Well, it's 60 degrees in February here in the Shenandoah Valley, and that's good enough for us. The temperature hasn't dropped below 40, even at night, for nearly a week, we washed the cars yesterday, the football season is safely in the rear-view mirror... and the San Francisco-- ahem, pardon me-- WORLD CHAMPION San Francisco Giants have a ballgame, a real honest-to-goodness ballgame, you know, the kind with bats and gloves and grass and uniforms and umpires and stuff-- yes, a baseball game scheduled for next Friday, six short days from now, in Arizona, against Arizona, not that that matters much.
Spring fever, anyone?
At first glance, a good number of the players arriving in Scottsdale look like pretty much the same bunch that celebrated on the field in north Texas last year. The Missing Man Formation will be flown in memory of Juan Uribe, gone to greener pastures. His putative replacement, in the lineup and in the field, is Miguel Tejada, who certainly ranks as one of the Proven Major League Veterans (PMLV) so especially beloved by our general manager (that's World Champion General Manager, to you) Brian Sabean. But Tejada seems to be one of those PMLVs who arrive with a chip on his shoulder and Something To Prove, reminiscent of a couple fellows named Huff and Burrell from last year.
Over there is Cody Ross, last year's unlikeliest of heroes, who turned 30 in December and signed a one-year contract (that's ONE year, you Sabean-bashers) in January. The Invisible Man, Mark DeRosa, is back, says he's healthy, and will try to find a place to play. The newcomer we're most excited about is Conor Gillaspie, 12 years DeRosa's junior, who may also agitate the starting-lineup mix this season. And news reports say Pablo Sandoval has reported to camp in something less than an institutional-sized package, though we've yet to see pictures or attend the obligatory weigh-in.
Working stiffs have long tabbed Wednesday as "Hump Day". Well, over here in Zitoland, 2010 was "Hump Year," the fourth year of Barry Z's overly-indulgent seven-year deal. This year will be his fifth in the orange and black, and we retain our guarded optimism that the era of accumulating returns may continue. He was pretty darn good last year, which everyone forgets because he ended the season so poorly and Madison Bumgarner passed him like a greyhound on a molasses track. But let's keep a little perspective here; the Giants, remember, could've passed on Barry and given the same contract to Jason Schmidt!
Anyone else notice that Nick Noonan, Brandon Crawford, Brandon Belt, and Ryan Vogelsong are all among the non-roster invitees to camp? Belt is the big name here; everyone seems to be excited about his chances to be the Giants' latest First Baseman of the Future (tm). Last year he hit at San Jose, hit some more at Double-A Richmond, and he hit at Fresno, too. He's 22 and, well, we all hope he's not the next John Bowker. As for Noonan, back in 2007 or so we were hearing a lot about him; not so much lately after a .237 campaign in Double-A last year. He's a year younger than Belt, so there's still time for him to grow. The other half of the "Brandon" tag team, Crawford, is already 24, though he's been in pro ball fewer years than Noonan. On the downside, he was hurt last year which contributed to his lousy numbers; on the up, he came out of the same draft as Gillaspie and Buster Posey, which leaves room for hope. But the name that caught our attention first and actually prompted this portion of the screed was Vogelsong's. Here's a dude who was a Giant prospect back in 1998, and three years later was the key to the Jason Schmidt trade. He never made it in the majors, winning a total of ten games in about seven years, and the story went that Sabean had unloaded him as damaged goods on the unsuspecting Pirates. Now 33, he's been out of the big show since 2006. While we hope all 22 of these NRIs do well and land a job somewhere, it'd be a treat if Vogelsong has enough left to catch on with the Giants and maybe contribute out of the bullpen down the stretch.
Saturday, February 19, 2011
Tuesday, November 16, 2010
Tuesday, November 2, 2010
The San Francisco Giants defeated the Texas Rangers, 3-1, at the Ballpark in Arlington last night, and thereby won the 2010 World Series in five games.
At long last, we can say it: the San Francisco Giants are world champions.
Fifty-two years, six months, and seventeen days after they played their first game in San Francisco, the Giants are world champions.
Forty-five years, six months, and twenty days after we first pledged ourselves to the orange and black no matter what, our beloved Giants are world champions.
Six months and twenty-seven days after the start of this glorious, improbable 2010 season, the San Francisco Giants are world champions.
The impossible dream came true moments after 9:30 PM local time last night, as Brian Wilson struck out Nelson Cruz to end Game Five and his entire leaping, yelling mob of teammates came together in the center of the infield, celebrating San Francisco's first major-league baseball championship in one of the most unlikely of places, a handsome, old-fashioned ballpark in North Texas. It wouldn't have made any difference had it been on the moon. There's nothing like the first time, and for Giants fans who've waited their whole lives for this moment, it's sweet vindication of what we've known all along. "The only baseball team of which to be a fan," wrote an old friend of ours years ago as the introduction to his Giants webpage, "is the San Francisco Giants. That's a given."
For the first time we need append no ifs, ands, or buts to that statement. Folks, after five decades of frustration and disappointment, far more than that suffered by any other franchise, Our Boys have brought home the hardware.
THE SAN FRANCISCO GIANTS ARE WORLD CHAMPIONS!
Tim Lincecum, Matt Cain, Madison Bumgarner, Jonathan Sanchez, Brian Wilson, Javier Lopez, Santiago Casilla, Sergio Romo, Jeremy Affeldt, Ramon Ramirez and Guillermo Mota are world champions. Andres Torres, Freddy Sanchez, Aubrey Huff, Buster Posey, Cody Ross, Pat Burrell, Juan Uribe, Edgar Renteria, Travis Ishikawa, Pablo Sandoval, Aaron Rowand, Nate Schierholz, Mike Fontenot, and Eli Whiteside are world champions. Barry Zito and Dan Runzler are world champions, too. So are Emmanuel Burriss, Mark DeRosa, Eugenio Velez and Jose Guillen.
Bruce Bochy is finally a world champion, and how he deserves it. Ditto for Dave Righetti, Hensley Meulens, Robert Kelly, Tim Flannery, and good old Ron Wotus. And Mark Gardner, who never made it this far as a Giants' pitcher-- he's a world champion, too.
And so are Bill Neukom and Larry Baer, and so is Brian Sabean, who most definitely is not an idiot. He's a world champion! So are Duane Kuiper and Mike Krukow. So is anyone right now who has lived and died with the orange and black, who's stayed up late hoping for good news from the Coast, who's lined up early at AT&T Park hoping to get a glimpse through the right-field gate, who's dialed in a fuzzy radio signal from miles away, hoping for a bit of good news. And all you folks who had your hearts broken in 1962 and 1987 and 2002... lift up your heads and celebrate. We're all world champions now.
Eight innings of brilliant, three-hit pitching by Tim Lincecum brought the Giants to the brink of victory in last night's game. The world at large has learned of this team's stellar pitching through fifteen postseason games, and last night served as valedictory. All the intelligence, courage, persistence, and God-given ability the Giants' pitchers have demonstrated in October was manifest in Lincecum's every move. Working in harmony with his catcher, Posey, he continually surprised, confused, and frustrated the outstanding Texas hitters. Of the three hits he surrendered, only one-- Cruz' no-doubt-about-it solo homer in the seventh-- was hit hard. And, as if to dispel any lingering concerns after he'd walked Ian Kinsler following the blast, Lincecum struck out David Murphy and our old buddy, Bengie Molina, to end the inning, then came out and scorched the Rangers on nine pitches in the eighth. He finished with ten strikeouts. Seven balls were hit out of the infield. Four of his eight innings were perfect. He's the best pitcher in the game, and he proved it last night.
This was the best of the five Series games, and it was made so not only by Lincecum, but by his opposite number, lefthander Cliff Lee of Texas. For six taut, scoreless innings the two aces engaged in the classic pitchers' duel all the experts had been promising. The record book will show that the Giants and Lincecum beat Lee twice, but there's no comparison between Game One and this contest. Lee had a four-hit shutout going, with no walks, as the Giants came up in the seventh. Cody Ross opened with a ground ball up the middle for the Giants' fifth hit. Juan Uribe, again delivering when it counted most, lined another single to center. Up stepped Aubrey Huff, who had belted one 450 feet the night before. Catching everyone by surprise, Huff quickly squared and laid down a perfect sacrifice bunt, moving the runners into scoring position.
Now it was Edgar Renteria at the plate. The soft-spoken Cuban, almost invisible in the lineup during the regular season, something of a surprise addition to the postseason roster, had already revived his World Series reputation with four big hits in two previous games. Falling behind 2-0, Lee challenged that reputation with the same cutter he'd been using all night. Renteria turned on it quick, and lifted a high drive to deep left-center; in a manner reminiscent of Buster Posey's homer from the night before, this one kept carrying and carrying until it had carried all the way into the seats.
