Giants' World Series Epilogue

I grew up within a stone's throw of Stanford University, which explains my lifetime allegiance to Stanford sports.  I also went to my first major league baseball game at the age of five, at Seals Stadium, at 16th&Bryant Streets, where the San Francisco Giants played their first two seasons, before moving to Candlestick Park in 1960.

In 1962, my parents were fortunate enough to score two tickets to each of the Giants' home games in the World Series against the mighty New York Yankees.  They were fortunate, because most years, as I recall, my parents were not so fortunate.  They'd send in their check each year the Giants were in contention (which was most years), hope that they'd survive the lottery, but more often than not be out of luck.  Not this time, however.

The Giants hosted games one and two, and eventually, six and seven.  My mother and I went to game one, which the Giants lost 6-2.  My father and my older brother went to game two, which the Giants won 2-0.  My parents went to game six, which the Giants won 5-2 to even the series at three games apiece.  And in one of the greatest gestures of love I can recall from my childhood, my parents let my brother and me (ages 12 and nine) go to game seven, which the Yankees won 1-0, but not before the Giants put the tying and winning runs in scoring position in the bottom of the ninth.  I was crushed.  Heartbroken.  My dad told me, don't worry, the Giants will win a World Series in the near future, they've got Mays, McCovey, Cepeda, Marichal, etc.

Of course, the Giants played 52 years in San Francisco without winning a World Series until two years ago.  And now they've won their second World Series title in three years, something only three other National League teams have done in the last 90 years.  Despite being last in the majors in home runs.  Despite losing the first two games of the best-of-five LDS against Cincinnati, at home (!), before rallying to win three straight in the Reds' ballpark.  And despite losing three of the first four games of the best-of-seven LCS against St. Louis, before rallying to win game five in the Cards' ballpark, after which they won games six and seven at home, and then swept four from the Tigers to win the World Series.

Their ERA in the World Series was 1.46.  They finished the post-season with seven straight wins, outscoring the Cards and Tigers in the process 36-7, with an ERA of 0.98.  They played near-perfect defense.

Just the sweep of Detroit was unusual enough.  Only four other National League teams have done that, most recently the Reds in 1990, and including the New York Giants in 1954--the last Giants team to win the Series before the Giants of 2010.

I'm not sure what is most remarkable about what the Giants just did.  But one thing at, or near the top of the list would have to be the first of the six straight elimination games which they won.  They mustered just one hit through nine innings, with 16 strikeouts, yet won the game in the 10th on an error by the normally sure-handed Scott Rolen.

Post-season heroes?  Too many to mention here.  But just to start the list, you'd get few arguments if you put Marco Scutaro and Sergio Romo at the top.  The Giants traded a minor league infielder to Colorado for Scutaro in late July.  All he did was hit .362 for the Giants, in 243 at bats, with just 14 strikeouts and only 17 swings and misses.  He was the hardest player to strike out in the majors this year, and he swing-and-miss frequency was the lowest in the majors.  And then he hit .328 in the post-season, saving the best for last--a two-out, two-strike RBI-single to center in the 10th to win game four of the World Series.

It took awhile, but Romo eventually inherited the closer's job vacated by the season-ending elbow surgery for Brian Wilson.  And Romo delivered the goods.  He had 14 saves, a 1.79 ERA, allowed only 37 hits and 10 walks in 55 1/3 innings, with 63 strikeouts.  Romo also saved the best for last, recording his fourth save of the post-season (with an ERA of 0.84) by striking out the side in the bottom of the 10th of game four, including Triple Crown winner Miguel Carbera on a called third strike, on a fastball, after throwing 14 straight sliders to start the frame.  Sergio Romo is very generously listed at 5-10 and 183, but that cat has guts of a burglar.

And Texas manager Ron Washington is thinking to himself, my Rangers may have lost the World Series in five games to the Giants two years ago, but they've got the only win against the Giants in two of the last three World Series, covering nine games.  The Giants have been that hot.