For every moment of glory, there is a moment of despair.Each baseball game builds to it, little by little, a series of confrontations between pitcher and batter until the one that determines the winner.
Those matchups start here, on the back fields at spring training, pitchers simulating real at-bats by throwing to hitters on their own team.Adam Wainwright was the first St.Louis Cardinal to do this on Tuesday, facing the middle of his team’s lineup: Matt Holliday, Lance Berkman and Carlos Beltran.
For the last decade, Albert Pujols would have been in that group.But Pujols is gone, lured by a 10-year contract from the Los Angeles Angels, and Beltran, of all players, has replaced him.The same Beltran whose most notorious at-bat was the pinnacle of Wainwright’s career.
“I hope what he’s defined as is a great player,” Wainwright said Tuesday morning, “and not one, single moment like that.”
Wainwright, of course, was referring to the curveball he threw to freeze Beltran with the bases loaded to end Game 7 of the 2006 National League Championship Series at Shea Stadium.It propelled the Cardinals to a championship and plunged the Mets into misery.It also launched Wainwright to stardom and forever colored Mets fans perception of Beltran.
Now, Beltran and Wainwright are united again as the primary additions to the Cardinals, the reigning World Series champions.St.Louis won another title last season despite losing Wainwright to reconstructive elbow surgery in spring training.His return adds another ace to Chris Carpenter in the rotation, and Beltran stabilizes the lineup, playing right field while Berkman takes Pujols’s spot at first.
“You don’t hear our name mentioned with the big free-agent hauls or whatever, but name another team that added two guys to their roster the caliber of what we got,” Berkman said.“It’s right there for us.We expect to win.”
The Cardinals are not the only team to add two impact players; their spring training neighbors, the Miami Marlins, signed Jose Reyes, Mark Buehrle and Heath Bell.The Angels brought in C.J.Wilson to go with Pujols.
But Berkman has a point: rarely has a team that lost a megastar had such reason for confidence.After Pujols left in December, General Manager John Mozeliak used the savings to re-sign shortstop Rafael Furcal and give Beltran a two-year, $26 million contract.Wainwright understood his connection to Beltran and called him after the deal atlanta braves hats.
“I told him I was happy he was here and couldn’t wait to be a teammate,” Wainwright said.“I told him, ‘The media’s going to ask us about that game, probably,’ and he just stopped me and said: ‘Hey, that’s in the past, let’s just put it behind us and move on.We’re teammates.’ ”
Wainwright said that was exactly what he wanted to hear.Beltran, who finished last season with the San Francisco Giants and has not played in the postseason since Wainwright struck him out, said he did not feel awkward.
“We’re professional ballplayers,” Beltran said.“We’re not enemies.It just happened that in that particular game, I happened to be the last out new era hats for sale.But it’s not the end of the world for me cheap hats.As a player you have to move on.There are times in your career as a ballplayer you have good experiences and some others you have bad experiences, but we’re here for one reason, and that’s being able to go out there and compete.”
Beltran has faced Wainwright in only one game in the regular season since 2006, with a double, a single and a walk at Citi Field on July 27, 2010.They have also faced each other in spring training — but never, of course, as teammates.
On Tuesday, Beltran dug in before a patchy crowd of encouraging Cardinals fans.Red Schoendienst, the Hall of Famer, peered through the net behind the batting cage.Two decorated football men — Bill Parcells and Ron Wolf, who live locally — took in the scene from a golf cart.
Wainwright threw six pitches to Beltran — four fastballs, a slider and a changeup.Beltran missed the slider and took the others.Wainwright threw only one curveball in his session, to a second round of hitters that included Yadier Molina.Molina ripped it over the left-field fence.
Mets fans can only imagine Beltran doing the same if he had swung at Wainwright’s curve in Game 7.Such frustration is understandable, if unfortunate.Beltran was a five-time All-Star in his seven seasons in New York, and even in that fateful playoff game, he doubled and scored the Mets’ only run.He said he was proud of his Mets career.“Honestly, I feel personally that in the years I was healthy there, I did good and tried to help the team win,” said Beltran, who missed significant parts of 2009 and 2010 to injury new era snapback for sale.“Unfortunately we didn’t win anything, but that was a good experience.I got a chance to be around good people, got to play with good players, and when I was good, I felt the support from the fans.”
Popularity with the home crowd has never been a problem for Wainwright.He changed instantly from World Series closer to top starter, going 64-34 in four seasons before last year’s injury.Tuesday marked one year since his surgery, and now he trains with no restrictions.“You have to sort of caution your expectations there, but he’s still an elite pitcher,” Mozeliak said Jordy Nelson jersey.“If we get 90 percent of Adam, it’s still a big plus.”
Wainwright said he had no doubts about his recovery and would push his body as far as it could go.Almost all patients who follow the precise rehabilitation plan for Tommy John surgery make a full recovery, so chances are his elbow will be strong.
If it is, Wainwright should throw thousands of pitches this season.But none could ever be more significant than the one that changed so many destinies that October night in Flushing
