ATLANTA ¨C Some four years after playing at Truist Park in a high school All-Star game, a then-20-year-old Victor Scott II took his girlfriend back to the same stadium to see the Braves play and offered up a rather bold prediction that included an emphatic pointed finger point.
¡°Me and my girlfriend had come to a game, and I pointed right to center field,¡± Scott recalled vividly as if it had happened days ago instead of four years earlier, ¡°and I told her, ¡®I¡¯m going to play right there one day.¡¯ To have that come to fruition, it¡¯s very touching and special to me.¡±
On Monday, it happened.
For the first time as a Major Leaguer, Scott patrolled center field in front of approximately 50 family members, friends and former baseball coaches. The Georgia native proved to be a bright spot for a Cardinals club that suffered another gut-punch loss. Leading by one through seven innings -- largely on the strength of Scott¡¯s three-hit, two-RBI and stolen base effort -- the Cardinals bullpen surrendered five runs in what devolved into a 7-6 loss to the Braves.
Like his teammates, Scott was somewhat shaken by the Cardinals' 10th loss in 11 road games and their fifth straight defeat. However, he refused to allow the bitter result to dampen a night that has been a lifetime in the making for the 24-year-old from Powder Springs, Ga.
Scott¡¯s boyhood hitting coach, Mike Butler, was in attendance, as were his parents, Victor and Mary Scott, who were former track stars at nearby Morris Brown University. So, too, was one of Scott¡¯s oldest friends, who was aptly seated near the Cardinals speedster in the center field stands with Scott trying repeatedly to throw him a baseball after mid-inning warmups.
Alivia Thompson, Scott¡¯s girlfriend whom he told this day would come four years earlier, was also in the Truist Park crowd on Monday. Earlier in the day, they recounted his pointed prediction, and it sparked a flow of emotions from them before he headed to the stadium for the game.
¡°I reminded her of it, and I got chills up my body by saying that as a 20-year-old,¡± Scott said. ¡°I can¡¯t remember who [the Braves] were playing that night, but we were walking on the concourse, and I said, ¡®I¡¯m going to play there [in center field] one day.¡¯
¡°It takes a village to raise a kid -- that¡¯s what I always heard growing up. So, to see everybody that kind of helped me come up as a little kid and come up through the [youth baseball] system, that¡¯s very special to me.¡±
Scott has continued to show off his special talents to the Cardinals this season. After showing up as a much more prepared player following a winter of work with Butler at Champ Fit Grindhouse in suburban Atlanta, and drilling with new Cardinals coaches Brant Brown and Jon Jay, Scott won the starting center field job in Spring Training. Unlike last season, when he made the Opening Day roster because of injury but was ultimately demoted to Triple-A, Scott has hit to the tune of a .264 average, five extra-base hits and nine RBIs. Also, his eight stolen bases -- without being caught stealing -- are tied for second in MLB.
Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol said Scott¡¯s ability to handle the pressures of playing before friends and family -- and deliver a big night at the plate -- speaks to his maturity.
¡°It¡¯s always good to be able to do what he did,¡± said Marmol, who has been continually impressed with the prep work that Scott did over the offseason, all the way down to how he studied bunting videos from Ichiro Suzuki and former Braves leadoff hitter Brett Butler in the offseason. ¡°To come back home and play in front of a lot of people -- and you can hear them -- and to show out the way that he did, that was awesome. Those are the little things ¨C the game within the game ¨C where you create memories, not only for himself, but also for his family.¡±
Scott beat out an infield single in the second inning to plate the Cardinals' second run. He reached on another opposite-field single to open the fifth inning. In the ninth, with the Cardinals down four, Scott laced a Statcast-projected 106.1 mph double into the right-field corner to fuel a late rally.
While standing on second and looking back at the crowd of more than 30,000, Scott reflected on his journey -- and ending up right where he always said he would play someday.
¡°To be able to showcase my abilities to people who have seen me play since I was a little kid was awesome,¡± he said. ¡°That was a very special moment and a very special game for me.¡±