Baseball Playoff Magic: “the Inning”
October 15, 2015
It’s October, and for Major League Baseball fans, that means the postseason, the play-offs, the end-of-it-all and the reason for playing. Thirty teams battle it out for 162 games during the regular season, and the best teams continue into October with the ultimate goal of winning the World Series. Last night, two of the American League’s best—the Texas Rangers and Toronto Blue Jays—met in Toronto’s Rogers Centre for the fifth and deciding game of their Division Series. It was a remarkable game, and it all came down to the decisive and bizarre 7th inning—or, as it may simply be known from now on, “the Inning.”
With the score tied, 2-2, Texas was batting in the top of the 7th inning. They had a runner at third with 2 outs. But, after catching a pitch, catcher Russell Martin’s return throw ricocheted off batter Shin-Soo Choo and trickled down the third base line. Everyone stood around, stunned and unsure what to do—except the runner at third, Rangers’ second baseman Rougned Odor, who alertly sprinted home and crossed the plate, giving Texas a 3-2 lead. After much animated discussion, the “gift run” was allowed, sending the Blue Jays and their fans into an angry frenzy. Never before had a deciding playoff game been decided on such a fluke play—and it wouldn’t happen on this night, either. “The Inning” was only half over.
To open Toronto’s half of the 7th, the Rangers made errors on three consecutive plays—a dubious “first time ever” in playoff history—loading the bases with nobody out. The Blue Jays managed to push a run across, erasing their 1-run deficit. But with 2 outs, it looked as if the Blue Jays might squander their golden opportunity to take the lead. And then slugger José Bautista, a Blue Jay since 2008 and one of baseball’s most feared hitters, stepped to the plate with 2 runners aboard. Toronto fans, still agitated after the weird Texas run in the top of the inning, rose as one, clamoring for Bautista to come through with the big hit.
On a 1-1 pitch, Bautista rocketed a towering drive into left field. Instantly, everyone in the stadium, everyone watching on television—perhaps everyone in Ontario—knew the ball was gone. And as Bautista’s homer crashed off the facing of the upper deck, the collective roar nearly blew the roof off the domed Rogers Centre. Bautista flipped the bat away and began his home run trot as his teammates leaped in exultation. It was a moment of raw emotion, sheer joy (for the Jays), and overwhelming energy, the essence of the great moments that so often define playoff baseball. It was also a moment of relief and redemption: the fluke play in the top of the inning would be swallowed by history and remembered only as a set up to Bautista’s homer. Before “the Inning” ended, there were angry words between the teams and twice the teams left their dugouts and very nearly came to blows.
The Blue Jays cruised through the 8th and 9th innings, and the Rangers went down in a near state of shock. After the final out, the deflated Rangers watched the Blue Jays celebrate around the pitcher’s mound. The Jays hadn’t won the World Series, but they were a giant step closer. After the game, Blue Jays catcher Russell Martin—one of two Canadians on the team—gleefully sipped champagne in the clubhouse. His strange throwing error had very nearly cost his team the game and the series. But it all turned out okay: “That was the craziest game I’ve ever been a part of,” he said. And, referring to Bautista’s homer, he added, “That was the best moment of my life. Magic.”