Arturo Pardavila III)
By Adam Studzinski
EUREKA – Now World Series MVP Ben Zobrist never forgot where he came from, according to one of his former coaches.
Craig Gerdes coached the Eureka native in junior high. Gerdes told WJBC’s Dan Swaney while Zobrist is obviously a great baseball player, he’s also a “wonderful person.”
“He’s the type of guy that didn’t forget where he came from,” said Gerdes. “He comes back to Eureka. If there’s a fundraiser going on he will donate something to the fundraiser.”
Zobrist drove in the go ahead run in the top of the 10th inning in Wednesday’s thrilling game seven win. Gerdes said after the first six games of the series, he had a feeling Zobrist could end up the MVP.
“When he went 0-4 last night I thought, oh, he may lose out on it,” said Gerdes. “But the moment he got that game-winning hit I thought that might get him over the hump. And sure enough it did.”
Zobrist had two strikes when he made the hit – Gerdes said he’s always been a great two-strike hitter.
Adam Studzinski can be reached at adam.studzinski@cumulus.com.
