Eddie Rosario

Eddie Rosario’s three-run homer off Walker Buehler in the Braves’ clinching NLCS victory over the Dodgers was one of the greatest at-bats I’ve had the pleasure to witness. It reminded me of a classic home run by David Ortiz, the details of which I can’t recall, except that it was in an even more dramatic, climactic point of an even more important game. Both Rosario and Ortiz had the benefit of being charismatic, personal favorites of mine, and both, of course, were famously former members of the Minnesota Twins. I understood why the Twins let Rosario go after he regressed in 2020 from his peak season in 2019. He was maddeningly erratic in his performance: while he was often the Twins’ best clutch player, steadiness was not one of his virtues, and he would go from throwing out a baserunner to throwing to the wrong base. And he was a streaky hitter with little regard for the strike zone when he swung. Furthermore, the Twins had three young outfielders in the minors, at least one of whom could replace Rosario at a much lower salary. (While the play of Kiriloff, Rooker and Larnach, when not injured, probably justified this decision, the subpar year of Max Kepler made one wish he had been jettisoned instead.)
Nevertheless, I enjoyed Rosario’s style of play and I was sorry that he showed little in the first half of 2021 when he played for the Indians, except to the extent I rooted against Cleveland as a Twins division rival. I hadn’t focused much on Rosario’s time with the Atlanta Braves until the playoffs began and he started getting game-winning hits. By the time he faced Buehler in the 4th inning of Game 6 Rosario had established himself as the hitting star of the NLCS. His hits had been timely and plentiful: with two 4-hit games he set a record, and with 13 hits he was one short of the single-series playoff record, which had been reached only in full seven-game series. The setting, albeit in only the 4th inning, was packed with early drama. The game was tied 1-1; runs had been in short supply all series; and both sides could believe that an early lead would be decisive.
The rally started with two outs. Buehler, the Dodger ace pitching on three-days’ rest, had light-hitting catcher Travis D’Arnaud 1-and-2. A strikeout for out three seemed to be in the cards. But D’Arnaud worked a walk, bringing up the pitcher’s spot. To the amazement of the TV announcers, manager Brian Snitker sent up a pinch-hitter for Braves pitcher Ian Anderson, one of their best pitchers who had been effective over three innings. The pinch-hitter was Ehire Adrianza, another former Twin. Not only was Snitker taking out one of his best pitchers, he was using his primary reserve–in only the 4th inning! With a slow runner on first and two outs, it hardly seemed much of a rally or decisive moment in the game. Yet somehow,  Adrianza, who had made outs in all his previous pinch-hitting appearances in the series, fisted a broken-bat double to rightfield. It was suddenly a moment of drama for Rosario, already 1-for-2 against Buehler.
The at-bat itself was full of drama. Rosario swung and missed at the first two pitches, sinking into an 0-and-2 hole. He fouled off the next offering from Buehler. He didn’t bite on an outside pitch. Then he fouled off two more pitches, barely staying alive. But you sensed, the more pitches he saw, the better chance he would have. With each pitch, the tension racheted up a notch. On Buehler’s seventh pitch, an inside fastball, Rosario turned and drove it down the rightfield line, inside the foul pole, a half-dozen rows into the stands.
There was one moment of drama still to come, when Luke Jackson gave up a single, walk and double to the only three Dodgers he faced in the seventh and Tyler Matzek had to strike out three in a row to maintain a two-run lead, but Rosario’s home run effectively decided the game and gave the National League pennant to the Braves.