As he often does, Dexter Fowler got the party started with a single that led to a run in the very first Cubs at-bat of the team's NLCS-opening win over the Dodgers on Saturday.
The next inning, it was Jason Heyward's turn to ignite the crowd at Wrigley Field, as he belted a pitch to the right-field wall and sprinted to third for a triple before scoring on Javier Baez's hit.
It was just two Georgia boys getting on base and then crossing the plate. The score: 2-0 Cubs.
The bond between Fowler and Heyward extends far beyond their being fixtures in the same Cubs lineup or even manning the outfield together as part of the best defense in baseball. It goes all the way back to when the two were just coming into their own as teenage baseball stars near Atlanta, and it began with an introduction that came as a surprise to an 18-year-old Fowler.
"We had the same trainer, and one day he says, 'Dex, wait around for a little bit. I got your twin coming in.' I said, 'My twin? What are you talking about?'" Fowler recalled of meeting Heyward, who is four years younger.
"So I wait around for 15 minutes. He walks in. This dude is my height. Bigger than me. Got, like, a mustache. I'm graduating that year, and he's in ninth grade.
"I'm like, 'Yeah, right. This dude is my age.' From then on, we played on the same summer league team. Obviously, years behind me, but I kept up on him. Then we hit at the same place and developed a friendship."
That friendship has continued to this day. Heyward admits that Fowler is a little more "public," but it's the sense of humor that bonds them. Fowler agrees.
"J-Hey is a little more reserved than I am," he said. "At the same time, he has a good heart. He's funny and jokes around. He's like my little brother."
Asked what Fowler was like at 18, Heyward said, "He was the same. Always a smile, funny and always a good time."
This spring, it was Fowler's turn to deliver a surprise entrance, one that put smiles on the faces of all his teammates, especially Heyward.
Fowler famously kept his return to the Cubs to himself, then stunned his old -- and new -- teammates by walking onto the practice field at spring training one morning, after it appeared he was likely to join the Baltimore Orioles as a free agent.
Heyward was as shocked as anyone.
"He didn't know," Fowler said. "I got him. I got everyone. I wanted to keep it a secret.
"He was very excited. He gave me a huge hug. It's great to be on the field with him. He makes my job a lot easier."
For Heyward, it was a moment he won't forget. "It was just cool to see him back with his team," he said. "And for me, having one of my guys that I grew up with."
In a frustrating first season with the Cubs, after Heyward spurned the Cardinals and signed a $184 million contract that guaranteed his every moment would come under intense scrutiny, Fowler's presence has meant a familiar face nearby as Heyward acclimates to life in Chicago.
"We always said it would be crazy if we ended up on the same team," Heyward said recently. "When it's [free agency] going on, you have no idea where things are going to end up. Then here we are."
Throughout the season, Fowler was there for his friend as hitting woes -- and the pressure from the outside -- mounted.
"Someone that has been there before and done all the stuff, you end up just naturally leaning on that," Heyward said of learning from Fowler.
"If there is ever anything that needs to be said, we're not afraid to say it to each other," Fowler said. "That's the way it should be."
It could be their only season as teammates, as once again Fowler is set to become a free agent. There's no telling what could happen, though Fowler has been the glue in the clubhouse and at the top of the order during the Cubs' resurgence. No matter what the future holds, the two outfielders are cherishing their time next to each other in the locker room and in the outfield.
"I told him he would love it over here," Fowler recalled saying to Heyward during the free-agency period. "And I said, 'Bro, if we're on the same team, you're never going to stop laughing, man.'"
They've been laughing all the way into the postseason. Baseball brought them together, and their bond might help bring Chicago a championship.
"It's special," Fowler said. "To see how this started, and now we're here together. It's definitely a blessing."