PHOENIX –– Kiké Hernández has been to the MLB postseason 10 times, played in 103 playoff games and taken part in five World Series.
But what he experienced last week, while cheering on Team Puerto Rico from the dugout during two group stage games on his native island in the World Baseball Classic, might have rivaled anything he’s ever felt in his baseball career.
“Getting the W and having a stadium of 18,000 people singing a pretty significant song for our island all together, it’s a moment that I’ll never forget,” he said. “I’m still bummed that I don’t get to be a part of it, but I still support my people. I’m still hoping that they can win.”
Hernández is not participating in this year’s WBC, of course, as he continues to recover from an offseason elbow surgery that will sideline him for the first couple months of the season.
However, he got permission from the Dodgers to leave spring training last week to join Team Puerto Rico for the first two group stage games it hosted at Hiram Bithorn Stadium in the island’s capital of San Juan.
That meant, when Darell Hernáiz hit his epic walk-off home run in Puerto Rico’s extra-inning, come-from-behind win over Panama last Saturday, Hernández was there in the home plate celebration, pouring out of the dugout alongside his Puerto Rican teammates (including new Dodgers closer Edwin Díaz) in what instantly became one of the defining moments of WBC history.
“It’s not a walk-off homer in the World Series or anything like that,” he said. “But it’s still up there as one of those really cool moments that I’ll always remember.”
Afterward, Hernández also made headlines with postgame comments that went viral on social media, when he said in Spanish: “I’ve played in five World Series, and I don’t know if it’s because of what’s across my chest, but the Classic feels above that.”
On Thursday, Hernández expounded on that message, clarifying that the WBC often “feels bigger” than the World Series –– even if there is no apples-to-apples comparison for an MLB title.
“You don’t always choose who you play for (in MLB). Sometimes that’s not in your control,” he said. “But when you’re representing your country and playing along with your homies, sometimes you’re playing along with people that you grew up with. People back home are rooting for you.
“For us, coming from a little island, the things we can do for our island while the tournament is going on, it becomes a lot bigger than baseball, to where it not always feels that way when you’re playing for an organization in Major League Baseball.”
Hernández will rejoin Team Puerto Rico in Houston this weekend for its quarterfinal game Saturday against Team Italy –– joking that he texted Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman for permission immediately after last week’s walk-off win.
“He knows how much these games mean to me,” said Hernández, who still had his hair dyed white as part of Team Puerto Rico tradition. “It might have been an emotional text, but he was like, ‘After watching that game, it’s a pretty easy yes.’”
When asked if he would stay with Team Puerto Rico if it advances to the semifinal in Miami after that, Hernández then cracked a sly grin.
“I haven’t had that conversation yet with Andrew,” he said. “I only asked permission to go to Houston. So if we win again in Houston, he might get another text message asking if I can go along for the ride. But I haven’t decided that yet. We’re going to go one day at a time.”
Hernández’s rehab will factor into that equation. He said his progress is “starting to move along really rapidly” and that he has been able to take swings in the batting cage off a tee and against flipped balls from coaches.
Still, he wants to be there for as much of Puerto Rico’s WBC run as possible –– embracing his role as part cheerleader, part de facto coach on a team that has already surpassed expectations by reaching the knockout round despite missing most of its best MLB players because of insurance issues or injuries.
“I accepted the fact and came to peace with the fact that I couldn’t play,” he said. “Then you show up, you wear the uniform, you go out there for the anthem and you look around you can’t do it. It was really cool, but it was also really hard.
“I had to do a good job of hiding (that disappointment) and be there for the other guys that were there with less experience. It was tough being there (and not playing), but I’ll be there again in Houston, cheering them against Italy and providing whatever it is I need to provide as far as guidance or cheerleading. Whatever it is, I’ll be there. I’m all for it.”