That was the Giants' offense for the evening, and that was enough. Lincecum, having gotten through the seventh and eighth with a total pitch count of 101, could have come out for the ninth, but as "Boch" is always saying, this season has been a total team effort, and the ninth was Brian Wilson's time, as it has been all year. His 11-pitch stint lacked the drama of Game Six against the Phillies, but after 177 games most of us had had enough drama-- some call it 'torture'-- for awhile. Josh Hamilton was badly fooled on a 0-2 fastball, called strike three. Vlad Guerrero, true to type, hacked at the first pitch and grounded to Sanchez. Cruz, the only Ranger with any credibility left, battled through a six-pitch full count, then came up empty swinging at a slider that trailed just a bit inside. Out came the Giants from the dugout like a jail break as the Rangers' fans, showing class all the way, stood and applauded their ballclub for its effort. By the time Bochy and a few champagne-soaked Giants returned to the field, however, it was mostly Giants fans remaining. They'd been making as much noise as possible throughout the proceedings, drowned-out but barely-audible on the incessant "Let's go Ran-gers!" chants led by the ballpark organist, but now the grandstand was theirs as they serenaded the Little Team That Could, the "castoffs and misfits" who have, at long last, brought a World Series championship to The City.
Thirteen years ago, Edgar Renteria's 11th-inning single made world champions out of perhaps the unlikeliest team ever, the Florida Marlins. Now, having launched the game-winning homer that made world champions out of another unlikely group, 34-year-old Edgar Renteria earned the World Series Most Valuable Player award, and whether or not he plays another game, for the Giants or anyone else, Renteria's name will go down in history as one of the great 'clutch' players of all time.
Renteria is one of the few Giants, along with Uribe and Rowand, who already have a World Series ring. But speaking in the clubhouse afterward, Brian Wilson brought up the very thought we've been thinking over the past few days. He spoke of all the great Giants who never experienced a moment such as this, the stars and superstars and ordinary players and forgotten men who wore this uniform in good days and bad, and who never knew the feeling of being part of a championship team. You could tell it was important to Wilson that he say this, that he try to articulate the debt of honor and respect he believed was owed, and must be paid, to those who came before.
And so, as we celebrate the San Francisco Giants' first World Championship, let us throw wide the clubhouse door and invite everyone in. This one's for all the Giants.
It's for Willie McCovey, who in 22 Hall-of-Fame seasons (20 with the Giants) never hoisted a trophy, and who at 72 gets around on crutches but never seems to miss a big game. It's for Juan Marichal, the Dominican Dandy, who deserved better, and for Gaylord Perry. It's for Jack Sanford, and Stu Miller, and it's for Tom Haller and Mike McCormick, for Jim Davenport and Frank Linzy and "Downtown" Ollie Brown.
It's for the late Bobby Bonds, overtalented and underappreciated. It's for Jim Barr and Ron Bryant and Jim Ray Hart. It's for Dick Dietz, and Chris Speier, and the impeccable Gary Lavelle.
It's for Randy Moffitt, hitting the knob of Bill Russell's bat and forcing in a run. It's for Jack Clark and Terry Whitfield, for Bob Knepper and two tours of duty, for Terry Mulholland and three. It's for Mike Ivie and Greg Minton. It's for Mark "Million-Dollar Arm, Ten-Cent Head" Grant. It's for Fred Breining, and Roger Metzger, and even for Johnnie LeMaster. It's for Jose Uribe, thrown out trying to stretch a triple into an inside-the-park homer, and in the process inspiring a couple of guys in the stands to make fools of themselves in public.
It's for Will Clark, once and forever "The Thrill." It's for Brad Gulden, the original "Hummm-Baby." It's for Jeffrey Leonard, God bless him, and for Rick Leach and Jeff Brantley. It's for the grit and determination of Robbie Thompson, and the understated brilliance of Bill Swift. It's for William VanLandingham and his southpaw counterpart, Shawn Estes. It's for Atlee Hammaker, grooving one to Jim Lindeman and another one to Jose Oquendo. It's for Randy Kutcher, Mark Leonard, and Craig Lefferts, and it's for the unforgettable courage of Dave Dravecky.
It's for Rich Aurilia, heart and soul, and it's for Marvin Benard. It's for the indefatigable Kirk Rueter, the graceful J.T. Snow, and it's for Rod Beck, who gave all. It's for Jesse Foppert and what might have been, for Benito Santiago and Brett Tomko, for Tsuyoshi Shinjo and Eliezer Alfonzo. And yes, it's for Barry Bonds, too.
It's for everyone who ever wore the orange and black, from Big John Pregenzer to Tony Torcato, from Masanori Murakami to Jeff Kent. It's for all those guys who froze out there in the Candlestick chill and never complained.
It's for every Giant who ever swung at a pitch in the dirt, or hung a curveball, or struck out the side, or hit a game-winning homer-- but never held the hardware or fingered the ring. Come on in, boys. Come in, out of the cold.
Come on in, all you Giants, at long last, and celebrate with us.
It's about time.
At long last, we can say it: the San Francisco Giants are world champions.
Fifty-two years, six months, and seventeen days after they played their first game in San Francisco, the Giants are world champions.
Forty-five years, six months, and twenty days after we first pledged ourselves to the orange and black no matter what, our beloved Giants are world champions.
Six months and twenty-seven days after the start of this glorious, improbable 2010 season, the San Francisco Giants are world champions.
The impossible dream came true moments after 9:30 PM local time last night, as Brian Wilson struck out Nelson Cruz to end Game Five and his entire leaping, yelling mob of teammates came together in the center of the infield, celebrating San Francisco's first major-league baseball championship in one of the most unlikely of places, a handsome, old-fashioned ballpark in North Texas. It wouldn't have made any difference had it been on the moon. There's nothing like the first time, and for Giants fans who've waited their whole lives for this moment, it's sweet vindication of what we've known all along. "The only baseball team of which to be a fan," wrote an old friend of ours years ago as the introduction to his Giants webpage, "is the San Francisco Giants. That's a given."
For the first time we need append no ifs, ands, or buts to that statement. Folks, after five decades of frustration and disappointment, far more than that suffered by any other franchise, Our Boys have brought home the hardware.
THE SAN FRANCISCO GIANTS ARE WORLD CHAMPIONS!
Tim Lincecum, Matt Cain, Madison Bumgarner, Jonathan Sanchez, Brian Wilson, Javier Lopez, Santiago Casilla, Sergio Romo, Jeremy Affeldt, Ramon Ramirez and Guillermo Mota are world champions. Andres Torres, Freddy Sanchez, Aubrey Huff, Buster Posey, Cody Ross, Pat Burrell, Juan Uribe, Edgar Renteria, Travis Ishikawa, Pablo Sandoval, Aaron Rowand, Nate Schierholz, Mike Fontenot, and Eli Whiteside are world champions. Barry Zito and Dan Runzler are world champions, too. So are Emmanuel Burriss, Mark DeRosa, Eugenio Velez and Jose Guillen.
Bruce Bochy is finally a world champion, and how he deserves it. Ditto for Dave Righetti, Hensley Meulens, Robert Kelly, Tim Flannery, and good old Ron Wotus. And Mark Gardner, who never made it this far as a Giants' pitcher-- he's a world champion, too.
And so are Bill Neukom and Larry Baer, and so is Brian Sabean, who most definitely is not an idiot. He's a world champion! So are Duane Kuiper and Mike Krukow. So is anyone right now who has lived and died with the orange and black, who's stayed up late hoping for good news from the Coast, who's lined up early at AT&T Park hoping to get a glimpse through the right-field gate, who's dialed in a fuzzy radio signal from miles away, hoping for a bit of good news. And all you folks who had your hearts broken in 1962 and 1987 and 2002... lift up your heads and celebrate. We're all world champions now.
Eight innings of brilliant, three-hit pitching by Tim Lincecum brought the Giants to the brink of victory in last night's game. The world at large has learned of this team's stellar pitching through fifteen postseason games, and last night served as valedictory. All the intelligence, courage, persistence, and God-given ability the Giants' pitchers have demonstrated in October was manifest in Lincecum's every move. Working in harmony with his catcher, Posey, he continually surprised, confused, and frustrated the outstanding Texas hitters. Of the three hits he surrendered, only one-- Cruz' no-doubt-about-it solo homer in the seventh-- was hit hard. And, as if to dispel any lingering concerns after he'd walked Ian Kinsler following the blast, Lincecum struck out David Murphy and our old buddy, Bengie Molina, to end the inning, then came out and scorched the Rangers on nine pitches in the eighth. He finished with ten strikeouts. Seven balls were hit out of the infield. Four of his eight innings were perfect. He's the best pitcher in the game, and he proved it last night.
