Top Five Stories From Yesterday

1.  The San Francisco Giants win their first World Series title since 1954 after Game 5, and the series four games to one.

2.  The Colts take the lead in the AFC South after cruising to a Monday Night Football win over the Texans in Indianapolis.

3.  The Vikings cut WR Randy Moss less than four weeks after acquiring him from the New England Patriots.

4.  The Bulls hand the Trail Blazers their first loss of the season behind a huge night from Luol Deng.

5.  The Flyers move into first place of the Atlantic Division after defeating the Hurricanes in Philadelphia.

Top Five Games From Yesterday

1.  Giants 3, Rangers 1: San Francisco won the World Series behind a three-run Edgar Renteria HR in the seventh inning, and a superb performance from Tim Lincecum.

2.  Rangers 3, Blackhawks 2: Eric Christensen scored the game-winner 6:30 into the final period to break up a tie game, and help New York to a home win over the defending champs.

3.  Flyers 3, Hurricanes 2: Scott Hartnell scored 6:30 into the final period to stretch the lead to 3-1, and led Philadelphia to the win despite a late goal from Carolina’s Joe Corvo.

4.  Kings 111, Raptors 108: Sacramento was down by 17 after the first quarter, but chipped away and sealed the win with two Beno Udrih free throws with 12 seconds left.

5.  Spurs 97, Clippers 88: San Antonio won its 17^th straight game over Los Angeles as Tony Parker led the way for San Antonio with 19 points and nine assists.

Top Five Performances From Yesterday

1.  Tim Lincecum, Giants SP: One run on three hits with 10 K’s over eight IP, helping San Francisco clinch the World Series with a 3-1 win over Texas in Game 5.

2.  Luol Deng, Bulls SF: 40 points and four rebounds in Chicago’s 110-98 win over Portland.

3.  Roberto Luongo, Canucks G: 30 saves for his first SO of the season and 52^nd of his career in Vancouver’s 3-0 win over New Jersey.

4.  Kelvin Hayden, Colts CB: Had five tackles, and returned an INT 25 yards for a TD in Indianapolis’ 30-17 win over Houston.

5.  LaMarcus Aldridge, Trail Blazers PF: 33 points and nine rebounds in Portland’s 110-98 loss to Chicago.

Five Performances That Weren’t So Good From Yesterday

1.  Rudy Fernandez, Trail Blazers SG: Just 3-of-10 shooting, and only six points in Portland’s 110-98 loss to Chicago.

2.  David Murphy, Rangers LF: 0-for-3 with three K’s in Texas’ 3-1 Game 5 World Series loss to San Francisco.

3.  Matt Taormina, Devils D: Had a minus-two in New Jersey’s 3-0 loss to Vancouver.

4.  Chris Pronger, Flyers D: Had a minus-two and two penalty minutes in Philadelphia’s 3-2 win over Carolina.

5.  Matt Schaub, Texans QB: Threw for only 201 yards, and committed both turnovers in Houston’s 30-17 loss to Indianapolis.

Top Five Events To Follow Today

1.  NHL: Canadiens (7-3-1) at Blue Jackets (6-4-0), 7:00 PM: Two teams off to solid starts this year face off in southern Ohio.

2.  NCAA FB: Middle Tennessee State (3-4) at Arkansas State (3-5), 7:00 PM, ESPN2: Both teams are trying to catch Troy in the Sun Belt, and a win will keep them in the race.

3.  NBA: Magic (1-1) at Knicks (1-2), 7:30 PM: Orlando makes the trip north in the first of many meetings between Dwight Howard and Amar’e Stoudemire.

4.  NHL: Sharks (5-3-1) at Wild (4-4-2), 8:00 PM, Versus: San Jose makes a Midwest stop to take on Western Conference foe Minnesota.

5.  NBA: Grizzlies (2-1) at Lakers (3-0), 10:30 PM, NBA TV: The latest meeting of the Gasol brothers also showcases a good start to the season for Memphis this year.

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It was 1954 when Willie Mays made “The Catch” and propelled the New York Giants to a four game sweep of the Cleveland Indians in the World Series. In 1962, it was a well played Bobby Richardson that broke hearts in San Francisco after he snagged a Willie McCovey liner in the first appearance of the San Francisco Giants in a World Series. It was the Loma Prieta earthquake that stole to show of a four game sweep by the Oakland A’s in the 1989 Battle of the Bay. And it was a game ball given to Russ Ortiz in the 2002 World Series that was the last good moment for San Francisco in a crushing defeat at the hands of the Angels.

But all is forgiven, at least for the next 4 months, because the Giants are sitting on top of the baseball world, propelled by one of the most dominant pitching staffs of all time and a three-run blast by the man with no left bicep, Edgar Renteria.

