By Fernie Ruano Jr.
What baseball-obsessed kid, his feet buried in a long patch of grass, an aluminum bat resting on his tiny shoulder and a mesh cap from [fill in the optimist] league tilted to one side of his bushy-haired head, hasn’t created the scenario in the backyard before his dad throws him the last pitch because it’s 7:30 p.m. and getting dark, and he’s exhausted from another long day at work: Running around in circles with the glee of a freckled 7-year-old with an occasional interruption to hug anybody that comes within arm’s length of you because you just won Game 7 of the World Series and no other sport in the world can make anybody who plays a game for a living act like a child? I did it, you probably did too.
Game 7
It’s the reason why I woke up at 3:30 a.m. today and buried my face in what else, a baseball book, a baseball book I’ve read countless times, because I couldn’t sleep. It’s the reason why countless baseball fans over this great nation - the mail clerk in Santa Ana, California, the butcher in Milwaukee, Wisconsin and the banker in Dallas, Texas, too – will be in a bit of a rush today; all day. It’s the reason why a Cuban-born female friend, who just seven years ago would walk for an hour to get to the stadium in Havana because she loved the atmosphere and the crack of the bat, opened the door to her apartment this morning wearing a royal blue “Kansas City” tee and white short shorts, and nothing else.
Game 7
The entire season has come down to one game for the San Francisco Giants and Kansas City Royals, and a baseball is round and comes in a squared box so it’s impossible to know if it will be Buster Posey, Pablo Sandoval, Madison Bumgarner, Sal Perez or Eric Hosmer that does something tonight to pave the way to the 2014 MLB championship for their respective squad. And be able to tell their grandchildren in 2035.
Game 7: It’s an early Christmas gift for baseball fans everywhere.
NOT MADISON BUMGARNER AGAIN: That’s what the Royals will be murmuring to themselves in the dugout if San Francisco’s ace, who has already produced one of the most memorable postseason runs ever, finds his way to the mound – again. And don’t bet against it since Bumgarner, who has allowed one run over 16 innings, would probably be throwing pitches in the bullpen today because it’s his turn to throw; In fact: Unless Tim Hudson, tonight’s Giants’ starter, is unhittable, Bumgarner, who according to manager Bruce Bochy bypassed his throwing session between his starts in Game 1 and 5, is going to be in the game at some point. Whether it’s for 20 or 40 pitches, just think what Bumgarner would do for the Giants if he entered the game in the bottom of the third inning and retired Hosmer and Butler to leave the bases loaded? He’s been so dominant, only a botched play in the infield or dropped fly ball is about the only way the Royals could fathom biting into a little piece of momentum away from the Giants with this kid on the mound.
ERIC HOSMER HAS FINALLY….. : It was so loud at Kaufman Stadium during Game 6, Hosmer swung at a pitch after being granted timeout by the home plate umpire. But the third-year player from South Florida and one of the Royals’ prized-cornerstone pieces can make it deafening and start writing his own legacy with one swing of the bat. Hosmer is a mistake-hitter and has the ability to change the course of a game with one swing, whether it’s off Hudson or Bumgarner. “This,” Hosmer, told reporters after last night’s game. “is why you play the game.” Just one perfect swing and Hosmer will never have to buy another drink in a Kansas City bar again; ever.
NED YOST VS. BRUCE BOCHY: On paper, it’s no contest, not even close. Win or lose tonight, somebody in Cooperstown is already shining Bochy’s bust; Yost was making vacation plans minutes after taking the ball from James Shields and replacing him with rookie Yordano Ventura in the Wild Card game against the Oakland A’s, before the A’s started throwing the ball all over the place and the Royals rallied to win in extra innings. And it’s one game. How long will Yost go with Jeremy Guthrie, Kansas City’s starter tonight, if the Royals fall into an early hole, say 2-0 in the top of the first inning? Has he maxed out his extraordinary bullpen or will Guthrie make it a mute- point by getting to the sixth inning with a lead? Or will Bochy get the ball into the hands of Bumgarner or Yusmeiro Petit first? Will Yost go bunt-happy in the most important game of his life, when in reality big innings are what decide baseball games? Any game, this one too.
Game 7
Game 7
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