San Francisco Giants - 2010 World Series Champions!!!!

Brian Wilson ends World Series with 'most special' signal to dad

http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/blog/big_league_stew/post/Brian-Wilson-ends-World-Series-with-most-specia?urn=mlb-281783

Over the past few seasons, Brian Wilson has ended dozens of games the same way that he did on Monday night at Game 5 of the World Series.

It's a routine well-known to baseball fans. After recording the final out of a ballgame, the San Francisco Giants closer turns away from the plate, crosses his foreams in front of his chest and quickly looks toward the sky. It's a MMA signal that he says he adopted and adapted to honor both his late father — who passed away from cancer when Brian was only 17 — and his Christian faith.

After the celebration had calmed down somewhat, I asked the closer with the dyed beard he won't admit to if this signal meant more than the others he's made in the past.

His answer was not surprising.

"This one was the most special, sure" he said. "It showed that hard work really does pay off. That's what my dad always taught me."

SAN FRANCISCO GIANTS - 2010 WORLD CHAMPIONS

Remember, you heard it here first.

http://slavieboy.blogspot.com/2010/04/pre-season-mlb-predictions-2010.html

NL Championship:

Giants stomp the daylights out of the Phillies, setting up, YES, my ultimate World Series for 2010. The Giants and the Rays.

In that match-up - the Giants sweep the Rays, four straight.

I didn't get the dream match up I wanted in the pre-season, I guess I will just have to settle for The Dream coming true.

The St. Pete Times columnist John Romano summed it up well, and I'm sure others will too. It was about the wait. The long excruciating wait. And getting off the futility list. As we watched the Red Sox, the White Sox and now, at last, the Giants.

San Francisco's crown has finally arrived
By John Romano, Times Sports Columnist

http://www.tampabay.com/sports/baseball/ml/san-francisco-giants-are-unlikely-world-series-champions/1131716

The past decade has been about reparations in Major League Baseball. It has been payback for millions of fans who endured losses, heartbreaks, curses, mismanagement and far too much bad luck for anyone to recall.

Red Sox fans? Their 86-year wait ended in 2004.

White Sox fans? Salvation came after 88 years in 2005.

And now Giants fans?

In their 53rd season in San Francisco, the Giants have finally won a World Series.

Giants President Larry Baer summed up the feeling of the franchise from the top down.

"It's for everybody who's ever worn a Giants uniform, for every fan that's ever frozen at Candlestick Park, for every person that's ever voted for a new ballpark, for every person who's listened to our games on the radio over the years. That's what this is for. The 2010 Giants delivered on behalf of those people.

"It's on behalf of 53 years of waiting."

This is true as well. Nobody believed in this team even up until the very end.

They are one of the most unlikely World Series champions in history. A team that seemed forever to be chasing someone else. They were behind the Padres in May, behind the Padres and Dodgers in June and behind the Padres, Dodgers and Rockies in July.

The knuckleheads on the local ESPN station were giddy announcing the Rangers plans to pitch Cliff Lee last night and bring him back on short rest to pitch Game 7, because as they put it, "There's no way the Giants can beat Cliff Lee two times". WRONG!!! On so many levels.

- The Giants had already defeated CLiff Lee once. Now twice, counting last night.
- They ignored the crucial question: How were the Rangers going to beat Tim Lincecum? JUST ONCE MAYBE.
- They ignored the question of how the Rangers were going to beat Matt Cain, in a potential Game Six.

And now they are left to cancel their flight plans for San Francisco, virtually guaranteed by new Rangers hot shot CEO Chuck Greenberg.

"This series: It is going back to San Francisco," Greenberg told the Ben & Skin Show on ESPN 103.3 FM in Dallas. "There's gonna be a Game 6. There's going to be a Game 7. Let's all hang in there and keep believing.

Maybe he can get a free bag of nuts from the charter service for his troubles. No Game 6. No Game 7.

In the end, this may have been the difference between these two teams. The Giants franchise by virtue of their past, know full well the experience best described philosophically by FSU football coach Bobby Bowden, "Not Enough Wide Rights": "They haven't had enough 'wide rights' yet. You have to get kicked around enough in the big ones to learn how to win them."

The Giants franchise finally learned how to win the big one, instead of the kick sailing wide right. They've sure been kicked around enough in the past.

In the end, Romano sums it up pretty well. I don't want to compare and contrast heartache with anyone and I'm glad that, in this area, I no longer have to. But I feel the Cubs fans pain. And the Indians, and now the Rangers, who move up the list. And the Astros, who enter the back end of the list.

Their heartache was not as celebrated as Boston's, and their wait was not as long as Chicago's.

But that does not mean the path was any less painful for those who lived it.

For those who saw Game 7 of the 1962 World Series end when McCovey lined out to Bobby Richardson with two on and two out in the ninth inning of a 1-0 loss to the Yankees.

For those who lived through the earthquake and World Series sweep by Oakland in 1989, and those who saw the Giants come within five outs of winning the 2002 World Series in Game 6 before manager Dusty Baker prematurely pulled Russ Ortiz.

Peter Magowan, who was the leader of the ownership group that purchased the Giants in 1992 and kept Vince Naimoli from buying the franchise and moving it to Tropicana Field, walked through the clubhouse Monday night hugging player after player.

"For a lot of people in San Francisco, this is the happiest day of their lives," said Magowan, who is now Giants president emeritus.

Maybe the happiest day in their sports lives. But yes.

So who would have thought that this team -- of all Giants teams -- would be the one to win it? It's why we watch, and why we play the games, because you just never know.

After all of the close calls and all the losing seasons, the deed was finally done by a group of players who refer to themselves as the Dirty Dozen. They have an ace with long hair, and a closer with a dyed beard. They have a third baseman who looks like Kung Fu Panda, and a first baseman with lucky undergarments from Victoria's Secret.

They are misfits, runts and castoffs. Their highest-paid player did not even make the Series roster, and their cleanup hitter was acquired on waivers a couple of months ago.

"Those Giants teams with Willie Mays and McCovey had four Hall of Famers on those teams," outfielder Aaron Rowand said. "But it takes a lot of luck too."

So, in the end, devotion pays.

Sooner or later, faith is rewarded.

Eventually, hope is not in vain.

What a wonderful take away message. How wonderful a day it must be for Edgar Renteria who endured the criticisms from many corners, including this one, about the worthiness of the contract? Well, I won't question it any more. It was well worth it and I'm so happy for him. Redemption is a wonderful thing.

And for Brian Sabean, who endured the criticism from many corners, including this one, about some of the moves he made to get the team here. Unfortunately for Brian, I can't guarantee that they will not continue. It kind of goes with the territory. But for now, actually forever really, he only needs to point to whatever finger this World Series ring ends up on and he will forever hold the ultimate mute key. Dang it, Life is so not fair.

BTW, How cool a day is it for Giants equipment manager Mike Murphy? World Champions and he'll just be chatting about it with Willie Mays. How cool is that?

Mike Murphy was a batboy in old Seals Stadium when the Giants played their first game in San Francisco in 1958. That happened to be the day he met a future Hall of Famer named Willie Mays. Murphy would go on to work for the Giants for the next 52 years, and continues to run the clubhouse as the equipment manager.

"There's a whole potful of people who have never been through this," Murphy said. "I wish they all could see it. It's a great feeling. You feel like you're sitting on top of the world.

"As a matter of fact, I'm going to call Willie right now."

It is a great feeling.

You do feel like you are sitting on top of the world.

You do feel like anything is possible today because of what happened yesterday. It's silly really, but true.

As Giants fans, we knew coming down the stretch that this season was going to end in tears.

We just didn't know which type.
We know too well, from many prior years of disappointment, the bitter, stinging tears of defeat.
We know not well, the sweet, liberating tears of joy.
Well now we know....

HOW SWEET IT IS.

SAN FRANCISCO GIANTS - 2010 WORLD SERIES CHAMPIONS

Giants are on the brink

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.

----------

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."

--------------------

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."

Game 4: Giants - Rangers or "A Night with a Tortured Giants Fan"

Today, I'll just write my thoughts as the game progresses. That should be entertaining. I'll try to filter the language for the young people. But hey, NO GUARANTEES.