It was a dominant conclusion to a rather dominant series outing by the Giants as a team. And it was a thrilling conclusion to a thrilling postseason, one that I, nor most Giants’ fans, will ever forget.

Let us take a closer look at the game which lifted the 56 year drought off of a team, a city, and a fan base and which shocked the world.

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The San Francisco Giants won the World Series, knocking off the Texas Rangers in Game 5 today with a 3-1 victory.

Tim Lincecum edged out fellow ace Cliff Lee in a heated matchup where pitching fought it out till the end. The two-time NL Cy Young award recipient finished with ten strikeouts and only let three hits go through eight innings. And, as always, closer Brian Wilson came in and was able to seal the deal.

Of course, the game was ultimately determined by Edgar Renteria‘s three-run homer in the seventh inning. After the game, Renteria was deservingly rewarded with the World Series MVP honors. 

This team may not have tremendous star power, but they are fundamentally sound, with a solid pitching rotation and a lot of scrappy batters who have demonstrated the ability to make plays when they count the most. 

All in all, this is a team built for the playoffs, and even though they came in as underdogs they displayed perseverance and proved to be victorious. 

Interestingly enough, we learned that superb pitching can shut down top-notch batting as the team with the MLB’s highest ERA knocked off the team with the league’s top batting average. 

This is the franchise’s first championship since 1954, and the first champion the Bay Area has seen ever. That said, this is certainly a proud moment for any Bay Area sports fan, and is one that will undoubtedly be celebrated

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Congratulations to the 2010 World Series Champion San Francisco Giants, who beat the Texas Rangers four games to one to win the title.

Any World Series Championship team has to consist of talent players who like to play the game of baseball together, and this Giants team was exactly that. The Giants played with a lot of heart.

The Giants won on pitching, just as they did all season long, but they would not be where they are without the veteran hitters.

Aage and experience should not be brushed aside as too many fans and media do in baseball. Appreciate infielders like Audrey Huff (34), World Series MVP Edgar Renteria (35), Freddy Sanchez (33), Pat Burrell (34) and relief pitchers like Javier Lopez (33).

My hope for 2011 is that the Yankees can get back to being World Champions again, with all the great veterans in pinstripes. Maybe watching the Giants take what was still theirs up until a few hours ago will get the Yankees to start to believe in themselves again.

The Giants never stopped believing, just like the 2009 Yankees wouldn’t give up until they were on top.

New York’s championship crown has been passed to the new kings on the West Coast. The Yankees reign feels like forever ago again, But hopefully the fans and players will get back again in 2011.

But for tonight, it’s all about the city of San Francisco, and their mighty Giants. You have earned the right to be proud, because you are the best in the World.

The most sincere congratulations, from me, a Yankees fan.

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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.

This article can be found on SportsFullCircle!

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Game 2 of the 2010 World Series belonged to Edgar Renteria, Matt Cain and the San Francisco Giants from start to finishing Thursday.

Cain tossed a scoreless gem in 7 2/3 innings of work to vault himself into some historic company, extending his consecutive scoreless innings streak to 21 1/3 innings.

But it was the 35 year-old shortstop from Columbia who absolutely stole the show.

Renteria blasted a tape-measure home run of Rangers’ starter C.J. Wilson in the fifth inning to give the Giants a 1-0 lead, then added a two-run single in the eight to blow the game open.

It ended up being another perfect night by the Bay for the thousands of Giants’ fans who gathered to watch their team creep ever-closer to a World Series crown.

Here’s a comprehensive report card for the San Francisco Giants’ game 2 win.

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The Giants have a magic number of one.

The only way the Giants do not win the division is for the struggling Padres to win four in a row against San Francisco.

What I am trying to say is that it’s over.

For those who have commented on my articles, I will say it: I was wrong. But I did say the Giants would win the division at the beginning of the season.

Since that’s out of the way, we can move on to what we all want to know. Who should be on the Giants 2010 postseason roster?

Any player added to the roster by September 1 is eligible for the postseason, and it is only a 25-man roster. Teams can also change rosters between series. This roster is only for the National League Division Series.

The easy choices are the following:

SP: Tim Lincecum, Matt Cain, Jonathan Sanchez, Madison Bumgarner, Barry Zito

RP: Brian Wilson, Sergio Romo, Jeremy Affedlt, Javier Lopez, Santiago Casilla

INF: Buster Posey, Aubrey Huff, Freddy Sanchez, Pablo Sandoval, Juan Uribe, Mike Fontenot

OF: Pat Burrell, Andres Torres, Jose Guillen

That is 19 guys. With six spots remaining, we have to take a closer look at who they have and who should be in.

There are 10 pitchers on that roster. Who else should be added to that staff?

Ramon Ramirez? Dan Runzler? Chris Ray? Maybe Guillermo Mota?

This is a team that has struggled more to score runs and may not carry as many pitchers to let more hitters on board.