This was the best of the five Series games, and it was made so not only by Lincecum, but by his opposite number, lefthander Cliff Lee of Texas. For six taut, scoreless innings the two aces engaged in the classic pitchers' duel all the experts had been promising. The record book will show that the Giants and Lincecum beat Lee twice, but there's no comparison between Game One and this contest. Lee had a four-hit shutout going, with no walks, as the Giants came up in the seventh. Cody Ross opened with a ground ball up the middle for the Giants' fifth hit. Juan Uribe, again delivering when it counted most, lined another single to center. Up stepped Aubrey Huff, who had belted one 450 feet the night before. Catching everyone by surprise, Huff quickly squared and laid down a perfect sacrifice bunt, moving the runners into scoring position.
Now it was Edgar Renteria at the plate. The soft-spoken Cuban, almost invisible in the lineup during the regular season, something of a surprise addition to the postseason roster, had already revived his World Series reputation with four big hits in two previous games. Falling behind 2-0, Lee challenged that reputation with the same cutter he'd been using all night. Renteria turned on it quick, and lifted a high drive to deep left-center; in a manner reminiscent of Buster Posey's homer from the night before, this one kept carrying and carrying until it had carried all the way into the seats.
That was the Giants' offense for the evening, and that was enough. Lincecum, having gotten through the seventh and eighth with a total pitch count of 101, could have come out for the ninth, but as "Boch" is always saying, this season has been a total team effort, and the ninth was Brian Wilson's time, as it has been all year. His 11-pitch stint lacked the drama of Game Six against the Phillies, but after 177 games most of us had had enough drama-- some call it 'torture'-- for awhile. Josh Hamilton was badly fooled on a 0-2 fastball, called strike three. Vlad Guerrero, true to type, hacked at the first pitch and grounded to Sanchez. Cruz, the only Ranger with any credibility left, battled through a six-pitch full count, then came up empty swinging at a slider that trailed just a bit inside. Out came the Giants from the dugout like a jail break as the Rangers' fans, showing class all the way, stood and applauded their ballclub for its effort. By the time Bochy and a few champagne-soaked Giants returned to the field, however, it was mostly Giants fans remaining. They'd been making as much noise as possible throughout the proceedings, drowned-out but barely-audible on the incessant "Let's go Ran-gers!" chants led by the ballpark organist, but now the grandstand was theirs as they serenaded the Little Team That Could, the "castoffs and misfits" who have, at long last, brought a World Series championship to The City.
Thirteen years ago, Edgar Renteria's 11th-inning single made world champions out of perhaps the unlikeliest team ever, the Florida Marlins. Now, having launched the game-winning homer that made world champions out of another unlikely group, 34-year-old Edgar Renteria earned the World Series Most Valuable Player award, and whether or not he plays another game, for the Giants or anyone else, Renteria's name will go down in history as one of the great 'clutch' players of all time.
Renteria is one of the few Giants, along with Uribe and Rowand, who already have a World Series ring. But speaking in the clubhouse afterward, Brian Wilson brought up the very thought we've been thinking over the past few days. He spoke of all the great Giants who never experienced a moment such as this, the stars and superstars and ordinary players and forgotten men who wore this uniform in good days and bad, and who never knew the feeling of being part of a championship team. You could tell it was important to Wilson that he say this, that he try to articulate the debt of honor and respect he believed was owed, and must be paid, to those who came before.
And so, as we celebrate the San Francisco Giants' first World Championship, let us throw wide the clubhouse door and invite everyone in. This one's for all the Giants.
It's for Willie McCovey, who in 22 Hall-of-Fame seasons (20 with the Giants) never hoisted a trophy, and who at 72 gets around on crutches but never seems to miss a big game. It's for Juan Marichal, the Dominican Dandy, who deserved better, and for Gaylord Perry. It's for Jack Sanford, and Stu Miller, and it's for Tom Haller and Mike McCormick, for Jim Davenport and Frank Linzy and "Downtown" Ollie Brown.
It's for the late Bobby Bonds, overtalented and underappreciated. It's for Jim Barr and Ron Bryant and Jim Ray Hart. It's for Dick Dietz, and Chris Speier, and the impeccable Gary Lavelle.
It's for Randy Moffitt, hitting the knob of Bill Russell's bat and forcing in a run. It's for Jack Clark and Terry Whitfield, for Bob Knepper and two tours of duty, for Terry Mulholland and three. It's for Mike Ivie and Greg Minton. It's for Mark "Million-Dollar Arm, Ten-Cent Head" Grant. It's for Fred Breining, and Roger Metzger, and even for Johnnie LeMaster. It's for Jose Uribe, thrown out trying to stretch a triple into an inside-the-park homer, and in the process inspiring a couple of guys in the stands to make fools of themselves in public.
It's for Will Clark, once and forever "The Thrill." It's for Brad Gulden, the original "Hummm-Baby." It's for Jeffrey Leonard, God bless him, and for Rick Leach and Jeff Brantley. It's for the grit and determination of Robbie Thompson, and the understated brilliance of Bill Swift. It's for William VanLandingham and his southpaw counterpart, Shawn Estes. It's for Atlee Hammaker, grooving one to Jim Lindeman and another one to Jose Oquendo. It's for Randy Kutcher, Mark Leonard, and Craig Lefferts, and it's for the unforgettable courage of Dave Dravecky.
It's for Rich Aurilia, heart and soul, and it's for Marvin Benard. It's for the indefatigable Kirk Rueter, the graceful J.T. Snow, and it's for Rod Beck, who gave all. It's for Jesse Foppert and what might have been, for Benito Santiago and Brett Tomko, for Tsuyoshi Shinjo and Eliezer Alfonzo. And yes, it's for Barry Bonds, too.
It's for everyone who ever wore the orange and black, from Big John Pregenzer to Tony Torcato, from Masanori Murakami to Jeff Kent. It's for all those guys who froze out there in the Candlestick chill and never complained.
It's for every Giant who ever swung at a pitch in the dirt, or hung a curveball, or struck out the side, or hit a game-winning homer-- but never held the hardware or fingered the ring. Come on in, boys. Come in, out of the cold.
Come on in, all you Giants, at long last, and celebrate with us.
It's about time.
Monday, November 1, 2010
The San Francisco Giants defeated the Texas Rangers, 4-0, at the Ballpark in Arlington, Texas, last night, and thereby took a three-games-to-one lead in the 2010 World Series.
The Giants thus find themselves one game away from a World Championship, in a place they've been only twice before. They've never held a three-to-one edge in the Series; in 1962 they were one game away heading into Game Seven, and in 2002 they held a 3-2 edge after five. Tonight, at approximately 8 PM EDT (7 PM local time), the Giants, behind ace Tim Lincecum, will attempt to drive the Golden Spike and bring a World Series title home to San Francisco for the first time.
Last night's Game Four win was all about one of the great rookie performances in Series history, and that performance was by 21-year-old Madison Bumgarner. Not much more than a year ago, we were trying to juggle our busy schedules so we could drive up to Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, and get a look at the Giants' newest pitching prospect when the Double-A Connecticut Defenders came to town. Now, the long tall lefty with the poker face and the sweeping delivery is known to all, having shut out the Texas Rangers on three meek singles in their home park on a night when the American League champions and their fans fully expected to even this series and grab the momentum away from the Giants.
It didn't happen because Bumgarner, backed by almost airtight defense, made the pitches he expected to make throughout eight innings, and every hard-hit ball off a Texas bat was aimed, more or less, at a Giant defender. Who were those defenders? Juan Uribe (though he did boot a simple eighth-inning grounder) cut off several hard-hit balls to the left side. Freddy Sanchez was all over the place, starting two critical double plays, making a tumbling sno-cone catch on a rocket off the bat of Jeff Francoeur , and tagging out Josh Hamilton on a steal attempt. Buster Posey, the rookie catcher, fired the throw that nailed Hamilton. Travis Ishikawa and Nate Schierholz, both making their first (and likely only) World Series starts, against righthander Tommy Hunter, were perfect in the field. "Bum" fanned six in his 106-pitch eight-inning stint, but the key to his unflappable performance was his willingness to let the Rangers hit his pitch, and rely on his defenders to make the play.
Aubrey Huff launched his first World Series homer into the stratosphere off Hunter in the third, moments after Andres (3-for-5) Torres had doubled to open the frame. The monster shot carried past the right-field stands and might still be going had it not struck the overhang at the back of the facility. That was all Bumgarner needed, but the Giants tacked on two more late. Edgar Renteria, the 14-year veteran who may retire after earning his second ring, was 3-for-4 and scored in the seventh on Torres' second double to make it 3-0. Then in the eighth, Posey launched the first of what we hope will be many World Series home runs, a towering shot to deepest center field that just kept going, going, and going some more, onto the grassy sward beyond the fence. Bruce Bochy, never shy about pulling the managerial levers in a close game, left this one on cruise control. With his "defensive specialists" in the starting lineup, an early lead, and Bumgarner's lights-out pitching, 'Boch' didn't even get anyone up in the bullpen until the seventh, and his only substitution of the game was Brian Wilson's eleven-pitch ninth inning, which didn't even warrant a save. Simple!
