ARLINGTON -- As soon as the ball left his bat, Corey Seager knew. He didn’t even watch the ball as it sailed 418 feet into the crowd in right field.
Seager, normally the most stoic of baseball players, opted to look toward the Rangers’ dugout, screaming to his teammates before spinning his bat and quickly rounding the bases as "The Natural" blared over the Globe Life Field speakers.
Seager’s game-tying two-run homer in the bottom of the ninth inning, and the emotion thereafter, woke up a sleepy Globe Life Field and propelled the Rangers to a 6-5 walk-off victory over the D-backs in Game 1 of the World Series on Friday night.
Adolis García delivered the final blow, a walk-off solo homer in the 11th inning, but the Rangers wouldn’t have been there without Seager’s heroics. It was just the sixth time in World Series history that a game-tying home run came in the bottom of the ninth inning and the first since Kansas City’s Alex Gordon in 2015.
“It’s like the script is written for him,” third baseman Josh Jung said of Seager.
“It's truly incredible, the at-bats he puts together night in and night out in the big spots in the big situations,” Jung said. “When he was coming up there in the ninth, I was like, ‘Well don't throw him a strike, something cool is going to happen.’ And lo and behold, first pitch, there he goes. There's no words to describe what he means to us, what he means to our club and how amazing he's been for us. You're just glad he suits up for you.”
“Postseason Corey Seager” has been the talk of the clubhouse all month. He’s just more locked in once the calendar flips to October. That much is obvious by his resume even before this postseason.
The 2020 World Series MVP, Seager has only added to his long list of accomplishments this year, after a 1-for-4 night with two walks pushed his 2023 postseason slash line to .327/.484/.673.
His 17 career postseason home runs are now the third most by a shortstop in MLB history behind Derek Jeter (20) and Carlos Correa (18). Seager’s 14 walks this postseason are tied with Ian Kinsler for the most by any Rangers player in a single postseason. He is one of just 16 players with at least 40 career postseason walks.
"Honestly, right now, it's otherworldly,” said rookie outfielder Evan Carter. “You've got people like him, Doli, everyone's coming through in big moments like that. That's what you need -- people around you that are going to be veterans that are going to come through in those moments like that. And it's just been -- gosh, you have all the confidence in the world."
Rangers bench coach/offensive coordinator Donnie Ecker said Seager is almost like an android made specifically for baseball. He’s relentless and rigid in his approach. His swing mechanics are exactly the same every single time. His facial expressions and outward emotions -- or lack thereof -- mirror that consistency.
But “Postseason Corey Seager” has shown emotion like many have never seen before from the Rangers’ franchise shortstop.
In Game 7 of the American League Championship Series against the Astros, Seager delivered a first-inning solo homer to give the Rangers a lead they never relinquished that night. It produced the same level of enthusiasm and fire.
But this one in Game 1 of the World Series was bigger.
“[I just felt] excitement, obviously,” Seager said. “It's fun. This is the playoffs. This is kind of what it's all about. So it was a cool moment, for sure.”
“We did see that same emotion in Houston,” manager Bruce Bochy added. “He might have turned it up a notch [tonight]. It's harder to hit a bigger home run than what he did there, down two in the ninth. He saved us there. You could see it in him. He got everybody fired up, just a great job.”
Make no mistake, Seager still is who he is. After the win, he was more willing to speak about his teammates -- García in particular -- than himself.
That emotion shown on the field stayed there.
“I laughed because I didn’t know what to do,” catcher Jonah Heim said after that homer in Houston. “It was the coolest thing ever. He normally doesn’t show much emotion, and we joke about it. … He said, ‘I’ll show some emotion when we make the World Series.’”
He’s made it there. He’s done just that.
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