Texas Rangers Reliever Still Watches World Series Final Out, Still Can't Believe It

Texas Rangers reliever Josh Sborz, on hand for the club's holiday toy drive, said it will be years before it sinks in that he was on the mound to clinch the club's first World Series title.

ARLINGTON — Josh Sborz still watches video of the moment and still can't believe it.

The Texas Rangers reliever who closed out the World Series Game 5 clincher will forever be remembered in hearts of Rangers fans for recording the final seven outs of the club's first championship.

"It's going to take a couple of years for it to sink in," said Sborz, who along with Jon Gray, Marcus Semien, pitching coach Mike Maddux, and bullpen coach Brett Hayes, signed autographs Thursday during the club's holiday toy drive at Globe Life Field. "I still look at the videos quite often and still don't believe it happened. But it's truly an honor, rest in peace to that glove."

Texas Rangers reliever Josh Sborz was on the mound for the last out of the World Series / Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports

Sborz slammed his glove into the turf after recording the final out on Nov. 1. That glove is now in the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, N.Y.

Sborz, who turns 30 on Dec. 17, isn't recognized too often by fans, but when he is, they want to thank him. 

"I generally don't bring it up, I don't care to talk about myself," Sborz said with a laugh. "But if they know, I'll elaborate some. If they don't, I'm cool with that, too."

He's only been stopped by a fan four or five times, including the most recent at DFW Airport.

"I was coming through customs at DFW and the guy stopped me for about 10 minutes to talk," he said. "He told me a story about how his daughters were crying. For me, that's the coolest part about social media was watching the fan's expressions and just the happiness we were able to bring."

That's one of the reasons he wanted to be part of the toy drive, of which Jon and Jacklyn Gray were the chairpersons. Several thousand fans lined up, the earliest at 11 a.m., to donate a new toy for a good cause and get the autographs from some of their heroes. 

"[These fans] supported us, World Seriesless for 50 years," Sborz said. "Bringing joy to everybody, that's the Christmas spirit, right? I'm just happy to be here."

Sborz said he took two weeks off to relax before he started throwing again. He said the extra month of work in the postseason "just makes it a priority to get stronger."

"Less down time but I love to play baseball so I don't mind," he said. "I think recovery is big but I think lifting [weights] is a way of recovering. Keep it simple."

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