Indeed, I could. Salazar, a big question mark for me until this point, reignited my hope on a ball that landed on the right side, in every sense of the word, of the foul pole in the stands behind the left field fence, tying the game 7-7. Now all we needed was one more run. Bynum was waiting expectantly on second. Again, I tried to set my hopes cautiously, trying less often to be my own worst enemy. Ramon Hernandez at bat. Two outs, two strikes. “Don’t take us into extra innings, Ramon. Please, let’s dispatch with them now, let’s not drag this out.” Ramon smashed the ball toward center field, and we waited to see what would happen while the camera panned to the center field, watching as the Pittsburgh outfield ran and ran towards the ball. “Is it going to drop in? Is it?” It seemed to hang in the air an interminably long time, just like when you’re watching an accident and your brain stalls time in order to interpret it in digestible bits.

Center fielder Nate McLouth couldn’t get to it. The ball dropped behind him! It was so bloody fabulous, I can’t put it into words.

Final score: 8-7 Baltimore.

Also of note, another question mark until today, Cintron produced a hit at a crucial point in the game and the game and there were a variety of game delays mostly due to injuries. Mora left the game in the first inning after foul tipping a ball that somehow freakishly landed on his knee. He writhed in pain for a long while and only managed to get off the field by taking a little break on his way back to the dugout. Remember that he was only walking the distance from home plate. Knee injuries are the worst. I tore my meniscus once skiing. It was by far the worst injury I’ve ever had and why you won’t see me on the slopes again. (Well, that and the one time I tried to give skiing another chance, only two years later, I promptly sprained my elbow.)

Then the game was delayed while the home plate umpire attended to his contacts. So many jokes came to mind and it looked like Millar, who was batting at the time, might have ribbed him with a few. “Maybe now you’ll finally be able to see!”

Finally, in between strikes and Ramon Hernandez’s game winning hit, the Pirate right fielder overly ambitiously tried to catch Hernandez’s foul. He gave it everything he had, smashing into the right field fence, which one imagines must be padded, no? Apparently not enough because the guy was wretched and left the game after making many faces betraying his agony. That oughta teach him.

What?? You expect me to have sympathy for a Pirate? Okay, really, I wish them no personal ill-will, unlike the Red Sox and Yankees. Though, there was a story that came out after the World Series that they were all coke-heads. On second thought, those dirty cheaters deserve suffering, even if it was nearly thirty years ago!

It was an absolutely, positively fantastic game!