: Leading 2-0 in the sixth, he inserted Sandy Amoros into left field and moved Jim Gilliam to second base. In that inning, Amoros made a terrific running catch of Berra's fly ball with two runners on and turned it into a double play.

4. Bucky Harris, Senators, 1924: Fearful of hot-hitting Billy Terry, who platooned at first base for the Giants, Harris started right-hander Curly Ogden (putting Terry in the starting lineup), but removed Ogden after two batters for left-hander George Mogridge. Terry went 0-for-2 against Mogridge before John McGraw finally removed him for a pinch-hitter, meaning he was out of the game as the Senators later went to right-handers in a 12-inning game.

5. Rogers Hornsby, Cardinals, 1926: Pete Alexander wasn't expecting to pitch in Game 7 after throwing a complete-game win in Game 6, but Hornsby brought him in with the Cardinals leading 3-2 and the bases loaded in the seventh. He struck out Tony Lazzeri and went the rest of the way for the save.

The roll call: Ten greatest Game 7s

10. 1962: New York Yankees 1, at San Francisco Giants 0. The Giants had runners at second and third with two outs (Roger Maris had made a terrific play in right on Willie Mays’ double to hold Felipe Alou at third). Willie McCovey smoked a line drive ... but at second baseman Bobby Richardson. Ralph Terry had the shutout and Charlie Brown later screamed, "Why couldn’t McCovey have hit the ball just three feet higher?"

9. 1975: Cincinnati Reds 4, at Boston Red Sox 3. Not remembered like the Game 6 classic, but a terrific game in its own right. The Red Sox took a 3-0 lead in the third inning when Don Gullett walked in two runs with the bases loaded. Boston would keep getting runners on, but couldn’t increase its lead; the Sox stranded nine runners and went 1-for-11 with runners in scoring position. Tony Perez hit a two-run homer over the Green Monster off Bill Lee’s slow curveball in the sixth, Pete Rose’s two-out single off Roger Moret in the seventh tied it and then Ken Griffey Sr. walked leading off the ninth against rookie Jim Burton and scored on Joe Morgan’s two-out blooper to center.

8. 1997: At Florida Marlins 3, Cleveland Indians 2 (11 innings). Jose Mesa was trying to close out Cleveland’s first World Series title since 1997, but the Marlins tied it on Craig Counsell’s sacrifice fly in the ninth. In the 11th, following Tony Fernandez’s error, Edgar Renteria singled in the winning run with two outs.

7. 1955: Brooklyn Dodgers 2, at New York Yankees 0. The Dodgers finally beat the Yankees and won their only World Series title in Brooklyn as Johnny Podres scattered eight hits. Gil Hodges drove in both runs for Brooklyn, but the game’s key play came in the sixth when left fielder Sandy Amoros -- who had just entered for defense -- made a running catch of Yogi Berra’ fly ball with two runners on and doubled Gil McDougald off first base.

6. 1912: At Boston Red Sox 3, New York Giants 2 (10 innings). The Giants scored once in the top of the 10th but Hall of Famer Christy Mathewson couldn’t hold off the Red Sox. Center fielder Fred Snodgrass dropped a fly ball to begin the inning, Tris Speaker’s RBI single tied it and then Larry Gardner’s sac fly scored Steve Yerkes with the winning run.

5. 1946: At St. Louis Cardinals 4, Boston Red Sox 3. St. Louis led 3-1 in the eighth but Dom DiMaggio's two-run double tied it. With two outs in the bottom of the inning, Harry Walker doubled to score Enos Slaughter ahead of the relay throw from shortstop Johnny Pesky (who might have hesitated slightly), the play becoming known as "Slaughter's Mad Dash."

4. 1924: At Washington Senators 4, Pittsburgh Pirates 3 (12 innings). Long the laughingstock of the American League, the Senators had finally reached the World Series in the twilight of the great Walter Johnson's career. But he had lost Games 1 and 5. The Giants led 3-1 in the eighth when Bucky Harris tied it with a two-out, two-run single. Johnson then entered in the ninth and pitched four scoreless innings. The Senators finally pushed across the winning run when Earl McNeely's grounder took a bad hop over the glove of third baseman Fred Lindstrom.

3. 2001: At Arizona Diamondbacks 3, New York Yankees 2. Curt Schilling versus Roger Clemens. Randy Johnson on in relief. And then two runs in the bottom off the ninth off the supposedly untouchable Mariano Rivera.

