Josh Sborz had the weight of Texas Rangers' history on his back.
The 29-year-old pitcher was on the mound against the Arizona Diamondbacks with the Rangers one strike away from winning the first World Series championship in the franchise's 63-year history.
In Game 5 of the Rangers-Diamondbacks series, Sborz approached the mound in the 9th inning with a comfortable Rangers' 5-0 lead. He was unsure he would remain on the mound to close out the game as pitcher José Leclerc had been the one to get the call.
"I had no idea or thought that I was going to finish the game because our closer had closed out every single game we won and so I totally thought he was going to take the ninth," Sborz exclusively told NBC. "I was just honestly trying to let the guy [Ketel Marte] hit the ball… there was no intention to strike him out. It was just to just try to end the game."
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Sborz threw the final 2 1/3 innings of Game 5, something he hadn't done in his career, to clinch the Rangers' first World Series title with a 4-1 series win.
When home plate umpire Brian Knight called strike 3 on Marte, Sborz slammed his glove into the field turf in front of the mound as catcher Jonah Heim -- and the rest of the Rangers' squad -- ran in to celebrate the historic feat.
"It felt like, to get to Jonah, like 30 seconds, and it was probably a time span of three seconds, but it just everything kind of stopped," Sborz laughed. "I was hugging him [Heim] and then I saw our 6-foot-6 [Aroldis] Chapman running at me. So I was kind of petrified I was about to get run over, but I was able to stay on my feet.
Sborz and others on the Rangers' squad have donated some of their game-used treasures to the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, NY, including caps, helmets, gloves, spikes, jerseys, bats, luggage and caps. The UVA alum will be turning in the glove he used to record the save in the final game.
"The good thing is it's just the glove, you always get another one. But what an honor," Sborz said. "I mean, the guy kind of asked, kind of just popped out of nowhere and was like, 'So I'm part of the Cooperstown Hall of Fame, we would like to take an object that you used during the game' I mean, I didn't really have time to think. I was like, 'Whatever you want, just have it.' And sure enough, they wanted the glove. So gone forever, but it's in a better place now."
Sborz, a father of two sons with his wife Alexis Sborz, a former collegiate women's soccer player he met at UVA, hopes to get to show his boys the glove in the historic location.
"I hope one day we get to go there and my kids can see it," Sborz said. "The good thing is, is the glove was getting retired 'cause I got to add another initial on there for my other son. I hope one day we can go there as a family and they can see it and appreciate it, obviously bring back a lot of good memories that we had that year."
Sborz, who is now arbitration-eligible, believes the Rangers have a strong future ahead. But for the time being, he's going to enjoy the title.
"It's something I dreamed of my entire life. Just one, making it to the major leagues and then winning a World Series," Sborz said. "So, just glad we could bring it home for the fans. I don't think it's totally sunk in that we did it. I think it's just so challenging to do, so I'm just trying to experience day by day and just enjoy it."
