Marlins Shortstop Renteria Walking Tall After Clutch Hit
Usa Today
Mike Dodd
October 27, 1997
MIAMI -- Edgar Renteria was the last man on the victory platform at second base Sunday night in the bedlam of Pro Player Stadium. And he was the last player to get a "World Championship" hat and T-shirt.
It was a fitting end to the evening for the Colombian-born shortstop. With all the bats in the Florida Marlins lineup, he's one of the last ones expected to get the World Series-winning hit.
"Never," Renteria said of dreaming the scenario that became reality with two outs in the 11th inning, when he bounced a Charles Nagy pitch up the middle to score Craig Counsell with the winning run in Florida's 3-2 victory.
"He threw me a slider for the first pitch, I took it for a strike," Renteria said. "I knew he was going to throw me another slider and I hit it. Too many breaking pitches."
Renteria's teammates say the slick shortstop sells himself short.
"Edgar's been doing this all year," said reliever Jay Powell, who pitched a scoreless 11th to become the winning pitcher in Game 7. "I don't know how many times we've run and hugged him at first base."
With all the emphasis on the high-priced free-agent acquisitions in the Marlins clubhouse, it was a home-grown talent who delivered the biggest hit in the club's five-year history.
"He's been there for us every day this year. We couldn't have done it without him," Powell said.
After Renteria's successful debut last year in the big leagues, the city of Barranquilla, Colombia, threw him a parade. Can he imagine what it'll be like this year?
"I think it'll be explosive," Renteria, 21, said, with a smile.
While Renteria hit .309 as a rookie in 1996 and .277 this year, he struggled during the postseason. He was 6-for-26 (.231) entering Game 7 but had two hits in four at-bats before the game-winner.
Renteria's heroics were set up by a strong pitching effort by starter Al Leiter and the Florida bullpen, who combined to hold the Indians to two runs on Tony Fernandez's third-inning single.
"We knew that's what it was going to take," said Leiter, who gave up two runs on four hits in six innings. "We'd done it all year, but this is unbelievable."
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