Homer Begins Long Night for Jordan

St. Louis Cardinal outfielder Brian Jordan had no chance to celebrate his game-winning home run in Game 4 of the playoffs Sunday night.

Jordan rushed to a hospital after the Cardinals’ dramatic 4-3 victory to be with his wife and 2-year-old son, Bryson, who fainted after Jordan’s eighth-inning homer.

Jordan, exhausted but happy, finally got home at 1:30 in the morning.

“Basically, he just got overheated,” Jordan said. “It was hot in the kid’s room . . . and he had on a nice, hot shirt to keep warm because it’s getting cooler at night. He was running around and getting excited like everybody else.

“They said he just fainted, and then he woke up. My wife rushed down there and he kind of went limp in her arms. So he fainted again. He was just dehydrated and hot, that’s the bottom line. . . .

“That puts everything in perspective right there. The home run was great and exciting, but if your family is affected, then you just forget about baseball. [The homer] was the furthest thing from my mind at the time. I just had to get to my son and make sure he was OK.”

Perhaps the strangest aspect of the incident was that Jordan was mobbed by autograph-seeking doctors and nurses at the hospital.

“I tell you, I felt like I was Mr. Clinton and my wife was Mrs. Clinton,” Jordan said. “They had security guards blocking the rooms. It was wild, but the nurses were excited. They’re all Cardinal fans. The whole hospital was kind of pumped up.”

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Atlanta right fielder David Justice, who believes he will be brought back next season, despite trade rumors, said his absence has been apparent in the Braves’ offensive struggles until Monday night.

The Braves were batting only .213 with 22 runs scored in their seven postseason games until breaking out of their slump Monday with 17 hits and 11 runs by the fifth inning. It was the most hits by a team in National League championship series history.

“I think it’s evident by the way they’ve been swinging how much I’m missed,” Justice said. “But I always felt like I was a big part of this team. You can see where Fred [McGriff] doesn’t get the same pitches and he’s struggling a little without me.

“But I’m not stupid. I know I can be traded. Look, when they traded [Dale] Murphy, I knew anybody could be traded.”

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Cardinal Manager Tony La Russa already has decided that he will hire former Marlin manager Rene Lachemann to become his bench coach next season. Ron Hassey will leave the staff and join Buck Showalter’s expansion Arizona Diamondbacks team.

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Cardinal reliever T.J. Mathews, who suffered a pulled groin muscle Sunday, told La Russa that he would be able to pitch if needed.

La Russa laughed.

“He told me he was fine, and that it never turned black and blue,” La Russa said. “He could be available later, but I just don’t know.”

If the Cardinals reach the World Series, they will be permitted to replace Mathews if necessary.

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How bad have the Braves’ pinch-hitters been this series?

They were hitless in 11 at-bats before Monday’s game, and had not hit a ball out of the infield.

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Atlanta pitcher John Smoltz became the all-time strikeout leader in postseason play, passing Whitey Ford’s previous record of 94 with his third-inning strikeout of Cardinal shortstop Ozzie Smith. . . . Cardinal pinch-hitter Dmitri Young became the first player to get his first extra-base hit in the league championship series.