Game 163 in 2009

[J-Dog Dungan]

What are your favorite moments?

 

Mine is the call when Cabrera hits the homerun in the 7th off of Miner & the last hit

[Brendan Kennealy]

Bobby Keppel closing it out and Carlos Gomez scoring the winning run off Casilla's hit. Talk about role players.

[Gernzy]

Casilla's game winning hit was the best. Everyone at my place was going crazy. I watched that replay so many times in the off-season.

[woolhouse]

Joe Nathan's reaction after Cabrera catches Ordonez's line-drive and doubles-off Jackson on first. Actually, I'll add Cuddyer's fistbump, Cabrera's excited leap, and Cabrera/Nathan's dugout celebration after that, too. Even Mauer pumped his fist after that play.

[glanzer]

I was in the 9th row behind the Tigers dugout. At the time I lived in Uptown and after the dramatic win I sprinted the whole way home in the rain, running off sheer adrenaline. I later met Rick Porcello at a trade show that winter and spent several minutes talking to him about the amazing experience. Even though he was on the losing end he agreed it was the greatest game he ever played in.

[Esoteric Ball Guy]

Cabrera's shot in the 8th would've been the answer if not for Ordonez's gut wrenching homer to tie it half an inning later. Ryan Raburn losing the ball in the lights giving Cuddy the triple to lead off the 10th while down a run was the most inflating, and surreal experience I've had at any baseball game.

[James]

I don't know if I can limit it to one moment. I was sitting in dead center field. The general atmosphere in the place was really the thing I remember most. There was just so much energy. But Casilla's game winning hit was a pretty amazing way to end it.

[J-Dog Dungan]

Triple by Cuddy was sweet, too. Shout out to the ump who saved our butts. Who thinks the "Inge HBP" was called right? It clearly brushed the jersey

[nicksaviking]

I couldn't believe Keppel wormed his way out of the one out basses loaded disaster he got himself into in the 12th. He was about the last arm available and for good reason, he hadn't done anything productive during his time with the Twins. I thought the season was over when he walked in from the bullpen and I couldn't have been more certain after he loaded the bases with the intentional walk. I think he went to Japan after that season but that's got to be something to tell the grandkids about someday.

[John Bonnes]

My kids went to that game and there were several times where my son was nearly in tears, thinking it was lost. We were behind first base, upper deck, maybe 15 rows from the top.

 

My favorite moment is the entire time Keppel pitched. He was awful, clearly fighting himself, and I'm convinced to this day that the crowd absolutely carried him. I've never been prouder of a MN Twins crowd than I was that night, that inning.

 

That night, I blogged 12 Memories Before Bed. It's still one of my favorite entries.

[J-Dog Dungan]

Refresh my memory; which inning did Mauer take the extra base in?

[davidjcampbell]

Refresh my memory; which inning did Mauer take the extra base in?

Looks like bottom of the first.

 

It was fun to read the play by play and review the box.

 

http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/MIN/MIN200910060.shtml

[puck34]

A lot of great moments, but my favorite was Gomez racing around third and sliding in safely. I happened to run in to Gomez at MOA the night before the game and wished him good luck in passing. He hadn't played much in those last few months leading up to 163, but came up big when it mattered.

[Cychotic]

I think my favorite non-baseball moment of that game was when they played "Don't Stop Believing" over the intercom. When the song got to the lyric, "Born and raised in South Detroit" the whole crowd started booing.

[The Dread Pirate]

That was the first time I ever left the Metrodome needing a shower. What a game. An unmentioned but unforgettable moment was the crowd taunting Miguel Cabrera before he clobbered an absolute BOMB of Baker. Pretty good way to shut us up.

[The Dread Pirate]

Oh, one other thing. How in the world did Matt Tolbert's tailor-made game-ending double-play ball in the 10th inning elude Polanco? When it left the bat, the game was over yet Polanco somehow couldn't quite reach it.

[SEC]

That whole game was insane for me, I will never experience a sport moment like that again in my life time. I remember calling in "sick" at work so I could make the drive from WI to see that game. I was at the Royals game/162 and after we found out Detroit won, I went outside and stood in line for tickets.

[J-Dog Dungan]

SEC, you are a true Twins fan. Best game that I have heard of in my lifetime (only 17 years, but game 7 of the 2001 WS might be close in epicosity.)

[danoo]

Casilla's game winning hit and go go Gomez scoring the winning run

[Shane Wahl]

I think my favorite non-baseball moment of that game was when they played "Don't Stop Believing" over the intercom. When the song got to the lyric, "Born and raised in South Detroit" the whole crowd started booing.

Yeah, I had friends there and they captured that moment of video.

[Shane Wahl]

I went back and found some of those highlights during last season, not to mention that offseason. Gordon's call of the Cabrera-started double play was great.

[chavez]

My brother getting cut off by the beer vendor in the 6th inning (never seen that happen before). The reaction of the fans while Gomez was coming home was unreal - it was the most exciting thing I've ever witnessed.

[MrEnthusiasm]

So many great memories of that night. One that sticks out was the force play that Punto made, throwing to the plate on the slow chopper by Inge with the bases loaded in the top of the 12th. That was a great heads-up play. The image that will always be with me, though, was seeing the all the players come pouring out of the dugout as Gomez made the turn for home. The last memory I have in the Metrodome is celebrating that win - embracing my friends, high-fiving strangers, and being completely overwhelmed by the joy of the greatest ballgame I ever saw in person. I'll never forget 163.

[J-Dog Dungan]

How many Detroit fans did you guys see at that game? I only saw one, and he was in the parking ramp when I was leaving

[SEC]

I was next to two of them in a line for beer. They were pretty cool, some one was talking to **** to them so I think I said something along the line of "not all of us are asses like that". Then again I was one of the asses running around yelling "Go Pack Go" even though the Vikings beat them the night before

[J-Dog Dungan]

Like the one time in the last (almost) decade that we have been able to win a playoff game on the national stage

[striker_86]

I was sitting a few rows above the baggy in the upper deck. Best game I've ever been to. Waited in line in the rain for about an hour to get into Huberts. The bases loaded double play was epic. It seemed like Detroit was poised to blow the game open and that double play saved us.

[TwinsRubes]

Me and my buddy sat 20-some rows up in dead center field, and I remember not wanting to leave after the game was over - despite the 3.5 hour drive home we had to make. We sat up in our seats for so long just exhausted and in unbelief at what we just saw, that this little old lady usher came out and yelled up to us that we had to leave so they could clean up. One of the highlights of my life so far!

[chaderic20]

Things I'll never forget: At game 162, the entire crowd chanting "Let's go White Sox! Let's go White Sox" while watching the scoreboard, and the roar that went up when that final score posted was enough that the players on the field called time out. My friends and I then spent the entire 4-hour car ride home calling the Twins box office until we could finally get through and bought tickets for 163. Then the next day turned around and made the 4-hour drive back up to the Dome. I do remember the taunts of Cabrera (though not fondly, I was actually ashamed of Twins fans for that one), and of course Gomez rounding third and diving into home. Hands down the best game I have ever seen, and probably ever will see. And I also still have my cell phone video of the celebration afterwards. Unfortunately I hadn't thought to take it out to record the actual winning run.