Taking advantage of autumn opportunities
Murphy, Escobar just the latest to emerge in playoffs.
Daniel Murphy sent yet another shot soaring over the wall and thrust his right arm in the air — he was in the record book, his Mets were headed to the World Series.
Alcides Escobar made his mark with a single, double, triple and bunt. That made him the first player to lead off four straight games in a postseason series with a hit, and he wound up as MVP of the ALCS.
For both, a charmed October.
Far from superstars or the highest-paid guys on their teams, Murphy and Escobar became the latest surprise sensations on baseball’s biggest stages.
Murphy might be having the best month of them all. After hitting a career-best 14 homers in the regular season, the free agent-to-be connected seven times in nine playoff games. He hit four long balls, went 9 for 17 and drove in six runs in New York’s four-game sweep of the Cubs to earn the NLCS MVP.
“He’s incredible,” Mets first baseman Lucas Duda said after Game 4. “He’s on a different planet right now.”
Escobar got off to a fast start, too. A lifetime .262 hitter in eight seasons, the Royals shortstop quickly turned into the No. 1 pest for the Blue Jays.
He finished 11 for 23 (.478) in the six-game ALCS, scoring six runs and driving in five. Escobar leads all players with 17 hits this postseason, one more than Murphy.
Escobar has also played sparkling defense, including his much-replayed, run-saving, diving grab of Russell Martin’s liner in Game 2 against Toronto.
“When the pressure seems to get a little bit or mount a little bit is when he plays his best baseball, where he really focuses on getting the job done,” Royals manager Ned Yost said this week.
The newest Mr. Octobers have plenty of company. Here’s a look back at some of the surprise stars of previous postseasons:
David Freese, Cardinals, 2011: Raised in the St. Louis area, he had played just 184 games in the regular season when he emerged as just the sixth player to win MVP of the LCS and World Series. Freese really put his stamp on the postseason in the Fall Classic, especially Game 6. One of the most exciting games in baseball history, Freese had a tying triple with two outs in the bottom of the ninth and a walkoff homer in the 11th.
Cody Ross, Giants, 2010: He went from unwanted man in August to MVP of the NLCS with an impressive power display against the Phillies’ Big Three of Roy Halladay, Roy Oswalt and Cole Hamels. He homered twice against Halladay and once off Oswalt.
David Ortiz, Red Sox, 2004: Before he was the beloved Big Papi, Ortiz spent six middling seasons with the Minnesota Twins before moving to Boston in ’03. A year later he had his first 30-homer season. But it wasn’t until he led the Red Sox to the majors’ only comeback from an 0-3 deficit in a best-of-seven series — with three homers and 11 RBIs vs. the rival Yankees — that he really broke out.