October 27, 2013: Kolten Wong Is Picked Off

October 27, 2013: As if the interference call ending the previous night's game wasn't weird enough, Game 4 of the World Series also has a weird ending. The Boston Red Sox win the 1st World Series game to ever end on a pickoff, beating the St. Louis Cardinals, 4-2 at Busch Stadium in St. Louis.

The game was tied 1-1 in the top of the 6th, when Jonny Gomes hit a 3-run home run for the Red Sox. The Cardinals took a run back in the 7th, but it was still 4-2 in the bottom of the 9th.

Kolten Wong, a 23-year-old rookie, was caught off 1st base by Boston closer Koji Uehara, ending the contest with the dangerous Carlos Beltrán at the plate as the tying run. The 1st base umpire got the call right, and the Cardinals did not argue it.  Ironically, Wong was pinch-running for Allen Craig, the beneficiary of the previous game's weird ending.

The Cardinals had momentum after the previous night's wacky ending, but now, they won't win another game that counts until March 31, 2014.

The Red Sox won the Series in Game 6, 3 days later. David Ortiz -- who, 4 years earlier, had been exposed as having failed a steroid test 6 years before that, and had been lying about it ever since -- was named the Series' Most Valuable Player.

He had rallied Bostonians around the Sox as relief for having suffered the Boston Marathon Bombing in April. He was hailed as baseball's greatest hero, and the baseball establishment -- the Commissioner's office, the media, and fans in general -- chose to ignore that he was a big fat lying cheating bastard who should have been banned from the sport.

UPDATE: The Red Sox have a team Hall of Fame. From the 2013 World Champions, they have inducted designated hitter David Ortiz, 2nd baseman Dustin Pedroia, pitcher Jon Lester; executives Dick Bresciani and Elaine Weddington Steward, guest relations director Al Green, broadcasters Jerry Remy and Joe Castiglione, and longtime vendor Arthur D'Angelo.

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October 27, 2013 was a Sunday. There was NFL action:

* The New York Giants beat the Philadelphia Eagles, 15-7 at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia.

* The New York Jets lost to the Cincinnati Bengals, 49-9 at Paul Brown Stadium in Cincinnati.

* The New England Patriots beat the Miami Dolphins, 27-17 at Gillette Stadium in the Boston suburb of Foxborough, Massachusetts.

* The San Francisco 49ers beat the Jacksonville Jaguars, 42-10 at what's now EverBank Stadium in Jacksonville.

* The New Orleans Saints beat the Buffalo Bills, 35-17 at the Superdome in New Orleans.

* The Detroit Lions beat the Dallas Cowboys, 31-30 at Ford Field in Detroit.

* The Green Bay Packers beat the Minnesota Vikings, 44-31 at the Metrodome in Minneapolis. Rookie Cordarelle Patterson of the Vikings returns the opening kickoff 109 yards for a touchdown, tying an unbreakable NFL record. But that would be the highlight for his team.

* The Kansas City Chiefs beat the Cleveland Browns, 23-17 at Arrowhead Stadium in Kanas City.

* The Denver Broncos beat the Washington Redskins, 45-21 at what's now Empower Field in Denver.

* The Arizona Cardinals beat the Atlanta Falcons, 27-13 at what's now State Farm Stadium in the Phoenix suburb of Glendale, Arizona.

* And the Oakland Raiders beat the Pittsburgh Steelers, 21-18 at the O.co Coliseum (as the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum was then known).

The preceding Thursday, the Carolina Panthers had beaten the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, 31-13 at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte. And the next day, on Monday Night Football, the Seattle Seahawks beat the St. Louis Rams, 14-9 at what's now Lumen Field in Seattle.

And the Baltimore Ravens, the Chicago Bears, the Houston Texans, the Indianapolis Colts, the San Diego Chargers and the Tennessee Titans had a bye.

The NBA season didn't start for another 2 days. There were 5 games played in the NHL:

* The San Jose Sharks beat the Ottawa Senators, 5-2 at the Canadian Tire Centre in Ottawa.

* The Tampa Bay Lightning beat their arch-rivals, the Florida Panthers, 4-3 at the BB&T Center (now the Amerant Bank Arena) in the Miami suburb of Sunrise, Florida.

* The Anaheim Ducks beat the Columbus Blue Jackets, 4-3 at the Nationwide Arena in Columbus.

* The Colorado Avalanche beat the Winnipeg Jets, 3-2 at the Pepsi Center (now the Ball Arena) in Denver.

* And the Los Angeles Kings beat the Edmonton Oilers, 2-1 in a shootout, at the Staples Center (now the Crypto.com Arena) in Los Angeles.

