Edgar Renteria seeking another first
After Thursday night's 9-0 victory over the Texas Rangers, the San Francisco Giants are halfway to capturing the 2010 World Series. Giants shortstop Edgar Renteria broke a scoreless fifth inning tie, after blasting a solo homerun to left field off Rangers starting pitcher C.J. Wilson. Renteria would finish the night with two hits and three RBI. Game 3 of the Fall Classic will take place Saturday at Rangers Ballpark in Arlington, Texas.
The sight of Edgar Renteria acting clutch in the postseason is nothing new to baseball fans. The 35-year old has played in a whopping seven Octobers during his 15-year career, reaching the World Series on three occasions, with the Marlins, Cardinals and now Giants. His .321 career World Series batting average places him in some rather elite company.
A unique aspect of Renteria's postseason existence involves his direct connection to baseball history, both positive and negative for his respective ballclubs.
In 1997, Renteria's 11th inning single off Indians pitcher Charles Nagy earned the Florida Marlins their first World Championship in franchise history.
Batting in Game 4 of the 2004 World Series, while playing for St. Louis, Renteria grounded out to Red Sox pitcher Keith Foulke, giving Boston their first championship in 86 years. The “Curse of the Bambino” was broken!
One year later, during the 2005 ALDS, Renteria recorded the last out for those Red Sox, in their 3-0 series defeat to the Chicago White Sox. The South Siders would later celebrate their first title in 88 years.
This season, Renteria is hoping to be on the field for some San Francisco baseball history. Amazingly, the historic Giants franchise has not won a World Series since 1954. As all Bay Area baseball fans know, this means the club has not won a World Championship since moving to the shores of San Francisco Bay in 1958.
Perhaps the presence of Edgar Renteria is the key to breaking this unfathomable statistic. After two World Series games, it certainly appears that he is doing everything possible to once again be a part of baseball history.
