Thanks, Puma
This is when things really start to get interesting.
With the Cardinals’ clinch of the second wild card late last night, a final pressure-less game set up a bold stage for a one-game winner-takes-all wildness in Atlanta, Friday night.
Puck was a little enthralled with the avocado seed I peeled out at eleven, so much so in fact that…
“Mama. I’m afraid I can’t go to the game tonight. I have to study this peanut. It might be a bomb.”
But he was quickly enticed away by the dregs of red things coming his way, including his dark red Mexican knit poncho that I had him don before running errands.
“They will pinch me there if I don’t wear red,” he warned me.
That sounds like a Sun-suggestion, if I ever heard one.
It was Puck’s first return to the field since last August when he left in the second inning due to the fact that he was absolutely certain the players were getting sunburned.
“He was kind of mad about it,” The Bear explained to a very amused Red Strike earlier in the week.
We hoped for opposite results this time. And he did really, really well.
A very mild October evening sell-out in St. Louis. And, in fact, a potential uneventful handful of hours gradually became more interesting as rookie Shelby Miller continued to throw hitless innings. Puck was pretty excited about everything.
“Dad! I want to show you something!” he declared, big-eyed after the third.
The boys returned with a small plastic Cardinals cap stuffed with dip ‘n dots, which was a novelty for both Puck and myself. And aside from sneezing a mouthful of chocolate circles into the three rows in front of us and coating his clothes and seat in melted ice cream, it was a success.
At the sixth inning, you kind of sensed the crowd realizing the potential of a no-hitter for this rookie chap… until… a missed catch in the last out of the sixth. The crowd groaned, but stood and cheered anyway as the next Reds hitter came to bat.
But that was really forgotten in the bottom of the seventh.
No one had even been paying attention, really. Why would they? The pitcher’s spot was coming up and given the fact that almost every player on the field that night was a rookie or sort-of-new-guy for this singular meaningless game of the season… But then they heard it – that familiar Johnny Cash “God’s Gonna Cut You Down”. I think all 42,000 were on their feet before they were even thinking, as Lance Berkman walked slowly up to the plate. The sound of the stadium was so deafening, no one could even hear the PA announce him. Later, Mike Matheny told reporters that… “He didn’t think it was going to be all that big of a deal. He thought he might walk out there and hear crickets.”
Nothing like it. Thunderous cheers for Lance. In fact, the applause didn’t stop even when he grounded out two pitches later, and gave another standing ovation, with the dugout, as he walked off the field.
“It was a very nice moment for me being out there and really just a chance to tip my hat to the crowd – a great city, a great group of fans,” Berkman said. “Obviously, I’ve just enjoyed the heck out of my time here. That was one of those mutual thank yous. I really just wanted to thank the crowd and the city of St. Louis. I’m glad I got a chance to put on the Cardinal uniform. It’s pretty emotional, it definitely is for me. But looking back on it, I’m sure I’ll really appreciate it more as I go along… It was certainly a nice sendoff but something I’ve come to expect from this crowd here, to see the class these people have. The people are some of the best in the world, and it’s my privilege to have gotten to play here.”