The Rangers had every reason to be optimistic entering this game, because they had gotten their game back big-time Saturday night in a smart, well-played 4-2 victory in Game Three. Their lineup shook off Thursday's shutout, powering two home runs off Giants' starter and loser Jonathan Sanchez. They got an outstanding performance from right-hander Colby Lewis, who gave up solo homers to Torres and Cody Ross, but efficiently avoided those 'big innings' the Giants had used to win the first two games. Their shaky bullpen got a huge lift from the rookie closer, Naftali Feliz, who blew away the three Giants batters he faced with 98-MPH heat. While Sanchez did not pitch all that badly in the loss, he did allow nine baserunners in less than five innings and was helped mightily by three double plays. More troubling, the Giants reverted to their bad old hitting habits, getting impatient with Lewis and struggling with men on base. Their best shot at a big inning came after Torres' homer in the eighth. Lewis hit Huff with a pitch with two out, bringing Posey to the plate as the tying run to face Darren O'Day, summoned from Ron Washington's bullpen to replace Lewis. After a seven-pitch at-bat, Posey grounded out to end the mild threat. (He did presumably, however, learn something about Messr. O'Day, which he put to good use last night.)
Tonight's game is another installment of the Ultimate Showdown between Lincecum and (insert name of fearsome opposition ace pitcher here). It will, of course, be Cliff Lee, whom the Giants handled rather roughly in Game One and who is unlikely to let that bother him at all. But whether it's Lincecum tonight, or Matt Cain Wednesday, or who-knows-what on Thursday, this is gonna get done this time, some way, some how. The 2010 Giants are going to claim this World Championship, no matter what it takes.
The Giants thus find themselves one game away from a World Championship, in a place they've been only twice before. They've never held a three-to-one edge in the Series; in 1962 they were one game away heading into Game Seven, and in 2002 they held a 3-2 edge after five. Tonight, at approximately 8 PM EDT (7 PM local time), the Giants, behind ace Tim Lincecum, will attempt to drive the Golden Spike and bring a World Series title home to San Francisco for the first time.
Last night's Game Four win was all about one of the great rookie performances in Series history, and that performance was by 21-year-old Madison Bumgarner. Not much more than a year ago, we were trying to juggle our busy schedules so we could drive up to Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, and get a look at the Giants' newest pitching prospect when the Double-A Connecticut Defenders came to town. Now, the long tall lefty with the poker face and the sweeping delivery is known to all, having shut out the Texas Rangers on three meek singles in their home park on a night when the American League champions and their fans fully expected to even this series and grab the momentum away from the Giants.
It didn't happen because Bumgarner, backed by almost airtight defense, made the pitches he expected to make throughout eight innings, and every hard-hit ball off a Texas bat was aimed, more or less, at a Giant defender. Who were those defenders? Juan Uribe (though he did boot a simple eighth-inning grounder) cut off several hard-hit balls to the left side. Freddy Sanchez was all over the place, starting two critical double plays, making a tumbling sno-cone catch on a rocket off the bat of Jeff Francoeur , and tagging out Josh Hamilton on a steal attempt. Buster Posey, the rookie catcher, fired the throw that nailed Hamilton. Travis Ishikawa and Nate Schierholz, both making their first (and likely only) World Series starts, against righthander Tommy Hunter, were perfect in the field. "Bum" fanned six in his 106-pitch eight-inning stint, but the key to his unflappable performance was his willingness to let the Rangers hit his pitch, and rely on his defenders to make the play.
Aubrey Huff launched his first World Series homer into the stratosphere off Hunter in the third, moments after Andres (3-for-5) Torres had doubled to open the frame. The monster shot carried past the right-field stands and might still be going had it not struck the overhang at the back of the facility. That was all Bumgarner needed, but the Giants tacked on two more late. Edgar Renteria, the 14-year veteran who may retire after earning his second ring, was 3-for-4 and scored in the seventh on Torres' second double to make it 3-0. Then in the eighth, Posey launched the first of what we hope will be many World Series home runs, a towering shot to deepest center field that just kept going, going, and going some more, onto the grassy sward beyond the fence. Bruce Bochy, never shy about pulling the managerial levers in a close game, left this one on cruise control. With his "defensive specialists" in the starting lineup, an early lead, and Bumgarner's lights-out pitching, 'Boch' didn't even get anyone up in the bullpen until the seventh, and his only substitution of the game was Brian Wilson's eleven-pitch ninth inning, which didn't even warrant a save. Simple!
The Rangers had every reason to be optimistic entering this game, because they had gotten their game back big-time Saturday night in a smart, well-played 4-2 victory in Game Three. Their lineup shook off Thursday's shutout, powering two home runs off Giants' starter and loser Jonathan Sanchez. They got an outstanding performance from right-hander Colby Lewis, who gave up solo homers to Torres and Cody Ross, but efficiently avoided those 'big innings' the Giants had used to win the first two games. Their shaky bullpen got a huge lift from the rookie closer, Naftali Feliz, who blew away the three Giants batters he faced with 98-MPH heat. While Sanchez did not pitch all that badly in the loss, he did allow nine baserunners in less than five innings and was helped mightily by three double plays. More troubling, the Giants reverted to their bad old hitting habits, getting impatient with Lewis and struggling with men on base. Their best shot at a big inning came after Torres' homer in the eighth. Lewis hit Huff with a pitch with two out, bringing Posey to the plate as the tying run to face Darren O'Day, summoned from Ron Washington's bullpen to replace Lewis. After a seven-pitch at-bat, Posey grounded out to end the mild threat. (He did presumably, however, learn something about Messr. O'Day, which he put to good use last night.)
Tonight's game is another installment of the Ultimate Showdown between Lincecum and (insert name of fearsome opposition ace pitcher here). It will, of course, be Cliff Lee, whom the Giants handled rather roughly in Game One and who is unlikely to let that bother him at all. But whether it's Lincecum tonight, or Matt Cain Wednesday, or who-knows-what on Thursday, this is gonna get done this time, some way, some how. The 2010 Giants are going to claim this World Championship, no matter what it takes.
Friday, October 29, 2010
The San Francisco Giants defeated the Texas Rangers, 9-0, at AT&T Park last night, and thereby took a commanding 2-0 lead in the 2010 World Series.
Matt Cain, the latest "Mister October," continued his brilliant postseason run with seven and two-thirds innings of shutout, four-hit ball, holding the powerful Texas lineup 0-for-7 with runners in scoring position and guarding a tight, one-run lead that exploded into a blowout only after he'd left the game in the eighth to a standing ovation. Cain now has pitched 20 and 2/3 innings in three postseason starts without surrendering an earned run, and he's inching his way into Christy Mathewson territory with this streak. He probably won't match the Giants' greatest pitcher's record accomplishment-- three consecutive shutouts in the 1905 World Series-- but that's because the way things are going, he may not even be needed again. Well, let's not get ahead of ourselves, giddy with excitement though we may be.
For seven innings it was indeed a tight one, the pitchers' duel expected but not delivered in Game One. Texas starter C.J. Wilson matched Cain almost note-for-note until the fifth, when their two paths diverged. Leading off the top of the frame, Ian Kinsler smacked a Cain fastball about as far as one could go on this cool, windy evening, a cannon shot to deepest center. It hit the very top of the wall and fortuitously caromed back onto the field of play and into Andres Torres' glove. A no-doubt-about-it homer almost anywhere else, it was a double for Kinsler, and there he remained at second base as Cain retired the side without further incident. Then with one out in the bottom of the inning, Edgar Renteria turned on an inside fastball and hammered it high and deep into the left-field seats. While it is generally accepted among baseball analysts and sabermetricians that there is no reliable measure of an ability to hit in the clutch, the anecdotal evidence of same for the veteran Renteria is compelling. He's doing in 2010 what he did in 1997, and in 2004, and time and time again over his career.
Cain's toughest test came just moments later in the top of the sixth as the Rangers bid to answer back. Michael Young and Josh Hamilton hit one-out singles, and Cain followed with a wild pitch that moved both into scoring position and eliminated the double-play possibility. Then came the 26-year-old ace's finest hour: Nelson Cruz, retired on a foul popup, and Kinsler, retired on a fly ball to right. Texas wouldn't threaten again.
