Puig has the whole place just rocking
His name has become a song, a deepthroated anthem lasting only three seconds yet big enough to engulf a city enraptured by its lyric. “Puiiiiig” ... “Puiiiiig.” The joyful bellowing has rippled through Chavez Ravine since Yasiel Puig joined the Dodgers in 2013, but never like this, never this loud, never this emotional, never this hungry.
Two games into a National League division series, with the Dodgers looking strong enough to wind up in a World Series, 50,000 fans at Dodger Stadium are begging Puig to carry them there, and he is pleading for them to climb aboard.
You can hear it now, can’t you? You were chanting it even in your living room, weren’t you?
“Puiiiiig” ... “Puiiiiig.”
One night after stealing the show in a Game 1 victory by wagging his tongue, Puig thrilled the house again Saturday by wagging his bat, flexing his arms, screaming for more. In the Dodgers’ 8-5 win over the Arizona Diamondbacks, Puig knocked in a run with a grounder, kept alive a scoring inning with a single, knocked in another run with another single, then added an infield single that eventually led to yet another run.
Before and after each of his at-bats, the air was swallowed by the song, and each time he danced to it, throwing his hands in the air, pumping his fists, pointing at his teammates, slapping his thighs. “Puiiiiig” ... “Puiiiiig.’’ He ended one inning when he was caught straying off first base and thrown attempting to steal. The fans sang anyway. Soon thereafter he made a routine catch in right field, and the song flowed again.
The tune was repeated so much, at one point, the fans actually tweaked it, inserting his name into a traditional chant meant for the entire team, substituting his name for “Dodgers.”
“Let’s Go Puig” … “Let’s Go Puig.”
This may be Clayton Kershaw’s and Justin Turner’s team, but so far in this postseason, this is Yasiel Puig’s moment, the oncepolarizing figure locked in on his game and smothered in love. On Saturday, he went three for four, and in this series he is five for nine with four RBIs.
Plus, of course, he is one for one when licking his bat, and the only player in recent memory to celebrate a triple by wagging his tongue.
It is appropriate that Puig’s effort and excitement have pushed the Dodgers to the brink of winning the best-of-five series — it seems unlikely Arizona can beat them three times in a row — because his triumph is an organizational triumph.
He caused so many problems in his first few years, the front office would not have been blamed for trading him. Sometimes they banked on his potential, other times they just figured they could never get appropriate value.
When they could finally take his act no more last season, he was actually sent to the minor leagues for a spell. That helped inspire him to an unexpected rebound 2017 season in which he improved the professionalism of his plate appearances while playing well enough in right field to win a Gold Glove.
But, Puig being Puig, he still couldn’t stay out of trouble. Late this season, manager Dave Roberts showed more tough love by benching him for two games, once for a reckless and failed game-ending steal attempt, and then again when he was late for batting practice.
Once again, Puig, 26 and his career at a crossroads, has responded in the best manner possible, and now his act could be headed for late October. “Puiiiiig” … “Puiiiiig.” The song started Saturday night in the second inning, with the Dodgers trailing 2-0 after a firstinning homer by Paul Goldschmidt against struggling starter Rich Hill. The bellowing began when Puig stepped to the plate with runners on first and second and one out. He ran the count to 3 and 0 in a sequence that included a wild pitch that moved the runners to second and third. He then grounded to third baseman Jake Lamb to drive in a run.
Puig came to the plate with two runners on base in the fourth, more singing, and this time he drove a two-strike fastball into center field for a single to load the bases. Standing on first, he turned into a wildly gesturing cheerleader. Soon thereafter, the Dodgers scored on a Robbie Ray wild pitch and a Chris Taylor infield single.
In the fifth, the song was deafening, and Puig turned it up a notch with a runscoring single. He actually clapped twice at it before sprinting out of the batters box, the knock giving the Dodgers a 7-2 lead.
Earlier in this series, when asked about his prodigal star, Roberts said, “Sometimes you shake your head … sometimes you smile.”
On Saturday night, immersed in their new autumn anthem, a city was doing both.