'I knew that moment was mine': Classic buzz driving Palencia
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MESA, Ariz. -- Daniel Palencia walked through the Cubs' clubhouse on Friday afternoon, wearing a Venezuela jersey with his gold World Baseball Classic medal around his neck glistening with each step he took. The Cubs' closer smiled wide when he saw Pete Crow-Armstrong chatting with reporters.
"What timing,” Crow-Armstrong quipped.
Palencia pointed at the Cubs' center fielder and let out a playful laugh. In return, Crow-Armstrong jokingly offered a hand gesture in return. The center fielder was, of course, part of the Team USA squad that Palencia and Venezuela defeated in a hard-fought championship game on Tuesday at loanDepot park in Miami.
"It’s funny now. It wasn’t funny then,” Crow-Armstrong said. “No, he pitched out of his mind. He was great.”
Palencia turned in an overpowering ninth inning to close out the 3-2 triumph for Venezuela. That historic save followed one in the semifinal win over Italy and another in the quarterfinal victory over Japan, the three-time Classic champions. Palencia struck out six of the nine batters he faced in those three outings, while facing the minimum.
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Back in Cubs camp now, Palencia was still feeling a bit out of his mind.
"I’m still watching all the videos and I’m just trying to believe this,” Palencia said. “I have no words to describe this, because it’s so much happiness for my country.”
Palencia saw the videos of watch parties in his hometown in Venezuela. He understood the weight of helping bring something so positive to his country and putting its love of baseball and its players on full display for the world to see. He wanted the ball in the ninth inning. Palencia even visualized the moment on the eve of the title game.
"I saw it the night before when I was sleeping,” Palencia said.
It was only when Team USA’s Bryce Harper launched a game-tying home run in the eighth inning that Palencia felt the need to plead to the heavens for help. The righty said he began talking to God, saying: “I just need one run.”
In the ninth inning, Eugenio Suárez doubled to score the go-ahead run, giving Palencia the 3-2 lead he needed. It would mean the hard-throwing righty would pitch on back-to-back days and three times in a four-day span, which was not necessarily what the Cubs would have hoped to have happen.
That said, Chicago’s leadership understood the magnitude of the moment.
"The usage is more than anybody would like at this time of year,” Cubs manager Craig Counsell said Wednesday. “So if it was going to be usage that we weren’t comfortable with, we wanted to make sure it was in the moment that every player should get to experience.”
Palencia started off by striking out slugger Kyle Schwarber. He followed that with a flyout off the bat of Gunnar Henderson. Next up was Roman Anthony, who took a 97.8 fastball for a strike and then watched an 87.2 mph splitter to slip into a 1-2 count. That take by Anthony made Palencia confident in what would come next.
"When he didn’t swing at the split, I just knew,” he said. “I just knew he was lost.”
On the broadcast, the camera began to zoom in on Palencia, who appeared to already have tears welling in his eyes before his final pitch.
"Yeah, I was crying,” Palencia said. “I have to be honest. I was crying. I knew that moment was mine. I knew I could do it. I knew he was going to swing and miss. I just knew it.”
Palencia fired a 99.7 mph fastball and Anthony indeed swung and missed. The Cubs' closer threw his red glove skyward, pounded his chest and then dropped to his knees as his Venezuelan teammates surrounded him on the field.
Palencia laughed when asked if his glove ever fell back to Earth.
"Yeah, I’ve got it right here,” he said, pointing to the equipment bag at his feet.
Crow-Armstrong and Cubs third baseman Alex Bregman were both on the Team USA roster that watched Palencia finish the job in the championship. They were back in the lineup for Chicago’s split-squad night game against the Reds on Friday at Sloan Park, helping to quickly turn the page on what was a disappointing finish from their perspective.
"Nothing was really on my mind except winning each one of these WBC games,” Crow-Armstrong said. “And now that we’re here, it’s absolutely great to be able to look forward to going back to Chicago and seeing everybody there.”
Once Opening Day arrives, so too will the Cubs’ quest to have a deep October run that ends with a trip to the World Series.
Palencia hopes to also be on the mound with that title on the line.
"I’m super excited,” Palencia said. “I talked with Counsell a couple days ago. I told him, ‘Bro, I’m going to do the same for this team.’ I’m excited. I love my team. I love the Cubs. I’m just excited to get back to Wrigley and see all the fans.”