What a long, weird, fantastic ball game. You couldn't ask for more than Monday night's epic of hitting, pitching, fielding, misplays, and controversial calls. Sure Holliday missed home plate in the end, but he sacrificed his face in the process. Baseball is not a game of precision, it is a game of justice, right and wrong. There is moral latitude in the way umpires call games, and as soon as the ump saw the catcher drop the ball he declared the play over.
I have to admit I almost went to bed in the middle of the 13th when the Padres went up 8-6. The Rockies seemed to have run out of steam and run out of pitchers. But I sat there, figuring I might as well go down with the ship. The announcers had hyped Hoffmann's appearance throughout extra innings to such a degree that once he was on the mound there seemed to be nothing to do but wait for the inevitable. And then, boom! The top of the line-up that the Padre's middle relief had completely shutdown came back to life.
Great finish to a great season. The Rockies are this year's Tigers, and might just take it all the way.
