Goodbye Summer

At 12:17 a.m. EST, this morning, whether or not Matt Holliday touched home plate or not, the Colorado Rockies beat the San Diego Padres in the bottom of the 13th inning, in the rare edition of the 163rd game of the season, to take the last and final place in the playoffs as the National League's Wild Card. All I have to say is that despite my general indifference towards either of the two teams, I was pulling for the Padres to pull it out, and needless to say, I was disappointed. But not for long. This was just a game that anyone could tell the Rockies just wanted more, and in a battle of attrition, the home team usually pulls it out.

This game was in every sense of the word, beautiful.

Two teams that played their hearts out and left absolutely everything on the field. It really doesn't matter what the Rockies do from this point, because there is little they can do except win the World Series that can reach this level this season. Neither team gave up at any time of the game, and when the game finally reached it's end, it had a little bit of everything, just enough to make this one of the greatest games ever played.

• Blood
• Sweat
• Tears
• Constant ties
• Blown saves
• A grand slam
• Controversial calls
• Extra innings

There were so many great individual performances last night, and my mind is still scrambling, trying to remember them all. The guy that stands out the most to me would have to be Padres reliever, Heath Bell, whom with his 2.2 innings of work would just not cave in, and threw some ballsy pitches to some of the best hitters all year, and when he sat down, had struck out five. He epitomized the raw emotion and desire to win, even if it meant shouldering the burden, and this was clearly evident, when he struck out Holliday to end the inning, and for an entire second, the only thing that could be heard was this triumphant roar from Bell. On a night where, and as Joe Morgan was quick to point out... several times... but on a night when Jake Peavy wasn't quite Jake Peavy, Bell sure as hell came out of the bullpen, and did his best impression for 2.2 innings.

Speaking of Peavy, the guy just didn't have his stuff last night. I can't say it was nerves, because the mark of a good pitcher is how they settle down and put the clamps down onto the other team, but all night long, Peavy had difficulty finding the strike zone, and his pitches lacked the bite and late-movement that I had seen him punish the Braves with on several occasions. The fact that he went 118 pitches in over six innings may have hurt the Padres, with his inability to preserve the lead at any given time. He has probably in already won the National League's Cy Young since he's the triple-crown pitcher and his accomplishments are not to be dismissed by any means, but if there was ever a game that he needed to be even 80%, yesterday was it.

Matt Holliday, I was hoping would have gone 0-5, so that Chipper Jones could win the batting title. But to ask of that from someone whom is having an MVP-caliber season is pretty much riding on hopes and dreams. I think he went 2-4 or 2-5 or something, with possibly two BBs, but the bottom line is that with his MVP-caliber performance last night, he secured both the batting title, the RBI title, and if not for the fact that award balloting ended two days ago, he probably would've won National League MVP. The triple in the bottom of the 13th was heart-wrenching, and despite the questionability of the game-winning slide that shouldn't have been game-winning, it was only putting off the inevitable; the Rockies would've probably won that game in the 15th, 16th, or 18th for all we know - I just see it as doing me a favor and letting me go to sleep.

Mike Cameron - can we say that this guy has balls, or can we say that this guy, or maybe it's Bud Black, is just stupid? Who knows. All I know is that I'd never seen a man look so miserable in his entire life until I'd seen Cameron sitting on the bench, watching as Clark made three bad plays in center field that Cameron would have made look easy. And it was evidently too much for him to handle, as injured hand or not, he came in to pinch-run, and then to play his rightful position for two innings. I know the guy is entering free-agency, and he wants to show off, but one bad defensive play, and he could've seriously messed himself up.

When Jorge Julio came out in the top of the 13th, I silently rejoiced, but dared say nothing - I'd seen this guy wildly pitch away in Florida to know that he was a ticking time bomb, and that this amount of pressure would've been crippling to a weak-minded guy like him. All was justified, when he gave up the two-run jack to Hariston, and I was on my feet. I almost found it humorous when the guy to clean up his mess was none other than Ramon Ortiz, a former Nationals starter whom I was used to seeing get victimized, by like everyone. Miraculously, he managed to get out of the inning without letting more damage through.

A funny feeling came over me when we reached the bottom of the 13th inning. No, not from TBS camera crew constantly focusing on the hot blonde in the front row behind the Rockies' on-deck circle (bless them), but one of those funny gut-feelings that something just isn't quite right. The greatest closer of all time, Trevor Hoffman taking the mound in the bottom of the 13th, to attempt to close out the Rockies and clinch the final playoff spot for the Padres. The Rockies, sending the top of their order to eliminate the defecit and keep the game going. Something inside of me, and I said this at 12:02 a.m., 15 minutes prior to the winning run coming in, that "with Matt Holliday, anything is possible."

Bell, Brocail, Thatcher - all these guys did one hell of a job last night, keeping the Rockies off the scoreboards. They all also do something else - throw heat. Anywhere from 92-96 mph, these guys had Rockies batters off balance and unable to catch up to their fastballs when thrown.

I like Trevor Hoffman, and I will declare him the best closer ever, unless Mariano Rivera can take the all-time saves title from him, which doesn't seem likely anymore. But if there's one thing Hoffman doesn't do anymore now, is what all his prior bullpen mates did do - throw heat. His fastball tops at around 86-88 mph, and his changeup struggles to find the strike zone at around 75 mph. After dealing with flame throwers, this was the perfect velocity for Rockies hitters to see softballs coming down the pipe. Not Tim Wakefield slow, but not Joel Zumaya fast. Perfect speed.

I saw this coming when Kaz doubled to start the inning, and then all of a sudden, I knew right then and there that this game was over, and it was just a matter of time when. I figured Tulowitzki was going to bunt or something to get Kaz over, but he instead batted him in, and the Holliday batted him in immediately afterwards. Hoffman was maybe a little fatigued, from having been warmed up three times prior to actually pitching, but I can't fault Bud Black for going to the all-times saves leader, for just one more.

And then the rest was history. I laughed at Carroll's post game ignorance:

"IF YOU DON'T MIND, I'D LIKE TO GO CELEBRATE"
"Well, there's someone hurt over there"
"WHO?????"
"...Matt Holliday. The guy you just batted in. The guy who just won the game for you"
"OH I DIDN'T KNOW WHAT HAPPENED"

I laughed my ass off at this one. Was he serious? Was Carroll on such a high, that he couldn't even remember who he just batted in for the winning run?

After four hours and 40 minutes, the last game of the season ended, and therefore, summer has officlaly ended. In terms of pure baseball, there wasn't anything much better than the 163rd game. Both teams left everything out on the field, and the Rockies weren't just the only winners last night, we as baseball fans won, too.