Game One of the 2006 Monopod Baseball Chamionships was under way in the bowels of Busch Stadium. Rob Tringali on assignment for ESPN the Magazine stepped up to the plate, in the bottom of the ninth inning with two out, to face veteran closer Robert Seale of The Sporting News. These are the things legends are made of and that are remembered for millennium. Seale started the at bat with two balls on the outside corner then followed up with a cutter inside that jammed Tringali. Seale then delivered a back door slider for a strike followed by a high heater that Tringali amazingly laid off of to work the count full. Seale’s catcher came out to visit him before the payoff pitch to calm the nerves of the veteran closer. No one is sure if Seale has lost a bit on his cutter or Tringali got some batting advise from Hammering Hank Aaron when he passed by in the hallway, but Tringali slammed that cutter out of the corridor for a walk off solo home run to lead his team to victory in Game One of the 2006 Monopod Baseball Championships!!!

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ST. LOUIS – OCTOBER 25: Robert Seale of the Sporting News pitches to Rob Tringali in the ninth inning of Game One of the Monopod Baseball Championships on October 25, 2006 in the bowels of Busch Stadium in St. Louis Missouri. 

Michael Heiman-Pool/Getty Images 

ST. LOUIS – OCTOBER 25: Rob Tringali hits a walk off solo home run off of Robert Seale in the ninth inning of Game One of the Monopod Baseball Championships on October 25, 2006 in the bowels of Busch Stadium in St. Louis Missouri . 

Moments after hitting the game winning shot Tringali was offered the front of a Wheaties Box and a huge endorsement deal with Manfrotto which he gracefully turned down. When asked why he turned down the deal Tringali said. “I’m in it for the game, not the money and I want the kids who have dreams of making it to the pro’s one day to realize that.” With such an amazing outcome in game 1, one wonders if game 2 will be able to provide as much excitement, but with rain forecasted again for tonight’s MLB game we can only hope that the play will continue again for a second straight night in the bowels of Busch Stadium where legends are born and heros are made……

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