Wednesday night's hero, Juan Uribe, drove in Cody Ross in the bottom of the seventh with a single to center, which looked for all the world like the insurance run Cain wanted. Little did we know. In the top of the eighth, with Elvis Andrus at second after a walk and a stolen base, two out and Hamilton at the plate, Bruce Bochy summoned the impeccable Javier Lopez. One harmless fly ball later, Cain relaxed in the dugout, the prospective winner of yet another round of "Giants torture."
Indeed he was, but with a most unexpected final act. The bottom of the eighth was every pitcher's nightmare: a two-out, nobody-on rally that turned into a full meltdown by no less than four Texas relievers, two of whom couldn't get anybody out and all of whom surrendered at least one run. The gruesome tally included four consecutive walks, two with the bases loaded, followed by RBI hits from Renteria, Aaron Rowand (a pinch-hit bases-clearing triple, no less) and Andres Torres. Seven runs in all crossed the plate as eleven men batted and eight straight Giants reached base. And Guillermo Mota, making his first postseason appearance, worked an uneventful ninth as the Giants handed the Rangers only their sixth shutout of the season.
This Series could hardly have started better for the Giants, of course. Nobody could have expected this team to score 20 runs in two games (the New York Yankees, who fell in six ALCS games, managed 19 total). It's certainly possible that last night's raucous, roaring capacity crowd will be the last one at the 'Bell this year. The Giants have not held a two-game World Series lead since 1954, when they were still the New York Giants and swept Cleveland four straight. Most Giants fans, at this moment, would be lying if they didn't admit that thoughts of a 2010 sweep are dancing in their heads.
But the Series now moves to Arlington, Texas, to the big, beautiful Ballpark that will be filled with raucous, roaring Rangers fans for at least two, and possibly three, nights. Texas came back against Tampa and against the Yankees, and they are certainly capable of coming back against the Giants. But will they?
We don't make predictions. Baseball has a way of mocking those who do. And yet, we have followed the Giants since 1965, and we have seen the ups, the downs, and everything else, and we're testifying here and now that we have never seen a San Francisco team like the 2010 Giants. We believe they are absolutely going to win this thing, whether it takes four, five, six, or seven games. We remember 1965, 1969, 1971, 1978, 1982, 1987, 1989, 1993, 2000, 2002, 2003, and 2004. We remember it all. It doesn't matter now. We're making the statement, loud and clear: 20-0-10, folks, IS THE YEAR.
Matt Cain, the latest "Mister October," continued his brilliant postseason run with seven and two-thirds innings of shutout, four-hit ball, holding the powerful Texas lineup 0-for-7 with runners in scoring position and guarding a tight, one-run lead that exploded into a blowout only after he'd left the game in the eighth to a standing ovation. Cain now has pitched 20 and 2/3 innings in three postseason starts without surrendering an earned run, and he's inching his way into Christy Mathewson territory with this streak. He probably won't match the Giants' greatest pitcher's record accomplishment-- three consecutive shutouts in the 1905 World Series-- but that's because the way things are going, he may not even be needed again. Well, let's not get ahead of ourselves, giddy with excitement though we may be.
For seven innings it was indeed a tight one, the pitchers' duel expected but not delivered in Game One. Texas starter C.J. Wilson matched Cain almost note-for-note until the fifth, when their two paths diverged. Leading off the top of the frame, Ian Kinsler smacked a Cain fastball about as far as one could go on this cool, windy evening, a cannon shot to deepest center. It hit the very top of the wall and fortuitously caromed back onto the field of play and into Andres Torres' glove. A no-doubt-about-it homer almost anywhere else, it was a double for Kinsler, and there he remained at second base as Cain retired the side without further incident. Then with one out in the bottom of the inning, Edgar Renteria turned on an inside fastball and hammered it high and deep into the left-field seats. While it is generally accepted among baseball analysts and sabermetricians that there is no reliable measure of an ability to hit in the clutch, the anecdotal evidence of same for the veteran Renteria is compelling. He's doing in 2010 what he did in 1997, and in 2004, and time and time again over his career.
Cain's toughest test came just moments later in the top of the sixth as the Rangers bid to answer back. Michael Young and Josh Hamilton hit one-out singles, and Cain followed with a wild pitch that moved both into scoring position and eliminated the double-play possibility. Then came the 26-year-old ace's finest hour: Nelson Cruz, retired on a foul popup, and Kinsler, retired on a fly ball to right. Texas wouldn't threaten again.
Wednesday night's hero, Juan Uribe, drove in Cody Ross in the bottom of the seventh with a single to center, which looked for all the world like the insurance run Cain wanted. Little did we know. In the top of the eighth, with Elvis Andrus at second after a walk and a stolen base, two out and Hamilton at the plate, Bruce Bochy summoned the impeccable Javier Lopez. One harmless fly ball later, Cain relaxed in the dugout, the prospective winner of yet another round of "Giants torture."
Indeed he was, but with a most unexpected final act. The bottom of the eighth was every pitcher's nightmare: a two-out, nobody-on rally that turned into a full meltdown by no less than four Texas relievers, two of whom couldn't get anybody out and all of whom surrendered at least one run. The gruesome tally included four consecutive walks, two with the bases loaded, followed by RBI hits from Renteria, Aaron Rowand (a pinch-hit bases-clearing triple, no less) and Andres Torres. Seven runs in all crossed the plate as eleven men batted and eight straight Giants reached base. And Guillermo Mota, making his first postseason appearance, worked an uneventful ninth as the Giants handed the Rangers only their sixth shutout of the season.
This Series could hardly have started better for the Giants, of course. Nobody could have expected this team to score 20 runs in two games (the New York Yankees, who fell in six ALCS games, managed 19 total). It's certainly possible that last night's raucous, roaring capacity crowd will be the last one at the 'Bell this year. The Giants have not held a two-game World Series lead since 1954, when they were still the New York Giants and swept Cleveland four straight. Most Giants fans, at this moment, would be lying if they didn't admit that thoughts of a 2010 sweep are dancing in their heads.
But the Series now moves to Arlington, Texas, to the big, beautiful Ballpark that will be filled with raucous, roaring Rangers fans for at least two, and possibly three, nights. Texas came back against Tampa and against the Yankees, and they are certainly capable of coming back against the Giants. But will they?
We don't make predictions. Baseball has a way of mocking those who do. And yet, we have followed the Giants since 1965, and we have seen the ups, the downs, and everything else, and we're testifying here and now that we have never seen a San Francisco team like the 2010 Giants. We believe they are absolutely going to win this thing, whether it takes four, five, six, or seven games. We remember 1965, 1969, 1971, 1978, 1982, 1987, 1989, 1993, 2000, 2002, 2003, and 2004. We remember it all. It doesn't matter now. We're making the statement, loud and clear: 20-0-10, folks, IS THE YEAR.
Thursday, October 28, 2010
The San Francisco Giants defeated the Texas Rangers, 11-7, in Game One of the World Series at AT&T Park last night.
In what was billed as yet another all-time great pitching duel, between Rangers' ace lefthander Cliff Lee and San Francisco's Tim Lincecum, the Giants bent, folded, spindled, and mutilated Lee's gaudy, previously-unbeaten postseason record to the tune of seven runs and eight hits in less than five innings. For their part, the Rangers put more than a few dents in Lincecum, too, although he lasted into the sixth and got credit for the win. But it was a six-run fifth inning-- an absolute deluge of hitting, especially by Giants standards-- that made the difference in this game, and cast a whole different light on just who may be expected to do what in this World Series.
Where to start? How about Freddy Sanchez, with three doubles in his first three Series at-bats? Or Aubrey Huff, with three hits of his own? Andres Torres and Edgar Renteria each scored two runs. Every starting member of the Giants' lineup had at least one hit except Pat Burrell-- whose fifth-inning walk may have tipped the balance against Lee. And moving away from offense for a minute, there were spectacular plays on defense by Renteria, Juan Uribe, and Huff-- necessary plays, too, because the Rangers kept coming back, against Lincecum and against the six relievers who followed.
Did we mention Juan Uribe? Yes, Juan Uribe, he of the game-winning homer in Game Six of the NLCS, had a part in this one, too. We'll get to him directly.
Texas, which led the major leagues in hitting, got right to work against Lincecum. Elvis Andrus singled to open the game, and Michael Young worked a walk. MVP candidate Josh Hamilton grounded out on a roller slow enough to advance the runners. Then Vladimir Guerrero, who has rejuvenated his bat in Arlington, dinged a infield single off Lincecum's leg, enough to score Andrus. Nelson Cruz hit a little comebacker, and Lincecum momentarily forgot how to play baseball as he simply walked Young-- who was dead to rights between third and home-- back to the third-base bag without a throw. "The Freak" then bailed himself out as he got Ian Kinsler to hit into an inning-ending double-play, but the Rangers came right back in the second. Bengie Molina, whom, you'll remember, the Giants traded away back in May, singled to open the frame. Lee, disdaining a one-out bunt attempt, popped a double over the head of drawn-in Torres in center, Molina lumbering along to third. Andrus then hit a fly-ball to medium center, and Torres' throw was wide of the mark, allowing the slowest man in baseball to score standing up. Oh, the shame of it all.
