First I'd like to apologize for almost three full weeks of no blogs. I was knee-deep into a fantastic theatrical show that I was directing, and barely had time to crash into bed, let alone make coherent baseball comments. But I'm back now! Just in time for the season to be over. (Sad face) But that doesn't mean we can't wrap-up what was missed. So here we go ladies and germs.
The San Francisco Giants made their way past the seemingly much better Philadelphia Phillies. How was this accomplished? With dynamite pitching, that's how. Tim Lincecum, Matt Cain, Jonathan Sanchez and even rookie Madison Bumgarner all pitched well enough to slide past the defending National League Champions. Lincecum bested the suddenly mortal Roy Halladay to take Game 1, Cain made the Phils look silly in Game 3, Roy Oswalt couldn't prevent a walk-off victory in Game 4, and Game 6 saw very little Philly offense at all. In truth, that was the reason the Phils lost. Their vaulted, and expensive offense just couldn't figure out the San Fran pitching staff. So while this series originally looked lopsided to the Phillies' advantage, it turned out to be controlled mostly by stud starting pitchers, and clutch hitting by the Giants.
Over in the American League, however, it was pure domination of the Texas Rangers over the defending World Series Champion New York Yankees. The Yanks managed to take Game 1, but that was due to an inept Ranger pen. And if C.C. Sabathia had not pitched a solid Game 5, even though the Rangers outhit the Yanks 13-9 that day, then the series would have been over even sooner. Because like it or not, the Rangers pretty much owned New York. They outhit the champs on a regular basis, and in both Game 3 and 6, Cliff Lee and Colby Lewis made the Yankees look like a junior varsity team. Sadly, Mark Texiera went out with a hamstring injury, but in all honesty, that didn't make much of a difference to the Yanks, as he wasn't hitting squat and Lance Berkman was a decent defensive replacement. Josh Hamilton and Nelson Cruz were instead the stars of this series, belting homers and driving in runs. And thus the World Series match-up was set.
At the start, it looked like the Rangers were another fierce offensive power that the Giants were going to have to overcome. But just as the Giants were able to get past Philadelphia, Texas soon realized just how good the Giants young hurlers are. Game 1 of the Fall Classic saw neither Lincecum, nor Lee looking particularly good, though. Lincecum was able to hang on to get a victory after pitching 5 and 2/3, but Lee didn't really have any pitches working for him that day, and his streak of 7-0 in the playoffs came crashing to an end. Besides, who would suspect the Giants would put up 11 runs on 14 hits!? The game was somewhat tainted by ugly play though, as the Rangers had four errors, two by returning right-fielder Vladimir Guerrero, and the Gints had two themselves. So Game 2 would be much more of a pitchers duel, right?
Uh, think again. Matt Cain pitched 7 and 2/3 of stellar baseball, allowing only four hits and continuing his postseason of not allowing a run. The Giants totaled 9 runs in this stomp-fest, though. I don't think the Giants had scored 20 runs in a week during the regular season, and here they were pounding the juggernaut Rangers' offense into dust. By the Way, Cain ended up pitching 21.1 innings in the postseason and only allowed one unearned run. That's just disgustingly good. So while the Rangers bats showed up a little late in Game 1, they completely called in sick for Game 2. Would Game 3 show a glimmer of hope for fans in Arlington?
Eh, kinda. Josh Hamilton finally got on the board by blasting a homer, but it wasn't game determining, and other than that, his entire series was pretty dreadful. But the Rangers got the win, and Texas fans starting to think that this series might not be as dull as it started out. And maybe even fans outside of Texas and California would start paying attention. But then Game 4 happened, and the audiences that actually did pay attention were introduced to Madison Bumgarner. Da Bum threw 8 absolutely dominate innings, struck out 6, walked only 2 and allowed a mere 3 hits, all as a rookie in the postseason. Madison pitched so well that he made the Rangers look like...well, the Yankees. So while I and other baseball fans love this rookie sensation throwing a wonderful game, it doesn't make for wide audience appeal, and by the time Game 5 rolled around, I don't think many people were watching. In fact, Dancing with the Stars received higher ratings than Game 5 did. And it's unfortunate, because those non-viewers missed a hell of a pitching performance by Mr. Hash, aka, Tim Lincecum. He also tossed 8 great innings, allowing only a homerun to Nelson Cruz. But that homerun paled in comparison to Edgar Renteria's three-run blast at the top of the 7th. Brian Wilson was his usual eccentric, but shut-down self, and the game and series were over.
And while I give my sincerest congratulations to the deserving San Francisco Giants, I must admit, I was a little disappointed in this contest. The Rangers had the potential to come out and challenge the Giants hitters, but instead most of them looked lost throughout the series. Middle-of-the-order hitters Josh Hamilton and Vlad Guerrero batted .100 and .071 respectively. In fact, only two Rangers batted above .200; Michael Young who batted exactly .250, and 1B Mitch Moreland who batted a ridiculous .462.
On the other hand, the Giants seemed to get hitting from somebody new every night. Lead-off hitter Andres Torres set the table night after night and made the Rangers' pitchers respect his speed. Juan Uribe had some big RBIs. And eventual MVP Edgar Renteria hit .412, including the series deciding homerun. This San Francisco hodge-podge of castaway characters like Cody Ross, Uribe, Pat Burrell and Aubrey Huff came together to support a sublime pitching staff and bring San Francisco its first baseball championship. It's the kind of team that nobody thought at the beginning of the year could go all the way. And if they start again next year with the exact same roster, no one will pick them to repeat. But that is why they are so deserving. They came together when it mattered. Hunkered down and got big hits when it mattered. And most importantly, pitched some outstanding games when it mattered. So congratulations to a scrappy team who had what it took to beat up the All-Stars. And here's to a wonderful 2010 season of baseball. May 2011 be even better.
And to my readership, thanks so much for sticking with me this year. There have been ups and downs. Lovely pictures, and stupefying grammatical errors. But you kept coming back, and for that, I can't thank you enough. And one last final note. A few days ago a gentleman emailed me and asked me to refer his website. Well I took a look at it, and it is something I think is worth sharing. So when you are done reading this, head on over to www.bestcollegesonline.net/blog/2010/10-unforgettable-world-series-moments. I might have picked #2 as my number #1, but it's a great list nonetheless. I'll be back soon with off-season rumors, trades, signings and general musings. Only 103 days until pitchers and catcher report!!! That's for you Vinny.
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