San Francisco will probably go to a four-man rotation, meaning one of the lefties in the rotation will go to the bullpen. That would give the Giants three lefties in the pen.

Probably enough.

Ramirez maybe the only addition to the roster from the staff.

Now the hitters/defenders. The candidates are Cody Ross, Nate Schierholtz, Travis Ishikawa, Aaron Rowand, Edgar Renteria, and Eli Whiteside.

Whiteside is in because they need a backup catcher.

Ross and Schierholtz have come up huge in clutch situations and are the defensive replacements in the outfield. Ishikawa has been the Giants’ best pinch hitter all season and could provide some very good defense at first base.

One spot remaining. Pitcher or hitter?

For my last roster spot, I go back to the 2004 Boston Red Sox.

In game four of the ALCS, Dave Roberts stole second base late in that game and went on to comeback and win the game and the series.

Speed kills.

With that statement, I give my last roster spot goes to Darren Ford. He never has to pick up a bat. He doesn’t ever have to play defense.

All he would have to do is run the bases and wreak havoc on opposing pitchers and catchers.

As I am writing this, FP Santangelo named his 25-man roster and the only difference is Ford for Eugenio Velez.

I’m glad to hear I am not the only one to think this is the roster that should play in the NLDS.

One step at a time and the final step is to win Friday night. But after Friday night, this is what matters.

The best 25 men for the job.

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With just a few weeks left in the 2010 baseball season, teams will begin to rest players down the stretch, unless their division won’t be decided until the last few days.

For those that have their division well in hand, days off will help their most productive players get ready for another month of baseball.

It won’t be a easy stretch and not having those players could be detrimental to any World Series chances.

Here are 10 players that need to be healthy for their teams to make a legitimate October run.

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Down 4-0 by the fifth inning, the Giants did not throw in the towels. Not one bit.

Matt Cain settled down and threw shutout innings in the fifth, sixth, and seventh for a final line of 7 IP, 4 ER, 7 H, 1 BB, 6 K.

The Giants offense put together a noble (and successful) comeback effort. In the seventh inning, Posey cut the deficit to three with a solo home run. In the eighth, Renteria and Burrell cut the lead to one with back-to-back solo home runs. Finally, in the ninth, after a Cody Ross single (which he just barely beat out), Juan Uribe crushed a two-run homer to left-center field off of Dodgers closer Jonathan Broxton.

Brian Wilson came in, and after Dodgers had runners on the corners and just one out, he was able to settle down and shut the Dodgers down, securing the Giants win.

The Giants, now that the Padres have lost a staggering nine games in a row, are now just two games back in the NL West. 

Now, here are some notes:

Each day brings more evidence that Jose Guillen should not be a starting outfielder. Pat Burrell hit a home run, Andres Torres is, well, Andres Torres, and Cody Ross scored the game-tying run. Oh, yeah and Jose Guillen had a golden sombrero (four strikeouts in a game, for those of you that aren’t well-versed in baseball terminology).

Although not completely relevant to the Giants, it’s quite interesting to note that the Dodgers have not caught a runner stealing since July 23. Darren Ford stole second in the eighth inning with two outs and the Giants down 4-3.

The Giants have now executed three comebacks of four runs or more: June 4 against the Pirates; July 20 against the Dodgers (you might remember that as the game in which Bruce Bochy got Broxton taken out of the game because Mattingly stepped on the mound twice); and of course, Saturday, September 4 against the Dodgers. 

Props to Pat Burrell: he was able to come off the bench and battle for an eight-pitch at-bat, culminating in his solo home run off of Octavio Dotel. 

The Giants had four home runs. Quite satisfying.

Saturday’s game was symbolically a juxtaposition of the Dodgers’ and Giants’ relative seasons. At home, the Dodgers blew a game they should have won thanks to yet another poor performance by Broxton, who has brought the Dodgers down with him during his second-half downfall.

The Giants, in contrast, executed a beautiful comeback, and Brian Wilson was able to settle down and shut down the Dodgers to win the game, as he has done for most of 2010. 

Uribe had a WPA of .622 on Saturday: he raised the Giants’ chances of winning the game by 62.2 percent with his offensive performance. 

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Thanks to Marty Lurie of KNBR, I got the idea to write just how good the Giants are and how well certain players are performing compared to previous seasons.
As August begins, the Giants begin a difficult two months to catch the first place Padres. Starting off the second half going 8-1 in the division and 13-4 overall, they’re the hottest team in baseball. Giants’ players are peaking at the right time and this team is having fun again as they fight for a post-season berth.

It’s been an incredible year so far, and fans have a lot to look forward to in the coming months. Although we all hope to see the Giants keep winning and overtake San Diego, the Giants can also fall back. Up to this point, this team has far exceeded expectations.

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