The leading hitter in 2010, was the only member of his team to bat over .250. Poor Mitch Moreland had to feel that he was essentially carrying the load for the Texas Rangers. Quite a burned for a rookie with only 47 games of big-league experience.
The World Series itself that year pitted Moreland Rangers against the San Francisco Giants. Texas was making their first Fall Classic appearance (And they'd return next season), having begun play as the Washington Senators (The second version, as the original team had moved to Minnesota in 1960). Washington would abandoned DC Stadium after 1971, and head to Texas.
Well, the days of Nolan Ryan and company were long gone, but Texas was the best team in the American League in 2010 (Proved by beating the defending champion Yankees in the American League Championship Series). The Rangers had won two less games than the Giants.
But while Texas pushed across two early runs in the opening tilt in San Fran, it merely woke the Giant(s). The home team erupted for two runs in the third, and another six in the fifth. Moreland, batting in the eighth slot ahead of the pitcher, had struck out in the second inning, even though his Rangers tacked on their second run. In the fourth, he hit a double, only to be stranded.
So Texas wanted to at least make a game of this contest, to prove their was plenty of fight in them. Trailing 6-2 in the top of the sixth, their first two men up struck out. A walk and a double gave the team a run, and some hope. Our boy Mitch kept the rally going with a single, laying the foundation for a substitution.
Darren O'Day was due to hit next, but seeing as how he was the pitcher, you knew he wasn't grabbing any lumber. Instead, out trotted David Murphy. Murphy came through! His single off Tim Lincecum plated the fourth run of the contest for Texas, who suddenly trailed by only two runs.
Sadly, Mitch Moreland did not finish the contest. In the top of the eighth, he gave way to a pinch hitter. It didn't help, as Jorge Cantu grounded out. San Francisco came up in the bottom of the frame, and appeared to put the game out of reach, scoring three runs on four hits. But Texas answered that with four more runs of their own in the top of the ninth, making the final score closer, 11-7, for the home team.
Well, that was the one and only slugfest of this 2011 World Series. But Texas was determined to come back. However, it seems that they just mailed it in come the second contest.
Mitch Moreland found it a tough go. In the top of the third with one away, he collected a base hit. A bunt moved him into scoring position. Alas, the Rangers didn't come through in situations like this in the second game. Elvis Andrus flied out to end the threat.
Two innings later, the game was still scoreless. But Texas appeared to have another rally going.
It all started with a leadoff double by Ian Kinsler. Matt Cain bore down and got David Murphy to line out. Matt Treanor was out on a grounder to Edgar Renteria at short. Kinsler held. This brought Moreland back up to the dish. San Francisco had taken note of him. They put Moreland on first. The rally ended as pitcher C.J. Wilson could only ground out to first basemen Aubrey Huff, who made the putout himself.
Edgar Renteria broke the scoreless ballgame with a solo home run in the bottom of the frame. Texas continued to play with confidence in the sixth, as they got men to second and third on two singles and a wild pitch. There was only one out, but Nelson Cruz popped out and Ian Kinsler was retired on a fly. The Rangers were squandering golden opportunities to score.
San Francisco tallied another run in the seventh, but the game remained close until the bottom of the eighth. The Texas Rangers imploded. The first men fanned, and then Parker Posey singled to keep the inning alive. It seemed harmless, but then four straight walks forced in runs three and four. Edgar Renteria cashed in two more with a single. Before the third out could be recorded, the Giants had crossed the plate seven time.
The series headed to Texas for the cities' first World Series game, ever. Mitch and company needed this one.
Colby Lewis stared the game for the home team. He looked a little shaky for Texas. Nolan Ryan had thrown out the ceremonial first pitch, and after what happened the previous contest, there had to be at least a few Rangers' fans who wished he could be on the mound one more time.
Well, nervous or not, it was Mitch Moreland that put the Texas Rangers and their fans a little bit at ease in the bottom of the second. Nelson Cruz got it off on the right foot with a two-bagger. Though Jonathan Sanchez retired the next two batters, there was still Bengie Molina to deal with. If Molina got on, the next batter was Mitch Moreland. Bengie did his job. He coaxed a walk off Jonathan.
