MILWAUKEE -- Long before Chandler Simpson was realizing his dream of swiping big league bases, he’d already learned how to steal a show.
The evidence is preserved in a nearly forgotten YouTube video, featuring a 12-year-old Simpson showcasing his best dance moves across the stage of a school auditorium. Even then, he could thrill an audience, his feet moving with confidence and precision to Rick Ross’ “No Worries.”
“I was in sixth grade. I loved Michael Jackson when I was younger,” Simpson said on Thursday. “I used to be the dancing kid in school. I was like, ‘Why not do it?’ I liked it; as soon as the music came on, I knew I had to move.”
Now that Simpson and the Rays have reached the World Series, that vintage clip has found new life, spreading across social media as fans discover another side of one of baseball’s most electrifying young players.
The spotlight is considerably brighter now, but Simpson is still commanding attention, combining blazing speed with remarkable bat-to-ball skills and rapidly improving defense. It all proves that there is more than one way to find stardom in the modern era.
“It's a throwback dynamic you just don't see every day,” said Rays manager Kevin Cash. “What stands out and impresses me most about Chandler is that he knows his game and himself as well as any player I've ever been around -- first-year player or 10-year veteran -- and he's going to work on that craft.”
In a Fall Classic where speed and small ball figure to be prominent, Simpson presents an unusual weapon for the Brewers to contain. A .306 hitter during the regular season, Simpson led the American League with 46 stolen bases and paced the Majors with 42 infield hits.
Power isn’t his game; he has yet to hit a Major League home run, becoming the first qualified player to bat at least .300 with no home runs in a season since Luis Castillo with the Marlins in 1999. Simpson aims for low line drives up the middle, and when the ball is on the ground, his 80-grade speed can transform routine grounders into an adventure for opposing defenders.
“I used to hear stories about Tony Gwynn and Pete Rose, their batting practices and how they never got off the L-screen,” Cash said. “It was peppering drives up the middle. Chandler, to his credit, he never gets off the line drive to shortstop. He's just trying to pepper line drives, the entire batting practice.”
Simpson credits the Rays for maximizing his offensive talents, but his retro style was set into motion long ago on Atlanta-area fields by his father, Ralph, who encouraged his son that getting on base was more important than swinging for the fences.
“I take a lot of pride in it,” Simpson said. “Like I’ve been preached to my entire life, it has a place in the game. There’s a place for home runs and there’s a place for small ball. They can both complement each other to produce winning baseball.”
Teammate Cedric Mullins said he hopes Simpson never changes.
“There is never going to be a day where someone wakes up and tells him, ‘Hey, I can help you hit 10 home runs in a season,’” Mullins said. “He should never listen to that. He is perfect the way he is.”
For all of Simpson’s athleticism, he initially struggled defensively, leaning on his speed to disguise shortcomings in his reads, routes and jumps. Those flaws were exposed in 2025, when Simpson posted a -5 outs above average and -9 defensive runs saved.
With instruction from Corey Dickerson, Jared Sandberg and Kevin Kiermaier, Simpson improved to +9 in OAA and +9 in DRS this season, earning recognition as a Gold Glove Award finalist. Cash called Simpson’s transformation “maybe one of the coolest stories of our season.”
“I feel like every part of my game had to grow going into Year 2,” Simpson said. “I knew defensively, it was something I needed to take part in throughout the offseason and throughout Spring Training to become a more well-rounded player.”
A small part of that growth, Simpson believes, could be traced to that middle school stage. He said the dance moves helped develop his understanding of footwork and movement.
“Maybe a little bit,” Simpson said. “There’s rhythm that goes into every sport.”
As he demonstrated with a 102.1 mph, two-run triple in Game 4 of the ALCS, Simpson has muscle and can deliver damage when he barrels a ball. But his greatest value comes from skills others overlook -- including bunting, which he wields as a weapon.
“I like it when he gets hype after his bunt hits,” Mullins said. “He puts his all into it. He’s pumping his chest. He’s yelling, he’s screaming. Bunting in itself is not necessarily easy; it’s still a 90-something mph ball coming at you.”
Watching the video all these years later, it’s difficult to believe that Simpson didn’t win the talent show that day.
“I don’t know how I didn’t,” Simpson said, with a smile. “But I mean, it’s the most-seen video from that talent show, so I guess I won.”
No matter. Simpson now plays for a team four victories from its first World Series title, performing before audiences considerably larger than the one from age 12. And this time, he expects to bring home the prize.