Edgar's On Rise
Renteria homer a good sign
By Karen Guregian
August 22, 2005
ANAHEIM, Calif. - In terms of at-bats, his homerless drought had
reached
Millar-esque proportions. Actually, it was worse than the power outage
still
haunting the Sox' first baseman.
Prior to launching the three-run bomb in the eighth inning which
broke
yesterday's scoreless deadlock with the Angels, Edgar Renteria had
stepped to
the plate 199 times without going yard. Kevin Millar hasn't homered in
a mere
182 at-bats.
But who's counting?
The shortstop doesn't make his living clearing fences, like Manny
Ramirez and
David Ortiz, but at the rate he was signed for during the offseason -
four
years, $40 million - Red Sox fans have been expecting more. Much more.
And rightfully so.
His numbers both at the plate (.284, seven homers, 50 RBI), and
especially in
the field (23 errors) can be classified as a bust to this point. But
there's
still time for Renteria to make good in the eyes of the Fenway
Faithful.
Of late, at the plate anyway, Renteria seems to have found a
groove,
delivering clutch hits and RBI. He's hit safely in 11 of his last 13
games,
batting .344 with seven doubles, nine RBI and 13 runs scored.
``It's about time, and it was a good one too,'' Renteria said
with a smile,
assessing the homer off Paul Byrd that cleared the left field fence,
plating
Tony Graffanino and Gabe Kapler with the game's first runs in
yesterday's 5-1
win. ``It feels good because we won the game. That's more important.''
Friday night, left fielder Juan Rivera lept and made a catch on a
Renteria
ball that had a chance of making it over the wall. And in Renteria's
second
at-bat yesterday, he scorched a ball to deep center field that Steve
Finley made
a great over-the-head catch on.
``You can tell, for the last little while, he's felt good at the
plate. He
just hasn't had a ton to show for it,'' Sox manager Terry Francona
said. ``But
he's swinging aggresively with not a ton of effort.''
As for the continued problems in the field, Francona doesn't have
an answer.
``There have been a couple of balls he hasn't gotten to. People
ask, `Are his
legs sore, is his back sore?' '' Francona said. ``I don't think so,
because his
bat is so alive. It's not what you'd expect if a guy's legs are sore
and
dragging about.''
To say the least, it's been an interesting and sometimes painful
transition
from St. Louis to Boston for Renteria. He's heard some boos. He's
weathered the
storm of having his former manager Tony La Russa publicly claim he was
too
sensitive to handle playing in Boston. He's also heard his friend Manny
Ramirez
booed at Fenway. And through it all, he hasn't lashed out or spoken out
against
his naysayers, not publicly anyway.
Yesterday, in fact, we witnessed a rare glimpse of Renteria's
sense of humor,
one that's endeared him to his teammates from the start. When the media
approached his locker yesterday, Renteria greeted everyone with the
following
announcement: ``Manny's going to talk today.''
Naturally, Manny talks about as often as certain Sox players hit
home runs.
Later, when asked about David Ortiz' perfect drag bunt for a
single following
his home run, Renteria cracked: ``Now we got a new leadoff man.''
Earlier in the year, the new shortstop in town wouldn't have
taken a chance,
delivering any sort of comedic line. It's obvious he's starting to feel
more at
home, more comfortable being a member of the Red Sox.
Said Johnny Damon: ``He's finding his way. I think it took him
awhile . . .
but he's looking real good right now. Today, he hit the home run we
desperately
needed.''
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