Canadian catcher Liam Hicks delivered a major offensive spark for the Tampa Bay Rays during Game 2 of the World Series on Saturday, etching his name into baseball history in the process.
Stepping to the plate in the opening frame after the Rays had already plated two runs against Milwaukee Brewers starting pitcher Logan Henderson, Hicks faced a runner on first base and capitalized quickly. He sent a second-pitch cutter deep into the second deck, extending Tampa Bay’s early advantage to 4-0 with a two-run blast.
The 411-foot home run marked Hicks’s first long ball of the current post-season, providing a vital early cushion as the Rays looked to rebound from a Game 1 defeat.
Beyond its immediate impact on the scoreboard, the home run placed the 27-year-old into exclusive historical company. Hicks became just the fourth Canadian-born hitter to connect for a home run in World Series history.
That elite club previously consisted of only three players: George Selkirk in 1936, Larry Walker in 2004, and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. in 2025. While Selkirk, Walker, and Guerrero all hit multiple home runs during their respective Fall Classic appearances, Selkirk remains the only player among the group whose team ultimately captured the championship with the New York Yankees.
Hicks entered Saturday’s matchup batting .194 with a .265 on-base percentage and a .266 slugging percentage, alongside six RBIs across the postseason. Two of those previous RBIs came during Tampa Bay’s opening-game loss to Milwaukee.
The Toronto native’s journey to the World Series stage has featured several stops across the league. Initially selected by the Texas Rangers in the ninth round of the 2021 amateur draft, Hicks was subsequently traded to the Detroit Tigers in 2024 before being picked by the Miami Marlins in the Rule 5 Draft later that year.
After making his major league debut with Miami in 2025, Hicks enjoyed a breakout campaign this season prior to being dealt to the Rays ahead of the trade deadline in exchange for a package of three prospects. Across 142 regular-season games split between the Marlins and the Rays, the catcher finished the year with an .801 OPS, 18 home runs, and 82 RBIs.
