Minutes after winning the World Series, Houston Astros star shortstop Carlos Correa shocked his girlfriend, Daniella Rodriguez, and a national TV audience when he pulled a ring box from his back pocket, dropped to one knee and proposed to the former Miss Texas USA during a post-game interview.
A Fox Sports reporter had asked Correa if winning the World Series was everything he thought it would be. His answer caught everyone by surprise...
"It's everything and more. It's one of the biggest steps of my life, one of the biggest accomplishments of my life, and right now I'm about to take another big step in my life," the 2015 American League Rookie of the Year said.
Then — with a ring box in hand — he turned to the first row of the stands, where his girlfriend was watching the interview, and said, "Daniella Rodriguez. You make me the happiest man in the world. Will you marry me?”
Without saying a word, the 21-year-old Rodriguez opened the field-level gate and joined her boyfriend on the playing field, embracing and kissing him to the delight of the fans.
“Oh my God. Oh my God,” she screamed.
A few seconds went by and Rodriguez had not given her answer.
"Yes?" Correa asked.
"Yes!" she affirmed.
Then the 23-year-old shortstop slid the ring on his new fiancée's finger. Featuring a pear-shaped center stone, halo-setting and split-shank diamond band, the gorgeous ring had been picked out with the assistance of Carlos Beltran, the Astros' 40-year-old slugger.
Correa and Rodriguez appeared on NBC's Today Show on Friday, where they offered more details on how the marriage proposal went down.
We learned that Correa had been planning the proposal for more than a month.
"I knew we had championship potential in our team, so I was waiting it out," he said.
And if the Astros lost to the Los Angeles Dodgers in Game 7 of the epic series?
"There was really no Plan B," he said.
Correa revealed that the ring box he pulled from his pocket had not been hidden there all game.
"It would have been a good story if I said I had it through the whole game," Correa said. "Way too big for the pocket. And I wouldn't have been able to slide."
The ring was safely in the possession of the clubhouse attendant.
"In the 9th inning, I went to the clubhouse and told [the attendant] that I didn't want to jinx anything, but if we got three outs, he should bring out my ring," he said.
Correa explained why the proposal caught Rodriguez totally off guard.
"The only thing I was telling her about during those days was baseball, baseball, baseball. It was Game 7," he explained. "I was laser-focused on just playing baseball that she would have never thought I was going to propose at that point."
On Instagram, Rodriguez summed up her special day with a video clip of the proposal from Fox Sports and the following caption: "We both came out of game 7 with a ring. God blessed me with such an incredible man! Can't wait to spend the rest of my life with my soulmate/best friend!!! #2Rings1Night"
Credits: Proposal screen captures via Fox Sports. Close-up ring pic screen capture via today.com. Parade photo via Instagram.com/daniellardzz.