As the announcers waxed mystical about the unbeaten Cliff Lee holding a two-run lead, the Giants erased it.
Renteria reached on an error by Young, and after Lincecum failed to advance him Lee hit Andres Torres to move him up anyway. Sanchez ripped a double down the left-field line-- he'd doubled to right in the first-- which cut the lead to 2-1. Buster Posey, Molina's 23-year-old doppelganger, then singled home Torres, proving that Lee, while yet unbeaten, was hardly unbeatable. Both starters settled down in the fourth and it looked like it might stay 2-2 for awhile.
Here's how the bottom of the fifth went. Teams rarely expect much when the pitcher leads off an inning, and Lincecum opened with a meek groundout. Then Torres, who has quietly come alive at the plate since the Atlanta series, doubled to left. Sanchez cranked his third double, a monster shot off the wall in left-center as Torres scored. Burrell, who had struck out badly his first two times up, worked a seven-pitch walk that seemed to deflate Lee just a bit. Cody Ross got his daily RBI with a single up the middle to score Sanchez, and Huff's shot to the same vicinity brought in Burrell and chased Lee. Submariner Darren O'Day came in to face Uribe, who walloped a 2-0 pitch halfway to Vacaville. All of a sudden it was 8-2, Giants, and the place was rocking and shaking like the epicenter of the latest earthquake.
One reason our esteemed experts and commentators may want to temper their hopeful rhetoric about legendary pitching duels is the simple fact that these guys, veterans and professionals though they may be, are all tired by now. It's been 162 games plus a dozen or so postseason games, and few pitching aces from the Good Ol' Days ever went this deep into October ball. Lincecum ran out of gas all of a sudden in the sixth, after he'd fanned the first two batters and made 'em look bad. A two-out walk to Kinsler (deflation?) followed by a RBI double from the redoubtable Molina and another infield single off Lincecum's skinny frame, and a RBI single from pinch-hitter David Murphy, brought Bruce Bochy out from the dugout and Santiago Casilla in from the bullpen. Casilla, the first man in the parade, did his job well, pitching through the seventh as the 8-4 lead held. His batting spot did not come up in the bottom of the seventh, and he could have started the eighth, but Bochy went with Sergio Romo for two outs (one of them an infield hit that Kinsler squandered by overrunning the bag and being tagged out by Huff on a successful 'deke') followed by Javier Lopez against the right-hand-hitting Jorge Cantu, batting for left-hand-hitting Mitch Moreland, a matchup Bochy evidently foresaw and wanted anyway (we hope). Lopez got him to end the inning.
The Giants poured it on in the bottom of the eighth, taking back Texas' two runs and adding another. Sanchez' fourth double of the evening was revised to a single-and-an-error (by Vlad Guerrero, who hasn't played right field in about two years), and it scored Travis Ishikawa, whose pinch-hit double had scored Renteria, whose single Vlad had earlier misplayed into a three-bagger. Nate Schierholz, Burrell's defensive replacement, delivered the final RBI of the night with a single that scored Sanchez. (We're not used to having to count all these doggone runs and hits, folks!)
Ramon Ramirez, pitching the ninth with a seven-run lead, struggled with control early on. After an infield single, Ramirez walked Andrus, then retired Young on a fly ball for the first out. But "Boch" gave the hard-throwing Ramirez no chance to finish it out. Managing as if it were a one-run game, he summoned Jeremy Affeldt to face Hamilton; after a full-count walk, in came the Bearded One, Brian Wilson himself. Clearly Bochy has deep respect for the Rangers' powerful lineup, and there was absolutely no way he was going to let Game One get away. Wilson isn't used to the concept of trading outs for runs-- his margin for error is usually zero-- but he got Guerrero on a fly ball, which scored one run but cost Texas a precious out. (Why was Guerrero giving and getting high-fives in the dugout afterward, anyway?) Cruz then lofted what looked like an innocent game-ending fly ball to right-center, but it carried stupendously well and dropped behind Torres and Schierholz as two more runs scored. Kinsler lifted another fly ball in the same direction, but this one dropped into Schierholz' glove without incident, ending the game.
Matt Cain takes the hill for Game Two tonight. Evidently Bochy's righty-lefty-righty-lefty idea was meant for Philadelphia only. Then again, Cain has allowed exactly one run, unearned, in his two postseason starts, and no doubt "Boch" wants to get him in there as quickly as possible. Also, Cain went 8-4, 2.93, with 90 strikeouts at home, while both Jonathan Sanchez and (especially) Madison Bumgarner have been better on the road. Texas counters with another southpaw, C.J. Wilson, who was 15-6, 3.35 (in the AL, remember) on the season. He was fine against Tampa Bay in the division series, but the Yankees lit him up pretty well in his two ALCS starts-- twelve hits and nine runs in twelve innings pitched. It all gets underway at the 'Bell around 7:35 EDT (4:35 PDT), with first pitch due about a half hour later. Whether or not the Giants' ownership can top last night's pregame and seventh-inning special guest, the legendary Tony Bennett (who most assuredly still 'has it' at age 84, bless his heart) will be only one of many questions to be settled this evening.
In what was billed as yet another all-time great pitching duel, between Rangers' ace lefthander Cliff Lee and San Francisco's Tim Lincecum, the Giants bent, folded, spindled, and mutilated Lee's gaudy, previously-unbeaten postseason record to the tune of seven runs and eight hits in less than five innings. For their part, the Rangers put more than a few dents in Lincecum, too, although he lasted into the sixth and got credit for the win. But it was a six-run fifth inning-- an absolute deluge of hitting, especially by Giants standards-- that made the difference in this game, and cast a whole different light on just who may be expected to do what in this World Series.
Where to start? How about Freddy Sanchez, with three doubles in his first three Series at-bats? Or Aubrey Huff, with three hits of his own? Andres Torres and Edgar Renteria each scored two runs. Every starting member of the Giants' lineup had at least one hit except Pat Burrell-- whose fifth-inning walk may have tipped the balance against Lee. And moving away from offense for a minute, there were spectacular plays on defense by Renteria, Juan Uribe, and Huff-- necessary plays, too, because the Rangers kept coming back, against Lincecum and against the six relievers who followed.
Did we mention Juan Uribe? Yes, Juan Uribe, he of the game-winning homer in Game Six of the NLCS, had a part in this one, too. We'll get to him directly.
Texas, which led the major leagues in hitting, got right to work against Lincecum. Elvis Andrus singled to open the game, and Michael Young worked a walk. MVP candidate Josh Hamilton grounded out on a roller slow enough to advance the runners. Then Vladimir Guerrero, who has rejuvenated his bat in Arlington, dinged a infield single off Lincecum's leg, enough to score Andrus. Nelson Cruz hit a little comebacker, and Lincecum momentarily forgot how to play baseball as he simply walked Young-- who was dead to rights between third and home-- back to the third-base bag without a throw. "The Freak" then bailed himself out as he got Ian Kinsler to hit into an inning-ending double-play, but the Rangers came right back in the second. Bengie Molina, whom, you'll remember, the Giants traded away back in May, singled to open the frame. Lee, disdaining a one-out bunt attempt, popped a double over the head of drawn-in Torres in center, Molina lumbering along to third. Andrus then hit a fly-ball to medium center, and Torres' throw was wide of the mark, allowing the slowest man in baseball to score standing up. Oh, the shame of it all.
As the announcers waxed mystical about the unbeaten Cliff Lee holding a two-run lead, the Giants erased it.
Renteria reached on an error by Young, and after Lincecum failed to advance him Lee hit Andres Torres to move him up anyway. Sanchez ripped a double down the left-field line-- he'd doubled to right in the first-- which cut the lead to 2-1. Buster Posey, Molina's 23-year-old doppelganger, then singled home Torres, proving that Lee, while yet unbeaten, was hardly unbeatable. Both starters settled down in the fourth and it looked like it might stay 2-2 for awhile.
Here's how the bottom of the fifth went. Teams rarely expect much when the pitcher leads off an inning, and Lincecum opened with a meek groundout. Then Torres, who has quietly come alive at the plate since the Atlanta series, doubled to left. Sanchez cranked his third double, a monster shot off the wall in left-center as Torres scored. Burrell, who had struck out badly his first two times up, worked a seven-pitch walk that seemed to deflate Lee just a bit. Cody Ross got his daily RBI with a single up the middle to score Sanchez, and Huff's shot to the same vicinity brought in Burrell and chased Lee. Submariner Darren O'Day came in to face Uribe, who walloped a 2-0 pitch halfway to Vacaville. All of a sudden it was 8-2, Giants, and the place was rocking and shaking like the epicenter of the latest earthquake.
