This time, Albert Pujols’ bat was completely silent. The day after the St. Louis assassin assaulted the baseball — as well as the sensibilities of the Texas Rangers — to land in the history books as only the third player to hit three homers in a game, joining “Mr. October” Reggie Jackson and Babe Ruth, Texas pitcher Derek Holland tied all the Cardinals’ bats into collective knots with a 4-0 victory to tie the World Series at two games apiece.
In Game 3 the night before, Pujols, this generation’s Barry Bonds as the game’s most fearsome hitter, sent three titantic blasts over the wall to be the first person to hit three home runs in a game since Jackson did it in three consecutive at-bats in 1977, earning the legendary nickname “Mr. October.” Ruth had done it twice nearly a hundred years ago.
In Game 4, the Ron Washington unleashed mound monster Holland and his 95-per-hour left-handed buzz saw to basically shatter the Cardinal bats and turn them into a thousand toothpicks. The Cardinals were helpless and hapless against Holland’s mastery of changing up pitches and locations and kept the awesome Pujols hitless.
But no one will soon forget how Pujols put his name on par Ruth’s and Jackson’s in the pantheon of great individual performances, destined to be etched in bronze on a plaque in Cooperstown. “I’m glad it was him,” Jackson said in a phone interview Sunday. “I’m honored it was him. He’s a fabulous representative of the game.”
In Game 3, Pujols owned the game and the entire sports world. He went 5 for 6 with three home runs and six runs batted in to lead a 16-7 mauling of the home team Rangers.
This time, however, Ron Washington’s Rangers handcuffed Pujols with with a left-handed mound master named Holland. Washington is the first manager to take the Rangers to the World Series in consecutive years. He is also seeking to become just the second African American manager of a Major League team to lead them to a World Series title.
–terry shropshire
