By the time that Cardinals third baseman David Freese crossed home plate after his 11th-inning, walk-off home run to close Game 6 of the 2011 World Series, the contest had already established itself as one of the most thrilling, jaw-dropping, gut-wrenching in recent baseball history. Freese's torn jersey -- shredded during a celebration at home plate -- was snapped up by representatives from the Hall of Fame in Cooperstown.
Yet, during the middle innings, this game seemed a candidate to be one of the worst played in more than a century of Fall Classic tilts. The Cardinals and the Rangers combined for five errors, all of which came between the fourth and sixth innings. There were some dropped pop ups, terrible throws and some inexplicable fielding which all led to several of the 19 total runs scored. On top of the errors, there were baserunning blunders, dubious defensive positioning and bullpen troubles.
Fortunately, the late-inning action made up for the ineptitude of the middle frames. Down to their last strike, twice, the Cardinals were able to overcome two two-run deficits in the bottom of the ninth AND 10th innings. Freese, who made perhaps the game's most confounding fielding blunder, certainly redeemed himself with the game-tying triple and that walk-off blast.
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