One reason our esteemed experts and commentators may want to temper their hopeful rhetoric about legendary pitching duels is the simple fact that these guys, veterans and professionals though they may be, are all tired by now. It's been 162 games plus a dozen or so postseason games, and few pitching aces from the Good Ol' Days ever went this deep into October ball. Lincecum ran out of gas all of a sudden in the sixth, after he'd fanned the first two batters and made 'em look bad. A two-out walk to Kinsler (deflation?) followed by a RBI double from the redoubtable Molina and another infield single off Lincecum's skinny frame, and a RBI single from pinch-hitter David Murphy, brought Bruce Bochy out from the dugout and Santiago Casilla in from the bullpen. Casilla, the first man in the parade, did his job well, pitching through the seventh as the 8-4 lead held. His batting spot did not come up in the bottom of the seventh, and he could have started the eighth, but Bochy went with Sergio Romo for two outs (one of them an infield hit that Kinsler squandered by overrunning the bag and being tagged out by Huff on a successful 'deke') followed by Javier Lopez against the right-hand-hitting Jorge Cantu, batting for left-hand-hitting Mitch Moreland, a matchup Bochy evidently foresaw and wanted anyway (we hope). Lopez got him to end the inning.
The Giants poured it on in the bottom of the eighth, taking back Texas' two runs and adding another. Sanchez' fourth double of the evening was revised to a single-and-an-error (by Vlad Guerrero, who hasn't played right field in about two years), and it scored Travis Ishikawa, whose pinch-hit double had scored Renteria, whose single Vlad had earlier misplayed into a three-bagger. Nate Schierholz, Burrell's defensive replacement, delivered the final RBI of the night with a single that scored Sanchez. (We're not used to having to count all these doggone runs and hits, folks!)
Ramon Ramirez, pitching the ninth with a seven-run lead, struggled with control early on. After an infield single, Ramirez walked Andrus, then retired Young on a fly ball for the first out. But "Boch" gave the hard-throwing Ramirez no chance to finish it out. Managing as if it were a one-run game, he summoned Jeremy Affeldt to face Hamilton; after a full-count walk, in came the Bearded One, Brian Wilson himself. Clearly Bochy has deep respect for the Rangers' powerful lineup, and there was absolutely no way he was going to let Game One get away. Wilson isn't used to the concept of trading outs for runs-- his margin for error is usually zero-- but he got Guerrero on a fly ball, which scored one run but cost Texas a precious out. (Why was Guerrero giving and getting high-fives in the dugout afterward, anyway?) Cruz then lofted what looked like an innocent game-ending fly ball to right-center, but it carried stupendously well and dropped behind Torres and Schierholz as two more runs scored. Kinsler lifted another fly ball in the same direction, but this one dropped into Schierholz' glove without incident, ending the game.
Matt Cain takes the hill for Game Two tonight. Evidently Bochy's righty-lefty-righty-lefty idea was meant for Philadelphia only. Then again, Cain has allowed exactly one run, unearned, in his two postseason starts, and no doubt "Boch" wants to get him in there as quickly as possible. Also, Cain went 8-4, 2.93, with 90 strikeouts at home, while both Jonathan Sanchez and (especially) Madison Bumgarner have been better on the road. Texas counters with another southpaw, C.J. Wilson, who was 15-6, 3.35 (in the AL, remember) on the season. He was fine against Tampa Bay in the division series, but the Yankees lit him up pretty well in his two ALCS starts-- twelve hits and nine runs in twelve innings pitched. It all gets underway at the 'Bell around 7:35 EDT (4:35 PDT), with first pitch due about a half hour later. Whether or not the Giants' ownership can top last night's pregame and seventh-inning special guest, the legendary Tony Bennett (who most assuredly still 'has it' at age 84, bless his heart) will be only one of many questions to be settled this evening.
Sunday, October 24, 2010
The San Francisco Giants defeated the Philadelphia Phillies, 3-2, at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia tonight, to win the National League Championship series in six games and advance to the World Series. AAAAOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOGA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
As Brian Wilson busted a thoroughly nasty knee-high cut fastball past slugger Ryan Howard for a called third strike with two on and two out in the bottom of the ninth, the Giants' dugout erupted in celebration, players and coaches spilling onto the field for the Group Hug. Tonight's hero, Juan Uribe, danced around like a fool, spraying wads of chewing tobacco as he went. Aubrey Huff, who after nearly 1,500 career games is finally going to the Big Show, charged toward Wilson from his first-base post, arms wide open. Cody Ross, the series MVP with his three homers and five RBI, came racing in from left field. And Tim Lincecum, who gave all he had in a brief relief stint in the eighth inning, joined his teammates at center stage. Oh, it was a sight to see.
And so it will be the San Francisco Giants against the Texas Rangers in the World Series beginning on Wednesday night, October 27, at AT&T Park in San Francisco. Matt Cain will be the likely Game One starter against Rangers' ace Cliff Lee, but there'll be plenty of time for that later. Tonight belongs to the Giants and their singular achievement, beating the two-time defending league champions and one of the best teams in baseball on their home turf with everything on the line.
The Giants overcame the worst possible beginning to this game: a three-inning meltdown by starter Jonathan Sanchez. As with his Game Two start, he endured a brutal first inning, surrendering three hits and two runs. He was consistently wild, falling behind the hitters, but the Phillies were aggressive and instead of waiting for walks, they attacked Sanchez when he was behind in the count. Placido Polanco did walk with one out, and Sanchez wild-pitched him to second. Chase Utley then doubled home his first run of the series. Ryan Howard followed with a single and Jayson Werth's sacrifice fly plated Utley with a second run in the seven-batter, 24-pitch inning that actually could have been even worse.
And, amazingly, that was it for the Phillies. They never scored again. After Sanchez walked Polanco again and then hit Utley, helping to provoke a bench-clearing glare-a-thon to open the third, Bruce Bochy had seen enough. In came Jeremy Affeldt, who worked his way out of the jam, and the parade of relievers began. Affeldt worked two, and next was young Madison Bumgarner who also worked two scoreless. Javier Lopez made it four lefthanders in a row with his scoreless seventh, and as the Giants came up in the eighth with the score tied, none other than Tim Lincecum began warming up in the Giants' bullpen.
One reason "Boch" may have been so quick with that hook in the third was the Giants' having just tied it up in the top of that frame. Philly starter Roy Oswalt pitched well, but his stuff is now familiar to the Giants, and they were hitting him from the start. In all, San Francisco tagged Oswalt for nine hits in his six innings of work, and he survived as well as he did thanks to two double plays and a fortunate throw from centerfielder Shane Victorino that caught the mound and bounced directly to catcher Carlos Ruiz, who tagged out Andres Torres at home. That was in the aforementioned top of the third. Sanchez, who did little enough with his arm, did more with his bat, leading off the frame with a sharp single. Torres then belted one to the wall in center; Victorino appeared to have a bead on it but lost it at the last minute. It only went for a single, since Sanchez had held up at second, but Freddy Sanchez moved the runners up with a bunt. Huff's single up the middle scored Sanchez and lost Torres, but Huff alertly took second on the play at the plate, and when Polanco threw wildly to first on Buster Posey's subsequent grounder, Huff came around to score and tie it up.
So, again, it was tied in the eighth as Lincecum loosened up and Juan Uribe stepped in against Ryan Madson with two out. He ripped Madson's first pitch, a slider, high and deep to right and into the first row of seats above Werth's despairing glance. The Giants had their first lead of the game, and they had their ace making a rare relief appearance, with six outs standing between the team and the World Series.
"All gave some, and some gave all." Lincecum indeed gave all, but after 104 pitches two nights ago he just hadn't much to give. He got the most important out, striking out Werth to open the eighth, but successive hard-hit singles by Victorino and Raul Ibanez brought Bochy out of the dugout, summoning Wilson. "Blackbeard" promptly induced Ruiz to line into a double play to end the eighth, and in the top of the ninth the Giants made a bid to break it open. Torres beat out a bunt and Freddy Sanchez followed with a single against Brad Lidge, but after Huff struck out, Phillies manager Charlie Manuel called Bochy's bluff, intentionally walking Posey, which forced Wilson to bat. Unwilling to give up his closer for a potential big inning, Bochy sent Wilson up there, hoping for a wild pitch, hit batsman, or even a walk. But, true to form, the Giants would have to win this one as a one-run game, just like all the others, and so Lidge retired Wilson without incident to end the threat.
