Ryan Kalish Authors Signature Moment of Rookie Season With Gutsy Play Against Mariano Rivera in New York

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Feb 11, 2011

Ryan Kalish Authors Signature Moment of Rookie Season With Gutsy Play Against Mariano Rivera in New YorkEditor's note: Each day this week, NESN.com Red Sox reporter Tony Lee has shared one chapter of Ryan Kalish's baseball journey. On Thursday, Kalish rapidly rose through the system as the Sox' outfield was devastated by injuries.

For a moment, forget the fact that Ryan Kalish led the Red Sox in stolen bases last year despite appearing in just 53 games. Push aside his first career home run, hit in a big game in Yankee Stadium. Let's leave out his grand slam hit against Angels ace Jeff Weaver. We'll get to the best catch of the Red Sox season in a moment, one he made against Tampa Bay in August.

The signature series of Kalish's rookie campaign came when he managed to make a future Hall of Famer and his All-Star battery mate look positively foolish in their own stadium.

It happened on Sept. 26. The Sox were seven games out of a playoff spot with eight games to play, losing at Yankee Stadium entering the ninth inning. Mariano Rivera's inning.

With one out, Kalish singled off the great closer. On Rivera's first pitch to the next batter, Bill Hall, Kalish stole second. On Rivera's fourth pitch to Hall, Kalish swiped third, and on Rivera's seventh pitch of the at-bat, Kalish scored the game's tying run on a weak single to left.

Taking a cue from the rookie, Hall, a nine-year veteran, promptly stole second and third off Rivera and catcher Jorge Posada, and he scored the go-ahead run on a sacrifice fly.

That the Yankees eventually rallied and won the game, thereby pushing Boston to the absolute brink of elimination, overshadowed what was a remarkable moment in the young career of Kalish. Just a quick trip from his hometown, Kalish had plenty of old friends watching.

"To sit there and battle Mariano Rivera the way he did, to get on base, to steal second, steal third, create a run," said Buddy Hausmann, one of Kalish's coaches in high school. "He led the way for Bill Hall, and [holding runners] became a problem in the playoffs for the Yankees. … He embarrassed the greatest closer of all time!"

Indeed, Hausmann knew the impact that Kalish's actions had. The coach is a die-hard Yankees fan. While he was over the moon with how his former pupil was doing great things on the grandest of stages, Hausmann had to take a little shot at the Red Sox outfielder. He texted Kalish that night, telling him, "Don't you ever do that again."

Of course, Kalish figures to do it plenty during the course of his major league career. He also hopes to do all those other things, from hitting clutch home runs off a Yankee or an Angel to robbing a Ray of an extra-base hit in another must-win affair. It's all part of what the Red Sox have learned is a complete package, topped off by a head that always seems to have Kalish a step or two ahead of his competition.

That's nothing new to those who knew him when.

"To be honest, his baseball IQ," Hausmann said when asked what has impressed him most about Kalish to this point.

It's that IQ, that know-how, that understanding of his role, that made Kalish one of the club's more valuable pieces down the stretch last season. There may be a day when he puts up impressive numbers across the board. For now, just like he did with Bill Hall that day, the 22-year-old will serve just fine as an example for other players, even the vets.

"He didn't come up here and hit .320 with 15 home runs. He came up and did his job," said Mike Hazen, Red Sox director of player development.

Kalish calls it an "even-keeled approach," and it's the only way to view his current situation. Despite doing so many great things in his short time in the majors last year, he knows it is all but certain he will begin 2011 at Pawtucket.

Looking up at a Red Sox outfield loaded with quality veterans, Kalish again has taken an understanding of his role. Simultaneously, his appreciation for where he is has only grown.

"This opportunity is once in a lifetime, regardless of whether you play 15, 20 years or five years," Kalish recently said. "The experiences, the people that I've met, it's hard to replace that."

Some day, it will be hard to replace Kalish. There are just so many things he does well, some of which will not jump out at you when you look at the box score but have the potential to demoralize opponents. Just ask Mariano Rivera.

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