What’s in your memory bank?
With some major pennant races starting to heat up, I’m starting to think ahead to what might happen in October, and when I do that, I can’t help but think back.
It’s true that my mind pretty much goes blank to anything but baseball when October moments are playing in my personal memory bank. And the drama of the first seven years of this millennium have clogged my baseball brain so much that right now I don’t know where my car keys are and I think I might have put my drivers license in the freezer.
http://mlb.mlb.com/chc/fan_forum/y2008/october_gonzo_vote.jsp?poll_q=1In other words, let’s get on with the memories…
Did you stay up late to watch Game 7 in the emotionally charged 2001 World Series, when the Diamondbacks finally got Mariano Rivera and Arizona won a thrilling seven-game Fall Classic over the Yankees?
Who can forget Moises Alou running over to the brick wall along the left-field line at Wrigley Field in 2003 and having a sure out botched by fan Steve Bartman?
Were you among the millions of people who say they were sitting in 55,000-seat Yankee Stadium when Aaron Boone hit that Tim Wakefield pitch out in the 11th inning to win the 2003 American League Championship Series?
Did you consider yourself close enough to the action last year in Colorado to really figure out if Matt Holliday was safe or out?
So bring it. What’s in your October memory bank?
O.G.
October Gonzo 
Gonzo’s bloop in 2001. How can that be rivaled? He brought down the Evil Empire with one fell swoop!
–Jeff
http://redstatebluestate.mlblogs.com/
Not even being a Red Sox fan per se, I would have to say the “moment” was the final out under a blood-red moon in St. Louis in 2004. It was the impossible comeback followed by the sweep, ending 86 years of misery, reversing the Curse of the Bambino, and as I saw there in the right-field power alley seats under the halflight my mouth was wide open as I watched Red Sox fans celebrating near the field with the players for as long as the law allowed. Then seeing them all over St. Louis area bars through the wee hours. There were a lot of “moments” within all of that but if you had to pick one, I would imagine a Red Sox fan would point to that very moment when Renteria was out and the unthinkable was real, and all those stomachaches and all-nighters and Pedro Salsa and tears had to be worth it. I am curious if Sox fans would agree, and don’t forget those other Sox — with Pods bringing rain with his walk-off homer at the Cell as fans bounced in the stands, bobbing up and down to that White Sox throwback song. Man, there are so many moments, that’s what I love about October.
Mark
http:/mlblogs.mlblogs.com
Yeah, Mark brings up a good point. Though I was on the opposite end of the ’04 WS Champion, I had much to celebrate in 2005, when the ChiSox put it on the boooooaaarrrrrdddd Yes!
–Jeff
http://redstatebluestate.mlblogs.com/
though it’s not in the poll i would have to say the homer by brosius in game 5 of ’01 and soriano knocking in knoblauch in to win it because the yanks had just pulled off an improbable comeback the night before… and then did it again… off the same pitcher. the power of deja vu.
http://flairforthedramatic.mlblogs.com
I was almost in tears when the Mets had two outs and nobody on in the bottom of the tenth inning of Game 6 in 1986 against the Red Sox when they somehow, some way came back to win thanks to Bill Buckner and the rarely mentioned and probably more important wild pitch by Bob Stanley to Mookie Wilson.
http://paullebowitz.mlblogs.com/
I missed that it had to be something during the Millenium. Since that’s a parameter, it has to be Endy Chavez’s (almost) game-saving catch on Scott Rolen’s would-be homer in game 7 of the 2006 NLCS.
http://paullebowitz.mlblogs.com/
What about the Red Sox coming back from 3 games to 0 and win the series? Or reversing the curse after beating the Cardinals?
-Keyon V
http://www.theredsoxkid.mlblogs.com
The moment, that one moment of October magic that I’ll never forget is the stolen base by Dave Roberts, barely slipping in under Jeter’s tag in the bottom of the 9th, with the Sox down 0-3 to the Yankees. It was the most tense, incredible, exciting few seconds in baseball history. And then the Sox only went on to win the game (thanks Bill Mueller!) and the next three to advance to the World Series.
Gonzo, how could you overlook 2004????
Steve T
http://soxblog.mlblogs.com
Whatya think Gonzo? Can the Pittsburgh Pirates actually play meaningful games in September? Will they see October baseball? Maybe not this year… but who knows.
http://theburghblues.mlblogs.com/
It would be nice to see October baseball in Pittsburgh again one day. The memory bank also shows that the Pirates know how to do up the drama right in Fall Classics. 7-gamers in ’79, ’71 and then of course ’60 and Maz. None of this sweep stuff. Three sweeps in the last four years…and almost a sweep in every series last postseason (sorry TBS)…I’m up for a 7-gamer.
Mark
http://mlblogs.mlblogs.com
http://statues.mlblogs.com
I just watched the Holliday video again in this post. I forgot about his face slamming into the dirt and that nasty scab he had in October. Total facial.
“He didn’t do it again, did he? Yes he did.” In the 2004 ALCS, Ortiz’s 2nd walkoff of the series, this time a single. How many times did he do that, that season.
All time:
4th inning Game 3 of the World Series in 1992. Devon White catches a baseball that he no business even getting to. Starting a double play, which should have been a triple play, giving the Jays a crucial narrow victory 3-2 and allowing them to win the serious.
