Game 7 memories

Tonight, we will get to witness one of my favorite things in all of sports - a Game 7.

I love Game 7s regardless of when they occur or what sport they come in. A Game 7 in the NHL playoffs is thrilling to me. A Game 7 in baseball's League Championship Series, with a spot in the Fall Classic awaiting the winner, is pretty special.

And then there's a Game 7 in the World Series, which we will be treated to between the Giants and Royals tonight.

There have only been 36 decisive Game 7s in the history of the World Series, and we've only seen one in the last 11 years. That one came in 2011, when the Cardinals beat the Rangers 6-2 to complete a ridiculous comeback after twice being one strike away from losing the World Series in Game 6.

Prior to that, the last Game 7 in the Fall Classic was in 2002 between the Angels and Giants. And before that, we had three straight walk-off World Series Game 7s - the Diamondbacks over the Yankees in 2001; the Marlins over the Indians in 11 innings in 1997, with Edgar Renteria's RBI single leading Florida to the title; and in 1991, when Jack Morris pitched all 10 innings of a Twins win over the Braves, with Gene Larkin's walk-off single taking Minnesota to the title.

Of course, the 2001 Diamondbacks team that won it all with a dramatic Game 7 victory featured a man we came to know pretty well this season - Nationals manager Matt Williams. And Williams also took part in the 1997 World Series Game 7, although that time, he was on the losing end, as a member of the Indians.

I was just 12 when Williams' Indians lost in 1997, but I remember the 2001 World Series much more distinctly. Williams went 7-for-26 with a homer and seven RBIs in that thrilling Fall Classic against the Yankees, which came just weeks after 9/11. And Williams was actually in the on-deck circle when Luis Gonzalez blooped that bases-loaded single just over the shortstop off Mariano Rivera, bringing in Jay Bell with the title-clinching run.

It was Williams - the Diamondbacks cleanup hitter that night - who greeted Bell as soon as he touched home plate and lifted him up into the air, an image that will be remembered by baseball fans (especially those in Arizona) for some time.

Not only had the Diamondbacks won the World Series in just their fourth year of existence after their expansion season in 1998, but they had come back from a ninth-inning deficit against the greatest closer in major league history.

There was only one out in the ninth when the Diamondbacks won that game, so if Gonzalez had been retired by Rivera, Williams would have come up with two outs and the bases loaded in a tie game in the bottom of the ninth in Game 7 of the World Series.

That's the situation we all dream of when we're kids, right there. And Williams nearly had it.

The now-Nationals skipper was asked about that situation at one point during this season, and I remember him saying that he's joked with Gonzalez over the years about it. He was plenty pleased to see Gonzalez come through with the blooper over Derek Jeter's head, helping give Williams his only World Series ring. It's just, c'mon, dude, you couldn't have let Williams be the one to deliver the iconic hit?

As for tonight, no home team has lost a Game 7 in the World Series since the 1979 Orioles. The hosts have won each of the last nine Game 7s.

Advantage: Royals. Let's hope for a great one tonight, folks.