Tag: Matt Cain

San Francisco Giants’ Incredible Four Year Turnaround

In 2007, Bruce Bochy became the Giants’ manager.  In that season, the team won 71 games and finished last in their division.  In each season since then, the Giants have improved their win-loss record while finishing higher in the division. 

Four years ago the Giants were a mess.  They were old, they were brittle, and they were overshadowed by Barry Bonds’ tainted journey to a record nobody outside of the bay really wanted to see broken.

In 2007, the Giants extensively used Ryan Klesko, a then 36-year-old veteran.  In 116 games, he hit only six home runs while batting .260.  Also, at first was Rich Aurilia, who barely mustered an OBP over .300. 

Then you had Dave Roberts, then 35, in centerfield.  Like Klesko, he managed to hit .260 while making $5 million that year.  In addition, Omar Vizquel was the starting shortstop, but even at age 40, it’s hard to throw him aside.  Though his offense was well below average, his defense was strong enough that he could have been an asset had there been solid hitters surrounding him in the lineup.  There weren’t.

The Giants’ average age was 33.1 in 2007, and no starting position player was under the age of 32.  Fast forward to 2010, and the Giants’ average age fell to 29.6 with no starting position player over the age of 33. 

In those three years, the Giants became younger and stronger.

Their homerun total rose from 131 to 162 with a 21 point increase in OPS.  In 2007, the Giants were last in the National League in slugging percentage and OPS.  They were sixth and eighth this past season, respectively.

Even though the Giants’ offense was not intimidating even this last year, upgrades were made to be competitive.  Then their pitching, the strength of the 2007 team, took an even bigger step forward in the three years after.

Back in Tim Lincecum’s rookie year, the Giants had three starters with an ERA of 4.00 or below (Matt Cain, Noah Lowry, Lincecum), and only Cain threw more than 200 innings.  The team ERA of 4.19 was good enough for fifth in the NL, yet the offense held the Giants to their 71 wins.

This past season, the Giants jumped to the league lead in ERA at 3.36, and four of the Giant starters not only had an ERA below 4.00, but also below 3.50. 

Since Bruce Bochy arrived in San Francisco, the Giants have literally gone from worst in the division to first.  This cannot be attributed solely to Bochy, or GM Brian Sabean, but to a new movement in the organization.

Since the start of the 2007 season, the Giants have drafted Madison Bumgarner and Buster Posey, two key pieces of last October’s memorable run.  Barry Zito and Jonathan Sanchez improved in that same time span, though Zito has more or less remained stagnant in his San Francisco career. 

You won’t see Ryan Klesko hogging up a spot in the middle of the order or Dave Roberts at the top of the lineup.  The Giants have learned to avoid bloated contracts that handcuff the organization.  The only exception is the deal to sign Barry Zito, which, surprise, occurred before the 2007 season. 

Since that Barry Zito deal, the only truly awful contract has been given to Aaron Rowand, but even his $60 million deal appears cheap compared to other regrettable contracts (think Alfonso Soriano). 

If anything, the Giants have found a way to play around the contracts of Zito and Rowand.  Rowand’s contract lasts for only two more years, with Zito lasting three more.  Once that money is taken off the books, the Giants will be able to lock in their younger, more reliable players including Buster Posey, Lincecum, Cain, and other young studs. 

The starting lineup is now built around young stars in Posey, and yes, Pablo Sandoval too.  Brandon Belt is projected to arrive in San Francisco next summer, and the rest of the lineup complements the growth of these young hitters.

Still, the biggest upgrade has been in the pitching department.  Much has been made of the Giants’ homegrown success on the mound, and it cannot be understated. 

With a stronger farm system and the foresight not to get locked into unreasonable free agent contracts, the Giants have discovered their own little way to win.  It’s that simple.  

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National League’s New Pitching Rotations: How They Stack Up

The Philadelphia Phillies:

 

After all the articles about how great the Philiadelphia Phillies are (I still don’t see the 2010 WS trophy with their team on it), there have been some signings and trades in the off season that has gotten the attention of quite a few baseball fans. Most of them were over-shadowed with a bias for a team that has yet to prove they are the best. 

