'We're Going To Do This For You.' Texas Rangers Deliver After Adolis Garcia's Emotional Pregame Message
PHOENIX — Move over, Knute Rockne. Sports has a new "Win one for the Gipper" inspirational legend.
"Win one for El Bombi!"
Injured Texas Rangers slugger Adolis Garcia addressed the team during a hitter's meeting before Tuesday's Game 4 moments after learning that an oblique strain had forced him out of the lineup for the rest of the World Series.
"Pick me up," Garcia implored his teammates.
And they did. The Rangers set a franchise record for the World Series with 11 runs to take a 3-1 edge in the series. Texas could win its first World Series title with a Game 5 win over the Arizona Diamondbacks aT Chase Field. First pitch is 7:03 p.m. CT.
"To hear it from him means everything," Rangers third baseman Josh Jung said. "He’s in the trenches with us regardless of whether he’s playing or not. For him to say that [before Game 4], it hurts all of our hearts, but at the same time it’s, ‘how can we pick him up?’ And the epitome of that is Janko going out there and performing the way he did."
Garcia's replacement in right field, Travis Jankowski, came up huge.
"I think it pulls you together, right? Anyone would give anything they could to go out there and be on that field tonight. And when Adolis gets hurt, that’s emotional," Jankowski said.
“He’s been a huge part of our success, not only in the postseason but the regular season too. And he deserves to be out there. So that’s when you pull together as a team and say, ‘Hey, let’s do this for the guy who can’t go out there tonight. He’s pulled along this whole year, let’s go out there and pick him up."
Garcia's message to the team even inspired hardened postseason veterans such as Corey Seager, who hit his third World Series homer and sixth of the postseason.
“That took a lot of guts [for] him to come out there and speak," Seager said. "We know how he feels. He wants to be out there with us. It really fired the guys up.”
Same for Marcus Semien, who busted out of a postseason offensive slump with five RBI.
"Everybody feels for those guys from a position-player standpoint, just watching what Adolis did for the entire playoffs. He got us to where we are now. So when you lose that guy, you know, you feel for him," he said.
Catcher Jonah Heim said the team's message back to Garcia was responding with an 11-run outburst.
"He and Corey have pretty much carried us this whole postseason," Heim said. "We told him we’ve got your back and we’re going to do this for you."
Garcia has eight homers and a record 22 RBI during the Rangers' postseason run. But he'll have to watch from the dugout now.
Winning One For El Bombi!
"You can’t really replace a guy like that. The amount of thump he brings, the energy he brings, the defense he brings, that’s a hard guy to replace," Jung said. "But his message was ‘pick me up.’ We’ve dealt with a lot of injuries this year, at all different times throughout the length of our schedule, and anything we can do to pick him up, [do it] and that was his message, just continue to pick me up, just like we did all year.
"So it hurt for all of us, but it gives other guys an opportunity to step up and that’s when you see heroes emerge that you would never think of," Jung said. "Janko came in tonight and had a heck of a game. You can’t be happier for a guy like that who has continued to prepare regardless of his role on the team, and when it’s his turn, he steps up in a big way."
You can follow Stefan Stevenson on Twitter @StefanVersusTex.
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