One of those endless showcases that wannabe ballplayers are encouraged to attend is the World Wood Bat Association Championships, held every October in Jupiter, Fla. In 2010, two South Florida high schoolers who had played against one another since Little League drove up together and shared a room.
Even in the fanciful dreams of their teenaged minds, Andrew Suarez and Dereck Rodriguez could not have envisioned that nearly a decade later they would wear the same big-league uniform and star in back-to-back games to give their team an immaculately timed lift.
A day after Suarez blanked the Phillies for seven innings, Rodriguez became the first Giants pitcher in nearly nine years to win his first big-league start, getting the ritual beer shower in the clubhouse after Sunday’s 6-1 victory.