LOS ANGELES_He ran out of the dugout during introductions with his tongue wagging playfully out of his mouth. He took off his cap to reveal lightning bolts shaved into his haircut.
Then, a couple of hours later, with a bat flip and a chest thump and roars that made Dodger Stadium literally shake, the Yasiel Puig Show officially began.
Fifth inning, line drive to left field, sprint to second base, pounding chest, flailing arms, run-scoring double.
Seventh inning, fly ball over left-field fence, swagger around the bases, curtain call out of the dugout, more tongue wagging, home run.
Now that's entertainment, with Puig taking the Dodgers and their enchanted fans on a raucous, rollicking trip to a 5-2 victory over the Chicago Cubs on Saturday in Game 1 of the National League Championship Series.
"It's impacting everyone," said manager Dave Roberts afterward of Puig. "It's great when you can play with such emotion. ... He loves the big stage, and right now he's playing at a high level and not only the fans, but his teammate are feeding off of it."
The night began as a drama, with the Dodgers announcing that their star shortstop, Corey Seager, would be lost for the entirety of the seven-game series becase of a lower back strain.
It then became an adventure, as the underdog Cubs took a 2-0 lead after four innings with a two-run homer by Albert Almora Jr. against Dodgers ace Clayton Kershaw.
But, by the time the evening ended, it was a joyous musical that, based on a serenade running through Chavez Ravine these days, would be titled, "Puiiiiig!"
The Dodgers, now three wins from their first World Series appearance in 29 years, will attempt an encore Sunday night at Dodger Stadium in Game 2 of the best-of-seven series. The Dodgers led the Cubs two games to one in last year's NLCS before collapsing and losing three straight, so nothing is being taken for granted. But, after one game, they clearly appear to be the more complete team.
And, of course, there's only one Puig.
"I'm coming in here and preparing more this year than any years here with the team," said Puig. "I'm so proud of myself, and I want to keep going and do the best I can for my teammates and for myself."
Nobody epitomizes the Dodgers' current journey more than their free-spirited, 26-year-old right fielder who, since joining the team at the start of their current division-title run in 2013, has run the gamut from star to scorned and now back to star again.
He's been cheered. He's been benched. He's been idolized. He's been demoted. He's been nearly traded about a dozen times, and, as recently as a month ago, he was scolded and punished for showing up late and missing batting practice.
But Dodgers management always kept him around in hopes that one day, he would maximize his incredible potential under the brightest of lights. That time appears to now. So far, this October belongs to him.
"He's really made exponential strides," said Roberts. "He's obviously a huge part of what we're doing now, and I couldn't be prouder."
In four postseason games, Puig is batting .467 with one homer and six RBIS and big swings at all the big moments. And when he came to the plate in the fifth, it was a big moment, the Dodgers needing a response to the game's earlier dreariness. Puig's heroics were set up by consecutive walks drawn by Logan Forsythe and Austin Barnes against Cubs starter Jose Quintana. His hit closed the gap to 2-1, and set up an eventual sacrifice fly by Charlie Culberson that tied it.
Then, after Chris Taylor's homer in the sixth inning gave the Dodgers the lead, Puig sealed it with a leadoff homer in the seventh that contained his usual melodrama.
He took the first pitch from Cubs reliever Mike Montgomery while barely holding the bat, as if he wasn't taking Montgomery seriously. The pitch was a strike, and Montgomery then threw the next pitch inside, perhaps to remind Puig to pay attention.
The third pitch? Puig hit it out of the park, lofting a ball that barely dropped over the left-field fence, and, everywhere from the Dodgers' dugout to the top level, the building erupted in cheers.
"Our guys love it," said Taylor of Puig's emotion. "When he's like that, he's a better player. Obviously the Dodger fans love him and whatever he has to do to get that, that's fine. Smile, lick his bat, whatever it is. Yasiel can just keep doing what he's doing."
As for one of the Dodgers' other big stars, Kershaw pitched just five innings, allowing two runs on four hits. There may have been raised eyebrows in the stands when he was lifted for a pinch hitter in the fifth inning, but Roberts is intent on handling Kershaw different than in playoffs past. Kershaw has historically tired in later postseason innings, and, as a starter, even has a career playoff ERA of 25.50 in the seventh inning.
Roberts clearly wants to monitor Kershaw's workload this October, so once his ace had thrown 87 pitches, Roberts decided that was enough, and four ensuing hitless innings pitched by five relievers proved he made the right call, with the game closed with a four-out save by Kenley Jansen, who ended the night with his trademark point to the sky.
It was a great ending to a day that began ominously, and stunningly, when they announced that Seager, their All-Star shortstop and heart of their lineup, would miss the entire championship series with a back injury.
Seager suffered a pulled back muscle while sliding into second base Monday night in Arizona in the division series-clinching win against the Diamondbacks. The Dodgers downplayed the injury all week until it became apparent that Seager couldn't move well enough to play.
When Seager sat down for a pregame news conference, he let out an audible sigh of pain.
"Yeah, this sucks, to be honest," said Seager.
Starting in his place on Saturday was Culberson, a journeyman best known for hitting the division-title clinching home run last season on Vin Scully's last home game. Culberson spent the summer at triple-A Oklahoma City, was recalled in September, and started only one game at shortstop.
It only figures that, in completing the Dodgers' happy ending Saturday, Culberson's fly ball drove in that second run, then he doubled and scored the Dodgers' final run.
"We've got the confidence again that we're the team to beat, we don't think there's a team that can beat us out there," said the Dodgers' Enrique Hernandez, and so far he seems to be right.