Fox Pre-Game nonsense:

We can't even get to the first pitch before I'm ready to turn the sound off on these guys.

First, in pre-game Eric Karros makes me reach for something to throw at him by saying, 'Whoever wins this game, is going to win the series'. Maybe Mr. Karros doesn't read my blog, but it's Game Five that becomes the pivotal game and that's IF the Rangers win Game Four. Sheesh, and this guy played in the bigs, he should understand momentum.

Then Buck and McCarver do the pre-game happy talk and Buck says that Bochy doesn't want to go to Game Five versus Cliff Lee even up at two games apiece. Certainly not the preference, but correct me if I'm wrong here Bucky-beaver:
a) the Giants beat Cliff Lee and
b) the Giants will have Tim Lincecum on the mound, a guy who does a lot to inspire confidence in a manager.

My wife says they are just trying to build drama and interest for the casual fan, who if we believe the initial rating returns (second lowest rated WS game), are not watching anyway. But by doing that, they lose credibility in the eyes of the knowledgeable, hard-core baseball fans who certainly are viewing these early games. A delicate balancing act, I suppose.

I put the remote outside of my immediate reach, since I won't be flipping tonight, and these guys are under my skin already.

Burrell and Sandoval are on the pine, replaced by Nate Schierholz and Travis Ishakawa. Right now, the right thing to do. Burrell has been a windmill for most of the playoffs. Sandoval has been one for most of the season. All about the approach. Both are hot / cold, 'all or nothing' type hitters as a result. Burrell is more patient at times, so his recent demise is more surprising. Plus he has been in the World Series before. Kudos to Bochy for utilizing the bench when he needs it.

1st inning: I don't know what Posey is looking for up there, he seems to be taking some hittable pitches lately and putting himself into bad counts.

Both pitchers searching for the whereabouts of the strike zone. Can't say that either pitcher is at fault. Blue seems to be a little tight today. Maybe they're getting paid by the hour tonight.

2nd inning: Giants catch a break on the Ishakawa DP, not called on the 1B side. Out by a quarter stride, that call has to be made at this level.

Hamilton makes a great catch to save a run in CF. Both pitchers are struggling with the umpires tight strike zone so neither one may go more than six innings. Hopefully, that favors the good guys innings 7-9. Keep it close guys and steal it in the end.

Umpire opens it up (a little) in the second, he must be hearing it from both sides. He's not calling pitches on 'the black' or on the border of Foxies Pitch Tracker service. Nobody will bitch if you call that one. And you don't get graded as a miss, within the margin of error.

Bumgarner still pitching behind too much. That's going to come back to bite him. We'll see who gets an easy inning or two first. Top of the order in the third for the Gigantes, gotta make something happen.

3rd inning: Torres leads off with a double and I finally agree with the announcers, 'why is Sanchez bunting?' This isn't Lee - Lincecum dealing aces where one run is precious. Swing away, Boche!!

The Rangers scouting report on the Giants must be littered with 'sliders away'. And that would make it a decent report. Sanchez battling. Usually good things happen for hitters when you see > 5 pitches in an AB. Nope. He doesn't move the runner, pulls it to 3B and grounds out. Bad AB.

HUFF JOINS THE PARTY THE WAY WE LIKE!!! ALBEIT SANS THONG. CRUSH DADDY!!! GIANTS 2-0.

Posey looks at borderline strike three. Pitch Tracker confirms, outside by quite a bit. That's what happens when your approach is confused up there. You lose the benefit of the doubt. Not much doubt about that one though. I thought catchers usually get the benefit of the doubt. Maybe not in the bigs. Or maybe Buster's not smelling so nice back there today. ;) I wouldn't want to see Bumgarner and Posey get crossed up. Somebody could get hurt back there. Nah, stakes are too high to screw around here.

That's a Ball / Strike miss and a Bases miss so far. One in favor, one opposed. They even out long term, but short term - still BRUTAL.

Fox shows the classic Nolan Ryan - Robin Vetura bout which Ryan won by TKO. CLASSIC!! There are some things that never get old.

Bumgarner settling in. A breezy third inning.

4th Inning: Uribe just missed one. He didn't think so, he struck the pose before he left the batters box, but the wind may have knocked it down. Now Hudson breezing, a rocket grounder to the 2B, two quick outs. Rangers bullpen busy already. Can't take any chances tonight.

Renteria hits a long single, nice play by Cruz to hold him there. Had double written on it. Cruz got out his eraser. Could be a big play, that doesn't show up in the score book.

Schierholz down quick two strikes. Now 2-2, not bad, making him work. Lazy fly ball ends the Giants half.

Young busts the no-no, not by much, great effort. Another great effort by Sanchez to get one on the tag of Young. Hamilton hit a rocket that Bumgarner deflects to Sanchez. One on, one out.
Vladdie tries to tie it with one swing. Bumgarner makes him chase. Good pitch. The change-up is so very underrated.

POSEY THROWS A SEED TO SECOND TO NAIL HAMILTON TRYING TO STEAL!!! NICE CATCH / TAG BY SANCHEZ.

If he's not the Rookie of the Year, a crime has been committed. I know the ballots must have been cast before all this happens, but how dumb do you have to feel now if you didn't vote for this kid and you see what he's doing in this environment. He didn't get demonstrably better overnight, right?

5th Inning: Ogando the new pitcher for Texas. Giants looking for a tack on or two. Torres hits a lazy fly. Sanchez up. Hey how many times do you see a guy make a great play in the field and bat second in the next half of the inning? OH, SHUT UP SLAVIK!!! No, I won't!!! Mathematically and in real-life it happens about as expected: about 11.1% or 1/9th of the time. In other words, it's a relatively random occurrence when the guys leads off, we just attach more weight or notice it more when it does happen, giving the impression that it happens more frequently than it actually does.

While I was typing that Stat 101 / human behavior / mind tricks primer, Huff struck out meekly, making Ogando look like an All-Star. Weak half inning offensively. TORTURE RETURNS!!

Speaking of which, I'm a bit torn here. I hope that isn't the only hit Bumgarner gives up but I don't want to see him get hit any further. Ross screws me up further with a great defensive play to rob Ian Kinsler. Way to screw me up further Cody!!! I love 'The Cody Ross Experience' And I kind of hate Kinsler. Maybe it's the hair. Or his demeanor. I'd like him if he played for us though, so don't go pissy on me Ranger fans.

Bungarner finishes the fifth economically. That helps. If he give six, all good, Seven and I might go all Chris Matthews and get a tingle up my leg. I'm sorry, that's just not something a man should say about another man. Don't remind me about some of my Buster Posey posts or things I've said in the past about Phil Simms, that's different. Simms won a Super Bowl, dude. So it's all good.

6th Inning: Speaking of Posey, weak grounder to third. They have a good report on him so far. Or kryptonite. Ross goes for the downs, on a ball in the dirt. These guys are starting to piss me off. Slider ends Ross. Good advance scouts these Rangers must have. Uribe hacks. Ogando throws a slider to Odessa. So wild he strained an oblique. Dude, a run of the mill slider usually sits Uribe. Just don't hang the sucker. Ogando leaves with a tummy ache. Hockey players worldwide ROTFLAO!!!! Me too. I just consulted my copy of the Rangers advance scouting report on Uribe and it says "pick a slider, any slider, even the cement mixer spinner - anywhere close, he'll hack". Rangers advance scouts worldwide Rolling On The Floor Puking. Not sure if ROTFP is a universally recognized acronym for that, but I have some time to kill while the Rangers reliever relieves himself, or warms up or whatever.

McCarver has a spider over his head, which a) I hope is real and poisonous and b) poised to strike if he says anything stupid, which he is due for. Darren Oliver in relief. Bad stuff happening, we're not capitalizing as Uribe skies weakly to Molina. Baseball gods will not be happy, are poised to strike Giants. You can just feel it. Bumgarner the only thing standing in the way.

