Suddenly Seymour(s): Bob debuts in game also featuring Ian (and Carson)

SAN FRANCISCO -- First baseman Bob Seymour and reliever Ian Seymour were partners in crime during two seasons together at Triple-A Durham, convincing a lot of folks they were brothers. They took the joke a step farther with one poor International League umpire.

For three months last season, the Seymours had the ump believing not only that they were brothers, but that Ian came to Bob’s family as a homeless urchin whom they adopted.

As Ian recalled the ruse, “I didn’t have anyone and his family found me on the street and took me in. We hit random people with that.”

Both Seymours reached the Majors this season, Ian in June and Bob on Friday night. Bob went hitless in three at-bats with a walk in his debut. But he also made a perfect throw home for a forceout in a pressure situation, with the game tied 6-6 in the eighth.

He then watched new teammate Yandy Díaz grab his “Tom and Jerry”-themed Players' Weekend bat and hit a one-out single in the ninth to give the Rays a 7-6 victory.

Once Díaz found the old cartoons on YouTube, there was no hitting the pause button. He says he watches them to relax, also while lifting weights. Asked if he ever rooted the cat to defeat the mouse, Díaz said, “No!’

In a game full of oddities, starting with three players surnamed Seymour appearing, and the first Bob to play in a Major League game since 2010 (Bob Howry), the Rays overcame deficits of 1-0, 3-1 and 6-3 to forge a 6-6 tie by the fourth inning.

Two of the Seymours, relievers Carson for the Giants and Ian for the Rays, each pitched solidly to slam a lid on two overboiling offenses. They allowed the tie game to simmer until one team or the other could deliver a decisive blow.

Díaz provided it in a ninth inning that began with Giants closer Randy Rodríguez hitting Nick Fortes.

The most normal thing that happened was Junior Caminero’s second-inning home run, his 35th of the season and seventh in the first 10 games of the Rays’ four-city trip.

“It’s like death, taxes and Junior’s going to hit a home run. He’s a freak. He’s gifted,” said Chandler Simpson, whose three hits included a single in the winning rally.

Caminero also is less than two months past his 22nd birthday.

At the other end of the “how did you get here” spectrum, Bob Seymour made his Major League debut two months before his 27th birthday.

He played 162 games over the past two seasons at Durham before he finally forced his way into the Majors by hitting 30 homers this year, tied for most in the Minors. In those 162 games for the Bulls, the equivalent of a full Major League Season, he hit 49.

He belted three of those in one game against Nashville on Tuesday.

Seymour’s only power failure was being unable to slam a homer off the bovine-shaped “HIT BULL, WIN STEAK” sign beyond the left-field fence at Durham Bulls Athletic Park.

Tampa Bay did not need another power hitter when they promoted Seymour. They had 15 homers over the first nine games of their trip without him. But manager Kevin Cash said the club will benefit from having another first baseman, affording Díaz more opportunities to get off his feet and DH.

At some point, no matter what the big club needs roster-wise, an organization that sees a 6-foot-3, 250-pound lefty losing so many baseballs does not need another reason to promote him.

“Since he got up to Durham last year, he’s pretty much wrecked the International League,” Cash said.

You won’t find Seymour on the MLB Pipeline’s Top 100 prospects list, nor even the Pipeline’s Tampa Bay Top 30.

A big reason can be found in his contact stats. In 2024, he struck out 156 times combined at Double-A and Triple-A, once per 3.3 plate appearances. That improved to once per 3.9 this year, with Bulls manager Morgan Ensberg reporting that Seymour is making better decisions at the plate.

Ensberg found a cute way to let Seymour know of his promotion. Ensberg called a team meeting before Wednesday’s game. He started to cover a few things from Tuesday night’s game before he turned to Seymour and asked if it was true fiancée Paige was celebrating a birthday.

When Seymour confirmed it, Ensberg said, “Call her, tell her you love her and tell her to get a flight to San Francisco.”