The Texas Rangers handled business last week, taking down the Arizona Diamondbacks in five games to win their first World Series in franchise history! Their 5-0 title-clinching victory in game five sent fans into a frenzy, and it truly told the story of the 2023 Rangers. Superb pitching and timely hitting paved the way to this historic victory.
Shortstop Corey Seager earned World Series Most Valuable Player (MVP) with his heroic performance that included three long home runs and six runs batted in (RBI). His statement blast in the seventh to break up Arizona starter Zac Gallen’s no-hitter was all Texas needed to take the World Series crown. He proved that postseason experience is key, taking the lead for a relatively inexperienced group of hitters when it comes to the postseason.
It was an unusually quiet game five from the group for the first eight innings. Hitters started to spray the ball around the diamond. It started with singles from Rangers rookie third baseman Josh Jung and first baseman Nathaniel Lowe. Catcher Jonah Heim followed with another single up the middle, but that’s when disaster struck for Arizona. Young up-and-coming centerfielder Alek Thomas rushed to play the ball back in, but the ball snuck under his glove and rolled all the way to the wall, allowing two runs to score. Multi-million dollar second baseman Marcus Semien then delivered the knockout blow with a two-run shot. The five-run lead was all they needed, as the team flooded the field once the final out was recorded.
Starting pitcher Nathan Eovaldi, who signed a 34 million dollar contract this offseason, did what he was signed to do, tight roping through six innings of shutout baseball. Trade deadline acquisition, reliever Aroldis Chapman contributed two-thirds of an inning himself, keeping the Diamondbacks off the board in the seventh. Then, reliever Josh Sborz, who pitched 12 frames this postseason to an earned run average of 0.75, went the rest of the distance and shut the door while striking out four.
It was a series not many would have expected coming into the postseason. It was certainly one where future stars were born, though. Rangers’ rookies like Jung and outfielder Evan Carter as well as Diamondbacks’ rookies outfielder Corbin Carroll and starter Brandon Pfaadt are just beginning to introduce themselves to the league, and both sides are just scratching the surface of their true potential. For Texas, this could be the birth of Major League Baseball’s next dynasty. For Arizona, they could be the face of the National League in a couple of years.
Congrats to the Rangers. It was a great season and we’ll see what happens in what should be a chaotic offseason, as baseball fans wait patiently for the 2024 season.
