Texas wins its first World Series in 62 years… MVP Seager

The series ended with 4 wins and 1 loss… Runner-up Arizona
Seager wins WS MVP award for the second time in his career… 4th in history

The Texas Rangers achieved their first ‘Major League (MLB) World Series’ (WS, best-of-seven) championship since their founding.

Texas defeated the Arizona Diamondbacks 5-0 in Game 5 of the 2023 MLB WS held at Chase Field in Phoenix, Arizona, USA on the 2nd (Korean time).

Texas, which had not won the WS since its founding in 1961, finally came out on top, ending the series with a record of 4 wins and 1 loss.

Texas, who recorded 1 win and 1 loss in the 2 games held at home and headed to enemy territory, won games 3 to 5 in a row.

The Willie Mays WS Most Valuable Player Award (MVP) was won by Corey Seager, Texas’ starting shortstop.

Seager, who made his MLB debut wearing the LA Dodgers uniform in 2015, experienced his first win with the Dodgers in 2020. He appeared in 6 WS games and won MVP with a batting average of 0.400, 2 home runs, 5 RBIs, 6 walks, and OPS (on-base percentage + slugging percentage) of 1.256.

Seager signed a 10-year, $325 million mega-free agent contract with Texas in November 2021, and added a championship ring in just his second season.

In Game 1 of this year’s World Series, he hit a dramatic tying two-run home run in the 9th inning, and in Game 3, he hit a 2-run home run. He contributed to the team’s championship with a batting average of 0.286, 3 home runs, 6 RBI, and an OPS of 1.137 in 5 games, winning his second career WS MVP award.

Seager became the fourth player in history to be selected as WS MVP more than twice, following Sandy Koufax, Bob Gibson, and Reggie Jackson. Seager and Jackson (1973 Oakland, 1977 Yankees) received WS MVP trophies from different teams.

On this day, Texas starting pitcher Nathan Evaldi laid the foundation for victory by pitching 6 scoreless innings.

In the batting lineup, Mitch Garber hit the game-winning hit in the 7th inning, and Marcus Siemian hit a 2-run home run in the 9th.

Jack Gallen, who was on the starting mound for Arizona, gave up 1 run in 6 ⅓ innings, but the batting line suffered from empty balls and ended up scoring no points.

In a fierce pitching battle between Ivaldi and Gallen that lasted until the 6th inning, Texas scored first.

Texas Rangers players are celebrating with beer after defeating the Arizona Diamondbacks in Game 5 of the 2023 Major League Baseball (MLB) World Series (WS) held at Chase Field in Phoenix, Arizona on the 1st (local time). Texas defeated Arizona 5-0 and climbed to the top of the WS for the first time since its founding with a series record of 4 wins and 1 loss. 2023.11.02. [피닉스=AP/뉴시스]

In the top of the 7th inning, Corey Seager’s single and Evan Carter’s double led to no outs and Garber hit a timely hit on second and third base. However, Josh Jeong struck out on a missed swing, and Nathaniel Rowe and Jonah Haim failed to score additional points, receiving a ground ball to first base and a foul fly out to the catcher, respectively.

Arizona failed to turn the tide.

With one out in the bottom of the seventh inning, Ketel Marte walked, but Gabriel Moreno struck out on a swing and Christian Walker hit a fly ball to center field.

In the bottom of the 8th inning, Alec Thomas reached base with a base hit with 2 outs, but pinch hitter Parvin Smith struck out while looking.

The pendulum tilted sharply in the top of the 9th inning.

Texas Chung, Rowe, and Haim hit consecutive hits to go up 3-0, and Siemien hit a 92.5 mph (approximately 148.9 km) fastball from Arizona closing pitcher Paul Seawald for a two-run home run that brought the victory.

Source: Donga

Mark

Mark Jones is a world traveler and journalist for News Rebeat. With a curious mind and a love of adventure, Mark brings a unique perspective to the latest global events and provides in-depth and thought-provoking coverage of the world at large.