2. 1991: At Minnesota Twins 1, Atlanta Braves 0 (10 innings). This game featured much more than Jack Morris’ brilliant 10-inning shutout. John Smoltz dueled Morris into the eighth. The Braves loaded the bases in the eighth (with Lonnie Smith famously not scoring on a double after getting deked by Chuck Knoblauch). The Twins got the first two runners on in the ninth and failed to score. Finally, Dan Gladden doubled in the 10th, hustling into second when the ball bounded high off the Metrodome turf, and would score on Gene Larkin’s hit. A tension-filled classic to cap off maybe the most exciting World Series ever played.

1. 1960: At Pittsburgh Pirates 10, New York Yankees 9. In my book, the most exciting baseball game ever played. The Yankees led 7-4 in the bottom of the eighth, but the Pirates scored five runs. The Yankees tied in the top of the ninth. Bill Mazeroski won it with the only walk-off home run in Game 7 history. (Click here for an in-depth look at this game.)

It might be difficult for tonight's game to crack that top-10 list, but the way this World Series gone, I wouldn't bet against it.

Thanks to ESPN Stats & Information for their help on this piece.

Follow David Schoenfield on Twitter @dschoenfield.

Well, that was an interesting Game 6, right? Hopefully the fun continues in Game 7. Meanwhile, Mark Simon and I tried to put into words what we saw on Thursday night, and here it is in Friday’s Baseball Today podcast!

1. Was that the greatest World Series game you ever saw? We try to put things in perspective.

2. There were certainly heroes (David Freese, Lance Berkman) and goats (Ron Washington). Focus on the positive all you want but there’s also no avoiding the negative.

3. We talk injuries to not only Nelson Cruz and Mike Napoli, but what happened to Freese after his game-winner looked like it hurt, potential Series MVPs (Napoli or a Cardinal?) and debate the word resilience and its place in sport.

4. Matt Harrison versus Chris Carpenter really doesn’t seem to be a fair fight, but as we discuss historical facts with Game 7 we also wonder about the confidence level of that Texas bullpen.

5. How does one write a script that has the Rangers winning Game 7? Honestly, it’s not so easy.

Bottom line: baseball is awesome. Enjoy Friday’s Baseball Today podcast, watch Game 7 (and listen on ESPN Radio!) and tune in Monday as we sum it all up one last time.

Win Probability Added is a statistic that doesn't necessarily tell us who had the greatest game, but tells us who had the most timely game. It uses historical play-by-play data to determine the value of each play based on the score, inning and situation, and calculates how the odds of winning or losing the game changed based on that play. So a game-tying home run in the bottom of the ninth is worth more than a home run in a 10-2 blowout.

Well ... David Freese had the single highest WPA in World Series history in Game 6. But to tell you what kind of game it was, teammate Lance Berkman had the third-highest. Here are the top 10, from Baseball-Reference.com:

1. David Freese, Cardinals, Game 6, 2011 (.969 WPA): Two-out, two-run triple in the bottom of the ninth, game-winning home run in the 11th. Not a bad day at the balllpark.

2. Kirk Gibson, Dodgers, Game 1, 1988 (.870): Two outs, bottom of the ninth, down by one, runner on base, Dennis Eckersley throws a backdoor slider ...

3. Lance Berkman, Cardinals, Game 6, 2011 (.832): Because the Cardinals staged two dramatic, two-out comebacks, Berkman's heroics also score high. He had a key walk in the ninth, tied it in the 10th with his two-out single and also hit a two-run homer in the first.

4. Charlie Keller, Yankees, Game 4, 1941 (.826): This is the famous game in which Mickey Owen dropped the third strike, leading to the Yankees scoring four runs in the ninth to win 7-4. Keller hit a two-out, two-run go-ahead double in the ninth, and also had an RBI single in the first during a 4-for-5 game.

5. Cookie Lavagetto, Dodgers, Game 4, 1947 (.822): Lavagetto's pinch-hit two-out, two-run double in the bottom of the ninth broke up Bill Bevens' no-hit bid and gave Brooklyn a 3-2 victory.

6. Stan Hack, Cubs, Game 6, 1945 (.806): The Cubs' leadoff hitter, Hack went 4-for-5 with two walks and three RBIs in a 12-inning 8-7 victory, including the winning double with two outs.

