In the final game of the 1997 World Series between the Cleveland Indians and Florida Marlins, Florida shortstop Edgar Renteria (who was just in his second season) drove in Craig Counsell on a walk-off single to win the championship. 13 years later, Renteria can credit himself with delivering yet another championship.
With a three-run home run in the top of the 7th, Edgar Renteria propelled the San Francisco Giants to their first World Series win since 1954. It is their first since moving to California, having reached the World Series four times, including coming up just short in 2002 against interstate rival Anaheim.
The Giants won the game by a score of 3-1 after an impressive pitching performance by Tim Lincecum, his second start of the series. He dueled against free agency-bound Cliff Lee, who went seven innings and allowed the big shot to Renteria. The Rangers fell into a deficit they could not dig themselves out of, even with a solo-shot by Nelson Crúz (his sixth of the postseason). Giants closer Brian Wilson, who had been rather lights-out all postseason long, sealed the deal by getting the aforementioned Crúz to strikeout swinging.
San Francisco entered the second-half of the season trailing division-rival San Diego, yet managed to power forward towards an NL West title after the latter played poorly down the stretch. They successfully knocked off the Atlanta Braves in the NLDS, as Cody Ross (who had been claimed off of waivers earlier in the summer) slugged his way into playoff galore. After conquering the defending NL champion Phillies, San Francisco would go on to lose only once in Game 3 to Texas.
Even with poor ratings predicted (and eventually being sustained), the Giants managed to pull through. In a season filled with unlikelihood, the San Francisco Giants proved that just about anything can happen.
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