HOUSTON —Vinnie Pasquantino, walking though the corridor with a half-empty can of beer Wednesday night, lifted up his blue suit jacket, smelled it, and wrinkled his nose.
He has worn the same suit every day, to day games and night games, with Team Italy at Daikin Park, maintaining the tradition Italy manager Francisco Cervelli established for his team inthis World Baseball Classic.
But Pasquantino may have made a serious wardrobe miscalculation.
Team Italy, which was supposed to be dismissed from the World Baseball Classic after four games in pool play, is sticking around for awhile, and perhaps may have another flight to catch. It pulled off a second consecutive stunning upset Wednesday,9-1, over Mexico.
The team that was supposed to be an afterthought, suddenly is on everyone's forefront, sweeping all four games in the WBC to win Pool B and be a No. 1 seed for the first time in Italy history. It will play Puerto Rico on Saturday afternoon at Daikin Park for the right to play in the semifinals in Miami.
"There's another team in the world that can play baseball,'' Cervelli proudly said.
And there's another slugger in the world who can hit three home runs in a single game, becoming the first player to achieve the feat in World Baseball Classic history.
More:USA advance in WBC as impressive Italy handles Mexico
So, is there a nickname Pasquantino wants after his feat, considering Reggie Jackson earned his monicker after hitting three homers in Game 6 of the 1977 World Series for the Yankees?
"Mr. March,'' he said, laughing.
"It's just a good night. That's it. This will be forgotten very soon. But you know, anytime you can just say Reggie Jackson's name to me is cool.''
When was the last time Pasquantino, the Kansas City Royals first baseman, hit three homers in a game?
"I've never done it before,'' he said.
High School?
Little League?
And never had the Hall of Fame ever reached out and requested anything from him to be displayed in Cooperstown.
Then, again, he might become the first one to flatly turn them down. Well, at least delay them a bit.
"They liked the bat,'' Pasquantino said. "I said, 'I need the bat for a few more days.''
When you go hitless in the first three games of the WBC, and get so desperate that you actually attempt a bunt in your first at-bat Wednesday, you're sure not going to hand over the bat that made you an overnight WBC legend.
"Just nice to be involved and help the team offensively,'' Pasquantino said. "It's no secret how I'd been doing prior. So, you know, we worked really hard to try to get right, and tonight was a good night.''
Pasquantino's struggles were so pronounced that simply laying off a 2-and-2 slider in the eighth inning, instead of chasing a slider that was low, was his proudest moment of the night. He hit the next pitch 337 feet over the right-field fence.
"I had been chasing quite a bit to the point that, you know, I wanted to just cry,'' said Pasquantino. "Just like, 'Hey, stop chasing balls. Just take balls.' And I took that pitch. And I think I was about as happy as I could be.''
Pasquantino, their leader who orchestrated the espresso shots after homers, parading in the dugout with an Armani jacket and passing out celebratory bottles of wine after victories, refused to let his struggles carry over into the clubhouse. His teammates will tell you he was the same guy, clowning around, keeping everyone loose.
"He's been the happiest player on the team,'' Italy second baseman Jon Berti said. "Trust me.''
Yet, Pasquantino's struggles were burning inside, and only Italy's victories kept his sanity.
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"Francisco and I had talked about it, and I said, 'Skip, if you need to drop me in order, do it because I understand,''' Pasquantino said. "It's been bad. But I felt like I was still competing and giving it my best. (USA pitcher) Nolan McLean made me look like I'd never hit a baseball before last night.
"So, I'm glad we were able to do something productive tonight.''
Yes, for the first time in the WBC, he actually got to keep a bottle of the fine wine for himself. He also presented one to Marco Mazzieri, the Italian Baseball Federation president, for making this all possible.
"I'm like weirdly emotional tonight,'' Pasquantino said, "to the point I'm thinking about crying. Which is funny for a tournament in March.''
