Flyin' Hawaiian making Dodgers pay as Phils take 3-1 NLCS lead
LOS ANGELES -- In the space of four days, Philadelphia center fielder Shane Victorino:
|
|
| Shane Victorino actually began his professional career with L.A. (AP) |
• Nearly had a hole bored through his skull by a Hiroki Kuroda fastball.
• Was fined $2,500 for his verbal jousting during the ensuing bench-clearing incident (notice, the word "brawl" did not follow "bench-clearing").
• And most immediately -- for now, but check back in five minutes -- ripped a two-run, eighth-inning home run to push his Phillies into a tie and position them for Monday's 7-5 drilling of Los Angeles, pushing the Dodgers to the brink of extinction.
And the rest of Victorino's week looks like?
"Hopefully it calms down for him," Phillies reliever Ryan Madson was saying. "And hopefully he goes out and continues doing what he's doing."
"I hope he keeps it going," outfielder Jayson Werth chimed in. "He's been a key contributor down the stretch. He plays with a lot of emotion, a lot of fire. Whether he's hitting second or sixth, we all expect him to do big things."
"I don't predict anymore," shortstop Jimmy Rollins quipped. "I left that behind in 2007."
Who could predict, anyway? Life is happening for Victorino at about the same speed he runs. And he was a state champion in the 100, 200 and 400 meters as a high school senior.
They don't call him the Flyin' Hawaiian for nothin'.
The Phillies were about to see their carefully constructed two-game NLCS lead ripped apart here on a warm Monday evening. Following Sunday's Game 3 muscle-flexing staredown, the Dodgers suddenly were five outs from evening this series in Game 4. They led 5-3 with one out in the eighth and reliever Cory Wade on the mound.
Up stepped Victorino with Ryan Howard on first. In came a sloppy, delightful 72-mph curve, first pitch.
Thwack!
Victorino sent the ball sailing deep into the night, over the fence and into Philadelphia's dreams.
"It was like, 'OK, worst-case scenario, we're going to extra innings,' " Rollins said.
Rollins' worst-case scenario was conveniently lifted three batters later by pinch-hitter Matt Stairs, who tore into a Jonathan Broxton fastball like a kid tearing open a Christmas present. The ball was last seen heading for Pasadena, a two-run homer that ripped out the Dodgers' heart and sealed the 7-5 victory.
Victorino joked about his short-lived hero status, what with Stairs usurping him. But on this night, in this game, there was room enough for two heroes.
Especially given Victorino's wild postseason ride, which also includes a grand slam in Game 2 of the Division Series against Milwaukee.
But it's here in Los Angeles, hard on the Hollywood border, that the legend of Victorino is really taking off. He became Public Enemy No. 1 when he dared to jaw back at Kuroda on Sunday after the Dodgers right-hander fired a fastball near his head.
And for two consecutive nights, 56,800 in Dodger Stadium didn't need scouting reports on whom to boo. There's something inherently comical about a guy getting booed who has been the subject for two years running of Hawaiian-themed bobblehead doll giveaways back home in Philadelphia.
Last year's doll had Victorino wearing a grass skirt and lei and holding a ukelele. This year's model had him flying through the air over a baseball, complete with a cape.
You can only imagine what these Dodgers fans might do with those right about now.
"Yeah, throw them off the top of the ravine," Rollins said. "You know what's funny, though. I was thinking of a story Willie Mays was telling about when they kept booing him."
The story came when Mays, Rollins, Hank Aaron and others got together recently for a taping of the HBO program Costas Now, which is running this month.
"They were booing him, and finally the public address announcer took the microphone and said, 'Please stop booing Willie. He's killing us,'" Rollins said.
Maybe it wasn't Victorino who killed the Dodgers in Game 4, but he certainly was an accomplice, and his fingerprints were found at the scene.
"Honestly, the booing does help you concentrate," Rollins said. "He hit that first home run, and that's the first thing that went through my mind."
Said Victorino: "You know what, it is what it is. Obviously, there's a reason why they're booing because of last night. I've turned the page. Everybody made their statement. The point was made. Play the game the way it's supposed to be played. That's what it's about."
A secret? Victorino actually broke into professional ball in the Los Angeles Dodgers' system. Yeah, well, now might not be the best time to bring that up, but it's true. He spurned an offer from the University of Hawaii to play football so he could sign with the Dodgers after they picked him in the sixth round of the 1999 draft.
In fact, two of Philadelphia's three outfielders were in the Dodgers' system back then -- Victorino and Werth. The Dodgers left Victorino unprotected and San Diego snatched him in the 2002 Rule V draft (then the Phillies took him from San Diego in the 2004 Rule V draft). They let Werth go as a free agent before the '06 season.
"He talks a lot," Werth said. "He always has a lot to say. Shane's great. I've known Shane a long time."
"He talks too much," first baseman Howard said, smiling. "He's very, very full of energy. He's like a little sparkplug. He's wiry, and he's fiery."
He has so much to say that another facet of Victorino's fall is that he's writing his own postseason blog for MLB.com. Although, he doesn't always have too much to say, it seems (from the blog, on the Game 4 altercation: "I don't really want to talk much about what happened in the third inning with the Dodgers.")
So, guess it'll be left to us professionals to tell you what's really going on. And the great thing is, with Victorino, who won the Triple-A International League MVP award in 2005 before landing on the Phillies roster for good in 2006, it's something different every day.
And from the looks of it, the fun won't stop anytime soon. The Phillies are one victory away from landing in their first World Series since 1993, and Victorino is in the center of all of it.
Yeah, and the rest of his week looks like ...?
"One game at a time," the Flyin' Hawaiian said. "That's it. That's where we're at right now. It's all about working hard, and getting ready to go Wednesday."