Yes, I am anti-anyone who is crowed champion before the season starts.  Also I am sick of the argument that a team who is not the best still wins the championship.  Look, if they win the whole magilla, guess what? They’re the best.  Don’t twist the stats around and tell me on paper that your team or their team is better, just deal with the fact that last year’s team is the best team period. 

Now, checking out all of these rotations I want to show how close it really is, and how competitive this year’s NL will be regardless of what all the “homers” try and tell you from the east coast. 

I will also include a list of who’s-who of off season additions:

RH Roy Halladay … 21-10, 2.44 ERA,

LH Cliff Lee … 12-9, 3.18 ERA,

RH Roy Oswalt … 13-13, 2.76 ERA

LH Cole Hamels … 12-11, 3.06 ERA

TOTALS … 58-43, 2.84 ERA, 1.06 WHIP, 4.93 K/BB

Let’s take a trip down memory lane….

The NLCS: Game 1: Lincecum W, Halladay L

Game 2: Oswalt W, Sanchez L

Game 3: Cain W, Hamels L

Game 4: Wilson W, Oswalt L

Game 5: Halladay W, Lincecum L

Halladay and Oswalt both .500 in the NLCS.  But to no avail the Giants of Frisco defeat the Phillies in game 6.  Proof is in the pudding there, the Phillies are not the better team.  With the loss of Jayson Werth, they will struggle to replace that 85 RBI’s and 27 HRs.  With the addition of Lee, Perhaps they can hold their opponents long enough to compensate.

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2011 National League West Sneak Peak No. 1: Can the San Francisco Giants Repeat?

Pitchers and catchers report in about two months, but that does not silence the baseball talk.

The winter meetings have come and gone, but it seems the Giants prefer to stand pat. They have publicly stated they aren’t going after any of the top free agents, and why should they? The team of misfits they put together last year achieved baseball immortality, so why should the team be assembled any differently?

So far, the Giants appear to be the favorite in 2011. They have retained most of their tremendous pitching staff, which was first in baseball in ERA and strikeouts in 2010. All they lost was Chris Ray out of the bullpen, but their whole Cy Young-caliber starting rotation remains intact for 2011 and beyond.

Even with Tim Lincecum’s August struggles, the Giants still have one of the best starting staffs in all of baseball. Matt Cain had a phenomenal year and competed against Lincecum for the ace status, but Lincecum showed why he was an ace during the postseason. Zito and Sanchez remain a question, but they are undoubtedly one of the best four and five starts in baseball, depending on how the Phillies‘ newly beefed-up staff does. Expect another solid year from the rotation.

As for the Giants bullpen, it should also be stellar in 2011. Brian Wilson, Javier Lopez and the rest of the staff are all back for next season. With the Giants re-signing Guillermo Mota, the Giants shored up the back end of their bullpen in case of injury or if mop-up work is needed. Basically, what got the Giants to the World Series in 2010 will return for the 2011 season.

The Giants offense only needs mediocrity to win the West, but anything less will not get the job done. In 2009, the Giants offense was abysmal, nearly the worst in baseball. Even so, they somehow won 88 games, but it was not enough to beat out the Rockies for the Wild Card.

In 2010, the Giants were closer to the middle of the pack in hitting, and they won the West with 92 games. Now that the Giants added Tejada, Cody Ross (mid-2010), Pat Burrell (mid-2010) and a healthier Pablo Sandoval (who lost 15 pounds in San Diego so far), the Giants offense is worlds better than on April of 2010. They also have a stronger bench, with Mark DeRosa returning in 2011. Don’t forget Buster Posey, who just jolted the offense in July.

In order to keep their bench strong, the Giants offered Edgar Renteria a one-year contract worth $1 million. I think it is fine to bring him back as a backup infielder, but for no more than the $1 million they offered him. He can fill a hole if, say, Freddy Sanchez or Miguel Tejada were lost to injury. He can be a short-term solution, since he is streaky, but is not ideal for a starting role. Still, he has a flare for the clutch as shown by the World Series, and his game-tying home run during the home opener.

Despite him feeling disrespected about the Giants contract offer, Renteria needs to realize the Giants did anything but that, considering they were the only team thus far to offer him a major league contract.

