If you were betting on the Cardinals that night against the Rockies, I hope you didn’t do anything rash, like hit your wife or break your television after what you saw in the ninth inning. The Cards entered the ninth inning leading 9-3 in what should have been a game that went down in the win column. But as they say, it ain’t over till the fat lady starts wailing, or something along those lines.In the hugest single game collapse of the season, the St. Louis Cardinals gave up 9 nine runs in the 9th inning to lose to the Colorado Rockies 12-9 cappingthe largest comeback in the Rockies franchise history. Read more.
The last pitch thrown in the ninth inning found its way into the right field seats, courtesy of a walk off homerun from Seth Smith, it was a fitting end, it really couldn’t have ended any other way for the Cardinals who looked destined to lose the game. If you’re wondering, no team has come back to win a game after being down 9 runs in the ninth inning since 1901, when Cleveland turned the trick against Washington to win 14-13. The type of self destruct button that needs to be pushed in order for a team lose a game after having such a commanding league boggles the mind and I’m not just saying that because I had bet on the Cards last night.
As a closer, and I’m talking about the Cards closer Ryan Franklin who couldn’t put out a candle last night, how do you bounce back from that? It’s one thing to blow a save, it’s another thing to blow a monstrous lead and go down and history for it. In his defense, I will say that closers that come into the game in a non-save situation typically do get bounced around a little bit before they get their shit together. It probably has a lot to do with their mindsets, as a closer, you come in to close out a close game, you get yourself pumped up for that, and you go out there and get the job down. With a huge lead, maybe Franklin lost his edge, and with a scrappy team like the Rockies, the thin air in Colorado and a little bit of bad luck, next thing you know, you’re the poster boy for the worst ninth inning collapse in the history of baseball.
It’s okay Franklin, at least it wasn’t the World Series… Two words, Bill Buckner…Anyone remember this?
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