Return to Williamsport is Kingery’s rookie dream
PHILADELPHIA » Scott Kingery first arrived in Williamsport in 2006, a shortstop for the Ahwatukee Little League of Arizona. Even then, he was taking his baseball experiences one at a time.
“The first time we got off the bus and stood on top of the hill,” Kingery recalled, “I could see the field and where we would be playing. That’s what hit me then, and it was pretty crazy. I’m sure that will be what hits me again.”
The 12 years since that Little League World Series have gone fast. That includes this baseball season, Kingery’s first in the major leagues, one that will swing the Phillies to Williamsport Sunday for a regularseason game against the New York Mets. It’s almost over, the swirl that carried him through a legendary Grapefruit League season, into a sixyear, $24 million contract, and then into the Phillies’ surprising summer of championship contention. Soon enough, as he has come to do with that memorable Little League season of 2006, he will try to apply the proper context.
“A learning experience,” Kingery allowed. “And for me to be able to go through this as a rookie and play so many different positions and have so many different things happen, I think it’s good. I was able to kind of just get my feet in the door and be able to learn from my mistakes and what I’ve done wrong and find a way to correct them.”
He was developed as a second baseman, surfacing as a showpiece for the Phillies’ improving minor-league system. But when he forced his way onto the major-league roster with his production in Clearwater, he’d find that second was occupied by Cesar Hernandez, and that the veteran would jump out to a strong start and provide the Phillies with reliable defense, hitting and baserunning. So, Kingery waited. He played some outfield. He played some short. He dabbled at third. Eventually, when J.P. Crawford was injured, Kingery became the every-day shortstop. Defensively at least, he’s been a good one. But he never did hit, dragging a .226 average to work Friday night, with six home runs. And for that, he was replaced in the regular lineup by trade-deadline rent-a-hitter Asdrubal Cabrera.
“I have said it from the beginning,” Kingery said. “Whatever I can do to help the team, I am happy to do.”
By this week, and in a potentially season-defining homestand, that versatility was stretched from the practical to the absurd. In a game against the Red Sox, a 2-1 loss, Kingery was asked to pinch-run in the ninth, stole a base and put the Phils in position to win. Thursday, he played short in the second game of a doubleheader, hitting a home run. That game had added meaning, for in the opener, which the Phillies had lost by 20 runs, Kingery had been asked to pitch an inningplus, just to save the bullpen.
“I was joking with him,” Rhys Hoskins said. “I told him I wished we knew all we needed to do was put him on the mound for him to hit a homer.”
The Little League experience, indeed.
“I never thought I would actually pitch but we needed some arms to try to save the bullpen so I was happy to do it,” Kingery said. “Pinch-running, coming off the bench, whatever I have to do to help the team out, I will.”
He’s 24, not dramatically young. But if his season was destined to evolve into a dress rehearsal for something more, then at least it happened while the Phillies could use a versatile, willing bonus boost. That, Kingery provided with impressive defense, sneaky speed and the ability to matter just about any place on the field.
“I certainly think this has been an incredible development year for Scott Kingery,” manager Gabe Kapler said. “He’s made some strides on a number of different levels, at shortstop, at third base, in the outfield, on the bases, in huge pinch-running situations where he had to steal a big base.
“Now, he’s a ‘pitcher’, right?” the manager continued, smiling. “He’s got all sorts of real-time game experience in a pennant race. I don’t think you can duplicate this kind of experience for a young player.”
The Phillies expected, and paid, for more from Kingery this season. But when they had a late-season opportunity to run him back to the minors for a few weeks, they chose to keep him and demote Crawford, using him almost as they would have a Rule 5 player.
“To have confidence in me the way they do it is very helpful to me and it means a lot that I am still here and getting chances,” Kingery said. “And I just want to go out every day and find a way to contribute. For them to stick with me, that’s awesome. And I couldn’t be happier in any role they put me in.”
He is just content to be around, the way he was in 2006 at the Little League World Series. In that, he is still looking over a hill at the possibilities.
“I haven’t been back to Williamsport since then, so for me it is going to be cool to get back there and bring back some memories,” Kingery said. “Once I get to Williamsport, it is going to hit me that this is ‘me’, that I was here in 2006. So it has been pretty crazy.”
For a rookie shortstop and outfielder, a pinch-runner and a pitcher, it has been one more crazy baseball growth experience to look back at and appreciate.
Contact Jack McCaffery @jmccaffery@21st-centurymedia. com; follow him on Twitter @JackMcCaffery