The one weakness I see for the Giants is athleticism. With the exception of Torres and Schierholtz, team speed is weak and so is their range. If Pablo Sandoval loses a few more pounds, I think he can give the Giants more athleticism as he did when he first came up in 2008. Watch any of his baserunning from ’08, and you would think he was Carl Crawford compared to the way he runs now. Any speedster who isn’t a loss at the plate (a la Eugenio Velez) will give the Giants another dimension offensively. Darren Ford can fly, but I don’t think the Giants trust him entirely at the plate yet.

That said, I pick the San Francisco Giants to win the West once again. Their pitching is just superb, and I think having Burrell, Ross, Buster Posey and Torres in the lineup for a full season will get them 95-100 wins. Imagine how many of those early-season 2010 games they would have won with these players.

 

This article was featured on the blog Talking Giants Baseball.

Be sure to take the poll here on how you think Renteria should have reacted to his contract offer.

Look out for the 2011 National League West Preview No. 2: Los Angeles Dodgers, Can Their Glory Days Return?

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com


MLB Trade Rumors: 10 Potential Matt Cain Trades for the San Francisco Giants

Let’s get something clear right off the bat—I’m not advocating that the San Francisco Giants trade Matt Cain in the 2010-11 MLB offseason. I’m not even suggesting they should consider doing so.

The Kid has been the Giants’ most consistent pitcher for years, and he’s been one of the best starting pitchers in baseball for the same duration. Though Tim Lincecum is unquestionably the staff ace and justifiably dominates the limelight, his right-handed stablemate is only a nose behind him.

What Cainer lacks in pure filth when compared to the Freak, he compensates for almost completely with mental impregnability.

Despite the sizable public perception gap, the actual difference in team import between the two aces is much narrower. Should anyone still doubt this fact, he or she need only reference the Gents’ 2010 World Championship campaign.

The squad probably doesn’t even make the playoffs without its longest-tenured member thanks to Lincecum’s struggles in May (4.95 ERA, 1.54 WHIP) and August (7.82 ERA, 1.82 WHIP). While the Franchise was wallowing in the misery of decreased velocity and lost command, Cain was at his best—he posted a 1.81 ERA and 0.92 WHIP in May, then followed it up with a 3.00 ERA and 1.10 WHIP in August.

Remember, Los Gigantes needed a win in Game 162 to survive the regular season and San Diego Padres by a razor-thin, two-game edge in the National League West. So the margin for error was equally slim.

Oh, and speaking of the postseason, not even Tim Lincecum was better.

In fact, neither Christy Mathewson nor Carl Hubbell—nor any pitcher in the time-worn history of the Show—can look down upon Big Game Cain’s performance in October (OK, maybe Big Six can). That’s because the youngster from Alabama was virtually perfect—2-0, 21.1 IP, 0.00 ERA, 0.94 WHIP, seven BB, 13 K and only one extra-base hit (the miracle double to Ian Kinsler in Game 2 of the Fall Classic).

Nope, San Francisco has a handful of untouchables as far as trade chips go, and Matt Cain is most certainly one of those.

But therein lies the fun.

Just imagine what the franchise could demand in return for such a priceless commodity—this is a 26-year-old with successful postseason experience under his belt and off his back. Furthermore, he’s shown consistent improvement from each of his five full seasons to the next.

With that in mind, let’s take a look at the hypothetical bounty Matt Cain could fetch.

And note, the acquisition of Miguel Tejada changes none of what follows.

At $6.5 million for one year, I’m intrigued by the Miggy signing. But he’d still take a reserve role to the guys on this list. On with it.

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San Franscisco Giants Ink Aubrey Huff for Two Years, $22 Million

After winning their first World Series since moving to San Francisco, the Giants took their first step in the offseason by giving their first baseman Aubrey Huff a two-year, $22 million extension. The deal also includes a $10 million club option for 2013. This is a great deal for the 33-year-old first baseman. 

After his 32 home run season with the Baltimore Orioles in 2008, Huff struggled a bit due to some injuries. Despite his struggles, Huff was picked up by the Giants and had bounce-back year.

The big first baseman hit .290 with 26 home runs and 86 runs batted in. Huff definitely earned this deal after the season he had, and also his World Series performance. Huff had five hits in five games including a big two-run home run in Game 4.

