There is nothing more exciting as playoff baseball, especially the intensity and excitement of a game where everything is on the line. One team plays on and the other makes their tee times.
Monday provided perhaps the most intense of baseball atmospheres with the one game NL Wild Card playoff between Colorado and San Diego. Padres play-by-play voice Ted Leitner kept making reference to going through a 162 season and still not having being able to decide the playoff picture. The excitement was there.
The two teams played what should be an instant classic. San Diego appeared to have control with Adrian Gonzales' grand slam in the third inning, but the miracle Rockies came right back and tied things at 6-6. The two teams persevered until the 13th inning. The Padres, again, looked to have it won on Scott Hairston's two-run homer and brought in Mr. Automatic, Trevor Hoffman, to close it out.
What happened next could not have been written by the best Hollywood screenwriter. Hoffman gives up back-to-back doubles and a triple that ties the game at 8-8. An intentional walk to Todd Helton brought Jamey Carroll to the plate. Carroll did his job, hitting a sacrifice fly to right field, scoring Matt Halliday from third and sending the Rockies to Philadelphia for the Divisional Series.
It was the best of baseball, the type of game that makes you forget about Barry Bonds, the home run record, steroids and everything that has been wrong with the game this year. You just can't beat playoff baseball.
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