Mitch Moreland has another great AB for a single. The Giants should tape his AB's and make their hitters watch it until their eyes bleed. Never mind the 'Tom Emansky: Teaching the Fundamentals of the Major League Swing'. Parts I or II. Just dial into the Moreland approach and good things will follow. Are you listening Hensley?

Another DP, looks like he may have beat that out, though. LOVE THE DP. Umpires best friend. No replay, must not have been as close as it looked. Oh no, here we go. OOPS, BLUE ANOTHER ONE!!! Dude is having a tough night over at first. Maybe that angle is not working out for him.....But,........he's the major league umpire and I'm not. Not to go all teenage girl on you but, 'Life is so not fair'. I wonder how Jacklyn is doing?

7th Inning:
Ishakawa 打席に弱い ( phonetically: Daseki ni yowai ) weak at bat in Japanese. Giants offense is as boring as it is torturous, so I was using some advanced Google features....oh look, Renteria gets another hit. Next game, he bats all times in the order. Schierholtz looks over a slider away, for a backwards-K. What a surprise, that these guys would pound sliders away against the Giants. What are they thinking? Ewwwwweeeee, Torres shoots the gap, double to knock in Renteria. Giants 3-0. And Sanchez taps back to Oliver to end the inning.

Nice rendition of God Bless America for the seventh inning stretch. Texas does patriotism right, we're really going to miss them if things gets worse in this country and they exercise their rights to secede. But I digress. As I often do.

O'Day warming up. He's the kind of pitcher that you love to see coming in and then he shuts you down. Bumgarner K's Michael Young, He's dealing. He got a break on one that Young didn't like, but Bumgarner is getting the benefit of the doubt. Young still had a chance to hit and Bumgarner threw one past him.

Hamilton gets sawed off and Uribe is so distressed, he boots it. That freaking hurt from here. E-Uribe. Bumgarner has to get tough here. He has Guerrero down 1-2.

Tries to make him fish again. No bite. 2-2. Big AB. Misses 3-2. Still just one pitch away.

GOT HIM WITH THE CHANGE!!! HAT TRICK VLADDIE!!!

Don't let up here. Cruz can hurt you. Base hit. Nice piece of hitting by Cruz. Shot it right up the middle

Kinsler brings the tying run to the plate. Strike One. Good pitch. Kinsler not happy. Lazy liner to Cosy Ross ends it. Now, Kinsler has a good reason to be not happy.

BUMGARNER, TOUGH AS NAILS!!!

Casilla warming up in the bullpen. Bummgarner starts the inning for me, somebody has to get on first. Maybe score a run. They may never get to Bummer. We'll see how Bochy handles it.

Eight Inning:
Oliver still in for Texas, Huff grounds weakly to 1B.

The Darren O'Day - Buster Posey match up Part II. Gosh, I hope Buster reads my blog. If he did, he would know exactly what to do.

I outlined it here:
http://slavieboy.blogspot.com/2010/10/moreland-explains-his-game-winning-hr.html

Buster Posey also had a disappointing key AB versus Darren O' Day. As soon as Washington brought him in I said I like the matchup, but it was clear O'day wanted to get him on the sidearm curve to the outside corner or darting off the black. Posey made no visible adjustment to his stance or position in the batters box to accommodate that pitch. The guy doesn't throw hard enough to break a pane of glass (easy for me to say, I know) so you crowd the plate more, dare him to fit one through a mail slot to hit the inside corner, at the same time Posey would be in better position to punish the outside corner. Not second guessing, I told my wife before the pitch, when Molina went out to talk, if he throws the curve to the outside corner, he'll get him, he's got to go the other way. And sure enough, he went there, and worse it seems as if Posey tried to pull it instead of going the other way (he may have been out front). Generally, if you try to pull an outside pitch, weak grounders to the pull side or popups ensue. Bad AB.

We shall see if he learned something. If he didn't, I'm going to be REALLY MAD!!! Not so much that he pissed away another AB, but that he doesn't read my blog. THAT WOULD REALLY PISS ME OFF, BUSTER!!!

1-2 pretty quick. No discernible change in approach so I can feel my pulse quicken. Fouls one off.

HOME RUN TO DEAD CENTER FOR BUSTER POSEY!!!!! OMG, MAYBE HE DOES READ MY BLOG!!!!

Or maybe he's just a major league hitter and I'm just a fan writing a blog. But who cares now, right? Giants up 4-0.

Cody Ross goes down, Uribe up. We got the tack on run we've been looking for. Uribe doesn't leave anything on the table with his swing. EVER!!! Have to take the good with the bad, I guess.

Uribe fouls to 1B to end it. Four up with six out left. I like our chances here.

Francoeur leads off against Bumgarner. 2-1 to start. Francoeur just misses leaving the yard to left. One out.

Bengie Molina up. Bumgarner dealing at 91. 1-1 to start. Misses outside 2-1. Still throwing hard. Molina hits an 'at 'em ball ' laser beam liner right at Cody Ross in LF for the second out.

Lopez and Wilson warming up in the bullpen. Bumgarner at 102 pitches. Moreland up for the Rangers. Good AB expected here. 1-2 count to start him. Moreland has him right where he wants him. MadBum misses 2-2 count. Misses in the dirt 3-2. I like this Moreland kids hitting approach a lot. Got him looking.

BUMGARNER IS NAILS!!!!

WE GO TO THE NINTH INNING - GIANTS 4, RANGERS 0!!!

9th Inning: Derek Holland in for the Rangers. Let's see if he can throw a strike. Starts 2-0. Maybe not.He throws a strike and the Rangers fans cheer. I'm detecting sarcasm. He walks Ishakawa. Now I sense building anger and disgust.

Strike one to Renteria. Throws one under his hands strike two swinging. Strike Three looking to Renteria. Looked good. Renteria didn't offer. No argument.

Schierholz up. Painted the black outside to Nate. He stays there he'll get him, lefty / lefty. Schierholz skies to center, two outs.

Torres from the right side. Torres even at 2-2. Fouls a 95 MPH heater off. Looking for a gapper here. Nope, grounds out third to second.

Here we go, onto the ninth, top of the order due up for the Rangers. I think Bumgarner starts the inning. This may be the last game he has to pitch this season. He's a little high in the pitch count, but with the adrenaline flowing, I think I let a batter tell me that he's done for the night, then go to Brian Wilson for the close. That's the Nolan Ryan approach to developing pitchers. Old School. I think I like it here for us too.

Nope. Brian Wilson opens the ninth. Great effort by Bumgarner. Beard don't fail us now.

Elvis Andrus lines to Schierholz in RF for the first out.

Michael Young. Strike One. Misses for a ball. Misses again. Strike Two. Got him with a half swing. Two outs.

Josh Hamilton steps in. Close the deal, Brian. Strike One. Swings at a slider inside, strike two. I think he has him. Got him on a half swing.

WILSON CLOSES!!! BUMGARNER GETS HIS DUE TONIGHT!!!

Giants are up 3-1 and look to close it out tomorrow.

We've been here before and closer actually.

So hopefully the boys take nothing for granted and close the deal.

Moreland explains his game winning HR and why the Giants are Boom or Bust

Mitch Moreland explains his approach to his game winning AB versus Jonathan Sanchez and by contrast demonstrates why the Giants tend to be boom or bust. IMO. Moreland may be on the verge of becoming the Rangers answer to The Cody Ross Experience. A folk hero in the making.

from espn.com
http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/playoffs/2010/columns/story?columnist=crasnick_jerry&id=5748057

Moreland collected four hits in a mere 20 regular-season at-bats against lefties. But against Sanchez, he simply refused to be denied. After going up 2-0 in the count, he hit a long foul fly to right field. Then came a fastball for a called strike to even the count. Sanchez followed with four straight sliders and changeups, and Moreland fouled off all four to hang tough at 2-2.

"It was kind of down and in, and I just reacted. I'm not going to say if that's my sweet spot. I don't even know if I have a sweet spot."

Finally it came time for one more fastball, and Moreland didn't miss it. He drove the pitch into the right field seats to put Texas up 3-0 and give his hometown cause to bust its buttons with pride.

"I just wanted to stay short and get the barrel to it,'' Moreland said. "It was kind of down and in, and I just reacted. I'm not going to say if that's my sweet spot. I don't even know if I have a sweet spot.''