7. Devon White, Blue Jays, Game 4, 1993: Toronto scored six runs in the eighth to win a wild 15-14 game. White's two-out, two-run triple off Mitch Williams knocked in the go-ahead runs. He finished 3-for-5 with a walk, two runs and four RBIs.

8. Ed Sprague, Blue Jays, Game 2, 1992: His two-run pinch-hit home run off Jeff Reardon in the top of the ninth gave Toronto a 5-4 victory.

9. Terry Pendleton, Cardinals, Game 2, 1985: Trailing 2-0 entering the ninth, the Cards scored one run and loaded the bases with two outs against Charlie Leibrandt. Pendleton cleared the bases with a double down the left-field line.

10. Hal Smith, Pirates, Game 7, 1960: Smith's three-run home run in the bottom of the eighth with two outs gave the Pirates a 9-7 lead. The Yankees tied it in the top of the ninth, setting the stage for Bill Mazeroski's game-winner.

ST. LOUIS -- This is what I love about baseball: Tonight's hero could be Nick Punto; it could be Skip Schumaker; it could be Albert Pujols or Josh Hamilton.

We don't know. Isn't that part of the fascination of baseball? We don't know. You can't script the storyline in baseball as easily as you can in other sports. Kobe Bryant? He's the story every game, whether he plays well, doesn't play well, shoots too much or doesn't shoot enough. Tim Tebow? He'll be the major story every game the rest of his career.

It doesn't work like that in baseball. Sure, sometimes -- like Pujols' performance for the ages in Game 3, or Roger Clemens and Curt Schilling facing off in Game 7 in 2001 -- you get that rare alignment of expectation and plot.

But check out some of the players to win the World Series MVP Award: Pat Borders, David Eckstein, Rick Dempsey, past-his-prime Edgar Renteria, Scott Brosius, Ray Knight, Bucky Dent, Gene Tenace. These weren't star players. Sure, Bob Gibson and Sandy Koufax cemented their legends by each winning two World Series MVP awards; Derek Jeter won in 2000; Reggie Jackson, Johnny Bench, Mike Schmidt and other Hall of Famers have come up big. But you don't know. Compare that to the NBA Finals MVP: Every winner except Jo-Jo White, Cedric Maxwell, Chauncey Billups and Tony Parker is in the Hall of Fame or will be eventually.

So while baseball is about Pujols and Hamilton, it's also about Allen Craig coming through with a big pinch-hit or Colby Lewis trying to deliver the Rangers their first World Series in the 51 years of the franchise's history or a converted catcher from Iona College named Jason Motte hoping to close out two more wins for the Cardinals.

For us baseball fans, that's OK. I could care less if a national television audience isn't geared up for a Lewis-Jamie Garcia matchup in the biggest game of the season. Mike Napoli isn't a household name to many sports fans? Doesn't bother me. People would rather watch "Big Bang Theory" or "Grey's Anatomy" instead of Ian Kinsler and Elvis Andrus? So be it. We're not watching just because the field is the reality TV canvas for a superstar.

Every year at this time, you get all the stories about baseball's declining World Series ratings on television. "Baseball is dying!" everybody screams. Kids don't care about baseball anymore. Football rules everything. Nobody saying that has been in St. Louis or Dallas over the past week. Everywhere I've been, everyone asks, "Are you here for the game?" After dropping off my rental car in Dallas, the woman driving the shuttle bus to the airport asked if I was from St. Louis. I told her I wasn't, but that I had been there for the games. She said she wasn't a big fan of baseball -- "It goes pretty slow at times" -- but she also said she'd been watching all the games.

Maybe the Rangers don't possess the rich history of the Cardinals, or the generation of baseball fans like St. Louis, but they're building their history right now. Those fans in Texas were loud, I'll tell you that. All decked out in their red or blue Rangers T-shirts, they were certainly enjoying baseball and the tension of the twists and turns of every pitch of October baseball. Bandwagon fans? Does it matter? Maybe some of them are new to the game; many of them will stay with the sport and pass down their joy to their kids, building a new generation of fans.

Baseball is dying? Please. Despite a bad economy, the wettest season with the most rainouts since 1997 and major attendance decreases from two of its largest franchises (the Dodgers and Mets) due to ownership issues, attendance still showed a slight increase from 2010. The Rangers drew 441,000 more fans than 2010. Nine franchises drew more than 3 million -- that's more than 37,000 fans per game.

