Renteria Lives Up To Promise He Made To His Teammates
Mike Eisenbath
Post-Dispatch
October 16, 2000
Not long ago, Jim Edmonds recalled Saturday, Cardinals shortstop Edgar Renteria broke his usual silence.
"You guys," he told his teammates, "I'll be all right in the playoffs. Just give me a chance."
Edmonds was somewhat flabbergasted by what he was hearing. "He's so quiet," Edmonds said. "When he says, 'This is my time,' that gets your attention."
The postseason does indeed seem to be Renteria's time.
"I'm ready all the time," he said. "Every day in the regular season and in the postseason. But sometimes, you do better in the postseason. That's how it is happening now."
Not that he didn't do much in the regular season. He batted .278, moving without complaint between the No. 2 spot in the order or in the bottom half. His 16 home runs are a single-season record for a Cardinals shortstop, and his 76 RBIs ranked second on the team only to Edmonds.
Something has empowered him this month, though. In the National League Division Series, Renteria had two hits, four walks and a sacrifice bunt in 14 plate appearances. He stole two bases and scored five runs in those three games against the Braves.
"He has that look in his eyes, the way he approaches every at-bat and tough plays and tough situations, that look that tells you he wants to be there," hitting coach Mike Easler said.
Renteria has picked up the pace in the first three games of the NL Championship Series against the Mets. He is six for 15 with three steals, four runs scored and three driven in. That includes his two-hit, two-run, two-RBI effort in Saturday's 8-2 victory in Game 3. His bunt sparked the Cardinals' two-run first inning. Fernando Vina had led off with a single and Renteria decided to bunt for a single. Third baseman Robin Ventura misplayed it, and Renteria was safe on the error.
"Edgar is a gamer," Easler said. "I call him Captain.
"He has been on a championship team and he is exactly what you want in a big-league player. You look up every day and he's doing something good, something amazing. He's probably the most steady guy on the club, very dependable."
Though Renteria is only 25, the other Cardinals have tremendous respect for his abilities and where he has been. He was the everyday shortstop on the Florida Marlins when they won the 1997 World Series - and it was Renteria's single that drove home Craig Counsell with the winning run in Game 7.
Renteria has a world championship ring, something his teammates crave. They marvel at how someone so relatively young can be so prepared to play every day, so calm in clutch spot. "And he plays with a big bang," said Vina, one of his closest friends. In that way, they consider him a leader.
"Edgar is the unsung hero on this team," Mark McGwire said. "Nobody talks about him. He's such a good player day in and day out, just so great to watch."
Said Edmonds, who bats No. 3 behind Renteria these days: "It's obvious he's been here before. He's really relaxed. He's one of the best shortstops in the league. Until this year, I've never watched somebody play a whole season and been kind of in awe every day you go out there."
Renteria doesn't feel particularly special. "I feel like a player," he said, "a player who just plays hard all the time."
Back to 2000 Articles Page