Renteria Makes Key Plays To Benefit Smith
By Rick Hummel
Of the Post-Dispatch
September 4, 2001
There were only a few difficult plays for the Cardinals in defending rookie Bud Smith's no-hitter Monday night. Shortstop Edgar Renteria, the subject of criticism in St. Louis for much of this season because of his 21 errors, made most of them.
Pre-eminent was his short-hop pickup on Ryan Klesko's hard grounder for the second out of the ninth. Renteria said that normally he would have played the lefthanded-hitting Klesko to pull the ball up more up the middle but played a more normal shortstop position on this occasion.
"He saw we were throwing the ball away," Cardinals manager Tony La Russa said.
"You know, tonight was a real good example of how this guy was a clutch player. All those plays - surehanded.
"When (general manager Walt Jocketty) trades him, I'm going to be ticked off," La Russa said, jokingly.
Renteria's "whole game has gone up two or three levels. He's a different player than he was the first four months of the year."
Renteria said, "If (Klesko) was going to get a base hit, he was going to have to hit it behind second base. I got lucky he hit the ball where I was.
"That was a hard play to make. But I'm happy for that kid. I think he deserves it."
Right fielder J.D. Drew ran to the bullpen mound and reached into the stands to snag Klesko's foul fly to end the sixth.
"I had my eyes closed after I went across the mound," Drew said. "I just stuck my glove out.
"You've got to watch for the mound, you've got to watch for the (ball)girl sitting down behind the mound. You never know who's going to poke you in the eye. I was just making sure I came out with both eyes."
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