Reliving Memorable Rangers Moments: Josh Hamilton's 10th Inning HR in Game 6 of 2011 World Series

Hamilton's two-run blast was supposed to be the coup de grâce for the Texas Rangers in Game 6.

Rangers fans everywhere cannot get the image of David Freese's line drive to right field in the bottom of the 9th inning eluding Nelson Cruz's glove. Nor can Rangers fans forget Freese's walk-off home run later in Game 6, or the Cardinals' win in Game 7 to steal the 2011 World Series.

How many Rangers fans remember Josh Hamilton's towering two-run home run in the top of the 10th inning in Game 6 in St. Louis that should have been the final nail in the coffin for the Cardinals' chances though? I'd guess not many, since it's a positive moment buried in a game remember for nothing but heartbreak.

Let's revisit Hamilton's bomb though.

Top of the 10th, Elvis Andrus on first, Jason Motte pitching for the Cardinals; Hamilton catches up to a 98 MPH fastball in his ideal zone, crushing one to the deepest part of the park at Busch Stadium, giving the Rangers a 9-7 lead.

"There's a shot into right," Joe Buck announced shortly after Hamilton makes contact. "Back at the track...at the wall...Hamilton has gone deep, and it's 9-7 Texas here in the tenth!"

FOX cameras show manager Ron Washington celebrating outside the dugout with both arms in the air, with Ian Kinsler nearby, before then flashing to Nolan Ryan celebrating in the crowd.

The homer was Hamilton's first one in the entire 2011 postseason, and the first one in 82 at-bats. A groin injury throughout the postseason slowed him down to the point where it hurt bad enough where check swings were extremely painful. Hamilton credited the home run as a supernatural event, but no matter what, his first homer of the 2011 postseason came at the most crucial time.

This home run in the clutch should have been the moment that lived on forever for Rangers fans. It should have secured that elusive World Series, but we all know what happened after that.

It's a shame Neftali Feliz couldn't miss Freese's bat on that pitch, or Cruz couldn't have made the catch, pulled hamstring or not, because those mistakes overshadowed what should have been the biggest moment of Hamilton's bizarre career path.

Instead, we're left remember Freese's jog around the basepaths and Buck's call in the bottom of the 11th inning.

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