Cam Booser keeps finding himself in the middle of big moments for the Tampa Bay Rays, and Game 4 of the American League Championship Series gave him another one.
After the Rays’ pitching staff let two runs cross in the seventh, Tampa Bay still had to survive the eighth. Kevin Kelly gave up a two-out single, and Booser was the one summoned to clean it up. He did exactly that, striking out David Fry and slamming the door on the inning.
The reaction in the stands told its own story.
Tampa Bay 28 sports anchor Kyle Burger posted a video of Booser’s wife celebrating the strikeout with pure emotion. Burger wrote, “if you know Booser's story, you know why his wife can't hold her excitement,” and the clip made clear how much the moment meant.
Booser’s path to this point is as unlikely as they come. He didn’t make his major league debut until he was 32, and he’s now 34 and enjoying a breakout.
His career once looked finished. An undrafted free agent in the Minnesota Twins system, he was hit by injuries and retired in 2017.
He worked as a carpenter while dealing with addiction, then got back around the game in 2020 by coaching because he missed baseball.
From there, things took off in a way nobody could have predicted. He threw for fun one day and found out he could still bring it at 96 mph.
That opened the door to independent ball with the Chicago Dogs, then a return to affiliated baseball with Arizona after the Twins let him go. The Diamondbacks later released him, sending him back to Indy ball with the Lancaster Barnstormers before the Boston Red Sox gave him another shot, including one in the majors.
The Rays got involved after he was non-tendered by the Chicago White Sox and signed him to a minor league deal. He opened the year at Triple-A Durham and dominated there, posting a 1.80 ERA and 0.95 WHIP across 23 outings. Tampa Bay brought him up on June 2, and he hasn’t looked back since.
In the majors, he finished with a 1.98 ERA and an even sharper 0.76 WHIP over 42 games. That work earned him a postseason roster spot, and so far he hasn’t allowed a run in four appearances this October.
For a Rays bullpen that has had its rough patches, Booser has been one of the bright spots. And now he can say he helped knock off the New York Yankees, with two wins standing between Tampa Bay and the World Series.
In Other News...
Kevin Cashs Game 4 Pitching Move Changed The Rays ALCS Stakes
The Rays found a way to change the tone of the American League Championship Series in Game 4, and part of it came from a move that gave Kevin Cash a little more flexibility than usual. Freddy Peralta, who had already started and won Game 2, was available out of the bullpen for the 7-3 win over Cleveland, and Cash said the right-hander was eager to help in whatever role the team needed. Peralta handled a brief outing well, giving Tampa Bay another arm when the game tightened and helping the Rays even the series at two games apiece.
The bigger picture now shifts to Game 5, where the pitching plan becomes even more important with the ALCS hanging in the balance. Cash confirmed Drew Rasmussen will get the start, and the Rays enter the next game with a chance to take control after surviving a pivotal swing game on the road. For a club that has leaned into creative usage all October, the question is no longer just who starts, but how far Cash is willing to push his options as the series moves into its most pressure-packed stretch. [Read more 🡒]
Rays Finally Found What They Needed With Season On The Line
With their season hanging in the balance, the Rays found the steadiness they had been searching for and forced the Guardians to keep playing under pressure. Tampa Bay mixed timely offense with crisp work in the field and enough pitching to keep Cleveland from ever fully settling in, a combination that was missing when the series tilted toward the brink.
Victor Mesa Jr. helped set the tone with a standout defensive sequence, while Jonathan Aranda and Junior Caminero supplied the kind of offense the Rays needed to stay alive. Nick Martinez and Foster Griffin handled the mound duties as Tampa Bay extended its lead late, taking advantage when Cleveland's defense slipped and turning a tight postseason game into one the Rays could finally control. [Read more 🡒]
Rays Turn To An Unusual Rallying Cry In Must-Win Game 4
Down 2-1 in the ALCS against the Guardians, the Rays are looking for any edge they can find as they head into a must-win Game 4, and Richie Palacios has turned to an unlikely source for motivation. He framed Tampa Bays spot against Cleveland through the lens of an NBA playoff team that faced a similar hole, using that comeback as a reminder that a series can swing fast when a club finds the right urgency at the right time.
Palacios went a step further by mapping some of the Rays own personalities onto the kind of roles that tend to drive those postseason runs, suggesting there are players in the clubhouse who fit the tough, relentless mold those teams lean on. It is the sort of clubhouse mindset that can sound like a rallying cry or a stretch depending on how the game goes, but for the Rays, the bigger point is simple enough: they need Game 4 to feel like the start of something, not the end. [Read more 🡒]