Rangers Reliever Still Watches Final Out

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."