Return To Busch Is Bittersweet For Renteria
Bernie Miklasz
St. Louis Post-Dispatch
June 07, 2005
THE LAST TIME Edgar Renteria stepped to the plate at Busch
Stadium, he tapped
a hopper to the mound for the last out of the World Series. The Red Sox
were
world champions, a belated ascension that caused generations of dead
poets to
rise from graves throughout New England and compose updated sonnets to
Red Sox
baseball.
Giving the scene an eerie touch, Renteria wore No. 3, Babe Ruth's
number,
during the purging of that October night when the Red Sox finally broke
the
dreaded Curse of the Bambino.
On Monday night, as he approached home plate in the first inning
for his
first at-bat on his return to Busch Stadium, wearing the No. 3 in
Boston road
colors, Renteria heard an initial howling from the stands.
Poor Renteria must have been thinking: wait a minute, was this
Fenway Park?
Or perhaps ER was momentarily confused -- stunned that so many
Red Sox fans
followed him to the Midwest ...
After all, this is St. Louis, and dedicated, winning athletes
aren't
subjected to unruly hissing here -- unless, of course, they're Marc
Bulger,
replacing Kurt Warner.
The hostility didn't last. A reassuring spirit carried through
the
40-year-old Busch before Renteria protesters could turn the place into
the kind
of animal-house setting that's more common along the Eastern seaboard.
The booing was quickly and emphatically overwhelmed by a more
pleasant
welcome in surround sound. Fans slowly began to stand and applaud.
Cardinals pitcher Matt Morris, recognizing the warmth of the
moment, stepped
off the mound to allow Renteria to soak up the cheers.
"I love Edgar," Morris said later.
In the near corner of the dugout, Cardinals manager Tony La Russa
clapped for
the former shortstop who anchored multiple division winners. And in the
green
seats next to the STL dugout, members of the Cardinals ownership group
joined in
and gave Renteria an ovation.
"To me, the whole Edgar Renteria story was his first at-bat," La
Russa said.
"The fans gave him a standing ovation. That's what I'll remember."
That was the highlight of the evening for Renteria in the
Cardinals' 7-1
thrashing of the visitors before a buzzing crowd of 50,270.
The rest of Renteria's game turned into a Stephen King horror
novel:
* In that first at-bat, Renteria skimmed into a 4-6-3 double
play. After the
game, Renteria said although he appreciated the fans' gesture, it made
him feel
uncomfortable, and he was anxious to dig in. "I couldn't concentrate,"
he said.
* Second at-bat, he fouled out to first baseman Albert Pujols,
who got an
assist at the railing from Cardinals' executive Dan Farrell.
* Third at-bat, a 6-4-3 double play.
* Fourth AB: ground out to third.
And that was only a partial accounting of the damage.
In the eighth inning, Renteria made his 11th error of the season,
which set
up the Cardinals' final two runs.
And Renteria's replacement at shortstop offered a superb,
all-purpose
performance. David Eckstein had three hits, three RBIs and linked with
second
baseman Mark Grudzlienanek to execute the two double plays turned on
Renteria.
As the game went on, more fans hooted Renteria. That was to be
expected,
given the Cardinals' rout and his brutal day on the job.
"It's just one game," said Eckstein, who improved his on-base
percentage to
.387. "Edgar is a great player, and he's done so much for this team and
this
community. (Tonight) it could be totally different. He's tough."
No clocks were turned back on a humid Monday night in St. Louis.
The Red Sox
still won the 2004 World Series, and Renteria still bolted from the
Cardinals.
Revenge wasn't part of the script. But if you believe in these sort of
things,
perhaps it was a bad omen for Renteria last autumn, when he made the
final out
to give Boston the World Series.
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