From Odd Man Out to Phillies’ Hero : Game 2: Eisenreich, who has overcome Tourette’s Syndrome to continue his baseball career, fuels a 6-4 victory over the Blue Jays.

They treated Jimmy Eisenreich like a freak. They laughed. They taunted. Kids refused to stop until he ran home crying.

Now, on a chilly Sunday night in St. Cloud, Minn., it was Ann Eisenreich who was sitting in front of her TV set, crying her eyes out.

Jim Eisenreich had become a genuine World Series hero, leading the Philadelphia Phillies to a 6-4 victory over the Toronto Blue Jays before 52,062 at SkyDome.

The man who long ago had given up ever playing professional baseball again, sleeping in late each day wondering why life had dealt him such a rotten hand, has helped give the Phillies new life in this 90th World Series.

Eisenreich’s three-run homer in the third inning helped even the series at a game apiece, ended Dave Stewart’s postseason mystique, and made his proud mother weep with joy.

“I just started yelling when it went over the fence,” Ann Eisenreich said, “and then, I started to cry. To know what Jimmy has overcome, knowing everything he’s gone through, and to see something like this happen . . .

“I don’t think any mother could be prouder of her son than I am tonight.”

Eisenreich, his eyes moist in the Phillies’ clubhouse, could hardly believe it himself. He spoke in front of a packed room of reporters, then stood in front of his locker answering wave after wave of questions.

The questions didn’t center on Blue Jay Manager Cito Gaston’s decision to have Stewart pitch to Eisenreich with runners on second and third and first base open. No one asked about the feeling of satisfaction in making Gaston look foolish, sending an 0-and-2 pitch over the center field fence for a 5-0 lead.

Few even asked about the antics of Phillie closer Mitch Williams, who scared the daylights out of his teammates until Pat Borders grounded into a game-ending, double-play.

“Sure, we were nervous,” Eisenreich said. “He’s not the ‘Wild Thing’ for nothing.”

This instead became a story about a guy trying again, and again and again. Eisenreich has Tourette’s Syndrome, a long misunderstood neurological disorder that causes individuals to behave erratically. The disease manifests itself in jerky, uncontrollable ticks, sudden eruption of profanities, and even occasional barking. It can tyrannize and traumatize the person who suffers from it.

“I know it might sound funny coming from this clubhouse,” Eisenreich said, “but because of that, I’m the oddball of the team.

“I guess I’ve been an oddball all of my life.”

Eisenreich was only 22 when Minnesota Twin owner Calvin Griffith called him a “a future All-Star.” He never made it. Instead, he became a center fielder suddenly twitching and gasping for breath, bending at the waist, not sure he would ever find air again.

It could happen at any time. In the middle of the game. He would call time out and run off the field, scared and embarrassed. He was suffering from Tourette’s, but he didn’t know it then--and the Twins didn’t believe it.

The Twins put him in the hospital, sent him to psychiatrists, and then came the medication, the hypnotists, the faith healers and the headlines.

“I felt,” Eisenreich said, “like an idiot.”

So he quit in 1984, and the game forgot him.

But he never forgot the game.

Three seasons passed until the Kansas City Royals picked him up for $1. It wasn’t until 1989 when he made the major leagues for good, and at the end of last season, the Royals were the next team to give up on him.

The Phillies, who spent the winter picking up players who nobody wanted, determined that Eisenreich could still play. They gave him another chance, and Sunday night, he became yet the latest castoff to turn into a hero.

“I don’t think it’s been a long journey,” said Eisenreich, who must take medication after each game. “It’s just been part of the journey of life. I’ve had my share of ups and downs, particularly the downs.

“Believe me, I’ll always cherish this.”

Gaston merely became the latest to underestimate Eisenreich’s ability. After the Phillies had scored on run-scoring singles by John Kruk and Dave Hollins in the third inning, and the Phillies had runners on second and third with one out, Gaston told Stewart to pitch to Eisenreich.

“I just felt so comfortable when I went up there,” said Eisenreich, who had a .323 career batting average against Stewart. “I just knew he was going to give me something to hit.

“It’s funny, before the game Curt (Schilling) told me, ‘Why don’t you hit a homer for your daughter?’ I said, ‘You know, I just might do that.’

“I just had a feeling I was going to hit a homer tonight.”

Stewart threw two quick strikes to Eisenreich, on fastballs away, when he decided to waste a pitch, up and in. It wasn’t up enough, and Eisenreich sent the ball soaring over the center field fence, silencing an entire stadium.

“I thought I was in a good situation,” said Stewart, who yielded six hits and five earned runs in six innings, losing for only the fourth time in 17 postseason starts. “I didn’t expect that.

“But I’m not ashamed. I can walk tall.”

The Phillies suddenly were ahead by 5-0. Phillie starter Terry Mulholland pitched 5 2/3 innings, yielding seven hits and three runs, and left the game in the hands of Roger Mason and Williams.

The Phillies still had a 6-3 lead, thanks to Lenny Dykstra’s home run leading off the seventh inning, with one out in the eighth when Williams entered the game. He gave up a sacrifice fly to John Olerud for one out, but eased out of further trouble by picking off Roberto Alomar at third.

He opened the ninth by walking Tony Fernandez on four pitches, but after surviving yet another low throw by third baseman Kim Batiste, the Phillies finally could relax after Borders hit into the game-ending double play.

“The best thing about me is that I get the job done,” Williams said. “The worst? You’ve got to watch me do it.”

* PHILLIES: “Wild Thing” makes his first World Series appearance, and it goes about as expected. C11

* NEWHAN: They don’t look like a patient team, but that’s exactly what the Phillies were in Game 2. C11

* NOTEBOOK: C10