In the Clutch: Iconic World Series-Winning Moments
By Efraín Ruiz Pantin
Here we go — Game 7 of a World Series matchup between the Houston Astros and the Los Angeles Dodgers that has taken us to the limit, emotionally. We’re going out on a limb and predicting a crazy finish. And the player we least expect will win the ring for his teammates.
This is not about Albert Pujols or Pablo Sandoval swatting three homers in the Fall Classic, or Roberto Clemente carrying the Pittsburgh Pirates over the Baltimore Orioles in 1971.
Instead, this is about capturing a clutch moment that helps define a career. About Sojo, Rentería, González, Scutaro and Colón engraving their names in postseason lore with a swing of the bat. So, here they are, the biggest clutch hits from Latino players in World Series-clinching games.
Édgar Rentería — 1997 Florida Marlins
Game 7 vs. Cleveland Indians
Colombia has had 20 players make it to the major leagues. What are the chances that one of them has clinched a World Series once, let alone twice? If our rudimentary math is correct, 10 to one, because shortstop Édgar Rentería did it twice. The first time, he was barely 21, playing with the Florida Marlins, a team much younger than him — five years old, to be exact.
This World Series went to the limit, and another youngster, 22-year-old Cuban righty Liván Hernández, was voted the MVP, thanks to his two wins. But in the 11th inning of Game 7, Hernández was a bystander, warming up in the bullpen as Rentería went to the plate with two outs and the bases loaded with the game tied at 2-2.
Charles Nagy’s first pitch was a curve inside that made Rentería jump sideways. Rentería could have been setting up Nagy. The next pitch was another curve inside. Rentería stayed back and flicked a soft liner between second baseman Tony Fernández and shortstop Omar Vizquel, scoring Craig Counsell and making the Marlins the fastest baseball expansion team to win their first championship
“That ball had an angel flying it,” Hernández said.
Luis Sojo — 2000 N.Y. Yankees
Game 5 vs. N.Y. Mets
Sojo was funny, impertinent, the class clown — like his fellow Venezuelans would say, un chamo alegre (a happy kid) — then he would get serious at the plate, working the count until he killed you with a soft hit. In the crowning moment of his 13-year career as a utility infielder with five teams, he came to bat at Shea Stadium in the top of the ninth with two on, two out and the game tied, 2-2. Waiting for him was veteran lefty Al Leiter, still on the mound after 141 pitches, an inconceivable number today.
Even though Leiter had just walked Jorge Posada and allowed a single to Scott Brosius, Mets manager Bobby Valentine balked at bringing in reliever John Franco, possibly afraid that Yankees skipper Joe Torre would counter with pinch-hitter Glenallen Hill, who at the time had six hits in 13 career at-bats against Franco. In short, Valentine went with the metrics instead of with his instinct.
Leiter’s first pitch was a 90-mph fastball over the plate. Sojo slapped at the ball, sending it right back over second base, your classic seeing-eye single. The Mets should have limited the damages to one run, but centerfielder Jay Payton’s throw hit Posada in the back, bouncing out of reach and allowing Posada and Brosius to score while Sojo scampered to third base. That was the ballgame. And the championship. Mariano Rivera made sure of that in the bottom half of the ninth.
Luis González — 2001 Arizona Diamondbacks
Game 7 vs. N.Y. Yankees
The game that broke many a New Yorker’s heart. Mariano Rivera, the greatest postseason reliever in history, was back on the mound after striking out the side swinging in the bottom of the eighth inning. The Yankees led 2-1, certain they were about to win their fourth straight World Series and fifth in six years, putting them on par with other legendary dynasties.
Mark Grace opened with a single. Damian Miller bunted to Rivera, who whirled and snapped a throw to second base — except that it flew over Yankee shortstop Derek Jeter’s head.
Two on and no outs. Pinch hitter Jay Bell tried another sacrifice bunt. The Yankees threw out pinch runner David Dellucci at third. Everything seemed set up for a game-ending, championship-winning double play.
