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WORLD SERIES HOME RUN
I think as a little league kid you tend to dream of playing in a world series, visualizing the impossible. I battled many obstacles to finally make it to the big leagues. I battled many injuries and many personal things to finally arrive to greatest stage of all. I remember after signing with the San Fransisco Giants finally getting the call after hitting about 450 for the triple A team in Phoenix. It was in June. The giants were in first place and I was pretty much a no name other than I had played a little with the A's back in 1986. I did have the reputation as a good hitting catcher, and in June, they rewarded me with a call up. I remember being up with the club 3 days and still hadn't played. On the fourth day I went into Roger Craig's office before the game to talk to him and explained that I realized they were in first place and you don't want to change things, but I can help you win. He looked at me very puzzled and said he knew who I was and that I would get a chance. That very night I had a chance to pinch hit and responded with a single up the middle. We went on to San Diego the next series and again I got the chance to come into the game in the middle of the game in a double switch. I responed again with 2 hits and was the player of the game. Roger called me into his office and was really excited. He explained that he was ecstatic about how I could hit.And that I would get more opportunities especially when the game was on the line. I told him I would pay him 5 million to put me in there with the game on the line. He said he now realizes that and will use me more. The season went on and I continued to excel. It was looking more and more like we were going to be in the playoffs. It came down to the last 3 games of the season against the Padres and we clinched the west in San Diego. I couldn't believe it, I was going to experience my first playoffs. Only one problem, they had to decide who was going to be on the playoff roster and it came down between Bob Brenly and myself. It was decided that I would be on the roster due to my hitting abilities. We went on the play the Chicago Cubs in the playoffs and we beat the Cubs in our home park to clinch the national league west! We were headed to the world series! Oh my God, the world series. My dream and probably most kids dream, playing in the world series. We were going to play the Oakland A's in the world series. And so the battle of the bay was born. I was going to play against some of my old teammates, Mark McGwire and Jose Canseco and Mike Gallego and Tony Phillips, etc. These were the guys I came up with in the Oakland organization and this was like a home coming for me. The sad thing about all this is we were running into a buzzsaw with Oakland. They were dominating with the bash brothers and were leaving no prisoners in their path. We had our hands full. We played the first 2 games in Oakland and we lost both. It wasn't looking good and I hadn't even sniffed an at bat yet. I wasn't sure if I was going to get a chance to play. We returned to San Fransisco and at around 5:10 before the start of the third game, the world changed. A massive earthquake struck the bay area. It left tolls of bodies and damage all through the city. The stadium had suffered structural damage and their was chaos everywhere. I will never forget it. It took 10 days before game 3 finally resumed. I think the devastation of the earthquake took a lot out of everyone and suddenly the importance the world series did not hold the same meaning.However, the games had to continue. Once again, we were losing the game and it wasn't looking good for us or for me getting a chance to play. However, in the seventh inning we were staking a rally. We had 2 men on and the call finally came. Roger told me to grab a bat, I was up next. The amount of excitement that I felt was unbelievable. I grabbed my helmet, my bat, and went to the ondeck circle to take some warmup swings. I think at this point, everything started to come full circle for me. All the hard work, all the sacrifice, all the sweat and tears, for this one chance in a world series. I went up to the plate and now was the time to focus and to get in the zone. I took a few breaths, calmed myself, and got in the batter's box. I felt relaxed and focused and just concentrated on the task at hand. The first pitch was up and inside. Ball one. The next pitch was on the inner half of the plate and I swung. What happened next would change my life forever. I watched as the ball soared out to left centerfield. I had hit it good and it had a chance to leave the ballpark. I will never forget the feeling I had watching the ball go over the fence for a 3 run home run! It is a memory that will stay with me forever. I know this sounds weird, but as I rounded the bags I felt a sense of accomplishment. That everything I had worked so hard for was for this moment and I was going to enjoy it. I tried to round the bases as slow as I could to savor the moment. It was a dream come true. I would do it all over again for the one moment I had in the 1989 world series. I staked my place in the grandest stage of all.
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