News
Corporan singles off shortstop in debut
Rookie just happy to get first hit of Major League career
By Josh Katzowitz / Special to MLB.com
05/07/09 7:35 PM ET
CINCINNATI -- By the time Brewers catcher Carlos Corporan checked his cell phone late Wednesday night, he had 20 new messages. Those mostly were from his family, who watched the Brewers smash the Reds live from their home in Puerto Rico. In the eighth inning of that game, the Corporan family got a nice little treat. From across the Caribbean Sea, his relatives got to watch Corporan make his big league debut.It must have been fun for the family, but for Corporan, it was a little more stressful than that. He was warming up pitchers in the bullpen late in the game when the phone rang and bullpen coach Stan Kyles told Corporan that he should prepare himself to go in.
With his heart pounding, Corporan -- brought up from Triple-A Nashville on April 30 to replace the injured Mike Rivera -- raced to the dugout in time for his eighth-inning entry.
"I started chasing around and going, 'Oh my God,'" Corporan said. "It's my first time, you know? I couldn't find my mask, I was looking for my chest protector. But after the first pitch, it was fine -- like normal."
But then it got strange again. After catching reliever Jorge Julio in the bottom of the eighth, he was the second Brewer to step to the plate in the top of the ninth. He had no idea who he was about to face in his first big league at-bat.
"Nobody said anything to me," Corporan said. "I was looking for my bat and my batting gloves. When I scored the run, I came back to the bullpen and [bench coach] Willie Randoph told me, 'Hey, that wasn't a pitcher. It doesn't count.' But it doesn't matter to me."
It certainly shouldn't -- even if he collected his single to left field off Paul Janish, normally a shortstop, who was moonlighting as a mopup reliever.
Janish was no pushover, though. Although he gave up five runs in the inning, Janish managed to strike out J.J. Hardy and Chris Duffy. Which, in Milwaukee manager Ken Macha's mind, negates Randolph's entire argument.
"Carlos said he didn't care, because it's a Major League hit," Macha said. "Willie was saying it wasn't a hit because it was off a shortstop. I said, 'Go ask J.J. to see if he's a pitcher.'"
On Thursday, Corporan couldn't stop smiling when describing his big league debut. Rivera was placed on the 15-day disabled list April 29 with a sprained ankle, so it's unlikely Corporan will be around much longer. But for now, he's just happy to be here.
"This is a dream come true," Corporan said. "You take it day by day, and you work hard. From there, concentrate on my stuff to get some experience. You never know what's going to happen."
Josh Katzowitz is a contributor to MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.
