Puig has starred in one-man show

Dodgers’ patience pays off as exuberant outfielder enjoys prominent role

LOS ANGELES — The red flight of a television camera beckoned, and so Yasiel Puig obliged. He unclenched his jaws and unfurled the hardest-working muscle on the 2017 Dodgers. As the team celebrated bouncing the Chicago Cubs out of the National League Championship Series last week, Puig wagged his tongue for the viewers in Los Angeles before issuing a proclamation. “Four more,” Puig said. “Four more.” He meant victories, the number necessary to secure the Dodgers’ first World Series championship since 1988. Along the way, there assuredly will be more than four shots of Puig flashing his tongue.

Conceived in a moment of exuberance after a firstround triple, it has become a signature gesture of this postseason. The television broadcasts showed Puig wagging his tongue in the dugout ad nauseam. After a triple in the NLCS, straight-laced Chris Taylor lolled his tongue. On the mound at Wrigley Field after Game 5, the Dodgers gathered for a team picture with their tongues out.

Puig has starred in a one-man reality show during the playoffs. He licked his bat before walks. He flipped it after singles. He chopped his crotch after doubles. At one point during the final rout of the Cubs, the camera spent two minutes fixed on Puig attempting to smooch hitting coach Turner Ward in the dugout. Game 1 Tonight, 8 TV: Chs. 45, 5 INSIDE An in-depth look at the matchup