Pasquantino thinks about the players on the team who risked losing their jobs in spring training to come play for Italy. He thinks about the guys who may wind up in the minor leagues instead of the big leagues because of the time away from their team. He thinks about players like White Sox catcher Kyle Teel, who will be out four to six weeks with a strained hamstring after stretching a single into a double against the USA.
And he gets emotional about playing for Cervelli,GM Ned Colletti, Mazzieri and Yankees great Jorge Posada.
More:Italy GM Ned Colletti gets emotional over 'sports miracle' in WBC
"I'm so thankful for those guys for allowing me to be myself,'' Pasquantino said, "and to lead this team the way that I've kind of seen from a player perspective. They have to do what they need to do from a leadership side, from a coaching staff. But to kind of give me the reins to say, 'All right, this is your team, what do you want it to look like?'
"It doesn't mean that I'm making decisions or anything, but it just means, like, what can we do to get the best out of every player? And honestly, like the 'C' on my chest, which we argued about if I was going to wear or not, that's what that means to me. It wouldn't matter. What matters is trying to get the best out of my teammates, and they've given me the freedom to try to do that, whether it's taking mound visits or talking to the group.''
Cervelli, who was mentored by Hall of Famer Joe Torre, and brings the great Yankees tradition to the team, knows the value of leadership, being around Derek Jeter, CC Sabathia and Posada during his playing days.
Pasquantino may not have the Hall of Fame resume, but those leadership qualities, they are all there.
"I think leaders, they're born like that,'' Cervelli said. "This guy, everybody follows him. He respects everyone. He can be loud sometimes when he needs to. He doesn't talk that much. Everybody follows him.
"That's a leader. He put himself before everyone to protect everyone, not because it's Vinnie, that's what a captain is. This is amazing to have. It's a pleasure for me to have a player like that because it makes my job very easy.''
It was Pasquantino's leadership that prevented Italy from having an emotional letdown after beating the USA in the biggest victory in Italian history just 24 hours earlier. They sat around and talked aboutthe tiebreakers. They were told they could actually lose to Mexico, but as long as they didn't give up more than four runs, they'd earn a tiebreaker over the USA.
They talked about all of the scenarios, and then Pasquantino put a stop to it.
"Just being realistic, there was a lot of conversation if different scenarios arise,'' Pasquantino said, "what do we do? Then finally, we just got together and said, 'You know what? Let's just win the game.'
"So last night when we were celebrating, we had a good time in the locker room. But I said to the guys, 'Once midnight hit, guys, we've got to get going.' We stayed and we hung out and we had a good time. But it was a lot of hanging out and just, 'What are we going to do tomorrow? How are we going to win this game?'"
They won the game by jumping on Pasquantino's back as he hit the three solo homers, the arm of Aaron Nola who pitched five shutout innings, and the contributions of seven different players producing hits, and six different pitchers getting outs.
"Tonight, we just handled business,'' Pasquantino said. "That was the expectation. And it was awesome.''
Next stop: vs. Puerto Rico on Saturday afternoon.
Win, and they have a flight to Miami for the semifinals, going where no Italy team has gone before.
So, considering Team Italy will be sticking around for awhile, perhaps it could be time to grab a new suit, particularly since the Italians have the next two days off.
"(The suit) probably stinks,'' Pasquantino said, "really bad.''
But, hey, as long as Team Italy keeps winning, and the suit is working, how in the world can Pasquantino change the wardrobe now?
And, if someone wants to buy him a nice Italian designer suit, he knows just the guys who owe him.
Yep, Team USA, which staved off elimination in the WBC thanks to Italy's victory.
"You're welcome, USA,'' Pasquantino said on the field. "We were thinking of you guys over at your hotel. We were thinking of you guys, so glad you guys can join us in the party.''
Let the wine flow.
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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY:Vinnie Pasquantino homers 3 times to keep Italy WBC run going
HOUSTON —Vinnie Pasquantino, walking though the corridor with a half-empty can of beer Wednesday night, lifted up his blu...
