Leave it to the loquacious Bobby Valentine to point out something that I still haven’t heard or seen anywhere else regarding that historic Game 6 of the 2011 World Series.
Adrian Beltre, the Texas Rangers’ third baseman who won two Gold Gloves for the Seattle Mariners, overran a chance to make history in the bottom of the 10th inning.
Valentine immediately pointed out on ESPN Radio’s broadcast of the game that Beltre missed an opportunity at a game-ending, Series-clinching triple play.
St. Louis manager Tony LaRussa called upon pitcher Kyle Lohse to drop down a sacrifice bunt with runners on first (Jon Jay) and second (Daniel Descalso). Lohse’s bunt was less than textbook, yet it ended up sailing over the head of Beltre.
Valentine said Beltre charged the play too aggressively. Both Descalso and Jay were halfway on their way to the next base when Lohse’s ball fell to the ground. Texas shortstop Elvis Andrus scurried in behind Beltre and made a nice play just to throw out Lohse at first.
Had Beltre slowed his charge just a bit, he would have easily caught the bunt on the fly. That’s a putout on the batter. Then, Valentine said Beltre could have thrown to second base to double up Descalso, and then over to first to get Jay and complete the triple play. According to my quick web search, it would have been the first in the Fall Classic since 1920.
One inning, later, ex-Seattle reliever Mark Lowe served up the dramatic home run ball to David Freese. One night later, ex-Seattle reliever Arthur Rhodes and the Cardinals earned their rings.
Valentine's managerial insight was just one example of the remarkable Series of work provided by ESPN's Sunday Night Baseball trio that included Orel Hershiser and play-by-play man Dan Shulman. They moved to ESPN Radio with Fox owning the rights to the World Series, and those who watched the game on TV but listened to Valentine, Hershiser and Shulman were rewarded each night.
As a kid growing up in Spokane, I remember Valentine as a linchpin on the great Indians team that won the Pacific Coast League title in 1970 with Tommy Lasorda as the manager. In fact, Valentine was the league MVP.
Sadly, the speedy Valentine never fully recovered from the hideous leg fractures he suffered in 1973 when his cleats got tangled in a chain-link fence while playing outfield for the Angels in Anaheim, Calif. He ended his playing career in 1979 with — the Seattle Mariners.
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How about this for a stat? Freese ended up with 21 RBI in 18 post-season games. To show how inept the Mariners’ bats were during the 162-game regular season, Miguel Olivo led Seattle with 62 RBI.
