Take a Bow Matt Holliday You Erred It

It’s the bottom of the ninth, there are two out and the St. Louis Cardinals hold a 2-1 lead, Dodgers first baseman James Loney drives what should be the final out straight to Matt Holliday who missed the ball and let it bounce off his junk, yes junk is a technical term. Cardinals’ receiver Ryan Franklin, who looked rattled after the Holliday error gave up two runs and the Cardinals lose.
Matt Holiday joins a long list of playoff goats but let’s remember three of the more recent incidents, Steve Bartman, Bill Buckner, and Lonnie Smith.
It was the seventh game of the 1991 World Series featuring the Minnesota Twins and the Atlanta Braves. It was the 8th inning of a scoreless game, Lonnie Smith was on first base, and Terry Pendleton hit a double, which Smith should have easily scored. As Smith was rounding second he stopped, stumbled and was only able to reach third base possibly costing the Braves the World Series. Lonnie Smith has escaped the intense scorn the others have because of the incredible performance by Jack Morris who pitched 10 shutout innings and earned the World Series game 7 win for the Twins.
Bill Buckner takes most of the blame for the Red Sox 1986 World Series Loss but a lot of the blame is misplaced. Of course it shows how one mistake can erase all of the good a player has done for their team. Have a look at the error
Bill Buckner Play – 1986 World Series – Funny blooper videos are here
For 18 years that error hung over Buckner’s head, Red Sox fans quickly forgot Buckner’s 8 Homeruns, 22 homeruns and .340 batting average over the month of September that helped the Sox lock up the American League East. Buckner has since been forgiven after the Red Sox finally won the World Series in 2004 and 2007.
In my humble opinion, the most unfortunate goat of the past 25 years was Chicago Cubs fan Steve Bartman. Bartman while reaching for a playable foul ball interfered with Moises Alou who was about to make the second out of 8th inning. The Cubs held a three games to two lead over the Marlins. Had Alou caught the ball the Cubs would have been 4 outs away from going to the World Series but after the play the Marlins took the lead and the Cubs lost the 6th game and went on to lose the 7th. To add insult to injury the Marlins won the World Series that year.
Poor Steve Bartman was escorted from the stadium and was given police protection after receiving death threats from fellow Cubs fans. Even then Governor Rod Blagojevich suggested Bartman should join the witness protection program. I couldn’t find the clip on youtube but I found this one enjoy.

When we look at Matt Holiday’s play it will likely be a footnote in the Cardinals season much the same as Lonnie Smith’s stubble. The Braves would win the World Series only a few years later so Smith was spared and the Cardinals won the World Series 3 years ago which will give Matt Holiday a reprieve from a Bartman or Buckner type vilification.