Fallout reflections: Losing World Series will take time to process

I'm still not sure I'm fully recovered from the baseball events that transpired on Oct. 27 and 28 in the 2011 World Series.

As everyone knows by now, the Texas Rangers dropped Games 6 and 7 in St. Louis, a huge letdown from the two-time defending American League champions after building a 3-2 series lead that I never saw coming.

It's taken me 16 days to even comment on the situation on the blog. Granted, part of that reason is because I just moved for the second time in two months, and had to have most of my stuff out of my old Lawrence apartment and into my new Kansas City apartment the day after Game 7. I was without Internet for four or five days at the new place. I also started a new job three weeks ago, and have been trying to get myself acclimated in the meantime.

But let's be honest. Part of the reason for my absence from the blog lately is because I simply needed to step away from thinking about baseball for a short period of time.

The Rangers were so close. This one hurt.

Let me stress that this World Series was one of the most exciting Fall Classics of all-time. It was a World Series that will be talked about forever among sports fans of all ages. I will talk about this World Series with my friends from Dallas, my friends from St. Louis and all other fellow baseball fans for the rest of my life. I don't doubt that.

It's just going to be tough to look back at this World Series because it's without a question the one that got away. It's not a stretch to think that the Rangers should be World Series champions. I mean no disrespect to the Cardinals, who mounted comeback after comeback and truly deserved their crowning moment.

But the Rangers came so far, appearing in their second World Series in as many years, and much of the reason they were in that position again in 2011 was because they regularly closed out games like the Game 6 debacle that extended the series to a seventh game.

After Game 6, that was it. Texas never seriously threatened in Game 7, and the Cardinals put together one of the most improbable runs to a World Series championship in MLB history.

As a tribute of sorts to the Cardinals winning it all, I'm going to relive the pain, listing my most difficult reasons for losing the 2011 World Series.

• We were one strike away. Twice! In Game 6, the Rangers had the Cardinals on the brink of elimination, one time in the ninth inning, and a separate time in the 10th. World Series MVP David Freese hit a game-tying triple in the ninth, and Lance Berkman produced a game-tying single in the 10th.

• I was ready. OK, not in a ridiculous, champagne-in-my-apartment-before-the-game kind of way. But I was pacing in the bottom of the ninth and 10th innings. I was standing up, hands on my head and focused on the TV, with the sole purpose of celebrating a clincher. I was ready to start jumping around like a little kid who found out he could open all of his Christmas presents because the clock reached a certain hour.

• It was different — considerably different — than losing last year's World Series. Texas never seriously threatened the Giants last year, falling 4 games to 1. After a few games in last year's World Series, it became evident we were going to wind up on the losing end. This year was so different. Texas held 3-2 series lead, and looked so confident in Game 6. The Rangers held a 7-5 lead entering the bottom of the ninth inning, needing only three outs to hold up the biggest trophy of them all.

• I thought Nelly had it. With two runners on, two outs and two strikes in the ninth inning, Freese lifted a pitch from Neftali Feliz to right field. If we make the catch, game over. As soon as I noticed on TV that the ball carried to right field, I had full confidence that Nelson Cruz would secure the fly ball, and I'd begin to go into full celebratory mode. Cruz had a beat on the ball, but it sailed over his outstretched glove and clanked against the wall for a triple and two runs. Tie game, 7-7.

• Surely, Hamilton sealed it in the 10th. Josh Hamilton, who was limited all World Series with a sports hernia, blasted a two-run home run to lead off the top of the 10th inning. Immediately, the feeling was, OK, that was a nice escape act in the ninth. That's enough. We have a World Series to win here. I should have known better that the resilient Cardinals would come up big. Again with two outs in the bottom of the inning, on the brink of elimination. Again with two strikes. Berkman's two-run single tied the game. After we failed to score in the 11th, Freese's straightaway bomb of a home run sealed Game 6.

Now, the Rangers have an offseason to think about. I'll be back on the blog numerous times throughout the winter to look ahead to these developments. For now, I just wanted to reflect on the most difficult sports moment I can ever remember.

I'm just about over it, though, and I still love this team. They play with unparalleled joy on the field, and seem to enjoy their careers the way any professional would envision his/her dream opportunity.

I'd like to think I'll eventually have the chance to bear witness to the Rangers taking the only step left of this remarkable journey and capturing a World Series title. It just wasn't this year. The way this team is built, though, there's no reason to think they can't give this thing another run in 2012. Who knows? Maybe the third time will be a charm.