It was a great World Series with one of the most exciting games, game six, matched only, arguably, by the famous Red Sox-Reds game six of 1975 when Carleton Fisk waved his home run fair. The final game I expected: the Rangers left their hearts on the field the night before, while the Cards were psyched up.
The Rangers stayed close for a few innings, but that disastrous three-run "gift" caused by three walks and two hit-by-pitcher sounded the death knell. A sad way to go out.
Actually, the relief pitching, one of the Rangers' fortes all year, went south in the series, and there was the difference. Clutch performances such as Scott Carpenter's pitching under pressure in the seventh game was a superb addition.
Having a mid-America series was a real treat. It's nice to know that money can't always buy happiness, so the Yanks and the Phillies sat this one out, while the Red Sox died a premature death in September. The Heartland has had a rough economic time for many years, and this psychological shot-in-the-arm was good for what ails us.
I have an affinity for the Cards, because they have a similar background to my beloved Cincinnati Reds: both river towns, German-burgher mentalities, big on culture and sports, hotter than hell in the summer, even though they hate each other right now, probably because they are so much alike!
At the same time, it would not have bothered me if the Rangers had lost their virginity and won a national championship. Nolan Ryan and his boys are doing a great job of building carefully and sytematically a dynasty.
In any case, the National Pastime got a good shot in the arm and is alive and well. Who says baseball is as exciting as watching grass grow?
Almost thou persuaduth me to consider baseball should be kept as a national sport.
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