In-game video session leads to Victorino intervention

During the bottom of the fifth inning in last Wednesday's Phillies-Cubs game in Chicago's Wrigley Field, four Phillies bench players, who preferred to remain anonymous, made a visit to the Phillies' clubhouse. The short trip was to watch video of the Cubs pitchers, in case called upon to later enter the game as pinch hitters.

The video session kept the players away for almost the entire bottom half of the inning. What they missed was an unruly Cubs bleacher fan tossing a full cup of $8 beer on teammate Shane Victorino as the center fielder attempted to catch a fly ball. When Victorino returned to the dugout, the smell of beer followed the All-Star as he moved past players, coaches and bat boys.

When the players emerged from the video session to enter the cramped dugout it was the top of the sixth inning and the game seemed to be progressing normally. The strong smell of beer was, at first, linked to the fans sitting behind the dugout--possibly a spill.

"I came out ready to pinch hit and I was so focused on what I needed to do," said one of the players. "I did, however, notice an unusually powerful skunked Coors Light odor."

It was at this point that the focused player paced the dugout floor itching and hoping to get into the game, then, needing to settle down, sat on the bench. He happened to sit next to Victorino who was sipping Gatorade, spitting seeds and gathering himself after the beer shower.

"Right away I smelled stale beer on Shane. I didn't know what to do," said another concerned player who had been in the clubhouse during the fifth inning. "There was beer all over his jersey. It's one thing to go out to the bar after the game and grab a few beers. It's totally another thing to pretend to drink Gatorade."

Again, the nervous dugout pacing started, but this time it was over concern for a teammate and no longer about entering the game.

"I considered pulling Charlie [Manuel] aside and asking him what to do. Shane is having such a great year and I didn't know why he was turning to the drink ... on the job!" said another player.

Eventually, the player asked the rest of the video session group to help him confront the outfielder about the beer.

Just before the beginning of the seventh inning the group of four players slowly and discreetly formed a circle around teammate Shane Victorino. They asked to speak to Shane privately in the tunnel leading to the clubhouse.

"I told them that in the fifth inning some crazy fan threw a beer on me," said a smiling, but annoyed Victorino. "They had totally missed that entire incident while they were studying tape of the Cubs."

"At first, we thought it was an excuse, then we realized what we had missed. The whole team had a good laugh," said one of the four players. "One of those good hearty laughs."