World Series: Yankees' Anthony Volpe has the night of his life with grand slam, spark in 8th inning
Yankees' Anthony Volpe reacts as he rounds the bases on his grand slam against the Los Angeles Dodgers during the third inning in Game 4 of the baseball World Series at Yankee Stadium on Tuesday, Oct. 29, 2024. Credit: Kathleen Malone-Van Dyke
Just when you thought the Yankees doing the impossible was some kind of Bronx fairy tale, along comes the real thing: the New Jersey kid who grew up in pinstripe pajamas, idolized Derek Jeter and attended the last World Series parade as an 8-year-old becomes their October savior.
Anthony Volpe’s story reads like a Hollywood script, and that was bad news for the team from L.A. in Tuesday night’s Game 3. The final score looks like a blowout, with the Yankees rolling to an 11-4 do-or-die victory that had the sellout crowd of 49,354 throwing a belated welcome back (from the dead) party at the Stadium. But it was Volpe who energized a very nervous building with the night’s biggest swing, and one of personal redemption, as well.
Talk about touching all the bases. Long before the Yankees turned the ninth into a breathe-easy victory lap, the mighty-mite Volpe supplied their first lead — and one they never relinquished — with a third-inning grand slam that finally woke up the Bronx echoes that were eerily silent in Monday’s deflating defeat.
With two outs, Volpe jumped on a first-pitch slider from Dodgers reliever Dan Hudson and sent a line drive screaming into the leftfield bleachers. In a blink, Volpe had flipped the Yankees’ fretful 2-1 deficit to a 5-2 advantage. Not only did the second-year shortstop erase his own miserable start (1-for-12, 7 Ks) to this Fall Classic, but Volpe got everyone in the place on their feet, changing everything with that one swing.
“It's like you finally got to see the top blow off Yankee Stadium in a World Series game,” manager Aaron Boone said. “When Anthony hits that ball, it was fun to see Yankee Stadium erupt. It's like they've been waiting for 48 hours to do that.”
Volpe has dreamed of that moment his entire life. Just about all 22 years of his charmed Yankees’ upbringing. Circling the bases, he probably couldn’t feel his feet touch the ground.
“I think I pretty much blacked out as soon as I saw it go over the fence,” Volpe said later.
He had plenty of company. Fans above Monument Park sprayed various beverages into the sky. The dugout could barely contain his teammates. The Yankees entered Tuesday as the 24th team to face an 0-3 deficit in the World Series. None had emerged with a championship, and only three had made it as far as a Game 5. Volpe’s blast, only the15th grand slam in Yankees’ playoff history, suddenly gave the Bronx reason to believe.
“The place was shaking, I felt the ground literally shaking,” said catcher Austin Wells, who Volpe refers to as a brother. “These fans, they expect wins. And when you have a big home run like that to kind of spark the team like Volpe did, he got some well-deserved praise there. So that was awesome.”
It was only the beginning of the Volpe lovefest, too, after a very different start to his night. Early on, with the Stadium still thick with tension after Freddie Freeman’s two-run homer in the first inning — the second time he’s done that in as many games — Volpe made a huge baserunning blunder by failing to score from second on Wells’ 406-foot double to center.
Back when runs were scarce for the Yankees, Volpe hesitated to stray too far from the bag as he watched the flight of Wells’ rocket, and could only advance to third when the ball kicked off the base of the wall. The Stadium let out a collective groan, and Volpe, stuck at third, punched his leg in anger.
“That’s completely on me,” Volpe said. “It’s not a hard read. One we practice, one that Little Leaguers make. I was frustrated with myself because I feel like I’ve got to do better.”
Because of who Volpe is, the still-budding star the Yankees believe him to be, the “better” didn’t take very long. The next pitch Volpe saw wound up over the leftfield wall. But the dream didn’t end there.
When the Yankees pulled away in the eighth inning, tacking on five more runs, Volpe provided the spark — after an experience that was too incredible to even fit in young Anthony’s childhood dreams. When he stepped to the plate in that eighth, the crowd began chanting “Vol-pe! Vol-pe!” and he answered by smacking a double. Volpe later bolted home from third on Alex Verdugo’s grounder to second, sliding head-first to beat the throw, despite the drawn-in infield. All heart and hustle.
“The jump he got to make that not really close is pretty impressive,” Boone said.
By then, Volpe was flying, anyway, his emotions redlining. Another defensive gem in the ninth spurred the crowd to chant his name again, and when asked where that moment ranked on his all-time list, Volpe smiled.
“Definitely No. 1,” he said.
That list is growing, however. Afterward, Jeter was waiting to interview him on the Fox set. David Ortiz, the notorious Yankee-killer, handed him a T-shirt (“I can’t wear it, it’s got Red Sox stuff on it,” Volpe said). Oh, and did we mention the Jeter thing?
“It is pretty crazy to think about,” Volpe said. “It's my dream, but it was all my friends' dreams, all my cousins' dreams, probably my sister's dream, too. But winning the World Series was first and foremost by far. Nothing else compares. So still got a lot of work to do.”
And now the Yankees aren’t finished. Thanks to Volpe, whose reality keeps outgrowing those dreams.
David Lennon is an award-winning columnist, a voter for baseball's Hall of Fame and has covered six no-hitters, including two perfect games.