And true to form, Wilson mixed outs with walks, his own special version of the one-run nail-biting "Torture" syndrome that even the Giants acknowledge is their special gift to their fans. Jimmy Rollins, back in his familiar leadoff spot, walked with one out, and after Wilson got Polanco to force Rollins at second, he walked Utley to move the tying run to second and bring up the mighty Howard. Philly's magnificent slugger had five hits in the series, but no RBIs as yet, and this would be his best, and last, opportunity. It was strength against strength. Howard worked the count full, fouled off a nasty pitch that he just missed clobbering into the Delaware River, and then watched that wicked knee-high strike end his and his great team's season.
Indeed, three of the Giants' four victories in this series were by a single run, and it was Wilson who saved three games and won the other one. He, along with Ross, Matt Cain, and Uribe, stood tallest among the group of 25 who made this happen. Every Giant except Eli Whiteside and Guillermo Mota played a role in this series, and in the post-game award ceremony, an emotional Brian Sabean paid tribute to the Giants' depth as well as their resilience. It is worth noting that of the eight players who trotted out to their positions on Opening Day back in April, only one-- Huff-- remains where he was. Gone are Mark DeRosa (to injury), John Bowker and Bengie Molina (to trade), and Aaron Rowand and Pablo Sandoval (to the bench). Juan Uribe started the season at second; he's now at third and short, alternating with Sandoval and Edgar Renteria. Now we have Posey, Pat Burrell, Torres, and Ross, the guys who turned this team around. Among the pitchers Bumgarner, Lopez, and Ramon Ramirez have stepped ahead of several guys whose names we can't even recall right now. Sabean has taken a lot of heat, much of it deserved, for the Giants' misfortunes over the last five years or so, but he now deserves all the credit we can give him for the bold moves he's made to put this team together. Frankly, we expected the Giants to reach this point in 2011 or 2012, and we viewed 2010 as a likely consolidation year, where the gains of 2009 would be tempered by the realization there was more work to do. To have won the National League pennant with this team, in the way it was done, is a tremendous achievement, and we salute Brian Sabean for it. And we'll hold to that even if Bengie Molina hits five home runs against us in the World Series!
As Brian Wilson busted a thoroughly nasty knee-high cut fastball past slugger Ryan Howard for a called third strike with two on and two out in the bottom of the ninth, the Giants' dugout erupted in celebration, players and coaches spilling onto the field for the Group Hug. Tonight's hero, Juan Uribe, danced around like a fool, spraying wads of chewing tobacco as he went. Aubrey Huff, who after nearly 1,500 career games is finally going to the Big Show, charged toward Wilson from his first-base post, arms wide open. Cody Ross, the series MVP with his three homers and five RBI, came racing in from left field. And Tim Lincecum, who gave all he had in a brief relief stint in the eighth inning, joined his teammates at center stage. Oh, it was a sight to see.
And so it will be the San Francisco Giants against the Texas Rangers in the World Series beginning on Wednesday night, October 27, at AT&T Park in San Francisco. Matt Cain will be the likely Game One starter against Rangers' ace Cliff Lee, but there'll be plenty of time for that later. Tonight belongs to the Giants and their singular achievement, beating the two-time defending league champions and one of the best teams in baseball on their home turf with everything on the line.
The Giants overcame the worst possible beginning to this game: a three-inning meltdown by starter Jonathan Sanchez. As with his Game Two start, he endured a brutal first inning, surrendering three hits and two runs. He was consistently wild, falling behind the hitters, but the Phillies were aggressive and instead of waiting for walks, they attacked Sanchez when he was behind in the count. Placido Polanco did walk with one out, and Sanchez wild-pitched him to second. Chase Utley then doubled home his first run of the series. Ryan Howard followed with a single and Jayson Werth's sacrifice fly plated Utley with a second run in the seven-batter, 24-pitch inning that actually could have been even worse.
And, amazingly, that was it for the Phillies. They never scored again. After Sanchez walked Polanco again and then hit Utley, helping to provoke a bench-clearing glare-a-thon to open the third, Bruce Bochy had seen enough. In came Jeremy Affeldt, who worked his way out of the jam, and the parade of relievers began. Affeldt worked two, and next was young Madison Bumgarner who also worked two scoreless. Javier Lopez made it four lefthanders in a row with his scoreless seventh, and as the Giants came up in the eighth with the score tied, none other than Tim Lincecum began warming up in the Giants' bullpen.
One reason "Boch" may have been so quick with that hook in the third was the Giants' having just tied it up in the top of that frame. Philly starter Roy Oswalt pitched well, but his stuff is now familiar to the Giants, and they were hitting him from the start. In all, San Francisco tagged Oswalt for nine hits in his six innings of work, and he survived as well as he did thanks to two double plays and a fortunate throw from centerfielder Shane Victorino that caught the mound and bounced directly to catcher Carlos Ruiz, who tagged out Andres Torres at home. That was in the aforementioned top of the third. Sanchez, who did little enough with his arm, did more with his bat, leading off the frame with a sharp single. Torres then belted one to the wall in center; Victorino appeared to have a bead on it but lost it at the last minute. It only went for a single, since Sanchez had held up at second, but Freddy Sanchez moved the runners up with a bunt. Huff's single up the middle scored Sanchez and lost Torres, but Huff alertly took second on the play at the plate, and when Polanco threw wildly to first on Buster Posey's subsequent grounder, Huff came around to score and tie it up.
So, again, it was tied in the eighth as Lincecum loosened up and Juan Uribe stepped in against Ryan Madson with two out. He ripped Madson's first pitch, a slider, high and deep to right and into the first row of seats above Werth's despairing glance. The Giants had their first lead of the game, and they had their ace making a rare relief appearance, with six outs standing between the team and the World Series.
"All gave some, and some gave all." Lincecum indeed gave all, but after 104 pitches two nights ago he just hadn't much to give. He got the most important out, striking out Werth to open the eighth, but successive hard-hit singles by Victorino and Raul Ibanez brought Bochy out of the dugout, summoning Wilson. "Blackbeard" promptly induced Ruiz to line into a double play to end the eighth, and in the top of the ninth the Giants made a bid to break it open. Torres beat out a bunt and Freddy Sanchez followed with a single against Brad Lidge, but after Huff struck out, Phillies manager Charlie Manuel called Bochy's bluff, intentionally walking Posey, which forced Wilson to bat. Unwilling to give up his closer for a potential big inning, Bochy sent Wilson up there, hoping for a wild pitch, hit batsman, or even a walk. But, true to form, the Giants would have to win this one as a one-run game, just like all the others, and so Lidge retired Wilson without incident to end the threat.
And true to form, Wilson mixed outs with walks, his own special version of the one-run nail-biting "Torture" syndrome that even the Giants acknowledge is their special gift to their fans. Jimmy Rollins, back in his familiar leadoff spot, walked with one out, and after Wilson got Polanco to force Rollins at second, he walked Utley to move the tying run to second and bring up the mighty Howard. Philly's magnificent slugger had five hits in the series, but no RBIs as yet, and this would be his best, and last, opportunity. It was strength against strength. Howard worked the count full, fouled off a nasty pitch that he just missed clobbering into the Delaware River, and then watched that wicked knee-high strike end his and his great team's season.
Indeed, three of the Giants' four victories in this series were by a single run, and it was Wilson who saved three games and won the other one. He, along with Ross, Matt Cain, and Uribe, stood tallest among the group of 25 who made this happen. Every Giant except Eli Whiteside and Guillermo Mota played a role in this series, and in the post-game award ceremony, an emotional Brian Sabean paid tribute to the Giants' depth as well as their resilience. It is worth noting that of the eight players who trotted out to their positions on Opening Day back in April, only one-- Huff-- remains where he was. Gone are Mark DeRosa (to injury), John Bowker and Bengie Molina (to trade), and Aaron Rowand and Pablo Sandoval (to the bench). Juan Uribe started the season at second; he's now at third and short, alternating with Sandoval and Edgar Renteria. Now we have Posey, Pat Burrell, Torres, and Ross, the guys who turned this team around. Among the pitchers Bumgarner, Lopez, and Ramon Ramirez have stepped ahead of several guys whose names we can't even recall right now. Sabean has taken a lot of heat, much of it deserved, for the Giants' misfortunes over the last five years or so, but he now deserves all the credit we can give him for the bold moves he's made to put this team together. Frankly, we expected the Giants to reach this point in 2011 or 2012, and we viewed 2010 as a likely consolidation year, where the gains of 2009 would be tempered by the realization there was more work to do. To have won the National League pennant with this team, in the way it was done, is a tremendous achievement, and we salute Brian Sabean for it. And we'll hold to that even if Bengie Molina hits five home runs against us in the World Series!
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