Yes, baseball is doing just fine. Maybe the TV ratings for Game 6 -- and Game 7, if we get there -- won't be high enough to quietl the critics. Maybe the critics aren't even watching. That's OK, too. They're missing some great games ... and, yes, a great story as well, one that isn't pre-fabricated. Either the Rangers finally win it or the Cardinals complete their miracle comeback from 8.5 games out of the wild-card race on Sept. 5. Remember, this is a team whose best pitcher -- Adam Wainwright -- had Tommy John surgery in spring training.

Asked before Game 6 how he would have felt being two wins away from a World Series title when Wainwright was injured, Tony La Russa said, "I would have kissed your butt at home plate Opening Day." But they are two wins away. "We've had a lot fun," he said. "We've popped champagne three times, and we're going to try our best to get the fourth one."

A lot of fun. I couldn't agree more. We'll have at least one more game. I have a feeling it will be another good one.

Follow David Schoenfield on Twitter @dschoenfield.

The one big ramification of the initial Game 6 rainout is it gives Tony La Russa the option of starting Chris Carpenter on three days' rest in Game 7 if St. Louis wins on Thursday.

The Cardinals haven't announced a starter and that's not just a tactical decision. They need to win Game 6 first, and Jake Westbrook, Kyle Lohse and even Carpenter could be options out of the bullpen.

Assuming none of them appear in Game 6, who would you start? Here's a quick rundown to check out and then you can vote in the poll.

Chris Carpenter: As Buster Olney writes, Carpenter is 36 years old and has already thrown a career-high 267.1 innings. While Carpenter says his elbow is fine right now, he did have treatment earlier in the playoffs. He started Game 2 of the NLDS against the Phillies on three days' rest and lasted just three innings, allowing five hits and three walks. Overall, the recent outlook of guys starting on three days' rest in the postseason -- something they never do in the regular season -- is not good.

Kyle Lohse: He's made three postseason starts this year and has lasted just 12.2 innings, giving up 18 hits, 12 runs and four home runs. Opponents are hitting .321 against him. He struggled in July and August (5.71 ERA), but did pitch well in four September starts. The positive is that he's a good bet to throw strikes; the negative is he hasn't had a good start since Sept. 24.

Jake Westbrook: He's pitched just one inning in the postseason, a mop-up effort in Game 4 in which he threw one scoreless inning, giving up a hit and a walk. He hasn't started since Sept. 27, a game in which the Astros knocked him out in the third inning. Right-handers hit .316 off him this season. The Rangers would have six right-handers in their lineup. Seems like a long shot to me.

The wild-card option is La Russa not trusting any of the three and going with a bullpen game ... say, Fernando Salas to start, followed by Lance Lynn. Those guys could get you four or five innings between the two of them if they pitch well. Then you turn things over to Octavio Dotel, Marc Rzepczynski, Mitchell Boggs and Jason Motte. It's a possibility and one that I kind of like, but my bet is Lohse gets the start with Salas the first guy out of the pen (depending on Game 6 usage, of course).

Update: It's also possible, of course, that Edwin Jackson could start. The rainout would push him back to regular rest. Jackson walked seven in his Game 4 start, although escaped with just three runs over five innings. His starts in the NLCS were poor, as he he lasted a total 6.1 innings and allowed four home runs. He probably has more potential for a good start than Lohse, but also more risk for a disaster start.

For the second day in a row the bullpen phone worked just fine as Keith Law and I again previewed Game 6 of the World Series for Thursday’s Baseball Today podcast. Of course, we did far more than preview one game ...

1. We agree MLB made the correct call on pushing Game 6 back a day, but now that it has, it opens worlds of possibilities for a potential Game 7. One manager seems intent on not adjusting his rotation.

2. Back to Game 6, since it’s kind of a big deal in prepping for a Game 7: What are the keys to the game and which relief pitchers should we see early? And has there been more bad news than good in this series, an emailer asks.

3. In other news, the Red Sox still missed the playoffs, but emailers still want to discuss them. KLaw and I debate whether the lack of starting pitching could have been addressed. Just a heads up: the words "Chris Capuano" and "Livan Hernandez" are mentioned.

4. Meanwhile, in the world of the Yankees, CC Sabathia and Robinson Cano are hot topics. What will the Yankees do with these superstars?

5. The GM swap continues, we talk some Arizona Fall League and reminisce, and we banter about the Dodgers' mess mercifully progressing.

