ATLANTA — 2012 seems like such a long time ago.
The Cardinals were the defending champions, the Rams still had three and a half years left of football in St. Louis and Vladimir Tarasenko was making his NHL debut.
2012 also would be the last time the Cardinals and Braves would meet in postseason play until the 2019 NLDS.
The 2012 Wild Card Game was the first of its kind. The Cardinals and Braves and Rangers and Orioles were baseball's guinea pigs for this one game insanity of nerves and drama.
And it didn't disappoint. MLB's first Wild Card Game ended up giving us one of the wildest moments in baseball over the last 10 years.
Let's set the stage again to refresh everyone's memories.
Bottom of the eighth, Cardinals with a 6-3 lead, Braves threatening with two runners on and only one out, Mitchell Boggs (how's that for a name from the recent past?) on the mound and Andrelton Simmons at the plate.
Simmons launches a high pop fly behind shortstop Pete Kozma and in front of outfielder Matt Holliday into short left field.
Kozma appears to have a bead on it... only to drift away thinking Holliday was coming in to make the catch. The ball falls on the ground and it looks like the Braves have bases loaded with still only one out.
But wait!
Left field umpire Sam Holbrook had called it an infield fly! Simmons was automatically out and the runners were free to advance at their own will.
Enter hysteria.
Braves Manager Freddie Gonzalez goes ballistic, the Turner Field fans go even crazier throwing anything they could find onto the field, sometimes at the Cardinals and umpires and the game sees a lengthy delay while everyone tries to figure out what just happened.
When play finally resumed, Jason Motte came in, walked Brian McCann and then struck out Michael Bourn to end the inning and preserve the three run lead.
The Cardinals went on to win the game by the score of 6-3 and advance to the NLDS against the Nationals, where Pete Kozma would once again play a pivotal role in the clinching game.
There's a good chance you remember exactly where you were for this game. That's how crazy of a moment it was.
The game was the third to last postseason game ever played at Turner Field and also happened to be hall of famer Chipper Jones' last ever game in the majors.
The Cardinals and Braves will meet in October for the first time since that crazy night seven years ago on Thursday in the NLDS at SunTrust Park.
There will only be a handful of people who were either on the field or the bench for that moment taking part in this year's match up. Yadier Molina, Adam Wainwright and Matt Carpenter for the Cardinals and Freddie Freeman and Brian McCann for the Braves.
Oh yeah, Sam Holbrook will be there, too. He's the crew chief for the NLDS.
As a baseball fan, here's hoping for some more drama. Let's just avoid the controversy this time.
