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There's an old adage in baseball: A walk's as good as a hit. The origin unknown, but the authors: the many who have stood frozen, their fingers barely able to cross as the cool, rigid air pumped through their veins, waiting with held breath for the elusive run that stood between a win or a loss.
"A walk's as good as a hit." Echoed by the neophyte baseball fan, praying with the father that no doubt uttered the same words to him over countless hours of baseball in their home.
It's the raging cries that were heard for several moments into the wee hours in Rocky Top Park for the at-bat that wasn't but culminated in the closing of one of the most intense series in postseason play.
But before that moment that begot both endless splendor and bitter anguish, it was the gutsy performance of one pitcher the night before that helped make that moment possible.
With his team down 3-2 and needing a victory to push the series against Pittsburgh to a winner-take-all Game 7, Danny Melgoza took the mound in Denver and brilliantly pitched through 9 of the 107 innings of back-and-forth baseball that looked more like 22 men battling in the trenches of the gridiron.
"Pitching became, or was, for lack of a better phrase: missing in action," said Denver 3B Tyler McLouth.
Through the first five games, Denver averaged 5.4 runs a game while their identical 101-win opponent Pittsburgh Millers averaged 8.4, a full three runs more.
But heading into inning 108 of the series, the offense had taken a break as the Millers found themselves sitting 3 outs away from the DLCS with a microscopic 3-1 lead.
In came their closer Tubby Mileski, a burly 260 pound behemoth that with 47 saves tied Denver closer Tony Perez for the league lead. With his fiery 98 mph fastball and devastating splitter that would defy gravity until the latest possible moment, the proverbial door seemed shut for Denver.
"You stare at that moment, down two runs, that man on the mound," said Stout Slugger candidate Jamie McPherson, "you don't have a moment to breathe or recognize the situation. You have no choice but to step into the box and hope, by some miracle, you get something good."
By some miracle, Denver found a way, scoring a run on a sacrifice fly before their 2B William Eckstein delivered on a game-winning two-run 1-0 pitch into the left-center gap for a triple.
The dramatics seemed impossible to replicate. The odds not in Denver's favor with Pittsburgh team ace Jamie Thomas ready to go for Game 7.
Denver had to count on 27-year-old Oscar Gaxiola who had pitched 5 postseason innings to Thomas's 74.
As expected, Pittsburgh jumped early on Gaxiola with a run in the first and with the aid of one swing from Tom Griffiths held what should have been a comfortable 5-3 lead heading into the bottom half of the ninth.
"It was the same scenario all over again."
Sitting in the dugout, watching what could be the last outs of his season, Denver LF Pat Verba had been out of the lineup, as was the prerogative with a lefty on the hill.
He paced the steps. He chewed on sunflower seeds. He took the moments to pick the brains of guys like Ling-Lai Pang and Tyler McLouth - players whose status on the ballclub were unknown beyond that night.
"In three outs they could have been packing their bags and playing elsewhere," Verba said. "I didn't want to miss the chance to speak to guys who had been there. Had triumphed through these moments."
Pittsburgh called the number they had grown accustomed to seeing pick up three swift outs.
For another night, Denver had other plans than a silent night.
The inning started with one of those veterans Verba grew close to. A 3-time champion with Washington, Tyler McLouth expertly drew a 4-pitch walk from Mileski.
C.J. Wilkinson followed with a line drive single.
The Denver crowd grew silent, uncertain if superstition called for celebration or those famously go-to crossed fingers.
Could it happen again with one of the best relievers in the game on the mound?
"If you asked me a night ago if it could be done, I would have said no," longtime Denver manager Raul Gallardo said slowly. "If you asked me then, even after what I saw last night, I would have said it was impossible."
Suddenly, the Denver crowd wondered if perhaps this moment, this impossible moment could become reality.
And then, just as suddenly, their hero struck out.
"The way he threw those pitches, the way his splitter fell off the table," said Verba. "I thought that was it. Tubby isn't going to blow this one."
Henry Rodrigues - he of the club record 42 homers and 146 RBI - was out on strikes, frozen on a 1-2 fastball he thought would surely be a splitter in the dirt.
Gallardo walked over to Verba and patted him on the shoulder.
"I thought he was trying to thank me for a great season."
The manager wanted something more. He wanted Verba to get ready.
With one out, Jamie McPherson lined a pitch past the infield that scored McLouth despite a desperate heave from the outfield.
Then with the count 3-0, Dave Perkins broke the cardinal rule of a team down a run with one out. He swung at the fourth pitch and singled in the tying run.
The impossible had happened. Denver had broken through on a second-consecutive night.
Mileski's night was over. Pittsburgh watched their closer crumble just a night ago and couldn't risk another episode.
In came Victor Rodriguez whose first order of business was to intentionally walk that other veteran and former Brewmaster Cup champion, Ling-lai Pang in order to force an out at every base.
Due up was the pinch hitter, the left handed power hitter who had been sitting all night: Pat Verba.
And if there was ever any question as to what he learned from a veteran who gave him his greatest piece of advice...
"Tyler told me to just be patient," Verba recalled.
...Verba stared at 4 pitches out of the zone and sprinted into first, turning to find the growing mob forming at home plate.
