It was certainly a spectacle, as tens of thousands (possibly even hundreds) flooded the streets of San Francisco to watch the 2010 Champs stroll through downtown on Cable cars with parade tape reigning down from above! It was a fitting way to end what was a memorable run by the Giants here in 2010, and I think I speak for all Giants fans when I say, I could really get used to this. The feeling is still sort of sinking in for me, but I've had this perma-smile on my face ever since Brian Wilson struck out Nelson Cruz with that nasty cutter in on the hands. The Giants outplayed every team they faced in the playoffs, and they
absolutely deserved the trophy. As most players made a point of saying in the post-series interview, this Giants' ballclub really was the definition of a professional "team". They played well together, they pulled for each other, there were no ego's involved and everybody had one goal in mind. When Pablo Sandoval lost his 3rd base job in the playoffs, he didn't pout, or whine or cop an attitude, rather he kept the big picture in mind and focused on any possible way he could help this team win a championship. Because of that mindset, the Giants seemed to have someone new coming through each win, especially in the playoffs, and you could tell by watching this team, that they believed in themselves.Just look at all the different guys they had come through in October. Cody Ross was really the MVP offensively for the hole playoffs for the Giants. First, he put the Giants in the NLCS with a huge game 4 vs. Atlanta in the DS by putting the Giants on the board with a solo homer in the 6th before getting the eventual game-winning, RBI single in the top of the 7th. Then he started off with a bang in game in the NLCS with 2 big home runs off Roy Halladay and gave Tim Lincecum enough support to beat Halladay in that big game 1 victory in Philly. Ross stayed steady throughout the hole postseason and finished with a .295 average and a 1.076 OPS to go along with 5 jacks and 10 RBI, both of which led the Giants during the playoffs. Then there was Freddy Sanchez, and his 4-hit, 3-double performance in game 1 of the Series off Cliff Lee, as he was a huge part of that game 1 win. Juan Uribe was huge as well, with his most memorable playoff moment coming when he drove in the NLCS clinching run against the Phillies. Ohh yeah, then there was that shortstop named Renteria we all know what kind of impact he ended up having this October/November. Yeah, he was overpaid during his time here in San Francisco, but I don't think we'll ever hear anyone complaining about that deal again in these parts, as that one swing of his earned him every last penny of that deal in Giants fan's mind's.
Then there was the pitching; Madison Bumngarner (2-0, 2.18 era in 20.2 IP), Tim Lincecum (4-1, 2.43 era, 43 k's in 37 IP) and Matt Cain (2-0, 0.00 era, 1.60 BAA in 20.1 IP) were all brilliant and Jonathan Sanchez was a huge part of that series win over Atlanta with a big win. The bullpen started out a little slow against Atlanta, but after that, they buckled down and got the job done. Set-up man Javier Lopez, who was acquired from Pittsburgh during before the deadline, was arguably the most important arm (outside of that crazy closer) and I'm not quite sure the Giants cruise through Philly without him. He was Ryan Howard and Chase Utley's
nightmare, then had success vs. Josh Hamilton in the Series. Santiago Cassilla and Jeremy Affeldt each had some big moments and were key in the pen's success as well. The big story in the Giants pen though centered around "The Beard" and I think Brian Wilson became a great closer in this postseason (and I don't use that term lightly). He occasionally made things interesting, but the dude was basically perfect in October (and the one day in November). He gave up 1 hit in game 2 vs. Atlanta after coming in with no outs during the 8th with the bases and almost got through it without surrendering the lead. Even though that particular blown save really wasn't his fault, it still went on record, and I think that kind of fired him up. After that, Wilson was nails, going 9.2 strong innings allowing just 4 hits while striking out 13, capped off by the memorable inside cutter that got Nelson Cruz swinging and put the Giants on top of the world.Another special part about this World Series win for San Francisco, was that all the players and management really made a point to dedicate this championship to the great Giants' players over their tenure in San Francisco. From guys like Bobby Bonds, Willie Mays and Willie McCovey, all the way up to J.T. Snow, Barry Bonds, Will Clark, Jeff Kent, Rod Beck, Rob Nen, Kirk Rueter, Noah Lowry, Russ Ortiz, Matt Williams, Robby Thompson, Rich Aurillia and many, many more. There were many great ballplayers who dawned a Giants uni for multiple seasons who just couldn't quite reach their ultimate goal. To a lot of Giants fans, it felt like all of those guys just win the World Series too, and I'm sure in some ways those guys felt some since of victory as well. I thought that was really cool... Now, like Buster Posey said at the Parade celebration, let's enjoy this for a couple of weeks, they prepare to do it all over again next year, as I'm sure we can all get use to this!
Giants Notes: Well, normally at this time, I'd be talking hot stove and be eagerly waiting for some Giants news, but I'd much rather keep talking on-field baseball throughout October like I did and that was really a treat. However, the games are now done, and the business part is already taking place as the Giants declined World Series MVP Edgar Renteria's $9.5 million option for 2011. That comes as no surprise as Edgar isn't even sure that he'll be returning in 2011 and if he does, it will likely be in a back-up role. The Giants also have some key decisions coming up with some other free agents, and we'll start getting into that in our next post.
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