World Series Game One: Even the Home Runs are Bigger in Texas

When this year's World Series matchup became official, I wanted two things out of this year's edition. One, I wanted extra inning games. And two, I wanted a seven-game Series. With a matchup as unorthodox as the Texas Rangers facing the Arizona Diamondbacks, I wanted all of the insanity and chaos that could come from this. I would get my first request; time would tell if the other comes true.

The ceremonial first pitch was thrown by former Rangers owner and former POTUS George W. Bush, who was in attendance along with his wife, former First Lady Laura Bush. Other notable names in attendance included Greg Maddux (whose brother, Mike Maddux, is the Rangers' pitching coach, and was also part of that famed Atlanta Braves rotation with one of the men calling the World Series, John Smoltz), CC Sabathia, and even Travis Kelce. The pitching match up was Zac Gallen vs Nathan Eovaldi, and the latter pitched a perfect first, while the Rangers would strike early with a pair of runs--an RBI double from Evan Carter, who would later be driven in via a single from Adolis García.

It was 2-0 Rangers, but in the third inning, Corbin Carroll's two-run triple tied the game, and Ketel Marte drove in Carroll to give the Diamondbacks the lead, as well as increase his postseason game hitting streak to 17 straight games. The bottom half of the inning saw the Rangers tie the game on a bases loaded walk, but in the fourth inning, Tommy Pham's solo shot gave Arizona their lead back. The lead doubled in the fifth inning, and the score held up for several innings. It looked like the Diamondbacks would steal Game One, while the Rangers would lose their fourth straight home game of this year's postseason.

Then the 9th inning happened.

The Diamondbacks were still up 5-3, and Paul Sewald was enlisted to close this out and give the Diamondbacks their third straight (road) win. He walked Leody Taveras, and then the first pitch to Corey Seager (2020 World Series MVP) went to the seats. The game was tied, and for the first time in this year's postseason, we have extra innings, and unlike the regular season...no ghost runner! The 10th inning ended up being uneventful, even though the Rangers had a walk-off situation, with Seager up again, though he would ground out to end the inning. An 11th inning was needed, and in the bottom half, it was--guess who?--Adolis García. Walk-off solo shot. Game One goes to the Rangers.

The Rangers won Game One, 6-5, in 11 innings, due to even more heroics from Adolis García. I know it's only Game One, but if the Rangers do end up winning this whole thing, García has to be the MVP. Honestly, if baseball awarded an MVP for the entire postseason (similar to the NHL's Conn Smythe Trophy), it would have to go to García. The walk-off HR is his eighth of this year's postseason, which includes the vast amount of longballs he hit while he was the Houston Astros' daddy in the ALCS, which earned him the ALCS MVP nod.

The Rangers are in a good spot right now. Out of the previous 114 best-of seven World Series (1903, 1919, 1920, and 1921 were played under a best-of-nine format) played, 73 of the Game One winners went on to win the whole thing. That's 64.04% of the teams; however, the Philadelphia Phillies won Game One last year, but lost the Series. The Rangers are now three wins away from their first championship, and Game Two is Saturday night in Arlington.

If you like this story, click the heart and the subscribe button, and feel free to comment below! Tips and pledges would be greatly appreciated, as they help support my writing, but only if you want to do so!