So tune in to Thursday’s Baseball Today podcast! We’ll return on Friday, but will we be previewing another game or discussing a deserving champion?

ST. LOUIS -- As a fan of the history of the game, this World Series has been fascinating on many levels, with a couple of late-inning nail-biters, a historic performance by Albert Pujols and one of the all-time crazy games on Monday. It's not yet a classic World Series, but a great Game 6 will go far for that legacy ... and, of course, a Game 7 possibly awaits.

While I expect Jaime Garcia to pitch a decent game for St. Louis, here are some other key factors to look for.

Will the Rangers keep walking batters?

The Rangers have walked five or more batters in seven different postseason games, despite which they've gone 5-2 in those games. As a comparison, they walked five or more batters 26 times during the regular season and went 7-19 in those games. Despite walking 28 batters through the five World Series games, they've been getting away with it since the Cardinals are just 8-for-43 (.186) with runners in scoring position. That's a lot of good fortune for the Rangers; it doesn't mean it can't continue for at least one more victory, but you're gambling with the law of averages here. Lance Berkman will bat fourth and Matt Holliday fifth; neither has homered in this series; Colby Lewis led the AL in home runs allowed ...

The Albert Pujols factor.

In 23 plate appearances, Pujols has hit with the bases empty 16 times. It's imperative that the Cardinals get runners on base in front of Pujols (Rafael Furcal and Skip Schumaker will hit in the first two spots), at least making it a little more difficult for Ron Washington to put him on. On the other hand, Pujols has five hits in the World Series, all in Game 3. He's 0-for-12 with four intentional walks in the other four games. In other words, he doesn't hit a home run every time he sees a strike. But Washington indicated Tuesday he'll continue to walk him whenever possible, saying, "I've never seen Albert Pujols before other than on TV. It's my first time seeing him. And what he did the other night, no, I wouldn't mess with that."

The Colby Lewis factor.

Lewis has allowed two runs or fewer in six of his seven career postseason starts. He doesn't always go deep into the game, as he pitched more than six innings just three times, but he seems a good bet to keep the Rangers in the game for six or seven innings. He's allowed a .182 average against, including a .109 average (5-for-46) with runners on base and .091 (2-for-22) with runners in scoring position over his postseason career. While Lewis deserves credit for getting those big outs, we'll refer again to the law of averages: There's been some good fortune mixed in there. If he had a real ability to suddenly amp up his game with runners on base, wouldn't we see more evidence of this in the regular season? (This season, for example, his overall batting average allowed was .244, but it was .255 with runners in scoring position and .264 with runners on base.)

Lewis gets the job done even though he doesn't have an overpowering fastball. "He totally believes in what he's trying to do out there on the mound," Washington said on Tuesday. "But you know, this game sometimes can bring out the worst in you, and this game can definitely get you to the point where you begin to doubt what [you're] capable of doing. Well, Colby never doubts what he's capable of doing, and I think that's what makes him apart from some guys at this stage. It doesn't bother him one bit."

More innings from Octavio Dotel and Jason Motte.

Considering the Rangers' righty-heavy lineup and the facts that right-handers hit just .154 off Dotel and .162 off Motte during the regular season, it was believed the late innings could be favorable for the Cardinals. Instead, the two have combined for just four innings pitched through five games and got tagged with two of the Cardinals' defeats. (Dotel gave up the Michael Young double in Game 5 and Motte lost Game 2.) But it still seems imperative that Tony La Russa maximize the outs he gets from those two.

Will Washington show faith in Alexi Ogando?

For the Rangers, in a perfect world, Lewis bridges the gap to Mike Adams for the eighth and Neftali Feliz for the ninth. But there is a good chance he won't make it through seven innings, which means a possible appearance from Ogando. In four World Series games, Ogando has pitched two innings and allowed seven hits and five walks. Sure, a guy with his power fastball can turn it around at any time, but I don't see any indication why Ogando should be the first choice out of the Texas bullpen right now. There is a time for loyalty, but it's not Game 6 of the World Series. Ogando's hand has gone cool.

Rain was squarely in the forecast for Game 6 as Keith Law and I talked World Series, but there were no delays in Wednesday’s Baseball Today podcast!

1. We’re hardly meteorologists, but if rain messes with the schedule, does it favor the Rangers or Cardinals, both or neither?

