Just when you thought the Yankees doing the impossible was some kind of Bronx fairy tale, along comes the real thing: the boy from New Jersey who grew up wearing pinstripe pajamas, idolizing Derek Jeter and attending the World's Last Parade as an 8-year-old Series took part. their October savior is getting old.

Aaron Volpe's story reads like a Hollywood script, and it was bad news for the LA team in Game 3 on Tuesday night. The end result looks like a slam dunk as the Yankees cruise to a decisive 11-4 victory. The sellout crowd of 49,354 held a belated welcome party (from the Dead) at the stadium. But it was Volpe who energized a very nervous building with the most momentum of the evening and also one of personal redemption.

Talk about touching all the bases. Long before the Yankees turned the ninth into a stunning victory lap, the mighty Volpe took their first lead – and one they never relinquished – with a third-inning grand slam that finally awakened the Bronx echoes where it was The disappointing defeat on Monday was eerily quiet.

With two outs, Volpe jumped on a first-pitch slider from Dodgers reliever Dan Hudson and sent a line drive screaming into the left-field stands. In no time, Volpe had turned the Yankees' annoying 2-1 deficit into a 5-2 lead. Not only did the second-year shortstop erase his own miserable start (1 for 12, 7 Ks) to this Fall Classic, but Volpe brought everyone to their feet and changed everything with that one shot.

“It's like finally being able to see the top blow from Yankee Stadium in a World Series game,” manager Aaron Boone said. “When Anthony hit that ball, it was funny to see Yankee Stadium explode. It’s like they’ve been waiting 48 hours for this.”

Volpe has dreamed of this moment his entire life. Almost all 22 years of his charming Yankees upbringing. As he circled the bases, he probably didn't feel his feet hit the ground.

“I think I pretty much fainted when I saw it go over the fence,” Volpe said later.

He had lots of company. Fans above Monument Park sprayed various drinks into the sky. The dugout could barely contain his teammates. The Yankees entered Tuesday as the 24th team to fall from a 3-0 deficit in the World Series. None had won a championship, and only three had made it to Game 5. Volpe's blast, just the 15th grand slam in Yankees playoff history, suddenly gave the Bronx reason to believe.

“The place was shaking, I felt the ground literally shaking,” said catcher Austin Wells, whom Volpe refers to as a brother. “These fans expect victories. And when you hit a big home run like that to kind of fire up the team like Volpe did, he got some well-deserved praise for it. That was great.”

It was also just the beginning of the Volpe lovefest after his night started very differently. Early on, with the stadium still buzzing after Freddie Freeman's two-run home run in the first inning – the second time he'd done that in as many games – Volpe made a major baserunning mistake by jumping on Wells' 406 points from second place did not score a goal. Foot double to the middle.

Back when runs were few and far between for the Yankees, Volpe was hesitant to move too far from the ball while watching the flight of Wells' rocket and was only able to advance to third base when the ball came off the base of the Wall bounced off. The stadium let out a collective groan and Volpe, stuck in third place, angrily punched him in the leg.

“It’s entirely up to me,” Volpe said. “It’s not a hard read. One we practice, one Little Leaguers do. I was frustrated with myself because I felt like I had to do better.”

Because of who Volpe is, the still-rising star the Yankees believe he is, it didn't take long for him to get “better.” The next pitch Volpe saw ended up over the left field wall. But the dream didn't end there.

When the Yankees pulled away in the eighth inning and scored five more runs, Volpe provided the spark after an experience too incredible to even fit into young Anthony's childhood dreams. When he stepped to the plate in that eighth, the crowd began chanting “Vol-pe!” Vol-pe!” and he responded with a double whammy. Volpe later darted from third on a grounder from Alex Verdugo to second base and slid headfirst to avoid the throw despite the infield being drawn. All heart and zeal.

“The jump he made to not be very close is pretty impressive,” Boone said.

In any case, at this point Volpe was flying, and his emotions were in excess. Another defensive gem in the ninth spurred the crowd to chant his name again, and when asked where that moment ranked on his all-time list, Volpe smiled.

“Definitely No. 1,” he said.

However, this list is growing. Afterward, Jeter waited to interview him on the Fox set. David Ortiz, the infamous Yankee Killer, handed him a T-shirt (“I can’t wear it, it’s got Red Sox stuff on it,” Volpe said). Oh, and did we mention the Jeter thing?

“It’s pretty crazy to think about,” Volpe said. “It's my dream, but it was all my friends' dreams, all my cousins' dreams, probably my sister's dream too. But winning the World Series was by far the most important thing. Nothing else compares. So there is still a lot of work ahead of us.”

And now the Yankees aren't done yet. Thanks to Volpe, whose reality continues to grow beyond these dreams.

David Lennon is an award-winning columnist, a Baseball Hall of Fame voter and has covered six no-hitters, including two perfect games.