ARLINGTON – As soon as the ball left his bat, Corey Seager knew. He didn’t even watch as the ball sailed 418 feet into the crowd in right field.
Seager, usually the most stoic of baseball players, preferred to stare into the Rangers’ dugout, yell at his teammates, then spin his bat and quickly round the bases as “The Natural” blared from the speakers at Globe Life Field.
Seager’s game-winning two-run home run in the bottom of the ninth inning and the emotions that followed roused sleepy Globe Life Field and led the Rangers to a 6-5 walk-off victory over the D-Backs in Game 1 of the World Series Friday evening.
Adolis García provided the final blow with a walk-off solo home run in the 11th inning, but without Seager’s heroics the Rangers wouldn’t have been there. It was only the sixth time in World Series history that a game-winning 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 was written for him,” third baseman Josh Jung said of Seager.
“It’s really unbelievable the skills he puts together night after night at the crucial points in the crucial situations,” said Jung. “When he got there in the ninth round, I thought, ‘Don’t throw a punch at him, something cool is going to happen.’ Lo and behold, the first pitch, there he is. There are no words to describe what he means to us, what he means to our club and how great he has been for us. You’re just happy that it suits you.”
“Postseason Corey Seager” has been the talk of the clubhouse all month. He’s just more committed once the calendar turns to October. This is evident from his resume even before this postseason.
2020 World Series MVP Seager added just one more entry 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 increased.
His 17 postseason home runs are the third most by shortstops 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 of any Rangers player in a single postseason. He is one of only 16 players with at least 40 postseason walks in his career.
“Honestly, it’s overwhelming right now,” rookie outfielder Evan Carter said. “You have people like him, Doli, everyone comes through in big moments like that. That’s what you need – people around you who will get through it.” Veterans who will persevere in moments like this. And it was just – my goodness, you have all the confidence in the world.”
Donnie Ecker, the Rangers’ bench coach and offensive coordinator, said Seager was almost like an android designed specifically for baseball. He is relentless and rigid in his approach. His swing mechanics are exactly the same every time. His facial expressions and outward emotions – or lack thereof – reflect this consistency.
But “Postseason Corey Seager” showed the Rangers’ franchise shortstop emotions like many have never seen before.
In Game 7 of the American League Championship Series against the Astros, Seager hit a solo home run in the first inning, giving the Rangers a lead they never relinquished that night. It generated the same level of excitement and fire.
But this one in Game 1 of the World Series was bigger.
“[I just felt] Obviously excitement,” Seager said. “It’s fun. This is the playoffs. That’s what it’s all about. So it was definitely a cool moment.”
“We saw the same emotion in Houston,” manager Bruce Bochy added. “Maybe he could have done a little better [tonight]. It’s harder to hit a bigger home run than what he did there when he had two strikeouts in the ninth. He saved us there. You could see it in him. He got everyone going, just a great job.”
Make no mistake, Seager is still who he is. After the win, he was more willing to talk about his teammates – especially García – than himself.
The emotion shown on the field remained.
“I laughed because I didn’t know what to do,” catcher Jonah Heim said after that home run in Houston. “It was the coolest thing ever. He usually doesn’t show much emotion and we joke about it. … He said, ‘I’m going to show some emotion if we make it to the World Series.'”
He made it there. That’s exactly what he did.