Extra Extras!

One of the cool things about baseball is there's no real "clock" on the game. It's nine innings. That could be a lightning quick 9... or it could drag out over 3hrs or so. But, no matter the length.. there is no shortage of drama. It's built in to the game. If there's no clear winner by the 8th inning or so, every runner becomes a high tension thriller. Will he reach scoring position? Who will knock him in? It's fun to watch.. obviously.

Well, yesterday was a bit more of the same.. and a little extra to boot. Extra innings galore. Now, the cool thing about Extras is the hero roles could come from anywhere in the lineup. Lots of heroes yesterday. Take Cliff Pennington who led off the A's 10th with a stinging triple and then buzzed home on an infield chopper to beat the Angels 2-1. That's one way to do it.

Or, you could go the more conventional route like the red hot Andre Ethier did for the Dodgers. After LA fell behind 4-0 early in the game Andre and the boys rallied to a 4-4 tie. Chances for both teams failed to end the game in 9, so.... extras = ) And, what does Andre do to cap off a day in which he set the record for most consecutive April games with a hit (24).. what else? Hit a game winning Home Run in the 10th inning. Cool stuff.

Then you have the guy who's been sitting on the bench watching the game all day. It gets late... manager's make their trickly little moves, next thing you know he's got a bat in his hands and asked to make a difference. That's what Daniel Murphy did for the Mets in Washington. He delivered in spades when he belted a game tying blast in the 8th inning. Then, just for the heck of it he wrapped out a two run double in the 9th inning to ice it.

I know, it's kind of anti-climactic when you're the visiting team and score that winner in the top half of the frame. No where near as cool as the Home team walk off winners. But, still... it's fun to watch. Drew Stubbs completes the streak of visiting teams that stole their games late as the Reds snuck past Milwaukee 7-6 on the strength of his 10th inning lead off bomb. And it was a rocket.. .watch it Here.

But, crazy enough.. my YH goes to an old timer who did something pretty miraculous on this date in 1982. Philadelphia's Pete Rose went 5 for 5 to tie Max Carey for the NL Record, doing it for the 9th time in his career! Rose led the Phils to a 6 run 9th inning and they stomped the Dodgers 9-3 in LA. Congrats to the Hit King.

What's a Walk Off Worth....

A Crazy day in baseball yesterday with a host of Walk Off's, an extra inning rally and... one for the ages. California teams were in the spotlight with late game heroics by 4 of the 5 Cali teams. In and of itself, that's pretty amazing.

Let's kick it off in San Diego where the "O Dog", stroked a Walk Off single that lifted the Padres over Cincinnati 3-2. Orlando Hudson's scrappy style of play and mindset was just what the Pads needed at the dish in the bottom of the 9th. San Diego had posted a single run in the 7th and 8th innings to tie the game and were desperately trying to avoid a sweep at the hands of the Reds.

Enter Orlando. He ripped a bases loaded, opposite field missile into left field to notch a much needed win for San Diego. I loved his statement when asked about his game winning single - "I just wanted to have a Quality At Bat". Beautiful. You certainly did "O Dog". Watch it Here!

The Oakland A's were just as impressive, if not more so, in their late game heroics vs. the White Sox. Down by 3 in the 9th the A's put together a terrific rally that tied the game and sent it into extra innings for the third game in a row. Having every game in a 3 game series go "extra" had not happened to the A's in over 23 years! Incredible stuff.

More Mindset stuff for you hitters out there. . . with two out in the 9th Cliff Pennington came to the plate with ducks on the pond. What was he thinking when he was facing a fireballing pitcher? "With Thornton on the mound throwing 97 miles an hour," Pennington said, "I was just looking for a fastball I could hit."

He got it. First Pitch too! Tie game. The game winners came in the 10th when Oakland posted 3 more runs to walk away with a series win against Chicago. Not exactly a Walk Off.. but pretty cool, just the same.

In Anaheim it was another extra inning tilt AND a Walk Off win! The Angels' billion dollar baby (jus kiddin'),Vernon Wells, earned a few of his dollars by delivering a base knock in the 12th that clinched the win over the Indians. A huge hit for Vernon's confidence as he was mired in 0 for 16 slump when he stepped in the box. His single off the shortstop started the rally. Wells eventually scored the winning run on a Sac Fly by Jeff Mathis with the bases juiced. I'll bet the Rally Monkey was going bonkers in Anaheim ; )

The Fans in Atlanta got to see something pretty special on Wednesday. Yes, their team got dumped by the Marlins and there were plenty of long faces in the crowd. That is until the 9th inning when Braves super hero Chipper Jones came to the dish.

Chipper launched a deep drive that cleared the center field wall for a Solo Home Run. Yea, yea.. so what you say? Well, that Home Run gave Chipper 1,500 RBIs for his career! In the History of baseball there is only one other switch hitter to have amassed 2,500+ hits and notched 1,500+ RBIs (Eddie Murray). That put a smile on the face of alot of Atlanta fans last night. Check it out by Clicking Here

Yesterday's Hitter honors has to go to our scrappy little throwback dude in Detroit. . . Brandon Inge. The Tigers have a couple of these guys I really like, but last night it was all Brandon. He tied the game in the 6th inning with a Sacrifice Fly. Great hitters do what has to be done to get that run home in close games and Brandon is a great hitter.

Not exactly satisfied with his 6th inning success, Brandon came to the plate in the 9th inning with one out and the game still knotted at 2-2. He had to be looking for something with a little 'wrinkle' to it because... on the very first pitch (one with some wrinkle) he Belted a Blast to deep Left Field. It was one of those - Crack! It's Gone! kind of shots. A real No Doubter that gave Detroit it's 2nd straight Walk Off win vs. the Rangers. Watch Yesterday's Hitter by clicking Here!