By Ian Browne / MLB.com
April 13, 2002
BOSTON -- Before Shea Hillenbrand looked at Mariano Rivera in the bottom of the eighth inning Saturday afternoon, he needed to take a glance somewhere else. Just in case.
Hillenbrand, the Red Sox third baseman, took a peak into his dugout. It's far-fetched that manager Grady Little would have hit for Hillenbrand in that spot, considering the right-handed swinger has been Boston's hottest hitter so far this season.
But forgive Hillenbrand. It was just a second-nature reaction that he developed during his 2001 rookie season.
Give Hillenbrand a moment as heroic as what unfolded for him in Boston's wild 7-6 victory over the Yankees at Fenway Park, and he might never expect to be pinch-hit for again.
"Last year I probably would have been pinch hit for there," said Hillenbrand, who instead swatted a two-run homer that turned Boston's 6-5 deficit into a lead, and ultimately a second straight win over the Yankees.
"I didn't want to walk all the way to the plate and then have to come all the way back. I looked in there and kind of had a vote of confidence. I knew they were behind me and they gave me the chance to go up there and show what I have," he said.
In other words, there is no need for Hillenbrand or the Red Sox to put any stock in what happened last year, when he started strong and finished in a funk.
What Hillenbrand showed again -- this time with an exclamation point -- is that he is probably the most improved player on this year's Red Sox.
When Hillenbrand got confirmation that he was the hitter Little was counting on to orchestrate an almost unthinkable win, he started get an eerie feeling. Like something truly magical was about to happen.
"I felt unusually comfortable. I felt like an aura over me," Hillenbrand said. "You have to go up to the plate against someone like [Rivera] and not expect to succeed, but try and give yourself a chance to do something."
The chance came after Hillenbrand worked Rivera to a 2-2 count. Then Hillenbrand did something he might never forget -- smash a fastball from the game's best closer high over the wall and into Fenway Park's left-field screen.
A deafening roar from both the crowd of 33,756 and the Red Sox dugout erupted as Hillenbrand took perhaps the proudest home run trot of his young career.
"It was probably the most incredible feeling I've had since the day I married my wife," Hillenbrand said of his jaunt around the bases.
His exhilaration was understandable when you consider just how quickly Saturday's game was transformed.
The inning had started with David Wells cruising, and the Yankees leading 6-3. It ended with the Red Sox proving their resilience and Hillenbrand's confidence soaring perhaps even higher than his towering home run.
Hillenbrand's 3-for-4 performance pushed his average to .400 and tied his career-long hit streak at nine. He leads the Red Sox in homers (4) and RBIs (12).
When the season began, Hillenbrand was a nice complementary piece at best to a lineup that boasts stars like Nomar Garciaparra and Manny Ramirez.
Things can change so quickly though. As some of the other Boston hitters have struggled early, Hillenbrand has been a force. This is why Little hit him as high as second and third in the batting order earlier this week. Hillenbrand hit anywhere from seventh to ninth most of last season.
"His power seems to be maturing a little more," said Sox ace Pedro Martinez, who took a no decision on Saturday. "Right now he's locked in. If he stays like that the whole season and remains focused and healthy, I think he can do a lot of damage in this league."
There is nothing accidental about the 26-year-old Hillenbrand's swift rise in the batting order or in his level of play.
He spent his spring working serious overtime with hitting coach and former Sox star Dwight Evans. That work has resulted in a more patient and polished hitter.
"He's starting to get a feel for what he can do at the plate and what he can't do at the plate," said Evans. "Sometimes realizing what you can't do is more important than realizing what you can do. He doesn't want to overswing there. The pitch before [the homer] he swung too hard -- too hard for him because he's so strong. He doesn't need to do that. The next [pitch], he just reacted. That's all he needs to do."
The biggest problem for Hillenbrand last season as that he took his love for swinging the bat a little too far. As in, it was tough for him to watch anything go by. He walked an appallingly low 13 times in 468 at-bats. He only has two so far this season, but the difference is that he is waiting for his pitch and working deep into at bats.
There was no better case in point than his final at-bat against Rivera Saturday.
Hillenbrand did face the Yankees' nasty closer last season, only it seems like a blur to him now.
"Faced him four times [last year]," Hillenbrand said. "No chance."
This time, Hillenbrand gave himself a chance.
"They were pitching me inside because that's how they got me out last year," said Hillenbrand. "But I was able to re-adjust and I saw five pitches and I saw what he had and I was able to gauge it. Last year, I would have swung at the first pitch, [and the] game would have basically been over. I laid off the first pitch because it wasn't in that zone."
Hillenbrand is in that zone every hitter loves. And he hopes to stay in it for a while.