Jordan Hamm
The Texas Rangers cut the Arizona Diamondbacks’ World Series hopes short in 2023, and there’s one man – potentially machine – that led the way: Corey Seager.
The Diamondbacks can say they went head-to-head with A.I. because Seager was a Terminator in this series. He was inevitable. He was stoic.
He was so damn good.
Like a Terminator, he’s relentless.
He had as many home runs in the World Series as the entire Diamondbacks team.
He was the first run to come across the played on Wednesday night when Zac Gallen and Nathan Eovaldi were making runs a premium in Game 5. He didn’t need power in that situation. He slapped the pitch down the left field line against a shifting Diamondback defense.
The first run came in, and that swung the momentum to Texas.
He impacted the game defensively as well, making tough plays look routine.
Like a Terminator, he keeps popping up when you think you’ve outrun him.
The Diamondbacks thought they escaped him when he left the Dodgers. He was in the other freaking league now, far away in Texas.
Nope, they then saw him on the biggest stage, hitting .286 with three home runs, six runs and six RBI in five games.
Seager now enters a rarified level of fear, anger and, in a weird way, respect from Arizona fans. While a Patrick Beverly or Robert Horry can get hate from the hometown crowd for what they do between whistles, Seager is getting boos for simply existing and being good.
Really, really good.
Boos rain down from the Chase Field crowd as Corey Seager comes to the plate
📺: FOX pic.twitter.com/iGaCnknGSa
— FOX Sports: MLB (@MLBONFOX) November 1, 2023
In fact, his postgame press conferences are that of a T-800.
He’ll answer the question. He won’t expand on a question more than he needs to. He won’t add any bulletin board material.
And then he’ll kick your ass.
If Arizona fans didn’t have the hair on the back of their neck stand up when hearing “Seager” moving forward, they will now.
Here’s the group he joins:
James Harrison – Pittsburgh Steelers
There was some debate over who inflicted the most pain in the Cardinals’ Super Bowl XLIII loss: Santonio Holmes (9 receptions, 131 yards and the go-ahead touchdown) or James Harrison (four tackles, a 100-yard pick-six at the end of the half).
I asked my brother what he thought, and this sold it for Harrison for me: “Holmes was a good play. Harrison reminded me I rooted for cursed teams.”
If the pass falls incomplete, the Cardinals probably win the Super Bowl. If he gets tackled right away, the Cardinals probably win the Super Bowl. If he gets tackled at all, the Cardinals probably win the Super Bowl.
But he didn’t. The Steelers won. Cardinals fans are still pissed.
John Paxson – Chicago Bulls
Yes, Michael Jordan averaged 41 points in 45 minutes per game (!!!) in the 1993 NBA Finals. Suns fans can hear Michael Jordan and think about a million different things.
But “John Paxson” gets mentioned, and Suns fans go to that one bleeping moment.
Game 6. The Suns are up two in the closing seconds. The defense crashes down in the paint and paxson is able to slip out and…swish.
It was the final blow to one of the biggest Arizona sports runs in history.
Deron Williams – Univsersity of Illinois
Look away Arizona Wildcat fans.
It’s 2005. The team down in Tucson is a squad.
The only team standing in the way of the Final Four is No. 1-seeded Illinois. With 4:04 left in the game, the Cats were up by 15. Somehow, Illinois climbed back. Luther Head and Dee Brown were absolute studs, but it was Deron Williams that made that engine run.
The Illini climbed back into the game, eventually winning in overtime.
Williams tied the game with a three-pointer in the closing minute of regulation. He led the Illini with 22 points and had 10 assists.
It’s an all-time tournament game and still a sore subject in Tucson, and Williams created those tough memories in more than one way.
Joe Germaine – Ohio State
The hometown kid crushed the hometown team.
The Mesa native stalled ASU Football’s shot at a national championship when the Devils and Ohio State got together in the 1997 Rose Bowl.
Germaine won player of the game and threw two touchdowns including the go-ahead score with 19 seconds left.
ASU fans look back on that season so fondly, and the only blemish could have been erased if the Devils could have hung on for 19 more seconds.
Tim Duncan – San Antonio Spurs
In the Seven Seconds of Less era of the Suns, the Spurs ended their season four times.
We could have gone with Robert Horry and his hip-check that led to Amar’e Stoudemire and Boris Diaw getting suspended. The winner of that series was winning the NBA title. Everyone knew that, and the Suns were without key pieces during that series.
We could talk about Manu Ginobili and Bruce Bowen, who Stoudemire called “dirty,” but this isn’t Arizona sports villians. It’s Arizona sports nightmares.
Tim Duncan was a nightmare.
Even when the Suns put him in a position that’s out-of-character for his skillset, he somehow pulls a shot out of his you-know-what.
Some of the Suns’ best teams ever ended at the hands of Duncan, who averaged 20.6 points, 11.4 rebounds and 3.0 assists in 251 postseason games.
So welcome to the team, Seags. I’m sure the initiation involves cutting down a saguaro or spitting in an eegee.
You’re a world-class talent.
And now an absolute nightmare for Arizona fans.
