The Texas Rangers win the 2023 World Series
The Texas Rangers finally did it. Mackenzie Salmon explains how the team’s playoff performance led to the win.
PHOENIX — Marcus Semien’s journey was long, but his path to celebration was short — just a few feet, the distance that separates shortstop and second base on a diamond.
Josh Sborz had just dropped a curveball that caught Ketel Marte in search of the World Series finale, securing the first championship in Texas Rangers history, and Semien knew where to go: up in the air and in Corey Seager’s arms.
It’s been nearly two years since the two All-Stars, backed by a $500 million salary from Rangers owner Ray Davis, took a leap of faith and decided they could win here and wanted to win here. And since then, the midfielders have been everything every day:
The silent observers who saw how a lost culture could be repaired. The grinders who insisted on being in the lineup every day they could. And the superstars who could attract other top talent like themselves.
Ultimately, they succeeded when it mattered most: their rare outbursts of emotion in this era of extravagance signaled that something special was afoot.
On Wednesday night at Chase Field, it was Semien who finally broke his guard and destroyed a fastball from Paul Sewald to give the Rangers a decisive 5-0 victory over the Arizona Diamondbacks, hitting a two-run home run in the ninth inning.
As the ball cleared the left field wall, Semien turned and admonished his teammates in the dugout. He let out a roar as he approached second base. And he cheered unspeakably after crossing home plate.
Minutes later, after Sborz pitched his 11th scoreless inning of the postseason to seal the victory, Semien collapsed.
“I ran right up to Corey,” Semien said during the Rangers’ clubhouse celebration, “had some emotions and shed a few tears. This is my first. This isn’t his first, so I probably had more tears than he did.
“But that’s why we play the game.”
Seager was undoubtedly the winner of a second World Series MVP, with a game-winning home run in the ninth inning in a Game 1 win, three home runs total and key contributions like the opposing dribbler that broke up Zac Gallen’s no-go dribbler. Hit bid in the seventh inning leading to the first run of the game.
He also won the Series MVP award in 2020 when the Los Angeles Dodgers won it all during the COVID-19 bubble that would become Seager’s future home – Globe Life Field in Arlington.
Semien, meanwhile, worked in Oakland, not far from his East Bay home, for six years before finding lackluster free-agent offers heading into the 2021 season. A bridge year in Toronto yielded 46 home runs and a far more lucrative foray into free agency.
Seager was also on the market. The Rangers needed a reset after a $1.2 billion Globe Life opening and woeful teams followed, including 102 losses in 2021.
Align the light bulb overhead.
“We were just excited to be in a new place,” says Semien. “He had obviously won a lot more than me. I was fine. But we knew it was something new. We were both in our prime.
“Why don’t you get the W and the ring?”
Seager signed for $325 million over ten years, Semien for $175 million over seven years. Pitcher Jon Gray joined them for four years and $56 million, and the team lost 94 more games.
HIGHEST PAID SHORTSTOPS: Corey Seager of the Rangers sets the standard
But the bridgehead was established.
“Corey and Marcus – they believed in us when we didn’t have to,” said general manager Chris Young. “I’m so glad they were rewarded.
“It was just the beginning. We couldn’t stop. We were tired of losing. Our players were tired of losing.”
They didn’t stop spending money — two-time Cy Young Award winner Jacob deGrom was guaranteed $185 million before this year — but they stopped losing. Lost in the megabucks haze was the $34 million signing of Nathan Eovaldi, always underrated but a force in October: He toiled through six scoreless innings of Game 5 to secure the victory and was making him the first pitcher to ever start and win five postseason games.
Eovaldi knew the foundation was there, with $500 million committed to an outstanding midfielder.
“It’s important to us that these guys stay here long-term,” Eovaldi said Thursday of Seager and Semien. “When you have two quality guys like those two, leaders, you build championship organizations around them.”
Catcher Jonah Heim added: “They are the backbone that drives us forward. If they go, we go and we knew that all year. Look what Corey did in the playoffs, he was the MVP all year.
“And Semien has really stepped up his game the last few days and it’s been something special to watch.”
MATCH 5 SUMMARY: The Rangers win their first World Series title and come on late to defeat the Diamondbacks
Seager will learn later this month whether he will add the first MVP award to his postseason hardware after a season with 33 homers, 42 doubles and a 1.013 OPS despite two stints on the injured list. Semien hit 29 home runs and hit 100 of them from the leadoff position – every day.
Semien’s preparation is legendary, his commitment to conserving energy and being available almost as valuable as his baseball skills. For the third time in the last four full seasons, he played in all 162 games – and 161 in the other game.
After the Rangers were relegated to the wild card series in their 90-win season, he added 17 more playoff games, giving him a record 179 games.
His five plate appearances in Game 5 gave him 835 in both the regular season and postseason in a single year, breaking Lenny Dykstra’s record set in 1993.
Maybe the signs of wear and tear were visible at times. Semien had two extra-base hits and no home runs in his 66 playoff at-bats, batting .197 in 15 games.
But it ended with a flourish.
Semien drove in five runs with a triple and a home run in Game 4 and hit a single and a home run in Game 5.
Tired?
“Baseball. We don’t play football or basketball. We play baseball,” he says. “You can go out every day and do something special.”
Nothing more special than playing 179 and making a dream come true with your partner in crime.
“It was a lot of trust,” Seager says. “A lot of trust from them to me and from me to them, and a lot of trust for Marcus coming – all these people who came here and had the same vision.
“It’s pretty cool to finish it.”
Semien says: “Everyone in the room – we all played for it. We weren’t playing for more awards.
“We played for it.”