So it was a lefty-lefty situation. But no matter. Moreland got ahead 2-0 before Sanchez battled back to even it at 2-2. The Ranger batter showed tremendous perseverance, fouling off four straight pitches. Then, on the fifth, 2-2 delivery, Moreland warmed the hearts of Texas. The first basemen teed off on a fastball. Into the stands for a three-run home run! The crowd erupted. It was their day, their game. The rookie was rockin' the Rangers Ballpark in Arlington!
"The sequence was impressive for anybody," wrote Tyler Kepner in The New York Times, "Let alone a rookie who was pitching in instructional league two years ago."
The new kid on the block, who didn't even get into a major league game until July 29th of this season, was improbably showing the Rangers the way on this special night. But getting to the Fall Classic had been merely half the fun.
Writing for Sports Illustrated (online), Tom Verducci wrote about the man of the moment, and his 2010 journey from the minors to World Series hero.
"Moreland, 25, had started only four times this year against lefthanders and never had hit a home run against one. (Sanchez had never allowed a three-run homer to a lefty.) He was so buried in the minors behind Justin Smoak and Chris Davis this year that the Rangers had him playing the outfield -- until the day Texas traded Smoak for Cliff Lee and his Triple-A manager told him to start working at first base."
It ended up being the rookie's only hit of game three. In the fourth, Mitch swung on the first pitch, popping out. That stranded Bengie Molina. In the seventh, Moreland grounded out.
No matter. The Rangers were inspired. Their starter, Colby Lewis settled down, and the Giants would be held off the scoreboard through six. Meanwhile some other Texas' players were doing their thing, too. Josh Hamilton made it 4-0 for the Rangers in the fifth with a longball of his own. From there, the Giants' bullpen entered the fray and kept the Texas bats' at bay.
The game was made a little closer by Cody Ross, who broke up Lewis' shutout bid in the seventh. He hit a solo shot of his own. Andres Torres added another for San Francisco an inning later, but the game ended 4-2 for Texas.
So game four was the big one, and manager Ron Washington may have made a mistake. Through three games of this 2010 October Finale, Mitch Moreland was hitting .500 (4-8). If you went back to the second contest of the American League Championship Series, Mitch was hitting .400 since. Clearly, the kid was swinging the hot bat.
"Manager Ron Washington said Moreland would continue hitting ninth, which is where he was destined to bat, in one role or another," wrote Kepner.
Why not put him higher up than the ninth slot?
Not that if would have mattered. Madison Bumgarner took the hill for San Francisco. This was one of his vintage nights in the Fall Classic (Through the 2016 World Series, all Madison has done is go 4-0 with a 0.25 earned run average in the World Series). It was quickly apparent that the Texas Rangers had no chance. The foundation of a World Series legend would be laid down tonight.
Mitch Moreland had a tough first trip to the dish. After taking the first pitch for a strike, Moreland fouled a pitch off the difficult lefty pitcher, breaking his back. The new stick didn't help. The next pitch came in at eighty-eight miles an hour, which must have made Rangers fans think of the film, Back to the Future. But it was, Back to the Bench for Moreland, as he swung on the offering and missed.
Moreland had become a strikeout victim of Bumgarner, one of six that the Giant starter had over his eight shutout innings of work. The next time up, though, Mitch collected a one-out single. It was one of only three base hits the Rangers would get.
Elvis Andrus followed Moreland's single by grounding into an inning-ending double play. It was "one of those nights" for Texas.
But the game was only 2-0 for the Giants. Rangers' starter Tommy Hunter allowed two runs over four innings of work. The bullpen did the job for Texas for a while, as the score stayed close. That is until San Francisco came back up to hit in the top of the seventh.
Andres Torres' clutch two-out doubled cashed in Edgar Renteria, who'd singled earlier that inning. Buster Posey added a home run to the Giants' cause in the eighth, effectively sealing the deal on this big game.
Mitch Moreland would bat one last time this night. He came up with two away and the bases empty in the bottom of the eighth. Madison Bumgarner was still throwing pitches over 100 MPH. Moreland, to his credit, battled from 1-2 to 3-2. But the payoff pitch was a sweeping breaking ball, that Mitch didn't get the bat off the shoulders on. Strike three, looking. Bumgarner had faced his last batter, but had thoroughly dominated Texas.