Moreland was willing to 'stay short' or shorten his swing to battle Sanchez. The Giants demonstrated in the ninth inning versus Neftali Perez, that they would rather go down flailing like windmills in overdrive than shorten up their swings to make contact. The pitcher is supplying the power, throwing 97-98 MPH. A screaming, line drive gapper in one of those spots would have worked just as well as a HR. And until you had at least one guy on base in the ninth, bringing the tying run to the plate, you have no business swinging from your heels. Just dumb, wasted, unproductive AB's. Not even a loud foul ball in the bunch.

Buster Posey also had a disappointing key AB versus Darren O' Day. As soon as Washington brought him in I said I like the matchup, but it was clear O'day wanted to get him on the sidearm curve to the outside corner or darting off the black. Posey made no visible adjustment to his stance or position in the batters box to accommodate that pitch. The guy doesn't throw hard enough to break a pane of glass (easy for me to say, I know) so you crowd the plate more, dare him to fit one through a mail slot to hit the inside corner, at the same time Posey would be in better position to punish the outside corner. Not second guessing, I told my wife before the pitch, when Molina went out to talk, if he throws the curve to the outside corner, he'll get him, he's got to go the other way. And sure enough, he went there, and worse it seems as if Posey tried to pull it instead of going the other way (he may have been out front). Generally, if you try to pull an outside pitch, weak grounders to the pull side or popups ensue. Bad AB.

Rangers win MUST game as Giants revert back to BOOM or BUST

The Rangers won a game they HAD to win. The Giants lost a game it would have been nice to win. Any time an NFL game features a game where one team MUST win versus another team that would LIKE to win, I go with the team that MUST win. The old cornered rat thing. Or the boxer, backed into the corner. The only way out is to punch back. If you curl up and take the hits, it's not long before you are counted out.

And so the Rangers win 4-2. The Giants will not sweep the series. But who really thought they would? If you told me after three games, 'the Giants will be up 2-1' I would have taken it. The difference in the game: The Rangers 2 HR's were a 3-run blast and a solo versus the Giants 2 solo jobs. That's it.

Andres Torres gets his signature hit. The Cody Ross Experience continues with another HR, his fifth of the post season. Huffie laces a laser beam double. Burrell is struggling. PAINFULLY STRUGGLING.

The Rangers still have to run the table at home and get one in Frisco, so we're still in pretty good shape.

I like the match-up today MadBum versus Hunter. Both young pitchers so who knows which pitcher shows up. If Bumgarner settles in early, he can be tough as nails.

GO GIANTS!!!

"Oooo-ree-bay" - Cain is more than able - Redemption for Renteria and Rowand

I'm not sure you could ask for anything more from a game than what the Giants received yesterday. I sat in stunned silence towards the end of it, saying quietly to my wife, "It's as if everything that could go right for the Giants, has gone right". Scary right.

Matt Cain cements his reputation as a top of the rotation, big-time ace pitcher.
Juan Uribe continues to play out of his mind.
Edgar Renteria DOES discover the Marlins post-season magic.
Aaron Rowand delivers a line-drive laser dagger to the 421 sign in right-center.
Buster Posey continues to play Buster Posey like baseball.
The bullpen shows its incredible depth and versatility.

The earlier comparisons to the '69 Amazing NY Mets may not be too over the top. Superior pitching once again. Timely hitting and great defense. Role players coming through when asked. Even down to an opposition potential HR hitting the top of the wall and -- instead of bouncing over the wall the ball bounces back into the field of play, seemingly violating all laws of nature and/or physics. Brings back memories of the 1973 Mets and the "Ball on the Wall" play.

from ultimatemets.com
1973 Regular Season Game 153
September 20, 1973
Mets 4, Pirates 3

http://www.ultimatemets.com/gamedetail.php?gameno=1939&tabno=B

Karma? Magic? Catching lightning in a bottle? Team of destiny? I don't care, take your pick. Call it what you will. I just know its starting to feel real. I can only remember feeling like this about the '69 and to a lesser extent the '73 Mets. (A lesser extent because the '73 Mets lost the World Series, after being perhaps the least deserving team on paper to ever appear in a World Series). The Rangers have had everything go wrong for them short of having a black cat walk past their dugout.

METS V. CUBS 9/9/1969 - THE BLACK CAT GAME

I thought it very Tim McCarver like of Tim McCarver to deliver the stupidest line of the evening. Late in the game, after the Rangers bullpen blowout, he delivers a gem along the lines of "Well pitching is winning this game for the Giants, but not theirs". Is that right? Correct me if I'm wrong Timmy-boy but the score before the meltdown was 1-0. The Rangers ended the evening still stuck on 0. I think the Giants pitching did more than their fair share in winning this game for the Giants by virtue of the fact that -- by pitching a shutout - they guarantee that you don't lose. At worst, we would still be playing. Therefore, I think the Giants pitching did in fact win the game for the Giants, the Rangers pitching just made the game less artistic --something more akin to a Spring Training "B" game for the last couple of innings.

Granted the Giants caught a bit of a break when Wilson raised a blister, but that may be symptomatic of the problem the Rangers are facing. The scene from Hoosiers where the coach measures the height of the basket at the big time arena and tells his players "Same height as the basket you guys are used to". What got you here should be good enough to get you through. It seems as if perhaps the blister may have raised from squeezing the ball a little tighter, trying to get a little extra movement or a little extra break. In baseball, if you take care of the little things, the big things fall into place. The Rangers are feeling the effect in a negative sense.

Last night, the Rangers relievers had the same look of awe that the Hoosiers team did when they first walked into the big-time arena. Awe-struck and feeling out of place. We'll see if some home cooking set their minds right and puts the wheels back on the cart.

HOOSIERS. CLASSIC!!!

The same thing when the reliever threw 13-14 straight balls (I lost count). Then the deer in the headlights look. The 'WTF is going on?' countenance. The wheels came off and they couldn't put them back on. The next reliever did the same thing. Overcompensation.

I see this a lot in HS or PONY ball. A kid throws a pretty, picture-perfect breaking ball. Then the next one he tries to make it break even better than the last one. Better than perfect. And drives it into the dirt, or hangs it. Overcompensation. Instead of just repetition. Repeat. Lather, rinse, repeat. Over and over again. It's the root meaning of the word mechanics. To be machine-like, perform the same act -- over and over again, the same way each time, with mind-blowing repetition and efficiency.

Whatever it is, the Giants seems to have it and the Rangers don't.
At least for now.

Maybe it's because the Giants have had to play all season on a razor-thin margin of error due to the lack of offense. They've played 'playoff-like' baseball -- minus the playoff intensity -- all season. Now, it's just second nature. I noticed in the Matt Cain post game interview that the first thing Cain did was deflect credit from his own efforts to those of catcher Buster Posey. This is a trait that this team has demonstrated throughout the playoffs. The glory is shared and spread around liberally. Its a nice quality for a teammate to have.

The next game may be the first pitching match-up in a while where I don't think we have an advantage. And that's only because of Sanchez' last outing. Before that he was beginning to show signs of elevating to near the Cain / Lincecum level as a shut down starter. If he comes up big-time / lights out on the road, that will be the start he will be linked to for a long time. If it's anything near the meltdown versus Philadelphia, it will take him a while to shake the hit to his reputation. So Jonathan is -- fairly or unfairly -- facing a World Series opponent on the field as well as one between his ears. He has to contain his emotions and direct /focus them in a positive direction. If he does that, he can carry the franchise one step closer to the prize.

GO GIANTS!!!

Giants torture Rangers and Cliff Lee

How great can life be when the day after your ace goes to the hill in Game 1 of the World Series, Giants fans are more thrilled with the performance of the offense than that of "The Freak". That's the situation we find ourselves in this morning.

Don't get me wrong. Old two-time Cy Young Award Timmy battled and won against another teams high profile ace. And the Giants are sitting very pretty, with a favorable pitching match-up on tap tonight, with Cain vs. Wilson.

Timmy and the boys have been making a habit of taking on some hot aces - and prevailing - on this magical run.

