By Michael Smith, Boston Globe Staff, 4/14/2002
Humility is to blame for Shea Hillenbrand making this misleading statement yesterday: ''Still, right now, to tell you the truth, I don't know how it happened.''
Sounds like an accident. Sounds like luck. It was neither. A 26-year-old two seasons removed from Double A blasting the winning two-run homer off the game's most intimidating closer was not merely a chance occurrence. If luck was involved at all, it was only in that Hillenbrand's preparation met opportunity.
The latter presented itself yesterday in the bottom of the eighth inning of another classic involving the Red Sox and Yankees at Fenway Park. There were two outs, New York led, 6-5, and Manny Ramirez stood at second base when Hillenbrand approached the plate, but in a different state than he would have at any point during his rookie season. ''Last year, I would have been in awe of the situation - in Fenway, with the crowd, with everything,'' he said. And that's assuming he would not have been pinch hit for, and that his at-bat would have lasted longer than a pitch or two.
Now the manager has complete confidence in Hillenbrand, who has grown patient enough to work a count to 2-2 as he did yesterday against Mariano Rivera before homering. And, for that moment, The Force was with him. ''I felt unusually comfortable,'' he said. ''I felt an aura over me.''
Hillenbrand had imagined hitting a game-winner many a night as he lay in bed, and not just in a backyard-playing-Wiffle ball kind of way. At the end of each day, he visualizes a successful swing 50 to 100 times. Every day (that's every day), after he ''fuels the machine'' and spends a little quality time with his wife and dogs, he comes to the ballpark early for mental and physical training with hitting coach Dwight Evans. Then he lifts weights. Then he puts in time with infield instructor Luis Aguayo (which paid off in the form of a diving stop of Nick Johnson's grounder to end the fourth). Then he takes batting practice. He has frequent conversations with sports psychologist Doug Gardner.
So serious is Hillenbrand about conditioning that he squeezed in a workout during the 20 minutes or so between the end of Boston's 7-6 win and his news conference. Then he returned to the weight room to stretch. The Sox have optional batting practice tomorrow before the 11:05 a.m. series finale with New York. Count on Hillenbrand being a participant.
Luck? If luck was involved at all, it was only in that Rivera was unlucky Hillenbrand redirected his fastball toward left field and deposited it in the screen.
''I was glad I was in that state of mind,'' Hillenbrand said of his late-game nirvana, ''because you've got to go up to the plate against someone like him not expecting to succeed, but trying to give yourself a chance to do something.''
He was reciting a lesson he received from former teammate Dante Bichette. Hillenbrand studies anyone and everyone. Pedro Martinez taught him to learn from those who are below his playing level, on his level, on a higher level, and why they're there. He feels privileged to have ''resources'' such as Ramirez, Nomar Garciaparra, Rickey Henderson, and Rey Sanchez, which he regularly taps.
Evans, Obi-Wan to Hillenbrand's Luke Skywalker, lauded his pupil's dedication. ''He's willing to work hard - physically and mentally,'' Evans said. ''One thing he's done is he's allowed me to get inside of his head a little bit. The greatest thing for a coach is to help a hitter help himself. What I mean by that is, if I can teach him to where he doesn't need me - other than just visual things, `Shea, you're doing this, you're doing that' - that's the ultimate.
''There's no telling what this kid can do. He's good. He's good, and he's getting better.''
We thought the same thing last year when Hillenbrand had two nine-game hitting streaks in April before struggling through the rest of the season. But there is something more encouraging about his current nine-game hitting streak, .400 average, and four home runs.
''I'm a little more confident the second go-around,'' Hillenbrand said. ''Last year I was out there doing it, and didn't know what was going on. A lot of people are probably saying, `He had a hot April last year.' Last year I didn't know what I was doing. This year I do.''