Wow! Two crazy endings to World Series games in two consecutive nights! Before I place the cart in front of the horse, let me recap Game Four as seen photographed from my vantage point in the inside third base position at Busch Stadium.
We had six photographers shoehorned into a space that during the regular season might typically hold four. One had to be very careful that when and if you did move, you didn’t step off the platform and take a header. Every move we made was choreographed, like synchronized swimmers or Shriners on parade, lens hoods off, arms tucked tight.
After Carlos Beltran (what new) gave the Cardinals the lead in the third, the score remained the same until THE MAN of this World Series, Big Papi David Ortiz, got the Red Sox rolling with a double into deep right center field in the fifth inning. Moments later, Ortiz came around to score on a Stephen Drew sacrifice fly to knot the score at one-one.
Big Papi IS the heart and soul of the Red Sox and that fact hasn’t been more eveident than right here, right now during this World Series… It’s been fun for me to have the opportunity to cover him over the past week and really get a sense at how MUCH of an force he is for the Carmines.
But Papi wasn’t done.
Mike Matheny decided to pitch around Ortiz in the seventh inning, preferring that Seth Maness face Jonny Gomes with two runners on instead. That strategy backfired when Gomes connected for a three-run home run to put the Red Sox up for good.
The Cardinals scored a run in the seventh to make it a 4-2 game as Matt Carpenter drove in Shane Robinson off of my personal nemesis, Craig Breslow.
Then, with Carlos Beltran at the plate as the potential tying run, Koji Uehara ended the game with a spectacular pickoff of Cardinals pinch runner Kolten Wong, surprising not only Wong but nearly every photographer, cameraman and fan in Busch Stadium. There was a deafening silence immediately following the play, as if the collective was saying “what happened“?
As far as I could tell, only our MLB Photos St. Louis teammate, David Durochik, nailed the actual play, not just the reaction. That’s why we are a team… Nicely done, my friend!
I would venture to guess everyone was focused on Beltran, since he has been THE post season hero for the Red Birds this fall.
My Game Five blog is coming within minutes… My schedule the past few day with travel and game duties have left little time to write.
I’ll be back…
