Summa This, Summa That
Yes, I realize this is a day late. But I almost missed it altogether. Thanks to Jon Weisman, though, I didn’t:
Ten years ago tonight, Alex Cora stepped into the batters’ box in the bottom of the seventh inning against Matt Clement of the Cubs.
You could be excused for thinking that 10 years went by before he stepped out.
It was an at-bat for the ages — 14 foul balls, 18 pitches in all. And it ended as dramatically as you could ever have hoped, with a two-run home run that sent a frenzied Dodger Stadium crowd over the moon.
Alex Cora. Couple of fly balls. So when you don’t have power, couple of fly balls is pretty much wasted opportunities.
I remember listening to Vin on the radio as it happened. But it took me a while before I noticed what was actually taking place, moving from unaware to mildly amused to surprised — an offensive juggernaut, Cora was most definitely NOT — to shocked to excited to sheer, unadulterated disbelief as the at-bat wore on. Scully goes through pretty much the same progression, though quite a bit more eloquently, as is his want. I love the way he starts laughing more and more bemusedly as the at-bat reaches ever-more-absurd heights.
And the ending? Perfect. (Clement doesn’t even look particularly irritated. He looks exhausted, mostly. And maybe even a teeny, tiny bit relieved.)
That’s one of the finest at-bats I’ve ever seen!
Attribution(s): Photos courtesy of Getty Images, which allows the use of certain images “as long as the photo is not used for commercial purposes (meaning in an advertisement or in any way intended to sell a product, raise money, or promote or endorse something).”
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