by Mark Langill
The latest Dodger postseason hero, a golden oldie with a collection of October rings and records, wasn’t assured of being on the field at Dodger Stadium on Friday night.
It took an injury to shortstop Miguel Rojas for Kiké Hernández to add another chapter to his playoff magic. In the second inning, his solo home run off San Diego’s Yu Darvish opened the scoring in the Dodgers’ 2–0 victory in the deciding Game 5 of the National League Division Series.
It was the fourth career homer for Hernández in a postseason winner-take-all game. He is tied with the Yankees’ Aaron Judge for most all time.
“He’s one of the great postseason players of our time,” said Dodger manager Dave Roberts, who in 2017 clinched his first National League pennant at Chicago’s Wrigley Field during an 11–1 victory in Game 5 of the NL Championship Series against the Cubs. Hernández hit three home runs in that game.
Just as the 2024 Dodger pitching staff flipped the script after falling behind 2–1 in the series after a 6–5 loss in Game 3 at San Diego, eliminating the Padres with a record 21-inning scoreless streak, other heroes from clinching games emerge from the shadows and live on center stage in the hearts of Dodger fans.
Hernández entered the game with the most career postseason games (74) of any Dodger or Padre in the starting lineup.
Hernández said October can make players lose their confidence in pressure situations. He believes confidence is a choice.
“If you can find your way to feel differently about that, everything is going to change, your body language is going to change and good things — when you carry yourself with good body language, confident body language, confident energy, more times than not good things to tend to happen,” Hernández said.
Hernández joins others in Dodger lore who came up clutch in clinching games — from Johnny Podres, who blanked the Yankees, 2–0, in 1955 World Series Game 7 to Larry Sherry 1959 to more recently with Juan Uribe in 2013 and back to Hernández with his three home runs in Game 5 of the 2017 NLCS.
Hernández now has 14 career postseason home runs and nine as a Dodger. He is 25 for his last 59 in the postseason.
How does he seem to always come up big in October?
“I like Halloween,” he said.
NLDS: Kiké Hernández plays his familiar October hero role was originally published in Dodger Insider on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.