Texas Rangers 'Terminator' Corey Seager May Appear Emotionless, But Teammates Love, Respect Him

Texas Rangers shortstop Corey Seager rarely shows emotions on the field, but with his first-inning home run in Game 7, his circuits blew.

ARLINGTON, Texas — Jonah Heim laughed out of shock.

Corey Seager had just ripped a 440-foot, first-inning home run in Game 7 of the ALCS and his emotions exploded as he approached the Texas Rangers' dugout.

"I didn't know how to react," Heim said. "It's probably one of the coolest things ever because we always joke about how maybe he should show some emotion, poking fun of him."

The Rangers All-Star shortstop is famously stoic between the lines. Rarely do his emotions show on the field and he's never been a big fan of media interviews. 

Seager pumped his fist and roared with celebration and slapped high-fives with Josh Jung on his way to the dugout.

Corey Seager on playing Game 7, Adolis handling the boos, and the clutch double play in the 7th ... pic.twitter.com/iodtZIkAMm

— Stefan Stevenson (@StefanVersusTex) October 23, 2023

"I thought my hand broke all over again," joked Jung, referring to his fractured thumb in August. "I thought, ‘Oh snap, we’re about to really play well.' When Corey showed that emotion it got all of us excited. In Game 7, in that situation, on the road, it got us all going."

The Rangers open the World Series against the Arizona Diamondbacks with Game 1 at 7:03 p.m. Friday at Globe Life Field in Arlington.

Seager may come off as a Terminator-type figure on the field, a player programmed like an Android to destroy baseballs, and his pregame routines don't do anything to dispel the reputation.

Rangers bench coach and offensive coordinator Donnie Ecker nodded with a knowing laugh when asked about Seager's maniacal preparation, routine, and outward personality. He's constantly reviewing video footage of his swing from multiple angles to detect any inconsistencies or abnormalities.

"He prepares like a golfer would. His game is all about setting up his biomechanics and he’ll revisit it three or four times in a day before the game starts and then when the game starts after every at-bat he’ll make little adjustments," Ecker said. "He has a whole different language that he uses in-game that I’ve had to learn from him. It's a  decade-long process for him. I try to coach him in the way he sees it."

Ecker explains Seager this way. "He has the most elite behaviors I've ever seen in a baseball player," he said. "He will not put his energy into anything if it doesn’t go to winning the game. He’s so in the moment for every pitch."

Much like a starting pitcher the day of his game, Seager is best left to a spoke when spoken to communication. You don't want to interrupt his process.

As you might guess, Seager wasn't exactly thrilled to be answering questions about himself during Thursday's World Series media day. Has he been this way since he was a kid?

"Yeah, probably, it’s just part of my personality," he said. "It’s the quiet person in the room that you don’t know what’s going on. He’s not all outward, telling you how he’s feeling. You never know what’s going on."

But behind closed doors, his teammates describe a joking, personable guy who will play cards and hang out.

"In the clubhouse, he’s one of the best dudes we have in here. He’s always having a good time, he plays cards, he has fun with us," said Heim, who shares a locker next to Seager. "He’s a man of few words but when people are men of few words, when they talk, you usually listen. He's probably one of the best teammates I’ve ever had. He’s my locker mate, so he yells at me quite a bit, but I get over it pretty quickly."

Ecker said Seager is "emotionless most of the time, but learned early on to be ready with information when Seager called for it.

"He’s very clear about certain things in-game that he likes. It’s not many times, but you better be ready when he wants them," Ecker said. "He wants to know what [type of pitches are] they going to throw me. 'What is about to happen?' I'm not flipping a coin, but I better not be wrong."

For example, if a team brings in a reliever, Seager might ask Ecker how the pitcher has thrown to him in the past.

"It’s fun. You overprepare as much as you can for moments like that and if Corey wants something you’re going to roll the dice on a probability, and I use my gut as well, and get Corey the information he needs," Ecker said. "He probably has the largest data storage on the staff."

Rangers outfielder Adolis Garcia, who often wears his emotions on his sleeve, in many ways has the polar opposite style of Seager.

"He’s a great human being, and in the clubhouse, specifically, he’s someone who pushes us," Garcia said. "You might not see it out on the field because of the way he plays, but he’s someone who pushes us all of the time. People might not see that but he’s really fun to be around."

Heim long ago asked Seager about his stoic, emotionless style. 

"He’s like, ‘Jonah, get me to the World Series and you’ll see some emotion.’ So I’m excited to see what he does when he hits another homer," Heim said.

World Seriously?

You can follow Stefan Stevenson on Twitter @StefanVersusTex.

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