When reliever Brian Wilson finished of Texas 1-2-3 in the ninth, it was the home team down 3-1 in the 2010 World Series. Game five would be the last game at home for the Rangers, one way or another.
Tim Lincecum, the San Francisco starter, faced three batters in the first, and three more in the second. The bottom of the third saw him fan David Murphy on three pitches. Then Bengie Molina came (Up to bat) and went (down on three pitches).
So eight up, eight down for Lincecum was pitching one awesome game. Mitch Moreland was next. His average was "down" to .455 in the Fall Classic, but the Giants still had to be careful with him. A fan shouted their encouragement to the big star of this Fall Classic, "Come on, Moreland!"
Tim Lincecum started him off with a fastball, which Moreland fouled off. Of the nine batters that the San Francisco starter had faced so far, seven had the count 0-1. There would be a bit of a twist in this encounter, though.
The next pitch was way high, and nearly sailed over catcher Buster Posey's head. But time had been called, so the count was still no balls, one strike. The pitches that followed were away, with the 1-1 just out of the strike zone. The good eye of Mitch was about to pay off.
Lincecum came in high, 3-1. Then low with a fastball. Ball five. Well, four.
This excellent showing of patience did not help the Texas cause. Tim Lincecum's control returned when he faced the very next batter, Elvis Andrus. Elvis would not leave the building, but he did leave the plate when he fanned.
Texas started Cliff Lee hung in their with Lincecum, keeping the game scoreless. San Francisco had a total of just five runs over the last two contests, plus the first six innings of this game. Texas wasn't hitting. Or maybe the San Francisco pitching was too strong?
Moreland made it officially one for one, by singling to start the last of the sixth. And, Mitch was now batting .500 (6-12). But no one else was helping. The Rangers had three hits the previous contest. They'd end up with three more in game five.
Tim Lincecum got the next three men out. The San Francisco starter had allowed just one walk and had six strikeouts in as many innings. His team, riding the momentum of Lincecum's strong pitching, got on the board the next inning, as Edgar Renteria hit a three-run home run (Edgar would finish the 2010 World Series leading all batters in runs with six, RBI with six, and home runs with two). The Giants had all the offence they would need.
Nelson Cruz got the home team on the board with a solo shot in the bottom of the seventh, but that was all she wrote for Texas, as three of their batters fanned that inning. Mitch Moreland was first up in the bottom of the eighth, and Lincecum fanned him, too. It was Moreland's last time at bat in 2010.
Reliever Brian Wilson closed the deal on the World Series, getting Texas in order in the ninth. The Rangers could take some solace in the leading hitter was Mitch Moreland. The problem was, Mitch was basically carrying the entire offence.
The next-best hitters on the Texas Rangers were Michael Young and Nelson Cruz. Young hit .250 and Cruz just .200. Cruz tied Moreland for team lead in RBI with three.
Nonetheless, this Fall Classic was a great experience for Texas, who'd return to the World Series the next year, coming within a whisker of beating St. Louis, and Mitch Moreland himself. Moreland played in two more World Series, and while he didn't hit anywhere near as good again in either, he'd sip champagne with the Boston Red Sox in 2018.
References
Kepner, Tyler. “Toeing Line, Not Rubber, and Fulfilling Expectations.” The New York Times, The New York Times Company, 30 Oct. 2010, https://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/31/sports/baseball/ 31kepner.html. 27 Mar. 2023.
Sports Reference LLC. Baseball-Reference.com - Major League Statistics and Information. http://www.baseball-reference.com/. 27 Mar. 2023.
2010 World Series. Episode 1-5 (Miniseries), Fox, 2010, http://www.youtube.com. Accessed 27 Mar. 2023.
Verducci, Tom. “Five Cuts: History Finally Befriends Rangers in Game 3 of World Series.” Sports Illustrated, ABG-SI LLC, 31 Oct. 2010, https://www.si.com/more-sports/2010/10/31/world-seriesgame3fivecuts. 26 Mar. 2023
Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, https://en.wikipedia.org/. 27 Mar. 2023.
YouTube, Google, https://www.youtube.com/. 27 Mar. 2023.
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