Thursday, October 08, 2015

Kiké Hernandez, Top Banana

Nice profile on Kike Hernandez over at ESPN, though you've gotta love any story that has a lede: "On Enrique "Kiké" Hernandez’s official website, his biography states, 'He might be best known for creating the Rally Banana, but his contributions on the field have been immense.'"

Hernandez’s rise coincided with Joc Pederson’s second-half downward spiral, and Hernandez was ready for the opportunity. For the season, he batted .307 with an .836 OPS while playing every position other than pitcher, catcher and first base.

Whether the Dodgers go with Hernandez or Pederson in any particular game against the Mets, they will have rookies at two of their most important defensive positions, center field and shortstop. Corey Seager won the starting shortstop job from veteran Jimmy Rollins a couple of weeks ago.

As well as Hernandez played, the defining moment of his season might have come when he wasn’t even on the active roster. Still recovering from a strained hamstring, he sheepishly appeared in the Dodgers’ dugout wearing his banana suit during a 14-inning game against the San Francisco Giants that started on Aug. 31. The Dodgers rallied to win that game, won the next two and rode that momentum to their third straight NL West title.

Dodgers veterans admit that Hernandez’s relentless energy and goofy hijinks might be viewed differently if they didn’t seem to be genuine. Like Juan Uribe before him, Hernandez tends to break the tension in a room that is filled with well-paid players who took superstar paths to the major leagues.

“It’s all right,” said Dodgers reliever J.P. Howell. “It does lighten it up. As soon as you find him annoying, you find yourself laughing. That’s how it works with him.”

Hernandez, the modern-day Uribe equivalent. Wow.

2 comments:

Fred's Brim said...

Loving the old school Saxy posting prowess. Did you take a blogging viagra?

Steve Sax said...

Ha! I'm trying to channel my nervousness into something productive

...that isn't work