This is a big move for the World Series champions because they need some power in the lineup and that is exactly what Aubrey Huff brings. The chemistry on the Giants roster is great and it is important for them to keep these guys together, and signing Huff was the start of it.

Giants’ manager Bruce Bochy will definitely be happy to have Huff for two more years because he gives the Giants a better chance at repeating.

With the pitching staff on the Giants, anything is possible for them. Starters Tim Lincecum and Matt Cain were outstanding in the playoffs and all they needed was a little help from the offense, and Aubrey Huff was apart of that help.

This is a great deal for Huff and the Giants as they look forward to next season so they can defend their title.

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The 2010 MLB Season: Ranking the Top 25 Moments

The 2010 MLB season was quite the ride.

We had six no-hitters (well, seven technically), which ties the record set in 1969 and 1990.

There were plenty of midseason transactions that would alter the course of the rest of the season. A few small-market teams proved that sporting a payroll under $100 million doesn’t mean your team is automatically out of it.

We had brawls and 20-inning games. We saw a team come back from 10 runs to win a game.

We followed three players that had a chance for the Triple Crown all the way up to the end of August. We watched a few bench-clearing brawls.

We said goodbye to a legendary player and manager.

We watched a team go through bankruptcy, only to find themselves in the World Series a few months later. And we watched a tortured franchise finally be able to call themselves the champs.

Here are the top moments of the season that was in baseball.

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World Series 2010: Matt Cain and the Top 15 Pitching Runs in Playoff History

Over the years, October has been the time of the year for which baseball fans yearn. The drama and thrill of postseason baseball is among the greatest shows in American sports. Legacies are sculpted in October, players are immortalized and teams written in stone.

Great hitters such as Babe Ruth and Reggie Jackson (and 25 other Yankees) have wowed with the wood, while others, such as Ozzie Smith, have put on sudden, clutch power displays.

Infamy has stalked many a postseason athlete, whether it be a blown save or a late-game error. Managers have been exulted or scorned for brilliant lineup and pitching decisions or boneheaded moves (ahem, Dusty Baker).

However, nothing quite garners respect like dominant postseason pitching. While hitters can be clutch, this is still a pitcher’s game, and dominant pitchers can literally define an entire postseason through their own efforts.

It is here that we will count down the top 15 single postseason performances by the great hurlers through the years, documenting their brilliance.

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San Francisco Giants’ Heroics: Champs Bring First World Series To the Bay

The San Francisco Giants won their first World Series with a 3-1 Game 5 victory over the Texas Rangers. It was the first title for the Giants franchise since 1954, four years before they moved from New York.

Giants SS Edgar Renteria, who was talking retirement just five weeks ago, tells teammate Andres Torres that he’s hitting the long ball. And he did just that. In the seventh, Renteria took a Cliff Lee 2-0 cut fastball for a ride, a three-run home run that silenced the 52,045 in Arlington. His heroics were awarded, as he was named World Series MVP in a 3-1 World Series-clinching victory.

“I got confidence in me, but I was joking like I’m going to get it out. But it went out. I got confident, looking for one pitch. So he threw the cutter and it came back to the middle of the plate,” Renteria said.

Renteria’s heroics are nothing new, though. His 11th-inning walk-off RBI single for the Florida Marlins won Game 7 of the 1997 World Series, and he became only the fourth player in MLB history to drive home the winning run in two clinching games, joining Hall of Famers Lou Gehrig, Joe DiMaggio and Yogi Berra.

The Giants won the way the best teams do—strong, young pitching. They also received a ton of support from what many deem “castoffs and misfits,” which was essentially a collection of short-term rentals, releases and waived players from around the league. No Giants player ranked in the top 10 in any significant statistical category during the regular season.

It didn’t matter that the Giants weren’t headlined by a big-name superstar, as they had a handful of unlikely saviors throughout the postseason—Cody Ross, Juan Uribe, Aubrey Huff, Freddy Sanchez and now Renteria.

“For us to win for our fans—it’s never been done there with all those great teams—that was a euphoric feeling. All those (former players) were in the clubhouse so many times and they were pulling for these guys to win. They helped us get here,” manager Bruce Bochy said.

