Luis González’s broken-bat single still stings
By Adrian Burgos
What Luis González did with one swing of the bat in November 2001 – 17 years ago today – splintered my unshakeable faith in a sure thing.
His broken-bat single into center sealed a World Series title for the Arizona Diamondbacks. It also ended the sense of invincibility of one of my favorite Yankees, Mariano Rivera. Yankees fans had become accustomed to the idea that Rivera never fails, especially in the post-season. González busted that comfort with that swing.
The setting couldn’t have been more perfect. It was Game 7 of the World Series and the Yankees had the lead headed into the ninth inning with Rivera, the “Sandman,” on the mound.
The backdrop of 9/11 added to the moment. As New Yorkers and the nation continued to recover from the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center, it seemed many non-Yankees fans were not openly rooting for New York to fall in the World Series.
The biggest moment of the game came down to Latino versus Latino, a Panamanian versus a Cuban. The Yankees closer Rivera was facing off against “Gonzo” Luis Gonzalez, the Diamondbacks slugger who had hit 57 HRs that season. It’s the type of drama I love as a Latino baseball fan.
The Yankees fan inside kept reassuring me that we will still win this. Not to fear, Rivera’s cutter will just saw him off. And it did. González swung and broke his bat.
But this batted ball looped over the drawn-in middle infielders and landed in short center driving in the run that won not just the game but gave Arizona its lone World Series title.
González had ensured that the Yankees’ World Series run was over.
The Boston Red Sox would hoist the World Series trophy twice before the Yankees did so again. That had never happened since the Yankees won their first World Series in 1923.
González’s donated his broken bat to the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown after he made history with it. The Cuban-American’s heartbreaker now resides in the Hall’s Autumn Glory exhibit. To compound the pain, it sits in a case near a helmet worn by Derek Jeter and some equipment Mariano Rivera donated from the Yankees World Series run that González helped end.
Luis González is one of the nicest guys I have ever interviewed. But I try to avoid the part of the exhibit entirely when I visit the Hall.