As the St. Louis Post Dispatch so beautifully profiled, it’s now been five years ago that David Freese hit one of the most epic home runs in World Series history, propelling the Cardinals to a very unlikely World Series title.
Here’s what I wrote following the game in 2011. As a Cardinals fan, it was one of the greatest sports nights of my life.
It was not just one moment, but several, that were worthy of a Hollywood script.
The Cardinals were 10.5 games back in the standings as late as August 25, squeaking into the playoffs on the last night of the regular season. Fast forward to Game 6 of the World Series and the Cardinals found themselves down three games to two against the Rangers and down to their last strike twice.
In a must-win situation, with two outs and two strikes in the bottom of the ninth, David Freese nailed a two-RBI triple to force the game into extra innings. After a Josh Hamilton homer gave the Rangers another two run lead in the 10th, it was Lance Berkman, down to his last strike as well, who would tie the game with a clutch RBI hit.
Finally, Freese, the home town kid, hit the walk-off bomb in the 11th that made St. Louis explode, Dallas crumble, Freese’s own jersey shred into pieces and announcer Joe Buck exclaim, “We will see you tomorrow night!”
The Cardinals then won the Series in St. Louis after a Game 7 win the following the night. To this day, Game 6 is the best baseball game I’ve ever seen in my life.
Of course, as mentioned before, being a Cardinals fan, I’m partial. That being said, I am rooting for the Cubbies in the 2016 World Series. At some point, don’t they deserve a moment like this as well? It’s only been since 1908.
Josh Helmuth is the editor of Crave Sports.
Photo: Getty
