Renteria Gets Boos, Cheers From Cards Fans On Return
By Joe Strauss Of The Post-Dispatch
June 07, 2005
Edgar Renteria returned to Busch Stadium on Monday hoping for
love in a place
he once owned. A sea of red offered a somewhat reluctant embrace.
Almost six months after accepting a four-year, $40 million offer
to become
Boston's successor at shortstop to Orlando Cabrera, Renteria found
himself a
target for both gratitude and rejection.
Renteria's introduction before his first-inning at-bat brought a
quick wave
of boos that was then overtaken by a standing ovation. Cardinals
pitcher Matt
Morris, who considered Renteria the link within his former clubhouse,
stepped
back on the mound to extend the moment by caking his arm with resin.
Renteria,
stepping into the box as if sticking a toe into ice water, tipped his
helmet as
he took his stance.
Let the record show Renteria grounded into a double play in his
first Busch
at-bat in Red Sox gray.
Renteria said before the game he expected "love" from the sellout
crowd.
"They're going to show me love because I always played for them,"
he said. "I
always played. I always left my heart on the field."
Moments later, Renteria hesitantly asked a visitor if he agreed
with his
prediction.
Renteria remains sensitive to descriptions of what he rejected
from the
Cardinals during spring training '04 and last December before he signed
with the
team that swept them from the World Series. Renteria reiterated that a
gulf
existed between the contract he accepted from the Red Sox and the deal
he
rejected from the Cardinals.
"They never offered more than $32 million," he said after
addressing a throng
of media members inside the visitors' dugout. "Some things were said .
. . some
things were written that weren't true."
Renteria denied the Cardinals at one time offered him a deal
worth a
potential $39 million and that they had bid aggressively after signing
first
baseman Albert Pujols to a seven-year, $100 million deal 16 months ago.
"They were talking between $6 million-$7 million. It was less
than I was
making (for 2004)," Renteria said. "And they decided not to pick up my
option
(for 2005). What am I supposed to do?"
The Cardinals contended at the time that they modified their $32
million
offer to Renteria shortly before he signed Dec. 17. The modified
contract
included a $5 million base salary for this season and significant
deferred money
that did little to raise the present-day value above $32 million,
according to a
source familiar with talks.
"I loved this place," Renteria said. "The fans were great to me.
The guys
here are great. But (the offers) weren't close."
Renteria earned three Silver Sluggers, two Gold Gloves and was a
four-time
All-Star in six seasons with the Cardinals. He hit .280 with seven RBIs
last
postseason and was one of just three Cardinals (along with Albert
Pujols and
Larry Walker) to hit better than .250 during the Series, in which the
Cardinals
batted .190 as a team.
Scrutinized heavily by fans and Boston media in his difficult,
sometimes
reclusive April, Renteria entered the Cardinals series hitting .278
with four
home runs and 21 RBIs. He was 0 for four Monday and committed an error
that led
to the Cardinals' last two runs in their 7-1 victory.
Renteria had just completed a four-of-26 home stand but before
Monday had
gone 20 for 50 in his past 12 games and was named AL player of the week
for May
23-29.
"To me, it's like my first year in the big leagues," Renteria
said before the
game. "I feel like a rookie. I've never faced these pitchers before.
But I've
been working with all my teammates and they've helped me a lot,
supporting me. I
play the best I can."
After Renteria accepted Boston's offer, the Cardinals quickly
traded for
Oakland lefthander Mark Mulder and signed free-agent shortstop David
Eckstein to
a three-year, $10.25 million deal. They also acquired second baseman
Mark
Grudzielanek as a $1 million bargain. The cost for all three
approximates
Renteria's $10 million average salary.
"If they want to go get pitching, that's OK. I understand. But
people should
understand," he said.
Renteria toured the area around the batting cage during batting
practice,
speaking at length with manager Tony La Russa, embracing La Russa and
left
fielder Reggie Sanders and speaking with first baseman Albert Pujols,
perhaps
his closest friend on last year's team. When Renteria was introduced in
the
first inning, La Russa applauded from the dugout while Cardinals
ownership
joined the standing ovation. If his departure created a rift with
segments of
his former fan base, the fissure did not reach his old clubhouse.
"All that was between him, the organization and his agent,"
Cardinals center
fielder Jim Edmonds said Sunday. ". . . I'm sure he left for a reason.
But I'm
sure it wasn't an equal contract opportunity or he wouldn't have left."
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