"I don't remember what was running through my mind that moment. That at-bat might as well never happened."
It didn't. He walked. It was, for the Denver faithful, just as good as a hit.
"A walk's as good as a hit." Echoed by the neophyte baseball fan, praying with the father that no doubt uttered the same words to him over countless hours of baseball in their home.
It's the raging cries that were heard for several moments into the wee hours in Rocky Top Park for the at-bat that wasn't but culminated in the closing of one of the most intense series in postseason play.
But before that moment that begot both endless splendor and bitter anguish, it was the gutsy performance of one pitcher the night before that helped make that moment possible.
With his team down 3-2 and needing a victory to push the series against Pittsburgh to a winner-take-all Game 7, Danny Melgoza took the mound in Denver and brilliantly pitched through 9 of the 107 innings of back-and-forth baseball that looked more like 22 men battling in the trenches of the gridiron.
"Pitching became, or was, for lack of a better phrase: missing in action," said Denver 3B Tyler McLouth.
Through the first five games, Denver averaged 5.4 runs a game while their identical 101-win opponent Pittsburgh Millers averaged 8.4, a full three runs more.
But heading into inning 108 of the series, the offense had taken a break as the Millers found themselves sitting 3 outs away from the DLCS with a microscopic 3-1 lead.
In came their closer Tubby Mileski, a burly 260 pound behemoth that with 47 saves tied Denver closer Tony Perez for the league lead. With his fiery 98 mph fastball and devastating splitter that would defy gravity until the latest possible moment, the proverbial door seemed shut for Denver.
"You stare at that moment, down two runs, that man on the mound," said Stout Slugger candidate Jamie McPherson, "you don't have a moment to breathe or recognize the situation. You have no choice but to step into the box and hope, by some miracle, you get something good."
By some miracle, Denver found a way, scoring a run on a sacrifice fly before their 2B William Eckstein delivered on a game-winning two-run 1-0 pitch into the left-center gap for a triple.
The dramatics seemed impossible to replicate. The odds not in Denver's favor with Pittsburgh team ace Jamie Thomas ready to go for Game 7.
Denver had to count on 27-year-old Oscar Gaxiola who had pitched 5 postseason innings to Thomas's 74.
As expected, Pittsburgh jumped early on Gaxiola with a run in the first and with the aid of one swing from Tom Griffiths held what should have been a comfortable 5-3 lead heading into the bottom half of the ninth.
"It was the same scenario all over again."
Sitting in the dugout, watching what could be the last outs of his season, Denver LF Pat Verba had been out of the lineup, as was the prerogative with a lefty on the hill.
He paced the steps. He chewed on sunflower seeds. He took the moments to pick the brains of guys like Ling-Lai Pang and Tyler McLouth - players whose status on the ballclub were unknown beyond that night.
"In three outs they could have been packing their bags and playing elsewhere," Verba said. "I didn't want to miss the chance to speak to guys who had been there. Had triumphed through these moments."
Pittsburgh called the number they had grown accustomed to seeing pick up three swift outs.
For another night, Denver had other plans than a silent night.
The inning started with one of those veterans Verba grew close to. A 3-time champion with Washington, Tyler McLouth expertly drew a 4-pitch walk from Mileski.
C.J. Wilkinson followed with a line drive single.
The Denver crowd grew silent, uncertain if superstition called for celebration or those famously go-to crossed fingers.
Could it happen again with one of the best relievers in the game on the mound?
"If you asked me a night ago if it could be done, I would have said no," longtime Denver manager Raul Gallardo said slowly. "If you asked me then, even after what I saw last night, I would have said it was impossible."
Suddenly, the Denver crowd wondered if perhaps this moment, this impossible moment could become reality.
And then, just as suddenly, their hero struck out.
"The way he threw those pitches, the way his splitter fell off the table," said Verba. "I thought that was it. Tubby isn't going to blow this one."
Henry Rodrigues - he of the club record 42 homers and 146 RBI - was out on strikes, frozen on a 1-2 fastball he thought would surely be a splitter in the dirt.
Gallardo walked over to Verba and patted him on the shoulder.
"I thought he was trying to thank me for a great season."
The manager wanted something more. He wanted Verba to get ready.
With one out, Jamie McPherson lined a pitch past the infield that scored McLouth despite a desperate heave from the outfield.
Then with the count 3-0, Dave Perkins broke the cardinal rule of a team down a run with one out. He swung at the fourth pitch and singled in the tying run.
The impossible had happened. Denver had broken through on a second-consecutive night.
Mileski's night was over. Pittsburgh watched their closer crumble just a night ago and couldn't risk another episode.
In came Victor Rodriguez whose first order of business was to intentionally walk that other veteran and former Brewmaster Cup champion, Ling-lai Pang in order to force an out at every base.
Due up was the pinch hitter, the left handed power hitter who had been sitting all night: Pat Verba.
And if there was ever any question as to what he learned from a veteran who gave him his greatest piece of advice...
"Tyler told me to just be patient," Verba recalled.
...Verba stared at 4 pitches out of the zone and sprinted into first, turning to find the growing mob forming at home plate.
"I don't remember what was running through my mind that moment. That at-bat might as well never happened."
It didn't. He walked. It was, for the Denver faithful, just as good as a hit.
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