HOUSTON (AP) Gerrit Cole rattles off the names of the pitching greats with ease, featuring the same command he shows with his vaunted four-seam fastball.
Bob Gibson. Tom Seaver. Don Drysdale.
Plus the guys he saw in person as a kid Randy Johnson and Curt Schilling when they dominated in October.
Now in the midst of perhaps the most remarkable run in baseball history, its his turn, starting Game 1 of the World Series.
The people you keep referring to, Cole said Monday, got the job done. So Im trying to deliver on that front.
Because as we all know, heading into Tuesday nights opener between his Houston Astros and the Washington Nationals, this is when reputations are built or wrecked.
Madison Bumgarner, Orel Hershiser and Pedro Martinez excelled in their first Series starts. So did Clayton Kershaw, although his ledger is more checkered.
Cole enters this matchup against fellow ace Max Scherzer at 19-0 in his last 25 starts, including three wins in the playoffs. No pitcher has ever won 20 in a row in a single season.
I mean, Ive been in the situation, faced really good pitchers here in the National League over the years; Kershaw, (Jacob) deGrom, those guys. You just know youve got to come out there, youre going to be throwing up zeros. And youve got to try to match the intensity from your opponent, Scherzer said.
And Coles had a terrific year. So obviously its going to one heck of a challenge.
Cole led the majors in strikeouts, topped the AL in ERA and finished second in the big leagues to teammate Justin Verlander in wins.
When you dream as a little kid, you dream about storybook endings and storybook players and scenarios like that, Cole said.
In the old days of baseball like, three or four years ago this is about the time someone would step up and say, well, hes due for a loss.
Got to be, right?
NLCS MVP Howie Kendrick chuckled at that notion.
