Record for Rent(eria)
By Jon Cooper / Special to MLB.com
May 02, 2006
Atlanta shortstop Edgar Renteria is supposed to be a slow starter.
National League pitchers better hope that's not the case this season. They haven't even been able to slow him down, never mind stop him.
Renteria's first-inning single off Aaron Cook Tuesday night set a new Atlanta Braves franchise record for longest hitting streak to start a season, at 17. The previous record lasted 40 years and had been held by current San Francisco Giants manager Felipe Alou, who set the mark in 1966, the team's inaugural season in Atlanta.
"I have patience. I'm waiting for my pitch, and I've been lucky they've been throwing the pitch where I've been looking for it and I've hit it," said Renteria, a career .264 hitter in April, before Tuesday night's game. "When you have things going you get hits. When you're struggling you hit the ball hard right at somebody. You have to take advantage when you can."
While the 30-year-old Renteria never saw Alou play -- he retired the year before Renteria was born -- he still is very respectful.
"I didn't see him, but I know Felipe Alou," said Renteria, who raised his average to .382 with his first-inning single. "Everybody knows the Alou family. I didn't know about the record until today when one of my teammates told me about it. I can't believe nobody hit in 16 games in a row because there have been a lot of great hitters here."
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