Texas Rangers shortstop Corey Seager's path to MLB glory all started in North Carolina. It's where he first found the loves of his life — baseball and his high school sweetheart. Their young love was tested by long distance and fame, but they found a way through it all. The couple married in December 2020, two months after Seager won the World Series.
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Seager is making his second World Series appearance in three years, first with the Los Angeles Dodgers and now with the Rangers. The shortstop may have made his name in the City of Angels, but he met the love of his life in a small town in North Carolina. Though their relationship saw its fair share of ups and downs, it was their first loves that lasted through it all.
Meet Corey Seager's Wife, Madisyn Seager
Photo by Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images for Los Angeles Dodgers Foundation
When Seager met Madisyn, her name was Madisyn Van Ham, and they attended Northwest Cabarrus High School, in Kannapolis, N.C. According to People Magazine, their meeting was a fateful one. Corey said he liked her because she was cute and nice. Madisyn wasn't quoted on this, but she probably didn't mind that he was 6-foot-4.
The pair dated throughout high school but after senior prom, when it came time for graduation, there were decisions to make. Corey committed to play for the University of South Carolina Gamecocks, while Madisyn's studies took her to Eastern Carolina University. In the end, Seager became a first-round draft pick, chosen 18th overall by the Los Angeles Dodgers in the 2012 Major League Baseball Draft. He chose to forgo college; and when he moved across the country, the pair eventually split up — the long-distance relationship was too much to bear.
"We tried long distance, but being so young, we just weren't ready for that," she told Inside Weddings.
By all accounts, Madisyn lived the normal life of a college student after the breakup. Her LinkedIn page reveals a socialite highly involved in her education and community. She earned a business degree and a certificate in personal selling while being an active member of the Sigma Sigma Sigma national sorority, still finding time to volunteer with the March of Dimes and tutor. She graduated in 2018 and took a job in social media marketing with Melissa's Produce. By then, however, her relationship with Seager had found a way to rekindle.
According to Instagram photos of the pair, they were spending time together again by 2015. She would visit him at baseball games, and this love from the past made Corey think about the future. A Southern gentleman at heart, Seager sought permission from Madisyn's parents before two-birds-one-stone-ing the proposal at a New England Patriots game to watch Tom Brady. Because there's nothing more romantic than Tom Brady.
"He said he proposed to me while there because marrying me was another one of his bucket-list items," Madisyn said. "I totally expected him to propose in our hometown ... It was so special because I truly was surprised, and he put so much thought into every detail."
With TB12's blessing, the couple was married a year later.
Mady loves supporting her husband's efforts on the diamond and is a constant fixture at his games. The couple doesn't have any children, but they do have something many millennials would argue is just as difficult to manage: puppies. Two Australian shepherds, to be exact, named Hazel and Harlow. And, yes, they are adorable.
Madisyn lived with Corey in Los Angeles for seven years and now lives with him in the Dallas-Fort Worth area.
The small-town couple has a romance for the books, a small-town love that could overcome great distances. Back on the baseball field, Corey is trying to make history for himself, playing in his second World Series in three years.
Seager is Swinging for His Second World Series
Photo by Alex Trautwig/MLB Photos via Getty Images
Seager's baseball abilities have been well documented since his time at Northwest Cabarrus High School. He had college scholarships available, but he chose the MLB instead when was drafted straight out of high school.
After working through the minors for such colorfully named clubs as the Rancho Cucamonga Quakes and the Salt Lake Bees (there are many more), he made his rookie debut with the Dodgers in 2016 following a September call-up in 2015. He won Rookie of the Year and earned his first of two consecutive appearances in the MLB All-Star game.
After dealing with Tommy John surgery for most of 2018 and 2019, Seager came back with a vengeance in 2020, winning the NLCS MVP and World Series with LA. In 2022, he signed a whopping 10-year, $325 million contract with the Texas Rangers, moving his wife and cute dogs from California to Texas. Clearly, the decision paid off; two more All-Star appearances later, he finds himself back in the World Series, this time against the Arizona Diamondbacks.
He's played on the biggest stage all over the country, but it all goes back to home to North Carolina, where he found his first true loves — baseball and Mady Seager. They may have settled in the Lone Star State, but they don't seem like the type to forget where they came from.
