Retweet of the Day - October 8, 2013

The Pittsburgh Pirates had an opportunity, in front of their fans at PNC Park, to advance to the National League Championship Series for the first time since 1992, leading the St. Louis Cardinals two games to one heading into Game 4 of the National League Division Series. Rookie starting pitcher Michael Wacha of the Cardinals pitched seven hitless innings and set the Redbirds up brilliantly to send the series back to St. Louis for a decisive Game 5.

Of course, few road playoff victories come to any team without some drama. Cardinals closing pitcher Trevor Rosenthal, with the Cards winning 2-1, retired the first two Pirates batters in the bottom of the 9th inning. Then he walked Neil Walker, which brought Pirates centerfielder and leading candidate for National League Most Valuable Player Andrew McCutchen (.317, 21 HR, 84 RBI, .917 OPS) up to the plate. This meant that one swing of the bat by the powerful centerfielder could end the game and the series, to the delight of the Pittsburgh fans.

The Twittersphere lit up in anticipation of a possible made-for-Hollywood walk-off series winning dinger. "The crowd would've rushed onto the field if McCutchen had hit a walk off...," "...If McCutchen walked that off the city of Pittsburgh would have been Gotham in TDKR." Oh ONLY if McCutchen could hit a home run! If McCutchen could ride in on his white horse and deliver elation to the long-starving Pirates fans in the spirit of Franco Harris' Immaculate Reception in the 1972 NFL Playoffs! You get the picture.

So many people were anticipating the scene if McCutchen homered that it led to something somewhat unusual on Twitter. Today's retweet, from Ben Weise ‏(@BenAtInternship):

"Lol "If McCutchen" is trending."

If "if" were a fifth, we'd stay drunk all day.

Image from www.twitter.com