2. Do we even want the game to be played if there will be delays or anything similar to the Phillies-Rays World Series fiasco?

3. In other news, Theo -- he’s apparently a one-word entity now -- needs to find a manager ... or does he? We talk Cubbies and their future.

4. Well, now the 2012 Red Sox have a chance: John Lackey needs Tommy John surgery. Of course we jest, but if the Sawx knew about Lackey’s barking elbow in July and failed to act ... well, that’s another issue.

5. We received some strong emails, talking about lineup construction -- and lack thereof -- dugout technology and more about how a manager does his job.

So tune in for Wednesday’s Baseball Today podcast and regardless of what happens in Game 6 or beyond, we’ll be here all week!

ST. LOUIS -- Busch Stadium was quiet Tuesday, as both teams held optional workouts -- which means no workouts. No players showed up except required attendees Game 6 starters Jaime Garcia and Colby Lewis to conduct their pre-start media conferences. The players are all in various degrees of fatigue and pain by this time of the season and an extra round of batting practice isn't going to make them any more likely to get three hits on Wednesday.

The buzz, of course, was still about the crazy events from Game 5, primarily Tony La Russa's bullpen phone fiasco. He stuck to his story from the night before -- a miscommunication with bullpen coach Derek Lilliquist -- and patiently answered a stream of questions about the incident. "It's one of the things you deal with when you're playing the games. It's like shadows. But we don't have a procedure where you say this and the guy says 'Roger,'" La Russa said. "If the guy can't hear, sometimes he says it, and like I said, I thought yesterday the first mention of Motte was probably after [Lilliquist] had hung up. Maybe I didn't say it quickly enough. The second one, I said 'Motte,' he heard 'Lynn.' That's the only one way to explain that. You can't hear clearly."

La Russa's version didn't exactly cease speculation of what may have happened. (One theory: Could he have misspoken and said "Lynn" when he meant "Motte," the way parents will mix up the names of their kids?) It also obscured what I thought was the biggest tactical issue of La Russa's in the game, the three sacrifice bunts.

Rangers Ballpark is one of the best hitting parks in baseball. Because of that, teams play for big innings. You don't want to play for one run in a place where one run is rarely enough. In the Rangers' 81 regular-season games in 2011, only once did a team execute three sacrifice bunts -- the Rangers on July 23 against the Blue Jays (all three of those came in the bottom of the ninth inning). Only four times did a team have even two sacrifice bunts in a game at Rangers Stadium.

In other words, teams don't bunt at Rangers Stadium. You just can't afford to give away free outs. At his media conference, La Russa said the difference in the game was not getting the big hits. True, but what if he had given his team 27 outs to play with instead of 24?

The other strategic element that got the blogosphere in an uproar was Ron Washington's four intentional walks, three to Albert Pujols. It worked, in the sense that none of those walks came back to haunt Texas. The fact that Washington became just the third manager to issue four intentional walks in a World Series game tells you how odd it was. If he tries it again ... well, don't be surprised if he gets burned.

* * * *

Here's a rundown of the two other instances in World Series play when a manager issued four intentional walks.

Bobby Cox, Atlanta Braves, Game 7, 1991 (versus Minnesota Twins)

1. Bottom of eighth, tied 0-0: Pinch-hitter Randy Bush and Chuck Knoblauch had singled off John Smoltz to put runners at first and third with one out. Cox brought in lefty Mike Stanton and walked Kirby Puckett to load the bases to face lefty-swinging Kent Hrbek. Hrbek lined out into a double play, 4-unassisted.

Analysis: Cox didn't want to pitch to Puckett, who hit .333 in the series, so elected to go after Hrbek, who was 6-for-46 in the postseason at that point.

By the way, the Braves were next to last in the National League in intentional walks in 1991, with 39. Of course, with a good pitching staff, there wasn't necessarily a need for Cox to issue many free passes. In his final season managing the Braves in 2010, Cox issued the second-most intentional walks in the NL. This is another post, but it would be interesting to check into Cox's history here. When did he start handing out more freebies? Greg Maddux issued 16 in the postseason in his career, the most of any pitcher. Did these hurt the Braves?

2. Bottom of ninth, tied 0-0: Chili Davis singled and Brian Harper reached on a bunt single to send pinch-runner Jarvis Brown to second. Right-hander Alejandro Pena replaced Stanton. After Shane Mack failed to get a bunt down on the first pitch, he grounded into a 4-6-3 double play. Pena then intentionally walked lefty-hitting Mike Pagliarulo to face weak-hitting shortstop Al Newman. Tom Kelly pinch-hit Paul Sorrento, who struck out.

