Colombian Kid Comes Through In Clutch
The Buffalo News
October 27, 1997
MIAMI -- Edgar Renteria set a World Series record when he struck out twice in one inning in Game Five.
He'll be remembered, however, for what he did in the final inning of Game Seven.
The Colombian kid came through in the clutch Sunday night, delivering a bases-loaded, two-out single in the 11th to win the World Series.
"I feel so excited because the team won," Renteria said.
The national stage was new to the 21-year-old shortstop, but last-inning heroics were not. The single was his sixth game-ending hit this season.
"He's done it so many times this year, and he did it again," said teammate Craig Counsell, who scored the winning run. "He's a big-money player."
A $ 180,000 shortstop on a team of millionaires, Renteria won the Marlins' first postseason game with a ninth-inning single against San Francisco. He won their last postseason game with a single that ticked the glove of pitcher Charles Nagy and continued into center field.
A crowd of 67,204 erupted in pandemonium. No doubt there was also plenty of cheering in Renteria's hometown of Barranquilla, Colombia.
"This is the greatest thing in life," Renteria said. "I want to share this with all the people in Colombia and the fans in Miami."
Livan Hernandez's mother didn't get to see him pitch. Still, she arrived from Cuba on Sunday evening in time to see her son win -- the World Series, the MVP trophy and the adulation of fans all over.
"It's the happiest day of my life," the 22-year-old pitcher said after the Marlins beat the Indians. "My mother's here and we're champions." Hernandez, in the Marlins' rotation in October only because of Alex Fernandez's torn rotator cuff, went 2-0 against Cleveland and became just the second rookie to be MVP of the Series.
Hernandez also was MVP of the NL championship series, having gone 2-0 against Atlanta with an NLCS-record 15 strikeouts in one of the wins.
"When I was younger, I couldn't have dreamed about this," he said. "I never thought I'd be here." It's official: Cleveland and Florida had the wildest World Series on record.
The Indians and Marlins set the record for most walks by two teams in a Series when Cleveland's Jaret Wright walked Renteria in the third inning of Game Seven. Renteria received the 69th walk of the Series, one more than the New York Yankees and Brooklyn Dodgers combined for in 1947.
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