With two outs in the ninth and the tying run on third, veteran Eddie Santos lined a double into the right-field corner. Two runs scored, and the Bay Herons had their first division title in nine years. The 41-year-old designated hitter, playing in what may be his final regular-season home game, rounded first with both arms in the air and was swallowed by teammates before he could reach second base. The final score was 5–4, and the sellout crowd of more than 40,000 did not leave for almost an hour.
It was the kind of night that baseball people talk about for years. A long season, a tight race, a veteran near the end of a long career and one swing that changed everything. For a franchise that has spent most of the last decade rebuilding, it was also a reminder of how quickly a ballpark can come back to life.
How the ninth inning unfolded
The Herons entered the bottom of the ninth trailing 4–3 against a division rival that had won six of its last seven games. Their opponent had brought in its closer, a hard-throwing right-hander who had not blown a save since July. The first batter grounded out to shortstop. The second struck out on a fastball at the letters, and a few fans near the exits started heading for the parking lots.
Then the inning turned. Center fielder Marcus Hill worked a seven-pitch walk. Rookie second baseman Theo Ramirez followed with a ground ball that skipped past a diving first baseman for a single, sending Hill to third. That brought up Santos, who had struck out twice earlier in the game.
He took a curveball for a ball, fouled off two fastballs and then waited on a slider that stayed up in the zone. He pulled it hard down the right-field line, and it kicked off the wall in the corner. Hill scored easily. Ramirez, running on contact, slid home just ahead of the relay throw, and the umpire’s safe call set off the celebration.
One more October
Santos has said this will be his last season. He is hitting .312 since the All-Star break. That is a remarkable number for any hitter and an extraordinary one for a player in his forties, an age when most position players have long since retired. Santos began the season as a part-time player, sharing designated hitter duties with two younger teammates. By August, he had taken the job outright.
His teammates credit his preparation. Santos is usually the first player at the ballpark and one of the last to leave. He spends long sessions in the batting cage, studies video of opposing pitchers and has become an informal hitting coach for the team’s younger players. Ramirez, the rookie who scored the winning run, said Santos had helped him fix a flaw in his swing during spring training.
His career has taken a winding path. Santos broke into the majors at 23 as a backup catcher, moved to first base after a shoulder injury in his late twenties and has played for five different clubs. He reached the World Series once, more than a decade ago, and lost. He joined the Herons on a one-year contract two winters ago, when several teams considered him finished, and he has said many times that he wanted to end his career somewhere he felt needed. The front office signed him mainly as a mentor. He has turned out to be much more than that, and his teammates now call him “Pop” with genuine affection.
I didn’t feel 41 running to second. I’ll feel it tomorrow.
Eddie Santos
Santos told reporters after the game that he had thought about the possibility of a final home game for weeks, but tried to keep it out of his mind once the game began. He said he was thinking only about getting a pitch he could drive, and that he never saw the ball land. The Herons still have a few road games left, so it was not technically his last regular-season game, but it may have been his last at home before the playoffs.
How the Herons got here
Few people expected this team to win the division. Preseason projections had the Herons finishing third, and the team was six games out of first place in early June. Then the pitching staff settled down, the young players started hitting and the club went on a long hot streak through the middle of the summer.
Several things went right at once. Here are the biggest turning points, according to the manager and coaching staff:
- A 12-game winning streak in late June that pulled the team back into the race.
- The emergence of two young starting pitchers, who combined for 22 wins.
- Santos taking over as the everyday designated hitter in early August.
- A bullpen that posted the lowest earned run average in the league after the All-Star break.
- A 7–2 record in head-to-head games against the second-place team in September.
Manager Ruth Calloway, in her second season with the team, said the turnaround came from a group that never panicked during the early slump. She praised the veterans for keeping the clubhouse loose and the young players for being willing to learn.
A city that waited nine years
The last time the Herons won the division, many of their current players were in high school. The years in between included several losing seasons, a long rebuild and a stretch when attendance dropped to some of the lowest levels in the league. Longtime fans remember that period well.
That made Wednesday night feel even bigger. Fans lined up outside the stadium hours before the first pitch. When the final run scored, the crowd stayed in the stands, chanting Santos’ name and waiting for the players to return to the field. They came back out wearing division champion caps and shirts and spent several minutes signing autographs along the railings.
Outside the ballpark, neighborhood bars and restaurants filled with fans who had watched on television. The team’s social media accounts posted video of the double from several angles, and the clip was shared widely across the region within minutes.
Key takeaway: The Herons have the pitching depth and the late-season momentum to be a dangerous playoff team, and they have a veteran who has been through October before.
What comes next
The Herons open the division series at home on Tuesday. Their opponent will be decided over the final weekend of the regular season, with three teams still in the race for the last playoff spots. Calloway said she will rest several regulars in the remaining road games to make sure the lineup is fresh for the postseason.
The team is expected to start its two young right-handers in the first two games of the series, with a veteran left-hander in Game 3. The bullpen, which has been the team’s biggest strength in the second half, should be fully rested by Tuesday.
As for Santos, he will almost certainly be in the lineup for Game 1. Asked whether he might change his mind about retiring if the Herons make a deep run, he smiled and said he would answer that question in November. For now, he said, he just wants to enjoy one more October with a team that gave him a chance when few others would.
Tickets for the division series go on sale Friday morning. Follow every pitch on our live scoreboard and Game Center, where our reporters will post updates, video highlights and reaction throughout the series.
