ARLINGTON, Texas — Who else but Corey Seager and Adolis García would play superhero for the Rangers?
Before this October, Seager had his share of signature moments at Globe Life Field. On Friday, he cemented himself in Texas lore forever. With the Rangers down to their last two outs and trailing by two runs in the ninth inning, Seager took Diamondbacks closer Paul Sewald deep for a game-tying, two-run home run that still might not have landed. While the ball sailed, García was in the on-deck circle, screaming and pumping his fist.
“That was the best moment of the game,” García said afterward. “He fired me up.”
No kidding. Two innings later, García delivered a walk-off homer into the right-field seats off Miguel Castro, as the Rangers spilled onto the field and celebrated their dramatic 6-5 win over the D-backs in Game 1 of the World Series.
Rangers’ Adolis García smashes walk-off HR in Game 1 vs. D-backs
The blue, white, and red crowd of 42,472 at Globe Life Field, simmering for nine innings, finally erupted with all it had. A steady and decibel-shattering roar continued for minutes, long after Seager himself had rounded the bases and high-fived his teammates in the dugout. If the thunder from the stands wasn’t enough to elicit goosebumps, Seager’s reaction to his home run will spark the Rangers for days to come.
Seager is one of baseball’s relative stoics. The business-like shortstop doesn’t allow himself to get excited, let alone show that response to the world. But this was different. This moment was too big, too important. This was the most emotion Seager has ever shown on a baseball field.
“He’s just going nuts and nuts,” Rangers first baseman Nathaniel Lowe said. “That’s so different from his process in the regular season.”
Third baseman Josh Jung added: “The chills is what was crazy. After Corey’s home run, it’s just like blackout moments for everyone. I can only imagine what it was like for him — all the adrenaline rushing through his body.”
The second Seager turned on the first pitch from Sewald — a 94 mph fastball at the top of the zone — he knew it was gone. Everyone did. Standing at home plate, holding his bat, with his chin pointing skyward, Seager howled right then and there. After he watched it go, but before the ball had even touched down, Seager turned to his teammates in the dugout and screamed at them, too. Only once he rounded first base did the detached, cold-blooded Seager return.
“Just excitement, obviously,” said Seager, who had come back down to Earth in time for his postgame press conference. “It’s fun. This is the playoffs. This is kind of what it’s all about. So, it was a cool moment, for sure.”
Rangers’ Corey Seager crushes game-tying, two-run homer
Seager has now hit the third-most home runs by a shortstop in postseason history (17), trailing only Derek Jeter (20) and Carlos Correa (18). The lefty slugger just eclipsed Jeter and Correa for the World Series record with four — in a mere 14 games. His 10 postseason homers at Globe Life Field, the host site for most of the 2020 postseason due to the pandemic, are six more than anyone else in this park. It’s where Seager accomplished his greatest feats, earning NLCS and World Series MVP honors with the Dodgers.
But none of his previous blasts here were bigger than his latest.
“That’s why you bring a guy like that here,” Lowe said. “That’s why you pay top dollar for a top-tier player and you get a top-tier performance when you need it the most.”
Deesha Thosar is an MLB writer for FOX Sports. She previously covered the Mets as a beat reporter for the New York Daily News. The daughter of Indian immigrants, Deesha grew up on Long Island and now lives in Queens. Follow her on Twitter at @DeeshaThosar.
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