Much credit is due to RHP Tim Lincecum, better known as “The Freak.” He out-dueled Lee (how often does that happen?) not once, but twice. He went eight strong, gave up just three hits and two walks while striking out 10. He’s now able to add a World Series trophy to his two NL Cy Young awards.

“You know what it is? It’s called being a gamer. Walking into the clubhouse today, the guy’s as loose as can be, joking around. Same old Timmy. You’d have no idea he had the opportunity to go out and win Game 5 of the World Series and win us a World Series championship. You saw it from the get-go. He had swing-and-miss stuff all night. Cruz hit a pretty decent pitch out. And he bounced back and got us out of there,” said Buster Posey.

The question now is can they do it again? A team consisting of castoffs and misfits wasn’t supposed to get this far in the first place, but now, it’s quite possible that a repeat is in the cards.

With an offence that ranked 17th of 30 teams in the bigs with just 697 runs scored during the season, this unlikely championship team has proven that there is no blueprint to success in the MLB.

Around the fanbase, it has proven that baseball is one of the greatest sports for playoff unpredictability, where the best team doesn’t always win, but rather, the one that happens to be playing best at the time.

Taking a look at this team’s roots, there is a ton of homegrown talent. Buster Posey and Pablo Sandoval, for example, are two of the club’s few homegrown position players, whereas the pitching staff was created predominantly through the draft—Madison Bumgarner went in the first round 10th overall (in 2007), Lincecum, 10th overall (in 2006), Matt Cain 25th overall (in 2002), Brian Wilson (24th round in 2003) and Jonathan Sanchez (27th round in 2004).

As for their “castoffs and misfits,” a lot of their bats came from second or third markets—so much credit is due to the club’s scouting.

When all was said and done, it came down to their starting pitching. Lincecum defeated Lee in Games 1 and 5, while their other young starters, Cain and Bumgarner, won Games 2 and 4. The trio did an incredible job of putting the Rangers bats to bed—the heart of the order, OF Josh Hamilton, DH Vladimir Guerrero and OF Nelson Cruz, who homered their way past the Tampa Bay Rays and New York Yankees in the postseason, were a combined 7-for-54 in the Series, which includes Nelson’s solo shot that got the Rangers their only run in Game 5.

Wilson retired those three batters in order in the ninth, finally punching out Nelson at 9:30pm CT, initiating a celebration 56 seasons in the making.

One has to love the story behind this team—specifically, for Wilson. It’s the same routine for the creator of “Fear the Beard”—after recording the final out of a ball game, the closer turns away from the plate, crosses his forearms in front of his chest and quickly looks toward the sky. It’s an MMA-style signal that he says he adopted to honor both his late father, who passed away from cancer when Brian was only 17, and his Christian faith.

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

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2010 World Series: Nothing Has Been Won Yet by the San Francisco Giants

The ghosts of opportunities lost can swirl and haunt in an instant, and any temptation for the San Francisco Giants or their fans to look ahead to an assumed World Series title must be stifled.

As Giants fans tingle with the anticipation of a clinching opportunity tonight in Game 5 of the 2010 World Series, the demons of the 2002 World Series are on-deck and ready to swarm.

These ghosts hold permanent residence in the collective memory of all Giants fans.  One need only ask if the name “Scott Spiezio” means anything to a Giants fan, and the resulting expression alone from your victim should aid in clearing up any confusion.

That is, if you don’t get punched first.    

Unfortunately, there is no shelf life attached to the lost moments and horrible memories connected to the recent history of the San Francisco Giants and the World Series.  

I can close my eyes right now and see Dusty Baker handing the ball to Russ Ortiz.  I can remember the 5-run lead in the 7th inning, and the red noisemakers clanged by the Anaheim Angel fans.  I remember being eight outs away, and slapping fives with my buddies.  I remember watching the rally monkey on the screen, and wishing hateful things.  I remember Brendan Donnelly in his goggles striking out seemingly everybody, and then Mr. Spiezo and his bleached hair, hitting a 3-run bomb that changed the entire complexion of the Series.  

Finally, the very next evening, I remember the Angels beating us and becoming the 2002 World Series Champions.    

It was eight years ago, but that collapse is all there for me in vivid, mental color whenever I don’t want it.  It stings, and is as accessible as the memory of being dumped in the Mountain View Tower Records parking lot by my high school girlfriend.  

