Victorino means victories for Phillies

Philadelphia Phillies outfielder Shane Victorino came bounding up the tunnel from the visitors' clubhouse at Dodger Stadium on Tuesday, a couple of dozen journalists trailing closely behind.

"Hey, Moses," a teammate playfully called out.

But while Victorino was simply leading the reporters to the end of the dugout, on the field his postseason performance might be leading the Phillies to the Promised Land.

A solid if unspectacular player heading into the playoffs, Victorino has shone when the spotlight was hottest and now has Philadelphia a win away from the World Series heading into Game 5 of the National League Championship Series tonight.

And he has done it in every way imaginable.

With his bat, the switch-hitting Victorino has homered from both sides of the plate, belting a game-winning grand slam off Milwaukee's CC Sabathia in the division series and hitting a game-tying two-run homer off the Dodgers' Cory Wade in Game 4 of the NLCS Monday en route to a franchise-record 11 postseason runs batted in.

With his feet, Victorino forced Dodgers shortstop Rafael Furcal into a hurried throw on a routine grounder in Game 1. The resulting error led to a three-run Phillies rally and a 3-2 win.

And with his glove, Victorino robbed the Dodgers' Casey Blake of at least two RBIs with a spectacular leaping catch at the center-field wall in Game 2 of the NLCS, preserving an 8-5 victory.

"He's been arguably the best asset for our postseason right now," backup outfielder Geoff Jenkins said. "There's always that one guy in the postseason that you don't think is going to have big [games]. And so maybe Shane's that guy.

"He's awesome."

Which is the why the Dodgers -- and every other team in baseball -- have to be kicking themselves.

Because while the Dodgers had first shot at Victorino, taking the four-sport high school star in the sixth round of the 1999 draft, he was twice up for grabs in the Rule V draft -- baseball's version of a clearance sale -- for $50,000.

After the San Diego Padres took him and then returned him to the Dodgers, the Phillies eventually took a chance on him and in 2005, his first season with the franchise, he batted .310 with career highs for homers (18) and RBIs (70) at triple-A Scranton to win the International League's MVP award.

Some members of the Philadelphia front office credit the turnaround to the team doctor who diagnosed Victorino with attention deficit disorder and prescribed medicine to help him deal with the condition. Others, however, cite more traditional reasons.