New to the Shane Victorino Experience?
Just watch the video of him rounding first last night, and you'll have no further questions.
Carlton Fisk will always represent the franchise standard bearer for home run celebrations, but there's a new No. 2.
As great as Dave Henderson's hop, skip, and half pirouette were against the Angels in 1986, they don't top the explosion of sheer joy that burst from Victorino last night when his grand slam cleared the left field wall in the seventh inning of Game 6 of the American League Championship Series.
One second, the Red Sox trailed 2-1 with the prospect of facing Justin Verlander in Game 7. The next Victorino was pumping his fist, pounding the words “Red Sox” on his chest, and letting out a scream they could hear in his native Hawaii.
“I wanted to run around with him,” said on-deck hitter Dustin Pedroia. “I was so excited.”
The most volatile, emotional – and at the end of the day, as it turned out, dependable – player on the Red Sox had just summed up his entire existence as a baseball player in one frenetic, electric display of triumph.
We're going to be seeing a lot of that video between now and the start of the World Series against the Cardinals on Wednesday, but it's going to be even longer before the mere thought of it doesn't induce chills.
The Red Sox are going to the World Series, and that swing put them there.
“We were waiting to explode in the dugout,” said outfielder Daniel Nava. “Gosh, I can watch his reaction time and time again. I'll watch it 'til the day I die.”
That the big hit would come from Victorino should surprise no one. He made a career of such moments with the Phillies, whether it's the grand slam that beat CC Sabathia and the Brewers in Game 2 of the 2008 NLDS, or the even bigger two-run homer he launched in the eighth against the
Dodgers to tie Game 4 of the NLCS two weeks later.
Victorino entered last night's at-bat against right-hander Jose Veras in a 2-for-23 slump. It clearly ate at him. He seemed despondent at times, buoyed only by the fact the Red Sox were winning.
The Tigers had dominated him all postseason with offspeed pitches, and Veras followed the script. He dropped a curve for strike one and was ahead 0-2 when he tried to get Victorino to chase a 77 mph bender.
It was supposed to be in the dirt, but it instead found sky. Fenway exploded as ball met bat, and that initial surge of hope gave way to utter delirium when it struck the aisle between the second row of Monster seats.
And then came the celebration we won't soon forget.
“I was definitely excited running around the bases, the pounding on my chest,” Victorino said. “I hope (the Tigers) understand it was a special moment for me, for the city. And, no disrespect. The guys we played across the way, the Tigers, I respect those guys like no other.”
It was the perfect conclusion to a series that saw the Red Sox consistently deliver the hit that always seemed to elude the Tigers, be it David Ortiz's Game 2 grand slam, Mike Napoli's Game 3 game-winner, or of course, Victorino's blast.
Even better, it played right into the narrative of redemption that we've woven around this team since spring training. It's easy to forget now, but in Fort Myers, Victorino had a hard time getting the ball out of the infield. He looked washed up and plenty of pundits said as much.
“Hey, it's not the first time my back was against the wall or people doubted me,” Victorino said. “And I say that in a positive way that I've always been that kind of guy. It's my drive.”
When Victorino looks in the mirror this morning, he'll like what he sees. The rest of us can be content to watch and rewatch that exuberant gallop around the bases, because it just took a permanent place in Red Sox history.
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