On this date in 2006, the Mets and Cardinals were tied at 3 games apiece in the National League Championship Series and sent Oliver Perez and Jeff Suppan to the hill in the matchup to decide who would represent the National League in the World Series. Despite the so-so pitching matchup on paper, the game ended up a pitcher's duel loaded with drama all throughout. With the score deadlocked at 1-1 in the 6th inning, Perez walked Jim Edmonds with one out, bringing pitching coach Rick Peterson out to the mound for a discussion.
Whatever Peterson said to Perez, who had pitched an admirable game to that point considering the circumstances, clearly didn't work because on the first pitch of the at bat, Scott Rolen unloaded on Perez's fastball, sending it deep to left field. Endy Chavez, starting in left field because of an injury to regular starter Cliff Floyd, chased the ball all the way back to the wall, leaped at the perfect moment, and grabbed the ball right before it disappeared over the fence. Once the fans at Shea Stadium realized that Chavez actually caught the ball, they began rocking but Endy wasn't yet finished. He came down to the ground and made a perfect throw to relay man Jose Valentin, who tossed the ball to Carlos Delgado at first base, finishing off the double play with an emphatic fist pump.
Even if the game ended in defeat and disappointment, Gary Cohen said it best in the moment: Endy Chavez saved the day. Not only did he provide the Mets with a ray of hope in a moment of potential despair but he also turned himself into a folk hero, though a folk hero whose legend could've been immeasurably larger with a better result at the end of nine innings.