And a rookie shall lead them

DETROIT -- St. Louis Cardinals rookie righthander Anthony Reyes, a native of Richard Nixon's hometown of Whittier, Calif., beat the Tigers last night with less sweat and certainly more poise than Nixon's first presidential debate against John F. Kennedy.

The surfboard-loving righthander, who attended Southern Cal, was on the mark early, outdueling fellow rookie Justin Verlander. Reyes set down the impatient Tiger hitters one by one much to the dismay of a Comerica Park crowd that had been ravenous for a World Series win since 1984.

Adding to the story line was that Reyes was drafted by the Tigers in the 13th round when he was a USC junior but decided to stay in school. He battled injuries -- a strained elbow ligament as a junior and tendinitis as a senior -- and his stock dropped a tad, but the Cardinals drafted him 15th overall in 2003.

He pitched behind Cubs righthander Mark Prior at USC and, although he had great stuff, never established himself as the dominant college pitcher he was supposed to be.

But last night he was pitching Game 1 of the World Series with poise and grace and a dominance that belied his 5-8 record and 5.06 ERA in 17 starts. He was, in fact, the first Game 1 starter with a losing record since Jon Matlack's 14-16 mark for the Mets in 1973 against the Oakland A's, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.

He was the starter because Cardinals manager Tony La Russa had no other choice, really, with the seven-game NLCS stretching the St. Louis staff to the limit.

But, boy, what a choice it turned out to be.

"We had a coaches dinner last night and each coach put down what they thought he would do," said La Russa after Reyes had pitched into the ninth inning of a 7-2 win. "Actually, two coaches said [he'd reach] the eighth inning. I thought five or six with low runs -- he'd do a great job.

"To get into the ninth inning . . . He doesn't scare easy and he has great composure. He's got great weapons."

Thank the Tigers for reverting to their free-swinging, impatient ways. They had learned patience from the Yankees in the divisional series and carried that over against the A's in the ALCS. Maybe it was the long layoff, but they were eager at the plate. When the Tigers could only manage one run in the first inning, stranding two runners in scoring position, Reyes seemed to mount a full head of steam.

After Pudge Rodriguez lined to second base to end the first, Reyes retired the side in order in the second, third, fourth, fifth, and sixth innings. Seventeen consecutive batters went down until the rookie gave up a single by Carlos Guillen off the extended glove of second baseman Ronnie Belliard. It was the longest streak of batters retired in a World Series game since Jose Rijo retired 20 straight for the 1990 Reds.

Reyes threw his curveball with considerable bite early and his circle change was able to get Tiger s hitters fishing. He was throwing his fastball in the mid-90s. After the first, pitching coach Dave Duncan told him to feature his fastball.

Reyes didn't know for sure, but it appeared he threw his fastball to virtually every hitter on virtually every pitch after that. And a star was born.

"I don't know if I can top this," said Reyes, who wears his socks high and the brim of his hat flat. "This is the best thing that's ever happened in my career."

Reyes said he focused on "trying to hit the mitt. Focus on the glove and forget what level game this is." He featured his changeup early and "they knew I had a good one, so I threw the fastball a lot."

With that came a lot of first-pitch swings. "I tried to hit my corners," Reyes said. "I thought they were waiting for [the change] so there was no reason to throw it."

Tiger s manager Jim Leyland said, "I thought he did a good job of throwing away, but getting outs inside. He had excellent control. Basically, he jammed us a lot . . . We got into a little funk when we got behind and we thought we were going to hit one out of the ballpark to get back into the game."

La Russa kidded Reyes about his flat hat brim afterward. "I'm not a real stylemaster, but that style is not very attractive. I don't think it's going to be copied by the kids of America," kidded La Russa.

Reyes explained he's worn his socks that way since Little League. As for the hat, "It comes out of the box that way. I just don't bend it. It helps me to see the signs."

It appears Reyes will likely start a fashion trend. After all, last night he put his career on the map in the biggest stage of all.