“Sometimes it's unsung 1st baseman who become Series heroes - Chicago Tribune” plus 1 more |
| Sometimes it's unsung 1st baseman who become Series heroes - Chicago Tribune Posted: 30 Oct 2010 08:37 PM PDT ARLINGTON, Texas —If you're going to win a World Series, shouldn't you have a feared slugger at first base? No one ever played that role better than Lou Gehrig, although guys like Hank Greenberg, Eddie Murray and Tony Perez struck more than their share of fear in opposing pitchers and managers. More recently, Mark Teixeira, Ryan Howard, Albert Pujols and David Ortiz were middle-of-the-lineup first basemen for Series winners. Paul Konerko and Derrek Lee, too, although only one of them in a way that made Chicago fans smile. Every now and then a Scott Spiezo or a Franklin Stubbs comes along in the land of the big boys, and the check for a winner's share spends just the same. There's no question 2010 will be one of those years, and on a warm Saturday night it was the Rangers' Mitch Moreland trying to wrest a ring out of Aubrey Huff's hands. To the delight of 52,419 at Rangers Ballpark in Arlington, Moreland struck a blow for rank-and-file guys everywhere with a three-run homer off the Giants' Jonathan Sanchez. It helped Colby Lewis to a 4-2 victory that was the first step toward a potentially intriguing World Series. "I knew if everything fell into place, I'd be in the right spot at the end,'' Moreland said about his climb onto the big stage. "I got the opportunity, and it has been a lot of fun so far.'' Josh Hamilton added a homer for the Rangers, who trail the Giants two games to one entering Sunday night's Game 4. For the Texans to make things truly exciting, they will need a strong performance from right-hander Tommy Hunter, a question mark who starts because Ron Washington doesn't want to use ace Cliff Lee on three days' rest. But it was Moreland, the Rangers' No. 9 hitter, who was the difference maker. "Mitch Moreland has certainly established himself as a major league player,'' Washington said. "He's just a battler. He goes up there, uses every bit of talent he has. When he gets his pitch, he usually doesn't miss it.'' Moreland, who wasn't promoted from Triple-A Oklahoma City until July 29, had only 20 regular-season at-bats against lefties but he has become an everyday starter, with Washington starting him against the left-handed Sanchez. The Rangers have gone through 18 starters at first base in the 3 1/2 seasons since the Teixeira trade, a list that includes two players who were seen as long-term solutions. Chris Davis, a career .311 hitter in the minors, failed to hit against big-league pitching. Justin Smoak was the high price it took to get Cliff Lee from the Mariners. The stop-gap guys at first included Brad Wilkerson, Ramon Vazquez, Hank Blalock, Chris Shelton, Ben Broussard, Jason Botts and Ryan Garko. Moreland, a 17th-round pick in the 2007 draft from Mississippi State (the alma mater of former Rangers Will Clark and Rafael Palmeiro), quickly made a name for himself as a hitter in the Rangers' farm system. The question was whether he had a defensive position. He was used primarily in the outfield corners in Oklahoma City this season but shifted to first after Smoak was sacrificed to get Lee. That looks like a great move. He's hitting .341 while starting 12 of the Rangers' 14 postseason games. With two outs and men on first and third in the second inning, he worked Sanchez hard. Moreland fouled off four breaking pitches pitches in a row after the count reached 2-2, then pulled an 89-mph fastball into the right field seats to set off a wild celebration by fans wearing red and blue and waving white towels. "Mitch is stubborn,'' Hamilton said. "He's not going to let anybody beat him.'' This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service — if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read our FAQ page at fivefilters.org/content-only/faq.php |
| Fans give victorious Giants a heroes' welcome - KABC Posted: 03 Nov 2010 12:16 AM PDT by Terry McSweeney and Leigh Glaser SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) -- 2010 World Series champions, the San Francisco Giants, returned home to a heroes' welcome Tuesday morning in San Francisco. It is the first World Series title for the city by the bay since the franchise moved from New York in 1958. Fans lined up outside the Giants Dugout store at AT&T Park and at the Embarcadero, hoping to get some historic memorabilia. Some even stayed up all night. "I am going to get a Giants hat, a panda hat and a baseball cap," fan "Spike" said. They're after anything saying Giants are World Series champs."Get everything -- pennants, flags, anything they have with their logo I am going to get," fan Jasmine Suguitan said. Very early Tuesday morning at the ballpark, several hundred fans waited for hours to welcome home their heroes. At about 4 a.m. the buses loaded with players, coaches, managers and their families arrived. "Here we are in San Francisco, back home with the trophy," Giants managing general partner Bill Neukom said. Neukom paraded the trophy past the people he calls the best fans in baseball and the bone-weary players that touched off the celebration talked about the moment. "Words can't really explain it right now," Giants outfielder Cody Ross said. "We are having a great time, this is amazing," Giants pitcher Madison Baumgarner said. "To come back and have all of these fans waiting for us it's unbelievable. This is something we all dream about and right now we are living a dream," Giants Manager Bruce Bochy said. For all those thousands of players who played for the Giants since 1958 and never got a World Series win, this is closure. "We didn't get it done, we always dreamed about doing it. We always knew that the parade would be incredible and this is pretty special for all of us," former SF Giants pitcher Mike Krukow said. The MLB sticker is what makes the product authentic. If you are coming out to get some merchandise, give yourself some time because the lines are long as Giants fever sweeps the Bay Area. (Copyright ©2010 KGO-TV/DT. All Rights Reserved.) Tags: san francisco giants, at&t park, world series, mlb, terry mcsweeneyThis entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service — if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read our FAQ page at fivefilters.org/content-only/faq.php |
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