As noted in Yahoo Sports:
http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/news?slug=ap-worldseriesnotebook

Six of the last seven teams to win Game 1 went on to win the World Series. … The Giants handed Cliff Lee his first postseason loss in eight decisions. They also gave Roy Oswalt and Roy Halladay their first career postseason losses in the past two weeks. Halladay had thrown a no-hitter in his only postseason start before losing to the Giants in Game 1 of the NLCS. Oswalt was 5-0 in the postseason before losing in relief in Game 4 that series.

Timmy overcomes an early "brain fart" to steady the ship and allow the offense to do it's thing.

Even without his best stuff, Lincecum lasted longer than Lee. The hard-throwing righty allowed four runs and eight hits in 5 2-3 innings with three strikeouts and two walks in a 93-pitch performance as the Giants were victorious kicking off their first World Series since a runner-up finish in 2002 to the Angels.

“When you get here and you get to the playoffs, you start to realize it’s not so much about your stats or if you get a hit here,” Lincecum said. “It’s just who comes out on top at the end of the day.”

Uribe continues to hit out of his mind, delivering clutch daggers almost nightly.
Posey continues to play beyond his years.
How cool is the continuing Cody Ross story?
And 'The Beard' makes an appearance, when it appeared as if he might get the night off.
Sanchez joins the party last night with his bat.

All against the seemingly invincible Cliff Lee.

This offense may be poised for a breakout. And it couldn't come at a better time. If Huff and Sandoval can join the party, who knows? Maybe Renteria rekindles some of that old Marlins playoff magic? I would never mention the contract again. Rowand too, if given the opportunity.

This is a chance to write a new chapter in Giants baseball history. Something that many past legends have tried - valiantly at times - but failed to do.

Lincecum, the new face of the franchise since Bonds’ departure after he broke Hank Aaron’s home run record in 2007, will try to lead the Giants to their first championship since the franchise moved West in 1958.

That’s something Bonds couldn’t do. Or Hall of Famers Willie Mays, Willie McCovey and Orlando Cepeda. Mays was ill and missed the game, but McCovey and Cepeda were among those recognized on the field before the start.

This crew would instantly elevate to a higher celebrity status than many current Hall of Famers in San Francisco enjoy. An opportunity like that does not come along very often.

It was nice to see Barry back in the yard - back in the House that Barry built - and it would be really nice to see Willie back tonight.

http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/news?slug=ap-worldseries-maysmccovey

Willie Mays was sick and missed throwing out the ceremonial first pitch before the World Series opener.

Mays was announced earlier Wednesday on a list of six Hall of Famers to throw out first pitches before Wednesday night’s game against the Texas Rangers.

With Mays absent, Orlando Cepeda, Monte Irvin, Juan Marichal, Willie McCovey and Gaylord Perry went on without the Say Hey Kid.

All that baseball talent and history, all but Monte Irvin a part of San Francisco Giants history, and not one Bay Area World Series title. There's just something not right about that. Maybe something the baseball gods are looking to rectify

Cain. At home, where he is generally a very, very lights out kind of individual.

Two to nothing heading to Texas would be ideal. In spite of the euphoria from last night, if the Rangers win tonight, they have done their job.

However, if the Giants do go up 2-0, I like our chances moving forward.

GO GIANTS!! Bring it home.

You-Ree-Bay does it again!!!.....Torture never felt so sweet!!!

Juan Uribe comes through for the Giagntes again. And in doing so he gives the network and the nation what could be billed as the 'Futility World Series'. Both franchises have long recent histories of NOT finalizing the dream. Of NOT getting this far. There are no Yankees or Red Sox here. Just a battle of the two League Championship underdogs. The Giants and the Rangers. HOW SWEET IT IS...

These are opportunities that do not come around very often in the life of a franchise. I understand the time-worn cliche that gets tossed around after a team's season has ended "Wait 'til next year". It's what you're supposed to say in that situation. The reality is, on this level, the wait tends to be measured in decades. We may just as well be saying "Wait 'til next decade".

Don't believe me? Since 1969 when the divisional format was put in place -- a total of 42 seasons -- The Giants have appeared in the Championship Series with an opportunity to play in the World Series a total of six times. A rate of once every seven years.

In 1971, they lost to the Pirates 3-1. As a twelve-year old fan, I listened to many of the games on the radio in school and then ran home to see the end of the game still in progress.

In 1987, the next appearance, sixteen years later, losing to the Cardinals 4-3.

In 1989, we beat the Cubs 4-1 to advance to the World Series.

In the 1990's, no appearances at all. Maybe to make up for the two appearance in the 1980's.

In 2002, the Giants beat the Cardinals 4-2 to advance to the World Series.

And now, 2010 they subdue the Phillies 4-2, to advance to the World Series once again. Perhaps the third time will be the charm.

But once every seven years, just to play for the opportunity to get to the World Series. Six chances in 42 seasons. Three World Series appearances now in the last 42 seasons. Oh-for-two so far. Again, perhaps the third time will be the charm.

GIANTS WORLD SERIES APPEARANCES

1962 vs. New York Yankees
1989 vs. Oakland A's
2002 vs. Anaheim Angels
2010 vs. Texas Rangers

I was just a little Bambino Giants fan in 1962 ( three years old ), so I have no real recollection of that series. However, it was within my lifetime. And my dad related how close the Giants came to winning that series, only to fall short. So just as I feel the spine tingling joy and elation whenever I see the immortal "Shot Heard 'Round the World", I feel the pain of that series in my heart.

So close. "Next year, we'll do it". Each year that our team is finally eliminated from contention, those words are the salve we rub on the wound to our heart. The wound just gets greater each year. And becomes harder to heal. The cumulative build up of pain and trauma from each passing year or decade of failure.

Yahoo Sports Steve Henson reviews the Giants painful World Series futility as follows:

http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/news?slug=sh-nlcsgamesix102310

Uribe draws strength from late cousin

The Giants have yet to win a World Series since moving to San Francisco from New York in 1958. They lost in seven games to the Yankees in 1962 when Willie McCovey’s line drive with two outs in the ninth inning of the finale found a glove instead of a gap. They lost in seven games in 2002 to the Angels, memorable for the Giants’ Game 6 collapse and manager Dusty Baker’s 3-year-old son getting whisked away from home plate by J.T. Snow(notes).

And they were swept by the Oakland Athletics in 1989, a World Series remembered mostly for the 7.1 magnitude Loma Prieta earthquake that shook Candlestick Park moments before Game 3 was to begin. Jose Uribe was there, a singles hitter and slick fielder, a fan favorite and a lively presence in the clubhouse. A 10-year-old Juan Uribe watched on television.

What he also touched upon here and elaborated on further earlier in the story was the link between Juan Uribe and former Giants SS Jose Uribe, who died in 2006. I was not aware of the link between the two, although I wondered about it many times.

The great thing about the World Series is some of these rich, beautiful stories are allowed to come forward and flourish. On the national stage.

Uribe described his emotions throughout the game and the Series and it may in part answer the question as to how he is able to be such a clutch performer for these Giants.

(Jose) Uribe was the shortstop on the Giants’ 1989 World Series team and a cousin of current Giants infielder Juan Uribe before he died in a car crash in the family’s Dominican Republic hometown of Juan Baron in 2006. He taught Juan how to play baseball, taught Juan to love the Giants, and when Juan circled the bases Saturday night after hitting the eighth-inning home run that sent the Giants to another World Series, Jose was in his heart.

“God helped me a lot, and my (cousin) helped me a lot,” Juan Uribe said softly in a quiet corner of a raucous visiting locker room at Citizens Bank Park, his eyes red from emotion, his body soaked with bubbly. “I love him. He taught me everything. He’s with me today.

So there you go, Uribe flies into Giants lore on the wings of his cousin. I always knew he was clutch, now I know the rest of the story. (apologies to the late Paul Harvey)

Uribe produced the winning run twice in the National League Championship Series, and his opposite-field blast on a changeup by Ryan Madson(notes) took out the two-time defending NL champion Philadelphia Phillies once and for all, by a 3-2 score in Game 6. It was as close to a legendary “The Giants win the pennant! The Giants win the pennant!” moment this star-crossed franchise has had since Bobby Thomson’s Shot Heard Around the World in 1951.