There were also 5 games in Major League Soccer, on the last day of its regular season. The New York Red Bulls beat the Chicago Fire, 5-2 at Red Bull Arena in Harrison, New Jersey, outside New York City. This clinched a finish of 1st overall in the league, winning them the Supporters' Shield. This was the 1st time in their 18-season history that they had won a trophy. Also in MLS that day:

* The Houston Dynamo beat D.C. United, 2-1 at Robert F. Kennedy Stadium in Washington.

* The New England Revolution beat the Columbus Crew, 1-0 at Columbus Crew Stadium in, well, Columbus.

* The Seattle Sounders and Los Angeles Galaxy played to a 1-1 draw at CenturyLink Field (now Lumen Field) in Seattle.

* And the Vancouver Whitecaps beat the Colorado Rapids, 3-0 at BC Place in Vancouver.

October 27, 2006: The 83-Win World Series Winner

October 27, 2006: The St. Louis Cardinals defeat the Detroit Tigers, 4-2 in Game 5, to take the 2006 World Series. Jeff Weaver -- The goat of the 2003 Series? Are you kidding me?!? -- was the winning pitcher for St. Louis, who get a pair of RBIs from shortstop David Eckstein, who is named the Series' Most Valuable Player.

This win, in the Cardinals' 1st season at the 3rd Busch Stadium, is their 10th title (they've since won an 11th), 2nd all-time behind the New York Yankees, and 1st among NL teams.

Their 83 regular-season wins are the fewest of any team to win a World Series in a full 162-game, or even 154-game, season:

* 2020 Los Angeles Dodgers: In that COVID-shortened season, they went 43-17, to win the NL West. They then beat the Milwaukee Brewers in the NL Wild Card Series, the San Diego Padres in the NL Division Series, the Atlanta Braves in the NL Championship Series, and the Tampa Bay Rays in the World Series.

* 1994 Texas Rangers: When the Strike of '94 cut the season off, with the postseason eventually canceled, they had a 52-62 record, but they were still in 1st place in the American League Western Division. Although none of the 6 teams in 1st place at the time of the strike are officially recognized by MLB as 1994 Division Champions, the '94 Rangers remain the only team ever to end a season in 1st place in a Division despite having a losing record.

* 1981 Los Angeles Dodgers: In that strike-shortened season's split-season format, they went 36-21 in the 1st half, and 27-26 in the 2nd half, for an unofficial total of 63-47. Since their 1st half total was enough to win the NL Western Division, they got into the Playoffs, beat the 2nd-half Champion Houston Astros, beat the overall Eastern Division-winning Montreal Expos, and won the World Series over the Yankees.

* 1918 Boston Red Sox: The season was cut short by a month due to World War I restrictions, but the federal government permitted a World Series. It was won by the Boston Red Sox, who had won the AL Pennant with a 75-51 record.

* 1973 New York Mets: They won the NL East with an 82-79 record, and then beat the Cincinnati Reds in the NLCS. This makes them the team with the fewest wins in a season of at least 144 games to win a Pennant (some of the 1995 Division Champions had fewer wins), and the team with the fewest wins in a season of at least 154 games to win a Pennant. But they lost the World Series to the Oakland Athletics.

In 2006, the Cardinals' 83 wins were enough to beat the Houston Astros for the NL Central Division title by 1 game. Under the NL East that was in operation from 1969 to 1992, which they shared with the Mets, the Expos, the Philadelphia Phillies, the Pittsburgh Pirates and the Chicago Cubs, they would have finished 3rd, behind the Mets with 97 wins, and the Phils with 85.

But they beat the Padres in the NLDS. The NLCS between the Cards and the Mets went to a Game 7, and Yadier Molina hit a home run in the 9th inning to give the Cardinals the Pennant. The AL Champion Tigers, who had won 95 games but had blown a big NL Central Division lead to the Minnesota Twins, rebounded to beat the Yankees in the ALDS and then sweep the A's in the ALCS.

But they were no match for the Cards, led by 1st baseman Albert Pujols and 3rd baseman Scott Rolen, who are in the Baseball Hall of Fame; and catcher Molina, center fielder Jim Edmonds, and pitcher Adam Wainwright, who could each make the Hall someday. (UPDATE: As of 2025, they haven't.)

Game 1 was the 1st time in World Series history that both starting pitchers were rookies: Anthony Reyes for St. Louis and Justin Verlander for Detroit. Verlander would build a career statistical record that would suggest he's going to the Hall of Fame -- as of October 27, 2022, he is still active, and thus ineligible -- while Reyes only lasted 5 seasons in the major leagues. But that would be Reyes' night, and he retired 17 consecutive batters in Game 1, establishing a World Series record for a rookie pitcher.

The Tigers won Game 2, but the Cards won the rest, in spite of Game 4 being postponed a night by rain. The Game 5 win at home capped a season in which the Cards opened their new stadium and won the World Series. This feat had previously been accomplished by the 1912 Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park, and the 1923 Yankees at the original Yankee Stadium. It has since been matched by the 2009 Yankees at the new Yankee Stadium.

