LOS ANGELES (AFP) — Corey Seager took his place among the legends of Major League Baseball by taking his second World Series Most Valuable Player award after sparking the Texas Rangers to the title.
The 29-year-old American shortstop snapped a six-inning hit drought and scored the first run on Wednesday as the Rangers beat Arizona, 5-0, to take the first World Series crown in the club’s 63-year history.
“Really special moment,” Seager said.
“Lot of satisfaction, putting in the hours, having the focus to show up and compete every day for 162 games. That’s a hard thing to do. I’m just proud of this group to be able to do that.”
Seager had been the 2020 World Series MVP when he ignited the Los Angeles Dodgers to a championship run in a Covid-struck campaign.
He departed just over a year later, signing a 10-year contract worth $325 million with the Rangers, who were coming off a 102-loss season but determined to become a contender.
“They pretty much laid that out for me in my meeting,” Seager said.
“There was a lot of trust, in me for them and for them in me. This is what they saw. This is what I saw. It’s just amazing that it worked out.”
Seager became only the fourth player in MLB history to win the MVP award multiple times, joining Hall of Fame pitchers Bob Gibson and Sandy Koufax and slugger Reggie Jackson.
Only Seager and Jackson managed the feat with two different teams and only Seager did it with clubs from the National and American leagues.
“It was fun to be a part of it. It wasn’t only me,” Seager said.
“This whole team competed.”
When the Rangers needed a big hit, Seager delivered. He crushed three home runs and drove in six runs during the World Series to give Texas a 4-1 win in the best-of seven showdown.
Seager homered in three of the five games, batted .286 (6-for-21) with three walks and six runs scored.