Analysis: This was a case of getting to an obvious weaker hitter. Newman was already in for starting shortstop Greg Gagne, whom Bush had hit for. That forced Kelly to use Scott Leius at shortstop in the 10th, his third shortstop of the game. By the way, Kelly could maneuver his lineup like this because he had 15 position players on his roster. Couldn't do that today. (This game was much more than just Jack Morris pitching 10 shutout innings.)

3-4. Bottom of 10th, tied 0-0: Dan Gladden led off with a double and was sacrificed to third. Cox walked Puckett and Hrbek to load the bases, to bring up Brown, batting in Davis' DH spot. Kelly still had one weapon left on the bench, Gene Larkin, who had hit .286 that year. Larkin delivered the winning hit.

Analysis: With the World Series on the line, it certainly made sense to load the bases to set up the force at home. You could argue that Cox could have pitched to the slumping Hrbek, but Hrbek was actually a pretty good contact hitter. Overall, however, none of the intentional walks seemed as questionable as the ones we witnessed in Game 5.

Eddie Dyer, St. Louis Cardinals, Game 5, 1947 (versus Boston Red Sox)

1. Bottom of first, down 1-0: Howie Pollet started and three of the first four batters singled to give Boston a 1-0 lead and put runners at second and third with one out for No. 5 hitter Rudy York, who hit .276/.371/.437 that year. No. 6 hitter Pinky Higgins hit .275/.356/.376. Al Brazle entered and Higgins grounded into a force at home and Leon Culberson also grounded out.

Analysis: A little early for an intentional walk, but York was considered an "RBI guy" since he had driven in 119 (batting behind Ted Williams helped) and hit 17 home runs while Higgins had hit just two in a part-time role.

2. Bottom of fifth, down 2-1: With Dom DiMaggio on second with two outs, York was given another free pass. Higgins grounded out.

Analysis: Most intentional walks are given while behind, so this one fits that bill. Clearly, Dyer decided he didn't want York to beat him, although York was hardly Albert Pujols. On the other hand, Pinky Higgins wasn't quite Matt Holliday.

3. Bottom of seventh, down 3-1: With Brazle still pitching, DiMaggio doubled and Williams struck out. York was walked for the third time. Higgins doubled to left-center for a 4-1 lead.

Analysis: This one was similar to the Nelson Cruz walk from Game 5 -- runner on second, one out. Dyer had less to lose than La Russa, however, since he was already trailing 3-1. Still, like Rangers Ballpark, Fenway Park was a great hitters' park, so giving the other team baserunners is always playing with fire.

4. Bottom of seventh, down 4-1: Following Higgins' double, Culberson was walked to load the bases. Brazle actually got a double-play ball, but it was thrown away, allowing two runs to score.

Analysis: Down 4-1, it was desperation time. We don't have intentional walk totals for 1946 (official records weren't kept until 1955), so we don't know if Dyer was fond of the free pass or just afraid of Rudy York.

Follow David Schoenfield on Twitter @dschoenfield.

Today is the anniversary of one of the most memorable moments in baseball history: Mookie Wilson’s ground ball through Bill Buckner’s legs to cap an amazing rally in Game 6 of the 1986 World Series.

This moment has been replayed so many times, with Buckner as the focal point. We’re glad to see he can make light of it on a show like "Curb Your Enthusiasm" on which he recently guest-starred.

However, there are some things about Buckner’s career, both good and bad, that are often forgotten as a result.

We’ve done a lot of research on this subject (and many others related to that game), and thought it would be worthwhile to share 10 things about Buckner that you might not know.

1. Bill Buckner made his major league debut for the Dodgers on Sept. 21, 1969. He pinch-hit in the ninth inning and popped out.

What was prominent about that game? The Giants beat the Dodgers that day, 4-3 in walkoff fashion. The game ended on a ground ball to shortstop Maury Wills. And it went through his legs for a game-ending error. How’s that for career foreshadowing?

2. The next spring, Buckner broke his jaw and was knocked unconscious during an outfield collision in spring training, emblematic of the intensity with which Buckner would play throughout his career. Who was on the other end of the accident? It was his then-teammate, Bobby Valentine. The two remain good friends to this day.