UPDATE: The Cardinals have a team Hall of Fame. From their 2006 World Champions, they have inducted manager Tony La Russa, general manager Walt Jocketty, coaches Albert "Red" Schoendienst, Dave Duncan and José Oquendo; scout George Kissell, broadcasters Mike Shannon and Al Hrabosky; 3rd baseman Scott Rolen, and pitchers Jason Isringhausen and Chris Carpenter.

La Russa, Jocketty, Schoendienst, Duncan, Kissell, Shannon, Hrabosky, Isringhausen, Carpenter, shortstop David Eckstein, center fielder Jim Edmonds, pitcher Jeff Suppan, and team president Mark Lamping were elected to the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame.

La Russa, Jocketty, Schoendienst, Duncan, Shannon, Hrabosky, Rolen, Edmonds, Isringhausen, Carpenter, and team owner Bill DeWitt Jr. were elected to the St. Louis Sports Hall of Fame.

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October 27, 2006 was a Friday. The NBA season started 4 days later. There were 4 games in the NHL:

* The Columbus Blue Jackets beat the Los Angeles Kings, 2-0 at the Nationwide Arena in Columbus.

* The Minnesota Wild beat the Anaheim Ducks, 3-2 in a shootout at the Xcel Energy Center (now the Grand Casino Arena) in St. Paul, Minnesota.

* The Detroit Red Wings beat the Dallas Stars, 4-3 at the American Airlines Center in Dallas.

* And the Vancouver Canucks beat the Washington Capitals, 3-2 in a shootout at General Motors Place (now the Rogers Arena) in Vancouver.

There was 1 college football game that night: The University of Tulsa beat the University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP), 30-20 at Skelly Stadium in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

And in New Jersey high school football, my Alma Mater, East Brunswick, beat Edison, 42-28 at Matthew J. Drwal Stadium in Edison, Middlesex County.

October 26, 2013: The Allen Craig Game

October 26, 2013: Game 3 of the World Series is played at Busch Stadium in St. Louis, and it has the weirdest ending of any Series game ever.

In the bottom of the 9th inning, with the score tied 4-4, Boston Red Sox pitcher Brandon Workman gives up a 1-out single to Yadier Molina. Boston closer Koji Uehara is brought in to face pinch-hitter Allen Craig, who doubles on the 1st pitch. Jon Jay hits a grounder to 2nd baseman Dustin Pedroia, who makes a sensational diving stab, and throws home to catcher Jarrod Saltalamacchia, who tags out the sliding Molina for the 2nd out.

But then Saltalamacchia throws to 3rd, trying to get Craig, who was running on the play, and decides to slide towards Will Middlebrooks, knocking him down. However, the ball glances off Middlebrooks' glove and Craig's body, caroming into foul territory down the left field line. When Craig sees this, he starts toward home, and runs over Middlebrooks, who winds up slowing Craig down as he tries to take off for home.

Allen Craig

The 3rd base umpire, Jim Joyce, calls obstruction on the play. Home plate umpire Dana DeMuth determines that Craig would have scored without the obstruction, and awards the Cardinals the run, giving them a 5-4 win, and a 2–1 lead in the World Series.

As far as I know, this is only the 2nd game in baseball history where a game-winning run was awarded without the runner having touched the plate. The 1st was in 1976, when, after hitting a Pennant-winning home run for the New York Yankees, Chris Chambliss couldn't touch home plate, or even 3rd base for that matter, because fans running onto the field had stolen them.

(Joyce was the pitcher who owned up to the fact that his "safe" call ruined a perfect game and a no-hitter for Detroit Tigers pitcher Armando Galarraga in 2010. Having already called 3 All-Star Games, 10 Division Series, 4 League Championship Series and 3 World Series, he wasn't punished for that call. However, after this call, he umpired 3 more seasons before retiring, and never called another postseason game. I guess, when the Red Sox get hurt, there's punishment.)

This was 28 years to the day after an incorrect call by umpire Don Denkinger set in motion a series of events that seemed to cost the Cardinals the 1985 World Series. Had the Cardinals gone on to win this Series, it would have become an epic moment, and Red Sox fans would fume about getting screwed for the rest of their lives -- even though, unlike the Denkinger call in 1985, this call was correct. We know they would have forever fumed, because Sox fans old enough to remember the 1975 World Series are still fuming about Larry Barnett's refusal to call interference on Ed Armbrister of Cincinnati in the 10th inning of another Game 3.

But, of course, the Sox won the Series (by cheating), so this play is a footnote. A bizarre footnote, but a footnote nonetheless.

