Having a hard time with the Major League Baseball lockout? Yeah – us too. Especially when Spring Training should have started and there are still so many questions left to answer before the season can begin. So, we here at The Turf thought we’d offer a way to help ease that tension. While we may not have any current MLB baseball to watch live, there is PLENTY of archive footage available at our fingertips. We’ve scoured the internet and assembled some of the most iconic, noteworthy, and remarkable baseball games we could find. We also found some mundane, run of the mill stories, that seemed banal at first watch. However, at this point, we’ll take anything that resembles an MLB game, right? Until the lockout ends, we’ll feature one of the contests and provide you a link where you can relive the glory, exhilaration, and thrill from the comfort of your couch.
The 2006 NY Mets took on the St. Louis Cardinals in the NLCS, which came down to a memorable Game 7 at Shea Stadium.
The Mets entered the 2006 postseason as the #1 seed in the National League. They finished tied with the Yankees for the best record in MLB. After sweeping the Los Angeles Dodgers in the NLDS, they faced the Cardinals, who had sent the Padres back to San Diego. Both teams won 3 of the first 6 games in the series, setting up the “win or go home” finale.
The lasting memory seared into everyone’s brains from this game was the called third strike to Carlos Beltran to end the game. I remember staring in disbelief, yelling “how do you not swing?” at my TV. It was absolutely brutal, but then again – so was Wainwright’s curveball.
Anyway – there are plenty of other reasons to watch this game, even if you are a Mets fan. There was Ollie Perez, who held his own over 6 innings, surrendering only one run on 4 hits. Cardinals starter Jeff Suppan got the better of him. He went 7 and allowed only 2 hits, both coming in the first inning. Despite that, the game was deadlocked heading to the 9th. Of course, before the memorable ending was the incredible catch that Mets LF Endy Chavez made in the 6th inning to rob Scott Rolen of a 2-run HR. After the catch, he doubled off Jim Edmonds at first base to end the inning and preserve the 1-1 tie. If that play goes any differently, who knows how the rest of the game would’ve played out. As heartbreaking as the ending was, it was a tremendous game all around.
