When he arrived in town a couple of days ago, Brandon Moss couldn’t contain his excitement at being traded to the St. Louis Cardinals–discussing how one couldn’t help but be a better player when all you had to do was contribute your part.
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On Sunday, he contributed in a big way with the walk-off single to give the Cardinals a 3-2 win over the Colorado Rockies.
“That’s what you want,” Moss exclaimed with a smile afterwards. “I don’t mean to sound like that, but you’ve got a great opportunity right there to hit a ball hard and like I said–kind of like you said, immediately become part of the team and immediately just kind of show that you’re here and you want to help and you’re not overwhelmed by the moment. It feels good to come through.”
It was just his second hit as a Cardinals, but a fly ball deep onto the warning track plus a couple of other well-hit pitches that were recorded as outs in the box score didn’t get Moss down–unlike when he began this year with a new start in Cleveland.
“That’s the difference,” he pointed out. “Early on in the season, I wasn’t hitting the ball hard. I think in my first 20 at-bats, I had 11 or 12 strikeouts. Just trying–instead of trying to hit the ball hard and instead of trying to have a good approach, I was trying to hit homeruns. You start doing that and they’re not gonna come. Then you just dig yourself into a hole and then you have to start all the way over with alright, now let’s go back to just trying to hit. It was just up and down so much, you always feel like you’re falling behind.”
But it seemed that each of his at-bats with the Cardinals had been noticeably more comfortable each time even without much of anything to show for them.
“I was happy,” continued Moss about his start here. “I know it sounds weird, 1-10, but with the way I’ve hit the ball I know there’s not much more I could do. Those are the type of at-bats I’ve been looking to have all season long. To have them and finally come through today with a big hit–that’s what I’ve been looking for all season long, is to be able to contribute like that.”
photo credit: Jasen Vinlove-USA TODAY Sports
