By: Martin Rand, III
Date: October 11, 2012
Wow! Yesterday was a perfect showcase of exactly why people love sports. Last night, there were two games in the MLB playoffs that exemplified heart, passion and historical greatness.
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| Raul Ibanez is greeted with cheers as he hits another walkoff HR for New York. |
The second game of the night featured the Baltimore Orioles versus the New York Yankees.
In probably the most shocking move of the season, with New York down one run in the ninth inning and with Alex Rodriguez, one of the greatest home-run hitters, up-at-bat, manager Joe Giradi substituted him for Raul Ibanez, a 40-year-old average player.
"You're going to be asked a lot of questions if it doesn't work," Girardi said during his postgame news conference.
Well, it worked.
Ibanez not only hits a game-tying home-run, but then three innings later, he hits a walk-off home-run to end the game. He became the first player in MLB postseason history to hit a tying home-run in the ninth inning and walk-off home-run in extra innings.
Rodriguez, who wasn't concerned about being taken out of the game, said he had "never seen anything like it" and he couldn't think of a better guy this moment could belong to than Ibanez.
New York now has a commanding 2-1 lead in the ALDS. They need one more win to advance to the ALCS.
Some people took to twitter to share how they felt about witnessing history.
Ibanez pinch hitting for Arod: 2-2 w/9th inning game tying & extra inning game winning HRs. All-time great playoff game performance.
— Max Kellerman (@Max_Kellerman) October 11, 2012
Skip Bayless making a reference to the numerous clutch hits that Ibanez has recently hit for the New York.
Unreal. Ibanez does it again, makes Girardi look like even bigger genius for pinch-hitting him for ARod. O's just can't get the edge on NYY
— Skip Bayless (@RealSkipBayless) October 11, 2012
The other game last night featured the Detroit Tigers taking on the Oakland A's. For a while, the game looked like it was over before ninth inning.
The A's entered the bottom of the ninth inning down three runs to one. They didn't make history, but they did make timely hits to get on-base, score and set-up Coco Crisp for a game winning RBI base hit.
"It's amazing," Crisp said. "The guys in front of me obviously did a fantastic job of getting on base."
Crisp was also the game 3 hero when he made a leaping catch to steal a home-run away from Prince Fielder enroute to the A's winning the game.
ESPN NBA Analyst Ric Bucher covers the Bay Area teams as a radio host for 95.7 The Game. He let people know this is nothing new for the team with the lowest payroll in the league and a team half filled with rookies.
Entire country just caught a glimpse of what the A's have done since July.
— Ric Bucher (@RicBucher) October 11, 2012
The A's had 14 walkoff wins in the regular, including the one that won the club the AL West title against their division rivals the Texas Rangers.
This latest walkoff win evened up the series to force a series deciding game 5 in Detroit.
During the regular season, the MLB can be, for lack of a better word, boring. It's a long and tedious season, and it can go overlooked by the masses. But, when it comes to playoff baseball, few things, including the NFL playoffs, can compare to the excitement that a timely hit can bring.
What a night of baseball. I've had semesters in college shorter than these games (& with less scoring!) but they're so worth it.
— Tony Reali (@AroundTheHorn) October 11, 2012
What a great night for baseball. Tonight was for everyone who says "Baseball is boring" Both finishes were awesome
— Richard Brehaut (@Brehaut12) October 11, 2012
Image Credit: B.C.'s Sports: The Endzone
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