The man who wrestled a bear and has a unique place in Series history

Corey Seager is having a phenomenal postseason so far.

He has six home runs, including three in the World Series. It's not surprising coming from a player with multiple All-Star nods and plenty of playoff experience to his name.

But there is one bad thing that could come of Seager being in another Fall Classic. One ignominious record he could tie.

There's a chance he could, once again, make the final out in a World Series -- like he did back in 2017 against the Astros.

If he does, he'd join just one other player in the history of baseball with two World Series-ending outs. Even worse? This guy did so in back-to-back years in 1907 and 1908.

He is Detroit Tigers catcher Charles "Boss" Schmidt.

Playing more than 100 years apart, it's safe to say Seager and Boss don't have much in common. In fact, as you'll soon read, they have nothing in common.

Seager is one of the toughest outs in all of baseball and Boss was, well, just tough.

The Arkansas-born big leaguer was basically born working in a coal mine back in the late 1800s. He built his prodigious strength from shoveling, packing and trudging through dark tunnels all day long. He was also a boxer, challenging locals to fights in nearby Fort Smith. All of this helped develop his body and his mind into a fearsome semi-pro baseball player during his off-days from the mine life.

And baseball took him places nothing else could. A scout noticed his strong catcher's arm in some local leagues in 1901 and after a few years in the Minors, the Tigers came calling on the defensive stalwart in 1906. According to the Detroit Free Press, the 5-foot-10, 200-pound, 25-year-old had not “an ounce of superfluous flesh on his body.”

Boss played well in limited time during that '06 season -- finishing in the top five in catcher assists, runners caught stealing and caught stealing percentage. But then, in early 1907, Boss' other hobby bubbled back up to the surface: fighting.

The catcher fought teammate Ty Cobb after Cobb attacked a Black groundskeeper and his wife, calling the Tigers star a "coward" for the way he treated women. Later that year, when Cobb wanted a rematch -- seemingly mad because Boss had told newspaper reporters he was a better fighter than any of his teammates -- Boss took Cobb into the locker room and beat him badly. (Cobb and Boss would eventually, somehow, become friends later in life).

The Tigers got past the fighting and turned their anger toward winning the AL pennant in 1907, and win it they did.

Boss had another good year catching runners on the basepaths but also led the league in errors. That's because his fingers were incredibly disfigured -- partly due to his work in the coal mines, partly due to shabby catcher equipment, partly due to fighting and, well, partly due to one of his favorite parlor tricks: hammering nails into floorboards with his fists to impress women.

First World Series Out

Defensively, Schmidt did not have a great 1907 World Series against the Cubs, giving up multiple steals and passed balls. It was so bad, and his right hand hurt so much, that he was reportedly seen crying in the clubhouse after Game 1. He went 2-for-12 at the plate during the Fall Classic, making the final out of the Series in a pinch-hitting appearance in the bottom of the ninth. He popped out to the infield with a man on. After the season, doctors found that Schmidt's hand had been broken the entire time and would need surgery.

Second World Series Out

Boss again had a strange individual year in 1908: He led the AL in assists, but also finished tops in errors at his position. The Tigers won the pennant again and went on to face the Cubs in a rematch. Chicago ran on Schmidt during the entire Series, stealing 12 bases in five games. The weary catcher went 1-for-14 at the plate -- popping up to his counterpart for the final out in Game 5 with nobody on base.

(The Tigers lost the World Series again in 1909 and, amazingly, Boss nearly was up for the final out in Game 7. He was on deck when Tom Jones flied out to left).

Two years later, Boss was out of the Majors for good. Still, even after all the beatings he'd taken and injuries he'd suffered (he was known for refusing to wear shin pads behind the plate), he continued to partake in shenanigans a man named Boss Schmidt is expected to partake in.

At one point during his big league days, he challenged anyone in baseball to a dustup: "I want a fight and I want it badly."

During a team trip to a circus, he may or may not have pinned down a black bear for $500.

He routinely asked pitchers to fire their fastest fastballs off different parts of his body for $10.

Boss played in numerous Minor Leagues after his six years with the Tigers and finished his career as a coach for a team called the Kalamazoo Celery Pickers. He died suddenly in his 50s, remembered as one of the most hard-nosed ballplayers of his era.

So yes, this is the man Seager can tie for a record he definitely has zero interest in tying, and he's doing everything he can to be on the right side of a celebration at the end of this World Series. Still, whether he does or doesn't, maybe he can get Boss' personal slogan embroidered above his fireplace? Somebody should.

“I like to do just four things. Play ball, fight, hunt and eat. Boxing is all right for a little amusement when it’s too cold to play ball…”

Thanks to SABR's Phil Williams for his research for this story.