Yasiel Puig makes an immediate impact for Los Angeles Dodgers

Yasiel Puig makes an immediate impact for Los Angeles Dodgers

LOS ANGELES–It happened Friday night, with the sellout crowd at Dodger Stadium standing in anticipation, awaiting another magical moment to unfold in front of eyes that needed rubbing just to make sure it was reality they were seeing.

Yasiel Puig, the 22-year-old phenomenon that has engulfed a city of the celebrities after one full week in Los Angeles Dodger blue, waited on deck in the eighth inning of a tie game against the Atlanta Braves. The buzz in the stands grew louder as his chance to be the hero again grew closer.

With two outs and a game-tying home run two innings earlier already in the box score, Dodger fans erupted in cheers as Puig stepped into the batter’s box, the winning run on third base. This, undoubtedly, would be yet another signature moment in the Cuban rookie’s meteoric ascent into the major leagues. Puig settled in, the crowd screamed louder.

And then Atlanta manager Fredi Gonzalez held up four fingers to his catcher, and Braves reliever Jordan Walden put his triple-digit fastball in his back pocket and intentionally walked last week’s can’t-miss hitter. The crowd booed and Twitter threw a temper tantrum as hopes of seeing another fairytale swing – like the one the night before that resulted in a grand slam – were doused.

That is what this has become at Chavez Ravine, the mountaintop that has held so many of baseball’s signature moments and manias in its senior citizen of a ballpark. From Sandy Koufax curveballs to Fernando Valenzuela shutouts to Kirk Gibson fist pumps, the stadium nestled in a downtrodden neighborhood in the hills above downtown has been the stage to them all.

It now belongs to Yasiel Puig, a young Cuban refugee once held on North American shores for ransom. He is threatening to become the brightest of stars on a team full of them and in an area of the world overrun by them.

And he’s only been here since last Monday.

MORE: Puig's big week

“He’s possibly one of the greatest players who ever lived,” said Dodgers manager Don Mattingly.

Relax. Mattingly doesn’t need his head examined. He was joking in response to a question about dropping Puig from the leadoff spot to cleanup Monday when the team opened a series against the Arizona Diamondbacks. But even said jokingly, that statement tells what the Dodgers are becoming: Yasiel Puig’s team.

That honor always has been held highly with this franchise, but over recent years, it has been too often vacated. Manny Ramirez, Andre Ethier and Clayton Kershaw all have had their runs as the face of the franchise. Most recently, it has been Matt Kemp sitting on the throne – that Kershaw plays about once a week hurts his candidacy. But over the last week, while Puig has been a nonstop highlight loop, Kemp has been in Phoenix or on the bench nursing a hamstring injury and a recovering left shoulder.

That, along with the Dodgers’ last-place perch in the National League West, has left a spot on that highest of seats, and it is not lost on the clubhouse that Puig might be nudging his way onto it. On the notion of that shift in the ever unimportant “Whose team is this?” debate, one player in the clubhouse looked at the ground, chuckled, peered up slightly and shrugged.

“You know ... ” the player told Sporting News, on the condition of anonymity, as he trailed off in a “You see what’s happening, don’t you?” tone.

Yes, we do. The entire fan base does. All of baseball is baring witness.

AN IMMEDIATE IMPACT

He hit like that without watching a frame of film and without knowing one pitcher he faced in his first week. When he says he doesn’t see much difference between the Cactus League, the minors and his time with the Dodgers, it’s because Puig doesn’t know any better. It’s not that he’s arrogant. He doesn’t know if he’s facing a career minor leaguer or Greg Maddux. His ignorance is bliss with a bat.

“He says to me, ‘Why would I watch tape? I just want to play,’” teammate, friend and locker neighbor Luis Cruz said.

That is obvious when you look at Puig’s swing rates, which are more undisciplined than Josh Hamilton’s but with higher contact percentages – for now. The approach eventually could lead to slumps as pitchers recognize his penchant for swinging out of the zone and at the first pitch.

Until then, his rawness is being enjoyed here like fresh nigiri at a Japantown boutique sushi spot.

The talk radio shows in Southern California can’t get enough of Puig, and fans can’t get enough memorabilia. Team stores in Dodger Stadium were late to react to what is now known as Puig-mania, not realizing the demand when they made a limited number of “Viva Puig” t-shirts that featured the Cuban flag inside his No. 66. Those shirts, along with the simple Puig jersey t-shirts, flew off the shelves last week and now are on backorder. To replace them, the team stores now are stocking the authentic Puig jersey.

“Every night they were sold out before the game started, by 6 p.m. We didn’t expect it to be like that, but can you blame them?” a merchandising official said pointing toward the stadium seats.

CAUTIOUS PROMOTION, SCARY JOURNEY

Entering the season, Puig was one of the game’s top prospects. He signed a then-ridiculous seven-year, $42 million deal, the biggest ever for a Cuban defector, last September. And that came after the Dodgers’ scouts watched a total of three batting practice sessions without seeing Puig run, throw or field.

It also came after Puig went through some of the scariest moments of his life.

His first attempts to defect failed, which got him banned from Cuba’s national team. That suspension caused Puig to go into a slight depression, a source told Sporting News last week. After that, all Puig thought about was escaping his oppressive home island.

Another attempt last spring succeeded, but it nearly was halted by his saviours-turned-captors, according to Dodgers scout Mike Brito (via Think Blue LA). Puig believed his defection was complete, but men knowing the young player's worth on the open baseball market were not about to let him leave for the measly fee of a one-way trip to Mexico.

In other words, it became ransom.

He was held captive on that boat for about two weeks, a source told Sporting News. Eventually, a deal was worked out and Puig was allowed to step foot on Mexican soil and establish residency, allowing him to sign with a major league team.

Puig, like other Cuban defectors, refuses to discuss his ordeal. It’s understandable with his family still in Cuba. This business of holding baseball players from Cuba for money is ongoing, Brito told Think Blue LA. If Puig squeals, that monetary pipeline could be cut off. That could mean ugly consequences.

Two sources with knowledge of the situation did not know how much money was paid to get Puig off the boat, nor if the exchange of money is ongoing between Puig and his captors.