I will say that it is a tie between Aaron Boone’s HR and Bartman’s Blunder. Why do I make it a tie between those two ….. how about this story!!I grew up in Chicago hanging out on Waveland Ave. chasing HR balls. We always hoped that the Cubs would make the World Series. 2003 though found me living in Boston chasing baseballs on Lansdowne St. On the fateful night of the BARTMAN BLUNDER I was sitting in line outside of Fenway Park for Red Sox World Series Tickets! A dream was about to come true, the Cubs win first and then the Red Sox win the next night and I am in Heaven!So we are all sitting in line watching the game and the Cubs have a nice lead. Then it happens, a ball down the line, Alou is over, wait that JACK*** just stuck his hands over the railing and we all know what happened after that.That one hurt but it was nothing like the next night. Again we all we’re STILL sitting in line waiting for the Red Sox to win game 7. With that comfy 5-2 lead we all knew that we just had to get Pedro out of the game before 100 pitches. That was the number of doom for him. He gets to 100 pitches and it all began to fall apart. Why Grady Little did not take him out before Matsui came up we will never know but that ultimately was the unmade decision that ended the Red Sox chances. With camera crews in our faces from local media we sat and watched the 11th inning. Wakefield in and the feeling wasn’t good. Then Aaron Boone comes in and in a blink of an eye we are gathering out chairs, telling the media to get out of our faces and heading home.2 of the greatest moments of the Millenium for some were two of the most forgettable moments in my life. I did however manage to catch Derek Jeters HR in Game 3 of the ALCS in 2003 out on the parking garage on Lansdowne St. so it wasn’t all bad!Anyway, those two are the most memorable for me for sure!!JWhttp://majorleagueballhawk.mlblogs.comhttp://mlballhawk.comhttp://mlballhawk.ecrater.com – My online Sports Memorabilia Storemlballhawk@gmail.com
Jim Edmonds’ catch to end the Cubs’ victory over FLA today just reminded me of another one: Him laying out and making that huge diving catch facing the wall in Game 7 of the 2004 NLCS vs. Houston — the game after he hit the walk-off HR in extras to force a G7. Right now I am trying to think of my all-time favorite Jimmy Catches. Here’s a starter list:
____ Game 7 2004 NLCS
____ Crashing into wall in 2006 NLDS vs. SD (I think)
____ Up and over fence to rob someone a few years ago
____ Today at Wrigley to end Cubs victory (wow)
(feel free to add your own or vote on one of those)
Mark
http://mlblogs.mlblogs.com
Edmonds’ diving catch with his back to home plate against the Royals, 1997. Although it happened mid-season, that play is still one for the golden vault.
–Jeff
http://redstatebluestate.mlblogs.com/
Of those four moments, I would have to go with Luis Gonzo doinking one off of Rivera. That series was just so exciting, what with the Schilling/Big Unit combination as well as the two Yankee comebacks against Byung-Hung Kim, that it needed to have an ending as dramatic as that.
However, I would like to mention one more moment and see if anyone remembers this:
In 1998, the San Diego Padres were playing the Atlanta Braves in the NLCS. In game five, the Padres brought star pitcher Kevin Brown in the game as a reliever, where he blew the game by allowing a three-run homer to Michael Tucker. The Braves then countered with Greg Maddux who closed out the game.
That game probably only sticks out in my mind because I was a big K-Brown fan, but I was blown away by both managers using their star starting pitchers in relief!
-Zach
http://zkonedog.mlblogs.com/
Out of everything possible to mention in this millennium’s Octobers, it is really hard to top the fact that St. Louis opened a new ballpark and then proceeded to rain down confetti there and host yet another capacity crowd at the conclusion of the World Series victory parade. You could not ask for more of a dream season, the first time that happened since the Yanks opened their stadium in 1923. I remember all four rainouts in that postseason because I worked all of them for MLB.com, and unfortunately the first of those coincided with the tragic airplane crash involving Cory Lidle. Out of the last four years, it was the only non-sweep of a World Series. I remember the high-5 conga lines on the concourses of Comerica Park among Tiger fans that October, and I’m not sure there ever has been a World Series featuring two more beautiful ballparks than that one. But mostly I remember Busch Stadium’s miracle first year. I also reserve the right to keep adding to my list of comments here because every October in the 2000s has been unreal.
Mark/MLB.com
http://mlblogs.mlblogs.com
http://statues.mlblogs.com
I second Mark’s add-on of 2006. Not counting my extreme bias towards all things Redbirds… that was a treat indeed. Anthony Reyes’ WS Game 1 performance — that was a beautiful thing.
–Jeff
http://redstatebluestate.mlblogs.com/
do any of u know if steve bartman is all right… im a huge red sox fan so im hoping they can win it again this year…but if they cant i rlly hope the cubbies do just so that guy can live a normal life again
I guess “OG” forgot about Alex Gonzalez in the 03 NLCS, booting the would-be inning-ending double play ball, before the Bartman play even occurred. I’m going to have to replace the Bartman play with Chris Burke’s walk-off HR in the 18th inning to send the Astros to the NLCS in 2005 (being an Astros fan). Anyone who blames Bartman for the Cubs demise in 2003 is simply an ignorant baseball fan.