A cursory look at the SF morning papers reveals how awe-struck some veteran baseball people, both friend and foe, were last night after the gem for the ages pitched by Madison Bumgarner that has this franchise on the brink of a victory that will remove 'long suffering' as a prefix used to describe Giants fans.
From Brian Sabean, Bruce Bochy, Giants teammates and Rangers manager Ron Washington. All weighed in on the magnitude and the magnificence of the performance.
From Bruce Jenkins, The Giants past, present and future.
SF Giants' rookie turns in a gem for the ages
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/11/01/SP581G4NRA.DTL#ixzz141pYSUws
It's hard to believe the Giants' story can get any better, for it reached an otherworldly state in Game 4 of the World Series on Sunday night. It left manager Bruce Bochy chuckling to himself in amazement. It had players shaking their heads in admiration. General manager Brian Sabean was so stunned, he barely could speak.
Such was the residue of Madison Bumgarner's eight shutout innings in the Giants' 4-0 win, viewed by World Series history as the most efficient by a rookie pitcher in 62 years.
Manager Ron Washington marveled that Bumgarner never threw two consecutive pitches at the same speed, and that was the key. He was humming the fastball around 92-93 mph. A couple of proud hitters, Vladimir Guerrero and Michael Young, flailed so badly on changeups that they resembled men groping for a light switch in the dark.
"That kid, I can't say enough about what he did tonight," Bochy said. "I mean, a 21-year-old kid on that stage, pitching like that. He's a man. A very special talent, and we're grateful we have him."
"He's fearless, man," said Huff, who aided Bumgarner's case immeasurably with a massive two-run homer down the right-field line in the third inning. "He came to the yard today and you could see he was just chilling. Nothing really bothers him. Put on some David Allen Coe on the playlist and let him go to town.
"I'll tell you, with the young pitching this team has and Buster Posey behind the plate, this team has a chance to do something special for quite some time."
That's what had Sabean in a near-trance after the game, a state of blissful amazement as he pondered the impact of Bumgarner and Posey on the 2010 Giants. "Certain guys you draft, you can tell they're cut-above people," Sabean said. "But I've been around scouting and player development for a long time, and this is just very unusual. The strength, the inner courage ...I'm shocked. They've shocked all of us."
With one more victory, the Giants will have shocked the world. They have come too far to turn back now.
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From Henry Schulman, Bumgarner is money in the bank.
Madison Bumgarner pitches SF Giants to brink
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/11/01/SPS61G4NQ3.DTL
Cody Ross said everyone in the clubhouse "can feel it, taste it and smell it - all the senses." As pumped as they are, though, the Giants are forcing themselves to remember it takes four wins, not three, to get a parade.
The faithful back in San Francisco must be struggling with emotions that could not be more mixed. On one hand, the Giants are a win away. On the other hand, 55 seasons without a championship and the fresh memories of the 2002 Series can harden a person's skepticism.
Shortly after the game, special assistant Felipe Alou stood by the front door of the clubhouse and recalled the first time he saw Bumgarner in spring training. Alou did not have to stretch his mind to see him pitching eight shutout innings in Game 4 of the World Series.
"When I saw the mound presence and the poise, I said, 'Wow. How long has this guy been pitching?' " Alou recalled. "It's really something to own a lefty of that stature with that kind of stuff. That's a lot of money in the bank."
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From Scott Ostler, Huff still rocking The Rally Thong
SF Giants 1 win away from city's 1st championship
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/11/01/MNS61G4NQ4.DTL#ixzz141opLaKi
Huff's Rally Thong, by the way, is more than just media candy or a passing fad. When I asked Huff after the game, in the interests of journalism, if he was still rocking the lucky garment, he jumped on the question like a belt-high fastball.
"Yeah, it hasn't left my body since we started playing (good ball), since 30 games (before the end of) the regular season," he said. "It's something you get quite used to after a while. I always wondered how women do it, but it's really not a big deal anymore."
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