アレックス・ロドリゲスのインスタグラム(arod) - 7月27日 11時44分

People often ask me what was the single biggest hit, at bat and moment of my career.
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It all happened in Game 4 of the 2009 World Series. My @ニューヨーク・ヤンキース were ahead 2 games to 1, but locked in a 4-4 game in Philadelphia heading into the ninth and looking at Cliff Lee in Game 5. This game was huge.
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Closer Brad Lidge was on the mound and got two quick outs, and had Johnny Damon down 1-2 in the count. I was in the hole with Mark Teixeira on deck, and I kept thinking, "I just KNOW Johnny is gonna battle back and find a way to get on." I watched Damon foul off pitch after pitch and work the count full, then hit a solid single to left. They put the shift on for Tex, and Johnny took off on the first pitch and stole second easily ... and then alertly just kept going! Since the shift was on, the third-baseman covered second on the steal, so Johnny just outran everyone to third base.
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It was a HUGE heads-up play, because now a wild pitch or passed ball would score the lead run, so Lidge had to be careful not to throw anything in the dirt, and that neutralized his nasty slider. Two pitches later, Tex got plunked.
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Here's what I was thinking going to the plate:
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1️⃣ Whoever wins this game, probably wins the championship.
2️⃣ He was going to attack me with hard stuff inside and sliders away.
3️⃣ He has to be careful about the slider in the dirt, so I'll probably see fastballs early in the count.
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True to form, he paints the inside corner (great pitch). The second pitch was a carbon copy of the first, but this time I was looking inside and ready. Took a nice short swing, and struck it solid. When I saw my good friend from Miami, Raul Ibanez, wasn't going to be able to catch it ... phew!! I reached second and said to myself, "OMG, holy shit, we are going to be world champs." I looked in the dugout and my teammates were going crazy.
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We had lefty on the mound for Game 6 at the Stadium. With Pettitte, a little Mo, & lots of Matsui (World Series MVP), we closed it out less than 72 hours later.
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But that hit, made possible by the determination and alertness of Damon, was the biggest moment I’ve ever had on the field.

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• johnnydamon