Chicago White Sox: Seby Zavala’s at bat was a big key in the 9th

Tim Anderson is going to get most of the credit for the way things ended for the Chicago White Sox at the Field of Dreams. Guess what, he deserves most of the credit because he hit a game-winning home run on national television against the New York Yankees at an iconic movie site. However, Seby Zavala deserves a lot of credit for what happened right before that huge hit by Anderson. Without him, the game would not have ended the way that it did.

Zavala found himself down 1-2 in the count before he hit a ball on the third baseline. Right at the last second, the umpire declared that the ball was foul and Zavala would not be thrown out at first base for the second out of the final inning.

Well, Zavala and his brilliant eye came all the way back in the count to draw a walk. As he reached first base, Tim Anderson walked into the batter’s box to hit. It was then that he hit a game-winning home run over the right-field fence. It was a top moment in White Sox history because of the way that they won.

Of course, Zavala isn’t the world’s best offensive catcher but he does what he needs to do. He came into the game with three career home runs and they all came in the same game a few weeks ago. Well, he hit his fourth career home run earlier in this game as well so he deserves some props for that as well. It was a great game for him in every way.

Seby Zavala deserves a lot of credit for the way things went for the Chicago White Sox.

Even guys like Eloy Jimenez, Jose Abreu, and Lance Lynn will come to mind earlier than Zavala when you think about this game many years down the line. That is okay, as long as in the moment we realize how important he was to them pulling this off.

Battling back from down 1-2 in the count to draw a walk isn’t the superstar play but it was the necessary play. It allowed a man to be on base when Anderson hit one to Pluto. Zavala is only there because of Yasmani Grandal’s injury but there is no doubt that he is going to stick around when Grandal comes back.

He has earned his spot on this team full time. It was great to see him do this for his team and it was even better to see them win as a result. As long as he can keep this level of play going, we will enjoy watching him continue to surprise people.