So baseball fans nationally will not get the Yankees. They will not get the Phillies. And if perhaps they turn the channel away from this series en masse -- in anger over this being a seemingly less than marquee match-up -- they may miss one of the more competitive, evenly matched World Series in recent history. And one that will have some rather compelling story lines.

"We had such a diversity of contributions from everybody," Giants manager Bruce Bochy said. "Not bad for a bunch of castoffs and misfits."

The Rangers clearly seem to have a more potent offense. The Giants will counter with their strengths, starting pitching and bullpen depth. Both teams fight hard and compete extremely well. The Rangers did not walk past the Rays and Yankees in succession without good reason. The fact is, they seemingly buzz-sawed right through both teams. Teams that I thought were pretty much 1-2 going into the playoffs.

So the Giants may be underdogs in this match-up as well. That's OK.

"We fought, we scratched and clawed," said Giants left fielder Pat Burrell, who won a championship ring with the Phillies in 2008. "I don't know how we did it but we did it."

Clearly, I think that's the situation they are most comfortable being in.

“Right now it’s heaven, but it was torture for that final strike,” Giants first baseman Aubrey Huff said.

From torture to heaven in one pitch. HOW ABOUT THAT?? That's baseball.

The San Francisco Giants and the Texas Rangers - 2010 World Series.
Now that's sweet.
PLAY BALL!!!

Is it time to * the Yankee$ or to praise them?

Now this is Moneyball!!

A match-up between the two largest payroll teams in each league. The Phillies and their $129 million dollar payroll do battle with the Yankees $207 million dollar payroll.

This follows a lead-in where every playoff series except one was decided by the team with the largest payroll winning over the team with the smaller payroll. And the one series where the smaller payroll did win, it was a virtual toss-up (Angels over the Sawks).

So you would have won five of the six playoff series simply by picking the team with the larger payroll. Following the trend, pick the Yankees to win easily over the Phillies.

Fun Moneyball Factoid:
The difference between the Yankees payroll and the Phillies payroll ($78.2 million) is greater than TOTAL payroll of 14 of the 30 franchises in major league baseball.

Is this good for baseball?
Is this a level playing field?
Isn't this rigging of the game in favor of the large media, large population franchises good for TV ratings in the short-term, but bad for the game long-term.

And then to hear my favorite little doorstop of a reporter from New York make the case that Yankee fans are the best fans in the world. For what? For continuing to come through the turnstiles in record numbers in the midst of the recession. Wow, they really have it tough.

Tell your problems to Saints fans who continued to support their team after their city nearly got blown off the map. And who continued to support the team even after losing a significant chunk of their population in the aftermath.

The New York metropolitan area, even after the current financial crisis, still has a population base of over 10 million fans to draw from and only one other team to share that base with.

It must be hard for New York fans when the system hands them the baseball version of the Globetrotters and invites the Washington Generals in on a nightly basis to "compete". And then puff out your chests and act like you accomplished something real or "earned" the title of "best fans in the world". Please!!!

Someone do a public service and please seat Mr. Lupica under the already crumbling structures around the "new" Yankee Stadium. I guess a billion dollars doesn't buy quality stadium construction these days.

Baseball's problem now and in the future is that a city like New Orleans--that supports the NFL and the NBA--would not be able to compete in the current economic and competitive environment of major league baseball. So where to expand? What community leader is willing to subject himself, his city and his wealth to this kind of a rigged game. Go to Vegas, at least you might get a free drink and a dancer.

In 1990, the Kansas City Royals had the top highest payroll in major league baseball. And the Yankees were somewhere in the middle of the pack. The Pirates were a viable, competitive franchise.

In 2000, the Yankees and Red Sox were nudging to the top along with the Braves and the Texas Rangers under owner Tom Hicks. Even then there were other teams within shouting distance of the leaders.

Today, we see a "haves" and "have-nots" division of the teams, with the top two or three teams having the odds of making and advancing deep into the playoffs heavily stacked in their favor. We have the top franchises treating their "business partners" with a "let them eat cake" attitude regarding revenue sharing.

It may be good for New York, Boston, Philadelphia, Los Angeles and maybe Chicago (eventually) but last time I checked, that accounts for eight of the thirty franchises in baseball. I'm not sure how long fans in the other cities will continue coming in record numbers to see AAAA baseball in their towns.

It is time to admit that the increasing disparity in payrolls--that has grown ever greater since the mid 1990s--is an indication that the so-called "luxury tax" has been largely ineffective. It functions as little more than temporary "hush money" to the smaller markets so that the larger market teams can continue to treat them like doormats under the facade of competitive balance.

Even MLB knows this. This is another George Mitchell Report that is gathering dust or being used as a doorstop at the league offices. This report is from 2000!!! And nothing substantive has been done to address the problems identified.

http://www.mlb.com/news/press_releases/press_release.jsp?ymd=20000701&content_id=388144&vkey=pr_mlb&fext=.jsp&c_id=mlb

"Baseball's current economic system has created a caste system in which only high revenue and high payroll clubs have a realistic opportunity to reach the post-season," Mitchell said. "That is not in the best interests of baseball fans, clubs or players."

The economic analysis set out in the report further indicates that the limited revenue sharing and payroll taxes approved as part of the 1996 Collective Bargaining Agreement with the Major League Baseball Players Association have "produced neither the intended moderating of payroll disparities nor improved competitive balance."

It is past time for these guys to take another more serious run at this issue. For the good of The Game.

GO PHILLIES!!!! I'm sorry but rooting for the Yankees to do well is like rooting for Goldman Sachs. It just doesn't seem right.

What wins in the playoffs? BALANCE.....

As we prepare to enter baseball's second season, the baseball gurus and pundits will deliver their pet theories as to what "wins in the playoffs". Normally it boils down to a single facet of the game like "defense wins championships" or "pitching wins in the playoffs" or some other neat, simple theory as to what wins. And we will self-select examples of teams that fit the mold/theory we create. But is it really that simple? And if it was, wouldn't it be easy to win championships?

From personal observation over the years, I saw too many teams that were somewhat one-dimensional in one area--built around the "defense wins championships" mantra-- that did not win in the playoffs due to the lack of even a modicum of offense. My football Giants did manage to win a couple of Super Bowls around a rock-ribbed defense and a somewhat pedestrian offense. They were also defeated in a Super Bowl by a Ravens team that was superior defensively and the opposite offensively. But these examples seem to be more the exception rather than the rule. I also remember watching many Pat Riley led Knicks teams in basketball that were built around strong defense--so much so that they couldn't throw the ball in the ocean at times--losing to more well-balanced Bulls and Rockets teams.

So what works in baseball?

Does better pitching win in the playoffs? It depends on what metric you look at-- just looking at lower ERA for example--the results are mixed. About 60% of the teams with lower ERA's win in the divisional and league championship series (about 62.5% win) but lose in the World Series (about 62% lose). Yikes, that's not conclusive. A mixed bag at best.

How about better defense? If you use fielding percent as a measurement, look again. Only about 50/50 in the DS and LCS and the roughly the same for the World Series. Inconclusive results at best, a coin flip.

How about the team with the better record? Does dominance in the marathon of the regular season translate into the sprint that is the playoffs? Here the results are a little bit clearer. In the DS and LCS, teams with the better overall record wins about 60% of the time. In the World Series, it's a coin flip. And this makes some sense since, even in this era of inter-league play, there likely isn't enough of a sample of games played to use the overall record as a valid metric for comparison in the World Series.

So what seems to work?

Teams that win the regular season series (establish dominance) win when they meet again in the playoffs. At about a 60% clip. That's significant and it makes sense intuitively. Don't fight the trend.

It dovetails nicely into the next metric. Home field advantage. That still works too. At about a high 50% rate. Which makes sense, the team that has the better overall record earns home-field advantage, has established dominance over the other team during the season. Those built in advantages are hard to turn around in the playoffs.

