ANAHEIM, Calif. -- Sidelined the previous two games and with time running out, George Brett returned to the Kansas City lineup Wednesday night and delivered one of his best performances of the season to nail down career hit 3,000.
Brett went 4-for-4 in his first four at-bats to become the 18th player in major league history to reach 3,000 career hits. He doubled in the first and singled in the third and fifth innings off California Angels starter Julio Valera. The historic hit came in the seventh with one out off rookie left-hander Tim Fortugno.
'I just felt so comfortable all day long,' said Brett, 39. 'My game plan was to get one at-bat and not hurt myself. And then I got another and another.'
'It felt extremely good,' he said. 'After 19 years, I finally found out I can get a hit without swinging hard.'
In his fourth at-bat, Brett smashed the first pitch to second, and the ball took a bad bounce near second baseman Ken Oberkfell, went high into the air and into right field for a base hit.
His Kansas City teammates ran onto the field and mobbed Brett, while fireworks were set off inside Anaheim Stadium, a practice usually reserved for California home runs.
'It means that I played a long time, got a lot of at-bats and a lot of hits,' Brett said when asked what reaching 3,000 career hits meant to him. 'It just happened a half hour ago. It happened so quickly. It hasn't sunk in, yet.'
Fortugno said he probably would enjoy it more once it sunk in with him as well.
'I suppose 10 or 15 years from now I'll think it was an exciting moment,' he said. 'But not right now. I wanted to be known as the guy who stopped him. But you have to have a lot of respect for him.'
Brett, who went 11 for his last 24 at-bats to reach 3,000, was given first base and the baseball. Ironically, after the game resumed, Fortugno picked him off first base.
'I was just in the middle of a sentence to (first baseman Gary) Gaetti, and they picked me off,' Brett said. 'My mind wasn't on running. I was just in never-never land.'
Brett remained in the game, won 4-0 by Kansas City, and reached on an error by Oberkfell in the ninth to finish 4-for-5 on the night. He then left the game for a pinch-runner.
The feat was witnessed by only 17,336, the smallest Angel crowd since 1979. One of those on hand, however, was Brett's bother, Ken, who handled the local cable broadcast of the game.
'I'm just glad he was here because we've been through so much together,' Brett said.
Brett sat out the previous two games after suffering a strained shoulder while swinging at a pitch in Sunday's game against the Twins and aggravating the injury in batting practice Monday night. He received a cortisone shot on Tuesday and faced heading into the final series of the year, a three-game set in Kansas City against the Twins, still needing to reach the milestone.
'Obviously Kansas City would have been my No. 1 choice to do it,' said Brett, who grew up and played high school ball nearby. 'But I have so many friends here.'
Brett had said he would return next season if he did not reach 3,000 thiA: ear. After reaching the milestone, he said he had not made a decision about 1993.
'I just don't know yet,' he said.
Robin Yount of the Milwaukee Brewers became the 17th player in major league history to reach the 3,000 hit mark on Sept. 9 at County Stadium. It marked the fifth time two players had reached 3,000 in the same season.
Brett's feat came 20 years to the day after Roberto Clemente recorded his 3,000th hit.
x x x a base hit.
His Kansas City teammates ran onto the field and mobbed Brett, while fireworks were set off inside Anaheim Stadium, a practice usually reserved for California home runs.
Brett, 39, was given first base and the baseball. He went 11 for his last 24 at-bats to reach 3,000.
The feat was witnessed by only 17,336, the smallest Angel crowd since 1979. One of those on hand, however, was Brett's bother, Ken, who handled the local cable broadcast of the game.
Brett sat out the previous two games after suffering a strained shoulder while swinging at a pitch in Sunday's game against the Twins and aggravating the injury in batting practice Monday night. He received a cortisone shot on Tuesday and faced heading into the final series of the year, a three-game set in Kansas City against the Twins, still needing to reach the milestone.
Brett had said he would return next season if he did not reach 3,000 thiA: ear.
Robin Yount of the Milwaukee Brewers became the 17th player in major league history to reach the 3,000 hit mark on Sept. 9 at County Stadium.
