Although the tears have long since dried and his reaction would be far different today than it was as a rookie, Cardinals infielder Kolten Wong knows he won’t ever shake free of one image: him, reaching toward first base, picked off to end a World Series game.
He’s better because of it, he said.
“I think it definitely defined me as a player,” Wong said. “It definitely put my name on the map. I grew. I grew as a player. I grew as a person from that. I would never, ever, ever wish for someone to take that growth away. I see that now as a stepping stone for where I am now as a player.”
Like the Cardinals, Wong visited Fenway Park this week for the first time since the 2013 World Series, a Series that spun in Game 4 at Busch Stadium. That game ended with Wong, a pinch-runner, being picked off at first for the final out. A night earlier he had a hit and a steal in his first World Series appearance, and 24 hours later he was going to Twitter to apologize to Cardinals fans for being the first player ever picked off to end a World Series game. Where he is now, almost four years later, is in the midst of a career year.
The player the Cardinals agreed would personify the type of team they wanted to be, Wong reached base in nearly half of his first 55 plate appearances this month. He brought a .409 average and a 1.127 OPS this month into Tuesday’s game at Fenway, and the Cardinals’ second baseman has been an integral instigator in the team’s offensive uprising. Wong is on his way to career highs in almost every significant offensive category but homers, and that includes a .399 on-base percentage.
He’s never been better than .327.
“Whenever he’s confident, that’s what it looks like to me,” manager Mike Matheny said. “We make no question about the talent this kid has, whether it’s defensively or offensively. It’s just signs of the player that he can be if he puts it together. … He’s had to go through some of the lumps and learn what he’s needed to learn and hopefully he can continue to come back to something consistent.”
As Wong has found his way on base more, he and the Cardinals would also like to see him become more aggressive stealing bases. This past week, Matheny mentioned the World Series pickoff as a formative moment for Wong, and how that could shape a player’s eagerness to take bases. The manager described how confidence had to be rebuilt. Wong offered a different view: It had to be rethought.
As a rookie in the World Series, he had few moments to cling to as a player, so naturally ending a game with a dive back to first would fill that vacuum. He stood at his locker, weeping, and answered questions about his mistake. It’s a mistake that comes up regularly, especially when the Red Sox cycle up on the interleague schedule. Looking back at his reach for first base is far different than it was looking at first base.
“That was not the first time I’ve ever been picked off, nor will it be the last,” Wong said. “For me to be the player I can be, the kind of player that will help the team most, I’ve got to be on base as much as I can. I’ve learned that. That’s what will define me.”