Having the better closer seems to work. If regular season saves are the metric used, the team with the more dominant closer wins about 70% of the time in the league playoffs and about 57% of the time in the World Series. Which makes sense, the team is playing with the lead late in games and has a rally stopper at the end of the bullpen to shorten games.

So pitching plays more of a role than hitting in a teams ability to MAKE the playoffs. For the most part, spotty pitching probably eliminates teams more so than dominant pitching wins for them. And hitting probably plays a lesser role than any element of the game. If we look at what statistics lead to ADVANCING in the playoffs, we see very few hitting stats rise to the top.

In fact, the hitting metric that most tells what teams perform better in the playoffs is a low strikeout ratio. A lower K% translates to winning about 60% of the time and conversely the pitching staff that has a high K% (power pitching) wins 60% of the time.

For hitters, a higher OBA, higher batting average and a higher runs scored vs. runs allowed (really a team stat) translate to winning in the playoffs about 55% of the time.

More stolen bases (speed) wins about 55% of the time as well. So a team with a more diversified offense, that can manufacture runs when the power bats go silent and keep pressure on the defense, has a better chance of winning than a one-dimensional offense.

For pitchers, allowing fewer hits than your opponents wins about 65% of the time. Number of shutouts vs. your opponents shutouts (dominant pitching) wins about 67% of the time. Keeping the ball in the yard wins about 60% level as well and not allowing runs wins about 55% of the time (seems like a no brainer).

The better fielding team, measured by number of errors, wins about 60% of the time as well, so defense shows up as a statistically significant measurement as well.

So we have pitching, speed, defense...what about hitting? Don't chicks dig the long ball in the playoffs? Well, they may dig the long ball, but they will probably need a boost of Viagra if their favorite team relies on the long ball to win in the playoffs.

Teams that win the HR battle during the season only succeed at about a 40% rate in the playoffs. Slugging Percent--about 40% winning percentage. Batting Average and OBA are about a coin flip. 50/50.

So what's a team to do, what is the formula for success in the playoffs?

Formula for pitchers:
Allow fewer hits than your opponent - Wins 70% of the time.
Have your pitchers throw MORE shutouts - Wins 70% of the time.
Have your pitcher keep the ball in the yard - Wins 65% of the time.
Pitch more complete games - Wins 60% of the time.
Have a lower ERA that your opponents - Wins 60% of the time.

Formula for fielders/defense:
Commit fewer errors than your opponent - Wins 70% of the time.
Have a higher Defensive Efficiency Rating than your opponent - Wins 60% of the time.

Formula for base runners:
Steal more bases than your opponent - Wins 65% of the time.

Formulas for hitters:
Strikeout fewer times than your opponent - Wins 70% of the time.

So, pitch, play defense, put pressure on the opponents defense, steal bases and hitters--just don't strike out, put ball in play and extend AB's.

The conclusion seems to be that winning in the playoffs doesn't lend itself neatly to reliance on one dimension or one individual metric, but rather on a well-balanced composite of skills that lead to success.

THAT WAS EASY!!!

CONGRATS TO THE PHILLIES - 2008 WORLD CHAMPS

As much as I love the National League over the A.L., why did you have to pick this year to send a team over that was capable of winning the World Series?

The Rays still have a bright future ahead of them.

I'm not quite to the "maybe the Phillies should vote the umpiring crew a WS share" level, but Jamie Moyer I can justify getting the old pre-Questec, Maddux-Glavine
strike zone. He's earned it. He's been pitching there forever. But when it's Cole Hamels v. Scott Kazmir? Both are young and have amazing stuff. When one is getting a little extra off the black and the other is not, well you can do the math.

That's as far as I'll go with it, because once the Pena-Upton-Longoria troika went into windmill mode, you could make the case that maybe the Rays didn't earn the right to complain about anything.

Add in some untimely and uncharacteristic defensive gaffes and some ??-able base running boners and maybe it is fortunate the Rays were not swept home in four games. As far as the base running goes, there's a thin line between aggressive base running and stupid base running--the Rays straddled that line, and maybe would not have had to if the Big Three bats were delivering as usual.

ANYWAY BRACE YOURSELF PHILADELPHIA - PARTY LIKE IT'S 1980:

But listen to your mayor.

Mayor Michael Nutter cautioned fans against the scattered vandalism that marred the revelry after the Phillies defeated the Tampa Bay Rays for the title late Wednesday. Police reported 76 arrests and several vandalized businesses; they are also examining photos and video of the crowds to identify and arrest additional offenders.

"You can be joyous; you cannot be a jackass," Nutter said. "That kind of idiotic, destructive behavior will not be accepted in the city of Philadelphia."

THAT'S GOOD ADVICE!!

RAYS TANK

Where do you begin to document the details of the collapse?

A pitching staff that seems to constantly be pitching from behind in the count and allowing the lead off batter to get on base.

Kazmir vs. Hamels clearly favors the Phillies, especially with Lidge well rested. He could go 2 innings tonight and turn this into a six inning game for the Phiilies.

This puts even more pressure on the Rays hitters, who are doing their best windmill imitations in this series. Longoria and Pena are not seeing the ball well and continue to flail away. Upton by contrast is a bit too patient, especially late in counts, allowing umpires to do the backwards-K dance.

Crawford seem to be the only one having decent AB's. After that, there's not much to look forward to in the Rays lineup.

They have to really grind one out and hope to bring it home to St. Pete and change the momentum. The home cooking might help the younger Rays relax a bit. I think Philly fan has done an excellent job in their role as tenth man.

Blanton pitched masterfully last night, but I couldn't help thinking about the Dodgers Jay Howell when I saw that spot of pine tar he kept going to on the bill of his cap. Maddon took the Tony LaRussa route--when Kenny Rogers pine tarred and feathered the Cardinals, LaRussa refused to make an issue of the stains on his hand
and that is his prerogative, I'm not so sure I would have been quite as generous.

GO RAYS!!! BRING IT BACK HOME!!!
-------------------
UPDATE:

Apparently Maddon did take note of the spot. I don't remember if the broadcasters brought it up, but I might have missed it.

http://www.philly.com/philly/sports/20081027_Pine_tar_on_Blantons_cap_.html



P.S. - Kudos to Fox for showing their PitchTrak results for virtually all ??-able ball/strike calls. Let the people decide. Most times, the umps are correct. But, Oh those other times!!!



Maybe you could say that this balances out the Jamie Moyer to Ryan Howard toss and catch that should have retired Carl Crawford, but in both cases, umpires are not in great position or flat out missing the calls. They've been fortunate in that the calls are not having direct influence on the outcome of the games they occurred in, but we are not exactly inspiring confidence here, are we?

If anybody is having a more disappointing showing as a team than the Rays in this series, it's TEAM BLUE.

<"( );::::::;~

RAYS ARE IN THE WORLD SERIES!!!!

You can't take anything away from them. With all the emphasis placed on blowing the 7-run lead in Game Five in Boston, what was lost was the fact that this team went up there, in a meaningful series, and took two out of three from the champs on their home turf. Everyone wanted to look at the potential choke angle and the inevitable gushing over all that is Sox Nation, but if anyone gagged up a fur ball in this series it would have to have been Boston.

I'd rather leave it at: THE BETTER TEAM WON.

Sorry break it to Sox fan and all the sycophants in the the mainstream media (led by the ultimate cheerleaders in Bristol), but I'm sure the truth hurts this morning.

Interesting Google tidbit: This morning if you Google RAYS and WORLD SERIES you get 11,800,000 hits in 0.22 seconds.

If you Google RED SOX and WORLD SERIES you get 905,000 hits in 0.25 seconds.

How soon they forget. I'll bet a similar search for RAYS and WORLD SERIES before yesterday would have produced a significantly lower number.

GO RAYS!!!!

To the Victors...

A champion's celebration Chicago style. It's great to see how much an event like this, winning a World Series or any championship for that matter, means to it's fan's and the city itself.

The euphoria is overwhelming, all the years of pent-up frustration are finally released. The White Sox adopted song, Journey's "Don't Stop Believing" conicidentally was the song I personally identified with when the NY Football Giants were slowly building towards they're Super Bowl in 1986. The classics never go out of style.

