Last night's Game 6 of the World Series was a pretty awful game on many levels, and yet at the same time one of the most amazing, dramatic games ever played.

One (mis)play that jumped out at me (among many to choose from) was Texas Shortstop Elvis Andrus somehow turning a fairly routine ground ball hit to him in the bottom of the 8th inning into a hit for the Cardinals.

He appeared to consider a quick toss to 2nd for a force out, which looked like a good play, and then instead threw (poorly) to first, too late (having hesitated) to beat the speedy Daniel Descalso. I believe either option would have been an out if executed correctly.

You can't quite give Andrus an error on the play; the play was scored as a hit. But in my opinion it really was a bizarre form of fielder's choice.

The Rangers "got out of the inning", as the baseball phrase goes, without giving up any more runs. But that extra out shifted the batters for the 9th (and then the 10th, and 11th) innings.

It reminded me of Game 6 of the 1993 World Series between the Phillies and Blue Jays, won famously in the bottom of the 9th on Joe Carter's 3-run home run. In the bottom of the 8th, what should've been a routine 1-2-3 inning went all pear-shaped with 2 walks and a HBP. No runs were scored, but the extra at-bats set the stage for the top of the lineup to face Mitch "Wild Thing" Williams in the 9th. Whoomp, there it went.

It's folly to play "What If?" in baseball... every play affects each that follows in a butterfly effect spiral. But similarly, it's a trap to focus too much attention on the "heroics" of the last play, the "clutch" hit, the "winning" home run, independent of the plays that came before.

In the end, it can all seem so chillingly, awe-inspiringly predetermined. Do baseball players ever really have a choice? Do any of us?