Maybe, like so many of us, Mother Nature was a Chris Carpenter fan.
That’s one plausible explanation for the events of Oct. 26, 2011, when Game 6 of the World Series was postponed at 2 p.m. Central Time based on the St. Louis forecast for the evening — not the weather at the time.
The extra day off on that Wednesday, of course, meant Carpenter was then available to pitch on three days’ rest once Friday night’s Game 7 arrived — a fact that everyone was already thinking about, as Matthew Leach wrote at the time:
Cardinals manager Tony La Russa continues to avoid naming a starter for a potential Game 7, but definitely left the door open for Chris Carpenter to pitch that game on three days’ rest … “I was told by ‘Carp’ that he would be ready to go,” La Russa said. “I think most important is for us to concentrate [on Game] 6.
Oh, right … Game 6 and all its agony and ecstasy was still to come.
What we’ve forgotten in the past five years, with the giddy memories over Games 6 and 7, is what things were really like following the terrible loss in Game 5. Here, as a refresher, is what was in the Washington Post five years ago today:
Another day of waiting around means another day of digesting the Cardinals’ grotesque bungling of Game 5 — which, aside from La Russa’s much-dissected bullpen-phone escapades, also drew pointed questions about the fact Pujols has the authorization from La Russa to call hit-and-run plays on his own from the batter’s box.
Want to relive more of the Game 5 madness? It’s easier to take now, for sure. Here’s the recap.
Thankfully, the phone craziness and the “what will Albert do?” frenzy is mostly forgotten about and the final two games of the 2011 World Series are what we recall now. But none of that would have happened without the rainout-that-really-wasn’t from five years ago tonight.
Aaron Miles' Fastball 