Wow.

That’s all I could muster as it became clear that David Freese’s flyball to center was leaving the yard. Just wow.

There have been numerous good playoff games and some great World Series games, but what took place Thursday night existed on an entirely different plane. It’s always tough to gauge the historic status of something so recent, but calling Game Six of the 2011 World Series one of the best baseball games in history just feels right.

The World Series is somehow, some way, going to a seventh and final game Friday night after twists and turns galore. For seven innings, the game was defined by missed opportunities and blunders both physical and managerial. After that, the game was defined by the old adage you can’t predict baseball.

In the end, Freese, who tied the game in the ninth with a two-out, two-strike, two-run triple knocked the ball out of the yard in the 11th to seal the deal. However, what transpired over the previous few innings foreshadowed a crazy finish. Freese’s home run wasn’t even shocking. Of course that happened. But various circumstances had to be present for the Cardinals to even have a shot at knotting up the game and winning it in extras. Here are some of Thursday night’s highlights that led to such a wild ending.

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There’s been quite a bit of chatter on blogs and Twitter about Texas Rangers manager Ron Washington’s decision to bat Mike Napoli seventh in World Series Games 1, 2 and 3 — and eighth in Games 4 and 5. This author has been a part of the chatter, going so far as to start a Napoli Support Group with the Twitter hashtag #BatNapoliHigher.

So why the hubbub?

Napoli has been the Rangers best hitter in the postseason. In 51 at bats, he has 16 hits, including one (game-winning) double and three home runs. His postseason slash through 16 games is .314/.383/.570. Napoli’s playoff run comes on the heels of his superb regular season: .320/.414/.631 in 432 at-bats with a wOBA of .444 and a wRC+ of 178. He led the Rangers in every one of those offensive categories.

It’s not every day that you see a manager bat his best offensive player seventh or eighth in the lineup — especially in the World Series.

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Ron Washington isn’t going to panic. After a rainout pushed Game 6 to Thursday — and a potential Game 7 to Friday — Washington announced he will not alter his pitching rotation. While it was clear Washington wasn’t going to move Colby Lewis from his slot, Washington could have elected to start Derek Holland over Matt Harrison if the Series goes to seven games. Despite Holland’s masterful start in Game 4, Washington is sticking to his guns and keeping his rotation stable. Will the decision come back to haunt him?

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In three years scouting prospects, the instances in which a highly touted prospect is even better than advertised are few and far between. In the case of Texas Rangers prospect Jurickson Profar, I arrived in Greenville expecting to see a talented, but maybe not elite shortstop prospect and left with a firm belief Profar was the best true shortstop prospect in all of baseball.

As a person who’s much more conservative in my approach to scouting than political leanings, the terms “elite”, “franchise”, “all-star”, “gold glove” rarely find their way into my scouting reports. In actuality, most critiques thrown my way involve my being too critical. In the case of Jurickson Profar, I’ve scoured my notes and video to identify problem areas in his all-around game, but I simply can’t find any. At present, the young shortstop is as complete a position prospect as one could hope to find at any level of the minor leagues.

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How wonderfully awkward.

The last time Colby Lewis and Jaime Garcia faced off, we were treated to one of the best pitcher’s duels of the World Series. Jaime Garcia shut down the Rangers for seven innings while striking out seven hitters, and Colby Lewis very nearly kept pace by lasting 6.2 inning and allowing one run.

How did Lewis and Garcia attack hitters in that start? What can we expect from them tonight? Let’s find out.

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It has become almost second nature this postseason for sarcastic Twitterists such as myself to mock certain mainstream writers who have seemingly used each plate appearance to tell us how much impending free agents have gained or lost on their upcoming contracts. And while I don’t think that postseason play has positively or negatively affected the financial standing (at least from a contract perspective) of any the players in this postseason, it will undoubtedly effect the reputations and/or legacies of some players. While there is still baseball left to be played, I thought we could take a look at six players in this World Series whose postseason performance has served to highlight the excellent, but underrated performance they put up throughout 2011, and how it may help them moving forward.

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Following a peculiar fifth game in which each manager engaged in a losing oneupsmanship contest, the Rangers head to St. Louis for a potential deciding Game Six. After splitting the first two games on the road and taking two of three at home, the Rangers are obviously closer to winning the World Series. However, the Cardinals do have home field advantage in their favor once again, and under somewhat comical circumstances given the performances of other playoff teams in the All-Star Game. The Cardinals have home field, after all, due to Prince Fielder (Brewers) belting a mammoth homer off of C.J. Wilson (Rangers) in a game held in Arizona, while two Phillies pitchers did a good job holding the junior circuit at bay for four innings.

The pitching matchup is a repeat of Game Two, with Jaime Garcia opposed by Colby Lewis. The Cardinals took a 1-0 lead in the seventh in that game behind a very strong Garcia performance. He didn’t allow a run over seven innings, surrendering just three hits and a walk to go along with his seven strikeouts. Lewis matched him, giving up just the one run in 6 2/3 innings. The bullpen game was won by the Rangers, though the deciding factor was the Rangers excellent baserunning, with some credit owed to the defensive miscue on Jon Jay’s throw to the plate.

There are a few main storylines to consider heading into what could potentially be the final game of the 2011 postseason and a very exciting World Series. Oddly enough, only one of them deals with actual participating players.

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With the telephone, you make the call!

If you look at it one way, sure, it’s a little too important to let crowd noise impede you from hearing the manager during the World Series. But, at the same time, there’s only like, what?, two, three games left? Who cares, amirite? I mean, everyone phones it in on the last day of work, school, and life, right?

Well, the St. Louis Cardinals care. At least they care now. I would not be surprised to see Tony La Russa trucking in one of those big traffic signs — you know, the ones that say helpful stuff on the freeways like “Zombies Ahead!” — in order to clearly make his over-bullpenning known in Game 6 of the World Series.

Actually, despite the hilarity of the Jason Motte / Lance Lynn Blundergate, Tony La Russa’s greatest sin last night was actually under-managing. *gasp! woman faints!*

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“He just can’t win the big one.” Whether you believe in that narrative or choose to ignore it, someone is going to write those words about C.J. Wilson this off-season. Widely considered the best pitcher on the free-agent market, Wilson’s post-season numbers may be a cause for concern for his potential suitors. With many of those suitors watching, you have to wonder whether the 31-year-old Wilson has already cost himself millions with his poor post-season performances.
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Hidden among all the intentional walks and sacrifice bunts during the tic-tac-toe game that was game five of the World Series, there were two caught stealings that may have turned the game. In both cases, Allen Craig was gunned down during an Albert Pujols plate appearance. Before the face palm napalm dropped, there was a question hidden in the initial stunned silence, heard all the way up into the booth:

Why was Allen Craig running?

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