3. As a young player, Buckner was viewed as having great potential. "This is a boy who can become a batting champion,” Hall of Famer Ted Williams told the Los Angeles Times in the early 1970s. That would prove prophetic. Buckner won a batting title in 1980.

Buckner was also a little on the cocky side. At one appearance as a member of the Dodgers, he was quoted by the Times as saying “The Dodgers may now have Frank Robinson and Tommy John, but they wouldn't have a chance at a pennant if they trade me."

4. Buckner was a footnote to another moment in history. He was the Dodgers left fielder who climbed the fence to try to catch Hank Aaron’s record-breaking 715th home run on April 8, 1974.

5. Buckner was a good hitter. He hit .300 or better seven times and finished his 22-season career with 2,715 hits. His best attribute was his ability to make contact. His season high for strikeouts was 39, and he was the toughest hitter to strike out in his league in four different seasons, including 1986.

In fact, Buckner ranks second among players who debuted in the Division Play Era (since 1969) in most plate appearances per strikeout. He struck out every 22.2 plate appearances (a rate better than Joe DiMaggio), only surpassed in that era by Tony Gwynn’s 23.6.

6. Buckner was a good hitter and a good baseball player in many ways, but he did have a few flaws in his offensive game. His single-season high for walks was 40, in 1986, and his career on-base percentage of .321 was only 32 points higher than his batting average. His highest career ranking in the offensive statistical categories, according to his page on Baseball-Reference.com, is 30th -- in ground-ball double plays.

7. When Buckner was traded to the Red Sox for Dennis Eckersley, a friend of Eckersley’s was quoted in the Boston media as saying: “Nothing against Bill Buckner, but (this trade) stinks."

Eckersley’s friend? Red Sox reliever Bob Stanley, who would be on the mound when Mookie Wilson’s ground ball went through Buckner’s legs.

8. Buckner was one of the Red Sox's best hitters down the stretch in 1986. In a 27-game span from Aug. 21 to Sept. 19, he hit .368 with eight home runs and 29 RBIs. He ended up finishing second on the team with 102 RBIs.

9. Just for Buckner to be out on the field for the 1986 World Series was impressive, virtually a medical miracle. He was playing with a severely injured Achilles, an ankle injury that had plagued him since 1975.

Wrote Ray Sons of the Chicago Sun-Times, “Watching Bill Buckner try to play in this World Series makes one wince. He said before the Series began that someone would have to shoot him to keep him out of it. If he were a racehorse, someone would. Every game, the No. 3 man in the Red Sox batting order extends his Series record for most innings played without ankles. The pain and frustration are written all over his face. The question must be asked: Should he be out there at all?”

10. The unfortunate thing for Buckner was that despite his willingness to play hurt, his World Series performance was not up to his usual standards. Buckner hit .188 with just one RBI in 33 plate appearances in the World Series. He was 1-for-17 with men on base, 1-for-14 with runners in scoring position.

Baseball-Reference.com uses the metric Win Probability Added to evaluate on a play-by-play basis how much a player contributed to his team’s winning or losing the game. Coming through or failing in a key moment is worth more by this metric than hitting a home run in a blowout.

Buckner had the worst Win Probability Added of any hitter in the 1986 World Series (-.468), and that doesn’t even take into account his fate in the field.

In Game 7, Buckner had a chance to add to a 3-0 Red Sox lead with two men on and two out when he came to bat in the second inning. He hit a fly ball to left center on which the center fielder raced over about a dozen steps to make the catch. The man who caught the ball is still linked with Buckner 25 years later, Mookie Wilson.

It was a fun Baseball Today podcast on Tuesday as Keith Law and I discussed bullpen phones, intentional walks and a whole lot more!

1. Sorry, but we really don't buy the bullpen phone being culpable in a World Series game being lost. And we tell you why.

2. Mike Napoli is a pretty good baseball player, ya know. And we tell you why.

3. Oh, those intentional walks. A manager will win the World Series, but the degree to which mismanagement has reigned in this series is somewhat historic.

4. Do the Cardinals share a similar fate with the Miami Heat? You know, the NBA, back when it existed. An emailer explains.

5. We also talk more Theo Epstein, Bud Selig and replay, the Mets farm system, women in baseball and a lot more on a packed podcast!

So tune in for Tuesday's show. And guess what: We're back on Wednesday to preview Game 6!