The Greatest Night In Baseball History

I went to my first baseball game in 1965. For nearly fifty years I've been a fan of the game. I've never seen anything like the night of September 28, 2011, the greatest single evening in baseball history. Eight teams playing four games with two playoff berths on the line on the last day of the regular season with two of the match-ups going extra-innings. It was something I'll never forget.
One month ago I was like most fans. Bemoaning the lack of a close pennant race as the Yankees and Phillies dominated their respective leagues. Even the wild card playoff berths seemed pre-destined. The Atlanta Braves had a 8 game lead over the St. Louis Cardinals, while the Boston Red Sox claimed a 9 game margin over the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. But the month of September was cruel to Boston and Atlanta who found themselves tied for the two wild card spots with the teams who finally chased them down..
My TV clicker almost blew up as I went back and forth between the four games on two ESPN channels. The Red Sox took an early lead over the Orioles and the Yankees had a 7-0 lead over the Devil Rays. If the Red Sox held on they were going to the playoffs and Tampa was going home. Then it started raining in Baltimore (as if the night needed any more drama) and Tampa rallied to make it 7-6 in the bottom of the ninth. With two outs they sent to the plate a guy named Dan Johnson with a .108 batting average. In the type of pressure situation every kid dreams about he knocked out a solo home run to send the game into extra innings.
Meanwhile the Red Sox game resumed and they quickly wished the rain had never stopped. Baltimore, a team with nothing to play for but pride, scored two runs in the 9th to win the game 4-3. Now the Red Sox had to root for their fierce rivals to beat Tampa. The Yankees had clinched top seed in the playoffs a week earlier so they also had nothing to play for and I'm sure they did not want to play extra innings. They held on until the 12th when Evan Longoria hit his second homer of the game, winning the wild card for Tampa and completing the epic collapse of Boston.
While all of this was going on there were two important games being played in the National League. One of them had St. Louis romping over Houston 8-0 . Then the Cards turned their attention to the Atlanta Braves vs. Philadelphia Phillies marathon. The Phils, like the Yanks, already had the best record in the National League and thus had nothing on the line. I'm sure they were not happy to go extra innings but they kept their best players in the line up until finally beating the Braves 4-3 in the 13th. That sent the Cardinals to the playoffs and the Braves into the record books for their historic choke job.
The Red Sox and Braves are two of baseball's heritage teams. When September started they looked like wild card winners. But the Sox won only seven games and the Braves won only nine while the Devil Rays and Cards never gave up hope. It took the greatest night in baseball to decide the ultimate winners and losers. Now its time for the playoffs to see who wins it all. It'll be a tough act to follow.