Craig's October performance was a big reason why the Cardinals had won the 2011 World Series. The 2013 season featured a 2nd Pennant for him, and his only All-Star Game berth. Oddly, the Cardinals traded him to the Red Sox the next season, and he played one more season after that, before injuries ended his major league tenure. After a decent season with the San Diego Padres' Triple-A team in 2018, he joined their front office, where, as of the 2022 postseason, he remains.

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October 26, 2013 was a Saturday. Among the college football games played that day were these:

* Number 1 Alabama beat Tennessee, 45-10 at Bryant-Denny Stadium in Tuscaloosa, Alabama.

* Number 2 Oregon beat Number 12 UCLA, 42-14 at Autzen Stadium in Eugene, Oregon. Oregon blew their chances at glory by losing 2 of their next 3 games.

* Number 3 Florida State beat North Carolina State, 49-17 at Doak Campbell Stadium in Tallahassee, Florida. Florida State won the Atlantic Coast Conference title.

* Number 4 Ohio State beat Penn State, 63-14 at Ohio Stadium in Columbus.

* Number 5 Missouri were upset by Number 20 South Carolina, 27-24 at Faurot Field in Columbia, Missouri.

* Number 6 Baylor beat Kansas, 59-14 at Memorial Stadium in Lawrence, Kansas. Baylor won the Big Twelve title, but lost the Fiesta Bowl to Central Florida.

* Number 7 Miami beat Wake Forest, 24-21 at Sun Life Stadium (now Hard Rock Stadium) in Miami Gardens, Florida. Miami lost their next 3 games, denying them any chance at any title.

* Number 8 Stanford beat Oregon State, 20-12 at Reser Stadium in Corvallis, Oregon. Stanford went on to win the Pacific-Twelve title.

* Number 10 Texas Tech were upset by Number 17 Oklahoma, 38-30 at Gaylord Family Memorial Stadium in Norman, Oklahoma.

* Number 11 Auburn beat Florida Atlantic, 45-10 at Jordan-Hare Stadium in Auburn, Alabama. Auburn beat Alabama with what became known as the Kick Six Play, then won the Southeastern Conference title, beat Missouri in the SEC Championship Game, and beat Oklahoma in the Sugar Bowl, but lost the National Championship Game to Florida State.

* Number 16 Virginia Tech were upset by Duke, 13-10 at Lane Stadium in Blacksburg, Virginia.

* Number 25 Nebraska were upset by Minnesota, 34-23 at TCF Bank Stadium (now Huntington Bank Stadium) in Minneapolis.

* Michigan State, then unranked, beat Illinois, 42-3 at Memorial Stadium in Champaign, Illinois. Michigan State went on to win the Big Ten title, beating Ohio State in the Championship Game, and beat Stanford in the Rose Bowl.

* Among the service academies, Navy beat Pittsburgh, 24-21 at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium in Annapolis, Maryland; Air Force lost to Notre Dame, 45-10 at Falcon Stadium in Colorado Springs, and Army had the week off.

* In a rivalry known as the Battle for the Fremont Cannon, the University of Nevada at Las Vegas (UNLV) beat the University of Nevada, 27-22 at Mackay Stadium in Reno.

* And Rutgers lost to the University of Houston, 49-14 at SHI Stadium in Piscataway, New Jersey.

The NBA season started 3 days later. There were 11 games played in the NHL:

* In an "Original Six" matchup, the New York Rangers beat the Detroit Red Wings, 3-2 at the Joe Louis Arena in Detroit. Derek Brassard scored the winning goal with 13 seconds left in overtime.

* The New York Islanders lost to the Philadelphia Flyers, 5-2 at the Nassau Coliseum.

* The New Jersey Devils beat the Boston Bruins, 4-3 at the TD Garden in Boston.

* The San Jose Sharks beat the Montreal Canadiens, 2-0 at the Bell Centre in Montreal.

* The Tampa Bay Lightning beat the Buffalo Sabres, 3-2 at the Amalie Arena (now the Benchmark International Arena) in Tampa.

* The St. Louis Blues beat the Nashville Predators, 6-1 at the Bridgestone Arena in Nashville.

* The Winnipeg Jets beat the Dallas Stars, 2-1 in a shootout at the American Airlines Center in Dallas.

* The Toronto Maple Leafs beat the Pittsburgh Penguins, 4-1 at the Air Canada Centre (now the Scotiabank Arena) in Toronto.

* The Minnesota Twins beat the Chicago Blackhawks, 5-3 at the United Center in Chicago.

* The Calgary Flames beat the Washington Capitals, 5-2 at the Saddledome in Calgary.

* And the Phoenix Coyotes beat the Edmonton Oilers, 5-4 at the Jobing.com Arena (now the Desert Diamond Arena) in the Phoenix suburb of Glendale, Arizona.

And in English soccer, North London's Arsenal went to South London, and beat Crystal Palace, 2-0 at Selhurst Park.