Los Angeles Dodgers outfielder Yasiel Puig stole the show in his team’s Game 3 NLCS win over the St. Louis Cardinals on Monday night. He deserved the spotlight after delivering an RBI triple to give LA a 2-0 lead in the 4th inning, but it was his reaction to the hit that set the internet on fire.
After stroking the ball to the opposite field off Cardinals pitcher Adam Wainwright, Puig flipped his bat, raised his arms in the air and began to stroll down the first base line. The rookie clearly thought he had blasted a homer, only to have to kick it into high-gear to leg out the triple after seeing the ball carom off the right field wall.
As you might expect, a number of St. Louis players were critical of Puig’s antics after the game. One of them was Carlos Beltran, who implied the pimping of the triple shows that Puig still thinks he’s playing in Cuba.
“He still thinks he’s playing somewhere else,” Beltran said, according to USA Today’s Bob Nightengale. “I don’t know.”
Puig essentially admitted that his years of playing in Cuba have led to his flare for the dramatic.
“In Cuba, you always see a lot of emotion on the field,” he said. “It’s their job to go out there and do the best they can, just like here in the big leagues. The people in Cuba are born to play baseball.”
He also expressed no regret for pimping a triple.
“I wouldn’t have scored either way, regardless of what happened on the play.”
I suppose that’s true, but he also wouldn’t have looked like a moron. Between Beltran’s comments about Puig and Wainwright’s criticism of Adrian Gonzalez celebrating his RBI double, it’s starting to sound like we officially have an emotional playoff series on our hands.
