Postseason highlight and heartache: 2011 Texas Rangers

Ron Washington: "I said to [bench coach] Jackie Moore, 'It wasn't meant to be, because we had two chances. We didn't lose because we were nervous; it just didn't happen.'"

Mark Lowe: "It was a tough thing for all of us to go through. Even talking to Darren Oliver and Scott Feldman after the fact, I told them, 'I won't watch that game until I'm done playing baseball.' I will never go back and watch that game until I retire."

Josh Hamilton: "I haven't [watched it]. I don't even own a computer. I'm very low-tech. I guess I could Google it. I don't have a burning desire to watch that game. I'm sure one day I might want to sit around and reminisce a bit, but I haven't had that feeling yet."

Mark Lowe:  "I grabbed my things from the dugout, and I was feeling pretty bad about the whole thing, not only for me, but for my teammates. It's hard to not put the blame on yourself. Everybody on that team, all the time, took responsibility for things that happened. That's what made us so good, and I felt responsible for that."

Ron Washington: "It ended up being something that I'll always think about and fret about. I was, twice, one pitch away from winning the World Series. I don't think it could be explained. We were two pitches away."

Jon Daniels: "We walked into the clubhouse with the plastic tarp taped up. I remember seeing the cases of beer and the 'Texas Rangers World Series Champions' T-shirts. Now I'm thinking, somebody else got my T-shirt."

Because of a rainout on Wednesday, pushing Game 6 to Thursday, Oct. 27, Chris Carpenter pitched Game 7 for the Cardinals against Matt Harrison on Friday, Oct. 28. In the top of the ninth inning, the Cardinals were ahead 6-2. For the final at-bat of the 2011 World Series, David Murphy went to the plate to face Jason Motte.

Allen Craig (Cardinals outfielder, 2010-14): "That is something that I will never forget. I will never forget standing out in left field with Jason on the mound and hearing the 50,000 Cardinals fans cheering, 'Let's go, Cards! Let's go, Cards!' I think that was one of the first moments where I was like, 'Holy smokes, I think we're going to do this.' So I was just standing out there hearing the crowd chant, and it was like a really powerful moment. I had a feeling that the ball might come to the left side of the field because Jason was throwing hard, and Murphy was up and he's a lefty. So I was ready. The ball came to me. I caught it, and it was the best feeling in the world to catch that ball."

David Murphy: "I was so worn out. ... Being further removed from it, and seeing highlights of that game and of the World Series, it makes me more sick to my stomach now, knowing how close we were and that we did not get it done."

Jon Daniels: "After Game 7, I was sitting in the dugout. That was an emotional deal. A local station got the [shot of me in the dugout] and my wife saw it back home. You think of how many people put in how many hours of work to get to that point."

John Mozeliak (Cardinals general manager): "As I reflect back on that moment, success is fleeting. Nothing is more gratifying than raising the World Series trophy. As I was walking back to the dugout, my first thought was, 'When should we tell the team [manager] Tony La Russa is stepping down? How quickly should we look to fill that position, and how will the negotiations go with Albert Pujols?'"

Josh Hamilton: "It reminded me more than anything about how much baseball and life can compare to each other. You can think something is going the way you want it to go, and in an instant or a flash it can change unexpectedly. I think because of everything I've been through in my life, the mistakes I made, and learning from them -- and coming back and making some of the same mistakes over and over -- I think it was a little easier for me to handle being that close and not getting that ring."

David Murphy: "I think generally in life, life is full of disappointments. It's not about the disappointments that you experience, but usually those challenging moments are the things that help you grow. I feel like a moment like that, and so many other failures that I had in my career in the game of baseball, have helped me and taught me so many different lessons, and made me way more of a man than I would have become without the game of baseball."

Chris Carpenter: "Twenty-eleven was special, and it was special in a lot of ways, and not just because it was a World Series. It was special because we were 10 1/2 games back and we had no chance. Everybody said we had no chance. What it showed was that you do have a chance. I don't care, unless you are mathematically eliminated, you have a chance. So I learned that is what makes this game so great."

Mark Lowe: "I think it made me stronger as a person and a baseball player. You put yourself in that situation as a little kid growing up all the time. You picture different things happening, and it didn't happen the [way I wanted], but if it didn't happen to me, it was going to happen to somebody else on our team, or their team. I was the one fortunate enough who had to deal with it."

David Freese: "Growing up here, it just effected the whole situation more so. For me personally, it sped up a maturation process I needed, but not right away. It brought me right in the spotlight. Even before that happened, I was the hometown guy. When that situation magnified everything, it definitely pushed me into a position to start understanding things about me, my life, and the lane I was in.

"It's just baseball. I know we won the World Series, but I really hope that if I wasn't a part of the team that won the World Series -- and I lost in '13, but I still had a ring -- I hope I would wake up and understand that it's just baseball. I understand the importance of it. It's a big part of what we do and what we are, but I battled, allowing baseball to define me. How you play is how people look at you, that kind of thing. It's a tough thing some of us go through. But if the greatest thing that I was ever a part of was on a baseball field, then I think I'm missing the point."

Ron Washington: "We were two pitches away. It hurts that we weren't able to bring that world championship home. It hurts me as the leader that I failed those people. I feel like I failed my players, also. My players feel like they failed me. It hurts every day. You don't take that for granted. That lives with you."

Jon Daniels: "I remember I came home that night. I got home about 3 a.m. My son was 4 at the time. I went upstairs and checked on him. He woke up and said, 'Dad, did we win?' And I said, 'No, no, we didn't win.' And he said, 'So, no parade?' I said, 'No buddy, no parade.' That hit me."