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Vina Ignites The Cards With Some Unexpected Power At The Plate
By Bernie Miklasz of the Post-Dispatch
October 8, 2000
ATLANTA - As the Cardinals frolicked in their clubhouse after Game 3, one of the team's owners, Drew Baur, gleefully praised the virtues of second baseman Fernando Vina.
"All we needed was that little fire hydrant to get us going," Baur said. "He's a fire hydrant. You can hit him but you won't knock him down, ever."
In this instance, Vina was a fire starter.
Vina turned on the game's second pitch, an inside fastball from Kevin Millwood, and cranked a solo home run to the seats in right field. The leadoff homer gave the Cardinals a quick 1-0 lead and kept the Braves from generating momentum. The blow subdued the Atlanta fans. It inspired Cardinals fans to twist and shout.
A fire hydrant, igniting a fire? As unusual as Vina hitting a home run. Vina smacked only four homers during the regular season, and one was an inside-the-park job.
"Home runs, that's not my game," Vina said. "My game is to hit line drives, get on base anyway I can, and cause havoc."
Vina caused the Braves to go home early. His home run was the start. His two-out, two-run single in the seventh was the finish in the Cardinals' emphatic 7-1 victory.
In the three-game sweep, Vina batted .308 (four of 13) and had an on-base percentage of .400. He scored three runs and drove in three. He started each game with a hit: a single in Game 1, a single in Game 2, a homer in Game 3.
"Vina set the table the whole series," first baseman Will Clark said.
The first-inning homer was simply stunning because it was propelled by an unexpected power source.
"I was so fired up today," Vina said. "The first at-bat, a lot of guys were telling me to start it off, get it going for us like you've been doing it. The guys always tell me, 'How you go, we go.' And that's the way I try to do it. I try to get on base for them. We've got a great lineup. If I get on base, things are going to happen.
"Today, I wasn't thinking about hitting a home run. But I got an inside pitch to hit. I could have easily fouled it off, but I stayed back on it, and thank God it stayed fair. I got things rolling for our club."
Vina raced around the bases, and risked a concussion when he entered the dugout. Teammates pounded him on the helmet.
"Everybody was so pumped up," Vina said. "I thought I was pumped, but the whole team was so jacked. Guys were going crazy."
Before joining the Cardinals in an offseason trade, Vina spent five seasons with the Milwaukee Brewers. In Milwaukee, it's football season. Baseball playoffs aren't in the October plans. But Vina's postseason debut is off to a rocking start.
"This is a dream come true for me," Vina said. "I've been waiting for this opportunity a long time, and when you finally get the chance to compete in the postseason, you can't let it get away."
St. Louis Post-Dispatch
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