"Chicago, second city no more," said Paul Konerko, during the players introductions. Good to see Paulie is taking the time to read my blog (see a couple of posts down).

Konerko brought team owner Jerry Reinsdorf to tears when he presented him the ball he caught for the last out of the fourth game of the series to complete a four-game sweep of the Houston Astros." Getting this ball from Paul Konerko is the most emotional moment of my life," Reinsdorf told the crowd.

Reinsdorf also has gone on record locally as saying he would have given up the six Bulls championship rings for One World Series ring. Well, he's got one now, but this illustrates the enormous power baseball has once it gets in your blood.

Konerko talked about the team's lack of respect nationally throughout the year and added. Maybe we'll have to do this one more time next year." Reinsdorf should have put down the ball and pulled out a contract right then and there. Hopefully, the team will be able to defend the title with the major components in place.

Wait 'til next year has a whole new meaning for Sox fans now.

Sox Win...Sox Win

Maybe not as romantic a sound as some aroundhere would like, but the Chicago's little-brother team now has something big-brother who lives a bit further North can only dream about.

The White Sox just buzz-sawed through the Astro's lineup again with it's own offense providing just enough runs to keep it interesting. Well, maybe not so interesting if you believe the TV ratings numbers. But honestly, if you were tuning in to Desperately Slutty HoesBags at the expense of the World Series, you're not really a baseball fan.

Poor Brad Lidge was called upon again to take a bullet for the Astros and he did, this time dying a death of a thousand slices. Really, only a slap, a bunt and a bleeder but hey, they all count.

Pitching and Defense, the White Sox led with it and ended in style with it. SS Juan Uribe's two defensive gems to end the game were truly remarkable. The Jeter-esque dive in the stands would have been great as a walk-off P6, but you can't be too picky here.

With any luck, Sox fans will be able to enjoy the moment before the Paulie Sweepstakes lead the hot-stove chatter around here. After all, the next championship might not come around for another 88 years or so. Who knows?

Congrats to the White Sox. 2005 World Champions. I don't care what Bobby Valentine says.

Chicago not Second City in this Series

It seems like the White Sox are the team of destiny in this Series after all. Everything's going right, although the umpires bad calls do seem to be balancing out, the Astros are just not cashing in on thier opportunities, unless the umps rule the ball over the fence in error. If it makes any sense, I would say this is the most evenly matched 3-0 series, I think I've ever seen. Think about it, this could be 2-1 Astros, 2-1 White Sox, maybe not 3-0 Astros but there really doesn't seem to be much separating these two teams. White Sox are getting more timely hitting and better bullpen help lately.

Some questions:

Is it just me or do we now need to look closely at American League domination in both the World Series and the now-meaningful All-Star game? I think the DH may have at least some role in this and now is the time for MLB to address the issue. Either both leagues play with the DH, or both leagues play without it. You know, level playing field and all.

But does the presence of the DH in the AL lead to the leagues better hitters being drawn to the AL over th NL? Does having to pitch to a more stout lineup throughout the year lead the AL pitchers to become more prepared to pitch later in the year? When was the last time a pitcher went from the NL to the AL and dominated?

And speaking of level playing fields, is it just me or does it seem as if the $85-90 million dollar and under payrolls all reside in the NL? While the $100 million dollar plus payrolls are all in the American League. Again, level the playing field.

The Mets, Philies, Dodgers, Braves and Giants who probably could spend some bucks, do not. The Diamondbacks reached thier credit card limit, so they're spent out. The Rockies don't seem willing to join the fray. In the AL, the Yankees, Red Sox, Angels and Orioles all spend like they have the keys to the printing press at the U.S. Treasury. Both factors are leading to a World Series where the NL is on the brink of being swept for the second year in a row. That can't be good for the ratings. And the All-Star games result is getting to be fairly predictable lately.

There just seems to be a de-facto salary cap in the National League lately. Or maybe my conspiratorial juices are flowing again. Next, I'll be speculating about the recent trend of Bud's cronies (Red Sox, Marlins, White Sox) winning the World Series the last coule of years and the link to MLB taking over control of the umpires from the two individual leagues. If the Brewers win next year, I'll know I'm on to something. But that's for another rant.

White Sox take 2-0 lead to Houston

No sooner did expert commentator Tim McCarver tell us (with conviction) that the bad taste of the Albert Pujols walk-off blast was no longer in Brad Lidge's mouth, Scott (No Homers during the Regular Season) Podsednik's blast send thes White Sox to Houston 2-0 and the Astros reeling.

Lidge is going to need some awfully strong mouthwash to rinse the bad taste of these bombs from his mouth. And Joe Buck was correct, Astros manager Phil Garner could and should have given Lidge an oppotunity to get back on the mound prior to the Series.

What may keep this Series close and interesting is now Oziie Guillen may have a similar problem with his closer, rookie Bobby Jenks. Jenks spit out the lead that led to Podsedniks heroics.

And where has Dustin Hermanson gone? How far off the bullpen depth chart has this guy plummeted and why? Perhaps his back is in worse condition then anyone is letting on. He doesn't even warm up anymore. He may be on a milk carton before he appears in another game.

Houson's woes are complicated further by the Rocket Man's fizzling performance. He is doubtful in my mind to make another appearance in this Series. If he doesn't feel he can go 100%, he'll protect his legacy before he'll go out on his sword. JMO.

White Sox hold serve and really only have to go to Houston and win one of the three down there. If they come back to Chicago up 3-2, they will be tough to beat. They have been tough on the road all year, so it's not inconceivable they could close it out, but it would be more fun to pop the corks in Chi-town.

Big Boo-Nah to ESPN by the way, who opened the Saturday night Sports Center with College footbal highlights, since it was a Saturday night. A mid-season college weekend versus the World Series? Give me a break. These guys seem more idiotic and full of themselves every day. Oops, visual of Sean Salisbury. Very Bad. Whose running that ship over there now anyway, the Skipper and his little buddy? They must be mad at MLB for not having the Series on ESPN, still a very childish display of network temperment. If you're going to trumpet yourselves as a leader in sports, act like one.

Anyway, off to Houston for the Series....Go, go, go , go White Sox.

Uh...Houston..never mind...proceed to Series

Roy Oswalt shows that momentum is only as strong as your next day's starting pitcher by totally shutting down the suddenly(??) slow, old looking bats of the Cardinals.

Good for baseball. Two new faces in the World Series. A matchup where you could make a fairly reasonable case for either team sweeping or for the Series to go the full seven games. And that's based mainly on how the two teams played at various stretches in the season. Both teams showed long stretches of both dominance and relative mediocrity. I'm not sure when we've had a World Series matchup quite like that in the past.

Chicago is giddy with it's first appearance in the World Series in a long time. Houston now must be equally as excited at it's debut in the Fall Classic. Of course, you never forget your first. Both pitching staffs can throw guys who have shutout capabilities and both have strong, well balanced bullpens. Offenses have struggled at times, White Sox may have an edge here, being more balanced as well as stronger with the gloves.

My guess: White Sox in six or less.

Uh...Houston we have a problem!!

With one tremendous swing by Albert Pujols against Brad "Lights Out" Lidge, the Astros may very well have put themselves in a must-win Game 6 situation. Pujols titanic homerun was so strong, that it has taken momentum away from the already partying Astros and given it back to the Cardinals.

Don't underestimate the scrappy two out at-bat by David Eckstein (my second favorite player in the league) as well as Jim Edmonds walk that set the stage for the game winner.

I have to admit, I too was guilty of loooking ahed to a White Sox-Astros matchup. What a bunch of great pitching matchups that Series would feature. The over-under might be set at four runs for most of the games.

Of course, this is playing into the White Sox hands once again. They should be hoping for a Game Seven in this Series. However, I think Game Six will have all the significance of a Game Seven in this case.

Obviously, if the Astros win, it's over. But by the same token, I believe if the Cardinals can keep Big Mo' on their side and win Game Six, it's over, they'll win Game Seven also.

Was Monday Night Football on last night? I think they used to rule the airwaves on Monday Night back in the day, but I couldn't find them last night.