Yes, the parking lot.       

As for past gut punches, I can’t accurately speak to the sinking emotions surrounding the 1962 World Series for the older generation of Giants fans, because I never had to live through it.  For anyone witnessing Willie McCovey line out to Bobby Richardson that afternoon at Candlestick Park, the finality of it must have been overwhelming.

By all accounts, McCovey crushed the ball, one that a foot to either side of Richardson would have probably scored Willie Mays from second base with the Series-winning run for the Giants.  Instead, that same crowd, who only a half-second before had been rising to their feet anticipating history, were now cut down where they stood.  

Any visions of Market Street parades that day, lost forever to the sight of a New York Yankees celebration on the Candlestick infield. 

It must have been truly awful, but that is as far as I want to take it.  Any further conjecture risks being disrespectful to the fans in attendance, as well as those listening to Lon Simmons on radios all around the Bay Area that day in 1962.  Any more personal musings risk being callous to the pain those fans probably carry in their hearts to this very day, some 48 years later. 

That said, with 2002 as stirring in my own mind, I think I can at least relate.

Like all true sports fans, Giants fans love deeply and without remorse.  We attach the same elevated meaning in our lives to clutch hits as we do tape-measure homeruns that put us ahead.  We lionize twenty-something catchers and pitchers, and lose our minds when a second baseman climbs the ladder to snowcone-grab a liner.  

The haunting phantoms thrive in this passion, and are all too ready to delight in bringing the pain of lost chances and failed glory to the very forefront of our minds for another five decades.  The one thing, the only thing, that can render these demons powerless, is when we believe without assumption, and support without any expectation. 

The Giants have an excellent chance tonight to end over 50 years of futility—a chance.  Should that unbelievably sweet event happen, and the San Francisco Giants actually win the 2010 World Series, the very first since moving West, and the very first title for an amazing city, only then will all suffering Giants fans be able to collectively exorcise the nagging ghosts of our history.    

The vast amount of space that those awful ghosts heretofore occupied in our minds, now replaced with an amazing and permanent memory that can be cherished, recounted and retold until the day we die. 

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World Series Ratings on Pace for Record Lows

The baseball world got their wish: the New York Yankees are not in the World Series and parity played its part.

The San Francisco Giants with their 11th ranked payroll ($96,277,833), play host to the 25th ranked Texas Rangers ($64,810,570). 

It is great to see new blood in the playoffs; however the ratings do not support that fact.  Game 1 pulled in a rating of 8.9 (approx 15 million viewers).   

Compared to the lowest-rated World Series, Philadelphia Phillies-Tampa Bay Rays, that’s a drop off of 3 percent, and a 25 percent drop from last year’s New York Yankees-Phillies series (also Game 1) 

To make matters worse, the ratings from Game 2 were not any better. 

Game 2 pulled in an 8.5 or nearly 14.5 million viewers—still a 26 percent decrease from last year’s Game 2. 

According to an article published in USA TODAY, Bud Selig still has high hopes for the remaining games:

“MLB commissioner Bud Selig told Sirius XM Radio’s Chris “Mad Dog” Russo Thursday that Giants-Rangers will draw ‘great ratings’ if it can build to a competitive five-game, six-game, or ideally, seven-game series.”

I have to sit on the fence on this one.  On one side, this is great for baseball—new players and more exposure. On the other hand, the Yanks and the Boston Red Sox are nowhere to be found and it does make it feel quite empty this October. 

Sure there are great players: Josh Hamilton, the once untouchable Cliff Lee, “The Freak” Tim Lincecum, Matt Cain, and the ageless Edgar Renteria continuing to perform after 15 seasons. 

There are also great teams: The Texas Rangers, who found themselves in dire straits financially, but stuck it out through 162 games; and the San Francisco Giants, looking for their first World Series title since 1954. 

With all that said, for the viewers to be entertained and the ratings to increase, something magical needs to happen, and happen quickly.   

Games 3 and 4 have to be ones for the ages.  If Game 3 is a blowout with the Giants up 3-0 heading into Sunday night’s game, competing head-to-head against Sunday Night Football, the numbers could be very, very unflattering.

This article can also be found on The GM’s Perspective

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