Except Tony Womack hit a double, driving home pinch runner Midre Cummings and tying the game, 2-2. Runners on second and third, one out. Then it got worse, as Rivera hit Craig Counsell. Before you knew it, Luis González was striding to the plate with the bases loaded.
On paper, it looked like a mismatch. That season, lefties averaged .187/.226/.209 against Rivera. While González hit 57 home runs during the regular season and three more during the playoffs — the best slugging performance in the Cuban-American’s 19-year career — few thought he would be able to drive anything out of the infield.
Jeter and the rest of the Yankees infielders played in, looking to cut down the runner at the plate. On Rivera’s second pitch, González made weak contact, lifting a flare in the direction of shortstop. Jeter could just look up, arms outstretched. Bell scored, setting off a celebration for the ages.
That iconic hit gave the Diamondbacks the World Series in their fourth year of existence, breaking the Marlins’ record for expansion teams. The Yankees still aren’t over it.
Edgar Rentería — 2010 San Francisco Giants
Game 5 vs. Texas Rangers
By 2010, Rentería was a platoon player for the Giants, in his second-to-last season of a 16-year career. Game 5 opened as a pitchers’ duel between the Rangers’ Cliff Lee and the Giants’ Tim Lincecum, scoreless through six innings.
In the top of the seventh, the Giants’ Cody Ross and Juan Uribe both singled. Aubrey Huff advanced them with a sacrifice bunt, and then Pat Burrell struck out swinging.
Rentería let pass two high pitches, but not the third, blasting the ball to left-center field and putting the Giants ahead, 3-0. Nelson Cruz responded with a solo homer in the bottom half of the inning, but that was it for the Rangers. The Giants won, 3-1, clinching their first of three World Series in a span of five years.
That was Rentería’s second world championship. The Rangers have yet to win their first.
Marco Scutaro — 2012 San Francisco Giants
Game 4 vs. Detroit Tigers
His parents migrated from Italy to Venezuela, so young Scutaro’s first love was soccer. Still, he developed into a great baseball player, good enough to play infield for 13 seasons with six teams. Near the 2012 trade deadline, a decade into his career, the Rockies sent Scutaro to San Francisco for rookie Charlie Culberson, who — if the name sounds familiar — will be playing tonight for the Dodgers in Game 7.
Like Sojo 12 years earlier, Scutaro came to bat with two outs, this time in the 10th inning with the game tied, 3-3. DH Ryan Theriot had opened the inning with a single, and Brandon Crawford advanced him to second with a perfect sacrifice bunt. Tigers reliever Phil Coke bore down, striking out Puerto Rican centerfielder Ángel Pagán. Now it was Scutaro’s turn. The NLCS MVP hadn’t looked so good in the World Series, with only two hits in the first three games.
Scutaro, two days away from his 37th birthday, took the first pitch for a strike. Then he watched three balls go by. The next pitch should have been ball four. It was high and outside. Still, Scutaro swung, sending a line drive toward centerfielder Austin Jackson. “Get down, get down,” said Scútaro as he ran to first. The ball paid heed and Jackson didn’t make the catch. Theriot scored standing up and the Giants would go on to win their second World Series in three years.
Christian Colón — 2015 Royals
Game 5 vs. N.Y. Mets
Not one at-bat in the World Series. Not even an inning in the field as a defensive substitute, nor an opportunity as a pinch runner. Not until he was sent to hit for Royals reliever Luke Hochevar in the top of the 12th inning in Game 5 with one out, pinch runner Jarrod Dyson on third and the game tied, 2-2.
It had been so long since Puerto Rican reserve infielder Christian Colón had a plate appearance — 28 days to be exact — that the Royals’ third base coach quizzed him on the signs.
Mets reliever Addison Reed threw two quick strikes, taking away the bunt as an option. Colón dug in, fouling off one slider. The next pitch was another slider that didn’t break, staying over the plate. It was a clean hit from the moment it left Colón’s bat, a low line drive to left field that broke the tie and gave the Royals the winning run in a 7-2 victory.
On an implausible team that won an improbable World Series, Colón was the most unlikely of all heroes. He’ll always have 2015.
Featured Image: Bob Rosato / MLB Photos / Getty Images