Famous pep talks from postseason history

Even the best athletes in the world sometimes need a jolt.

A veteran clubhouse leader will recognize that and provide that shot of energy -- each in his own fiery way. Particularly in the postseason, with emotions swinging from the highest of highs to the lowest of lows, some timely words from team leaders have helped to swing the outcomes of playoff series, sticking as pivotal moments in the memories of those games as they go down in baseball history.

Here's a look back at some notable postseason pep talks from the recent past.

Adolis García, 2023 World Series, Game 4
García lifted the Rangers to the World Series by putting together one of the greatest postseason runs in MLB history. That included a walk-off homer in the 11th inning of Game 1, García's fifth straight playoff game with a dinger. However, as the Rangers were on their way to taking a 2-1 series lead over the D-backs in Game 3, Texas' celebratory mood turned sour as García exited in the eighth inning with a left oblique strain. His World Series -- at least on the field -- was over.

But García would provide an impact prior to Game 4. That's when he gathered Texas' hitters and gave a “vulnerable and emotional” pregame speech, according to catcher Jonah Heim.

"What he said was emotional and it hit us right in the heart and gave us a little bit extra something to play for today," Heim said.

The Rangers' offense responded by thumping Arizona, 11-7, to pull within one win of the franchise's first World Series title. Shortstop Corey Seager hit his third homer of the series in the triumph.

"[García] told us he loved us. He wants us to do it for him," Seager said after the game. "We tried to go out there and put on a good performance."

Chris Sale, 2018 World Series, Game 4
Boston's powerful offense posted 12 runs over the first two games of the World Series at Fenway Park to push the Red Sox to a commanding 2-0 series lead, but once the series moved to Los Angeles, that productivity was suddenly nowhere to be found. Boston was held to two runs in its 18-inning loss in Game 3, with one scoring on an error, and when Rich Hill stretched the Red Sox's scoreless streak to 11 innings with six shutout frames to begin Game 4, Sale had seen enough.

At that point, the Red Sox trailed, 4-0, in the seventh inning, and Sale was seen shouting in the dugout in a fiery plea for the bats to wake up. Shortly after, Mitch Moreland hit a pinch-hit, three-run homer in the seventh, Steve Pearce tied the game with a long ball in the eighth and Boston pounded five hits in a five-run ninth that put the game out of reach. The Dodgers could have tied the series, but instead, the Red Sox emerged within one win of a World Series championship.

"That moment was huge because it motivated us," Rafael Devers said through an interpreter. "It scared me a little bit, because I had never seen him yell like that and the words that he was saying, I had never heard that come from him before, but we came out sluggish, and that moment helped us get motivated for the rest of the game."

Justin Verlander, 2017 World Series, Game 2
Much of the buzz entering the 2017 Fall Classic surrounded Kenley Jansen and the Dodgers' seemingly unbeatable bullpen. Featuring Jansen, Kenta Maeda, Brandon Morrow, Tony Watson and a host of others, Los Angeles' relief corps threw 17 scoreless innings in the National League Championship Series against the Cubs and tossed two perfect innings in World Series Game 1 against the Astros.

In Game 2, the Dodgers cracked Verlander for three runs and took a 3-1 lead into the eighth inning. But in the Astros' dugout, Verlander still wasn't done helping his team, even though his night on the mound was over, as he poked his head out of the tunnel and forcefully reminded his teammates that they weren't yet out of it. Houston then tagged Morrow and Jansen for a run in the eighth, Marwin Gonzalez hit a game-tying homer off Jansen in the ninth, and the Astros added two in the 10th and two more in the 11th to send the series back to Houston tied 1-1.

"I guess that was just my message: Stay positive and remember how good you are, and play the game," Verlander said after the game. "It's only two runs. This team, since I've been here, and I know it hasn't been that long, but two runs is nothing. And all of a sudden, two runs seemed like it was the Grand Canyon. I don't even know if anybody heard me, but I just wanted to remind these guys two runs is nothing."

Jason Heyward, 2016 World Series, Game 7
Heyward, signed by the Cubs to a blockbuster eight-year deal during the offseason, struggled to live up to expectations during the regular season and was mired in a deep slump throughout the playoffs, hitting .104 with one RBI despite playing in all but one of the Cubs' playoff games.

Heywardobviously didn't make as much of a contribution on the field as he would have hoped, but on baseball's biggest stage, with a World Series Game 7 going into extra innings after Rajai Davis' improbable game-tying homer off Aroldis Chapman, Heyward gathered his teammates together for a team meeting during a 17-minute rain delay to help the Cubs regroup and refocus. Out of the break, they strung together three hits in a two-run 10th inning to win the franchise's first World Series championship in 108 years.

"I told them I love them," Heyward said. "I told them I'm proud of the way they overcame everything together. I told them everyone has to look in the mirror, and know everyone contributed to this season and to where we are at this point. I said, 'I don't know how it's going to happen, how we're going to do it, but let's go out and try to get a W.'"

David Ortiz, 2013 World Series, Game 4
It was a make-or-break point in the 2013 World Series, when the Red Sox and Cardinals were tied 1-1 after five innings at Busch Stadium with St. Louis already leading the series, 2-1. If the Cards were to win, they would get the chance to clinch the championship at home the next day. Sensing the magnitude of the moment, Big Papi called together a huddle in the dugout between innings and delivered a steadying call to his teammates.

"We don't get here every day," Ortiz was heard saying. "Let's relax and play the game the way we know how. We're better than this right here. Let's loosen up and let's play the game the way we do."

One inning later, Jonny Gomes, a late lineup replacement for Shane Victorino, drove a two-out, three-run homer off reliever Seth Maness to stake the Red Sox to a 4-1 lead. Boston never again trailed in the series, taking Game 5 in St. Louis before clinching the World Series in front of its home fans for the first time in 95 years with a 6-1 win in Game 6.

Hunter Pence, 2012 NLDS, Game 3
The Giants' World Series dynasty in the early 2010s was almost stopped short in its tracks in the 2012 NL Division Series, when the Reds shelled Matt Cain and Madison Bumgarner in the first two games at AT&T Park to bring the series to Cincinnati with the Giants facing an 0-2 deficit. Before the start of Game 3 at Great American Ball Park, Pence gathered his teammates for a passionate pregame speech shortly before the first pitch.

"I want one more day with you. It's the most fun, the best team I've ever been on, and no matter what happens, we must not give in -- we owe it to each other, play for each other," then-Giants third-base coach Tim Flannery remembered Pence saying. "I need one more day with you guys. I need to see what [Ryan] Theriot will wear tomorrow. I want to play defense behind [Ryan] Vogelsong because he's never been to the playoffs. … Play for each other, not yourself -- win each moment, win each inning. It's all we have left."

Vogelsong went toe-to-toe with Homer Bailey in a Game 3 pitchers' duel that the Giants won, 2-1, in extra innings. San Francisco stayed alive with an 8-3 rout in Game 4. And after Pence fired up the Giants one more time in the AT&T Park dugout prior to the decisive Game 5, they rode a six-run fifth inning to come all the way back and advance to the NLCS, eventually winning the second of their three World Series titles as part of their even-year run.