He sat at his Oracle Park locker late Wednesday night still wearing his baseball pants, spikes and undershirt. Everybody gave him space, alone with his thoughts and fears. He was on his phone, trying to check in with his family and friends, hoping they were safe in the wake of two major earthquakes that rocked Venezuela hours earlier.
This was supposed to be the greatest night of Victor Bericoto’s baseball life. He swung mightily at Elvis Alvarado’s hanging slider and crushed it a whopping 445 feet to left-center field, an electrifying walkoff home run that gave the Giants an improbable 2-1 win over the A’s.
On contact, Bericoto was so jazzed with adrenaline that he walked backwards out of the batter’s box, glanced toward the Giants’ dugout along the third-base line, and flipped his bat that way before beginning a home run trot that he figured he’d cherish forever.
Once he crossed the plate, he was mobbed by teammates, drenched by Willy Adames’ bucket of sports drink, and hugged by every teammate and coach on the field. What was left of the crowd of 37,526, minus the A’s fans, gave him a rousing ovation.
He did a quick on-field interview with NBC Sports Bay Area and answered four questions with Erwin Higueros interpreting. In one answer, he thanked manager Tony Vitello for the rare chance to play, his first start in two weeks.
Life couldn’t have been better in that instant for the 24-year-old outfielder. He was asked to give a speech in the clubhouse, and he delivered about six words, according to Vitello, but meaningful nonetheless.
Then he got to his locker and checked on his phone the latest developments from his homeland, leaving him numb and in shock. Suddenly, baseball was no longer a big deal.
A Giants PR official alerted the contingent of media a few feet away to say Bericoto wasn’t prepared to do an interview with the group. Of course not. He’s a native of Maracay, where the seismic waves of the 7.2 and 7.5 earthquakes could be felt, having struck 100 miles west of the capital city of Carácas.
Bericoto kept working his phone looking for answers.
Rafael Devers, whose ninth-inning homer off Alvarado tied the score, walked by and put his hand over Bericoto’s head.
Coaches Oscar Bernard and Alex Burg dropped by for quick conversations.
And Daniel Susac, whose locker was adjacent to Bericoto’s, sat down alongside him and gave him a pat on the back.
Soon, the clubhouse was cleared. Bericoto stuck around. Naturally, it was difficult to process his emotions, from pure elation to deep sorrow. His home run lifted the Giants to their second straight win, and another on Thursday would give them their first sweep of the season.
He couldn’t celebrate. His thoughts and mind were with relatives and loved ones back home. Second baseman Luis Arráez, also from Venezuela, didn’t play Wednesday, a day after taking a pitch off the inset of his right foot. He wrote a message of support on his Instagram page.
Bericoto’s manager, coaches, and teammates, while giving him time and space to cope with the devastating news, could appreciate what he had just accomplished and the journey that got him to that point.
It wasn’t just the homer. It was the throw.
In the fifth inning, the A’s threatened to score the game’s first run. With runners at first and second and one out, second baseman Casey Schmitt caught a liner and tried to double off Jacob Wilson at second, but the throw sailed into foul territory. Bericoto ran a long way, picked up the ball and unloaded a 93-mph throw to the plate.
Catcher Eric Haase short-hopped the ball and, despite some acrobatics by Wilson, tagged him out, an odd 4-7-2 double play. It preserved Tyler Mahle’s scoreless outing; the right-hander came off the injured list before the game, retired his first nine batters, and fired 5 ⅔ innings of two-hit ball.
Sacramento’s Max Muncy homered off Dylan Smith in the eighth, but Devers’ homer tied the score and set the stage for Bericoto’s game-winner.
The Giants signed Bericoto, a little-known prospect at 16, for a mere $25,000 in 2018 and turned the catcher into an outfielder. He worked his way through the farm system and had a breakout spring training this year, hitting .419 with three homers and winning the Barney Nugent Award presented annually to the top newcomer in big-league camp.
Former Giants players who visited camp, including Will Clark and Jeffrey Leonard, called Bericoto “hitterish,” a complimentary term describing someone who’s a natural at the plate. He hasn’t had many chances to showcase himself; Wednesday marked just his 14th big-league game.
It’s uncertain who’ll come off the roster when Heliot Ramos is activated from the injured list, but Bericoto is a candidate. No matter what his fate, Wednesday’s homer will be a season highlight for the team and a bittersweet experience for Bericoto, who kept the hope and faith deep into the night.
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