Kuzul

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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The Bay Area has been rejuvenated with the San Francisco Giants winning the World Series against the Texas Rangers.

In light of that great playoff run, it’s time to take a look at some of the most popular names in Bay Area history.

Where does Tim Lincecum rank?  Let’s find out.

Here are the most popular San Francisco and Bay Area sports stars ever.

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The San Francisco Giants just won their first World Series since 1954.

Their previous championship seasons had left various memories, such as John McGraw refusing to play the Boston Americans in 1904 and presiding over their next three championships until handing over the reins to Bill Terry in the 1933 championship expedition.

And of course, who could forget the underdog Giants in the 1954 World Series and Willie Mays’ dramatic over-the-shoulder catch leading to a sweep of the Indians?

This World Series, however, will have a different legacy.

No, it’s not that it is the first title to come to San Fransisco since the team arrived in 1952. It’s not even that it’s two-time Cy Young winner Tim Lincecum’s first ring.

No, this one will have a much more profound meaning in history.

The legacy of this series will be, of course, Brian Wilson’s beard.

This is a great moment in baseball facial hair history, of which there have been many in its storied past.

The annals of Cooperstown are littered with Grizzly Adams-style full beards, Fu Manchus, handlebars, mutton chops, chinstraps, soul patches, goatees, pencil-thins, Marios and an endless array of five o’clock shadows.

Here are the top 10 facial-hair-having champions in baseball’s storied past.

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After 56 years of waiting, a change in location, and years of dealing with Candlestick Park, the San Francisco Giants have again reached the summit, winning the 2010 World Series, doing so with great pitching and a surge of hitting.

The 2010 World Series was not what many were expecting. Most had a Yankees-Phillies rematch, and many didn’t even have the Giants making the playoffs until a late September push. As a result, the Giants’ win is one of the more surprising ones.

Where does this Giants’ victory rank among the top 25 least likely world series champs?

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The World Series is usually a contest that features the best of the best in all of baseball, but that’s not always the case. Sometimes, the best teams are defined by what they overcame, rather than what they prevailed over or commanded.

In respect to this year’s World Series, I would like to take a look at 10 teams from the past that were not the top hitting teams in their respective divisions, and how their unexpected offensive performances carried them above and beyond to the rank of Champion.

I chose five teams from the American League, and five from the National League (by current placement), and ranked them from 10th best to the number one team that won a World Series, when they really weren’t expected to at all.

So sit back and enjoy.

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Congratulations to the San Francisco Giants, the 2010 Major League Baseball champions.

By wiping out the Texas Rangers, the Giants won their sixth World Series and first since moving to San Francisco in 1958.

It has been a long time coming for the San Francisco Giants. Just how long has it been?

Let’s have a look.

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Edgar Renteria = Babe Ruth.

Really? Um, no. But it was Renteria’s supposed “called shot” that won it for the Giants as they can now call themselves World Series champions.

Aaron Rowand was miked when he was told that Renteria had said he was going to do it. And do it, he did. His three run homer was the difference as the Giants won 3-1, taking the series 4-1.

Cliff Lee was good, but he is 0-2 in the World Series. Meanwhile, the only mistake Tim Lincecum made was the solo home run that Nelson Cruz hit in the bottom of the seventh.

There is no reason to believe the Giants cannot do it again next year.

Look, I know the game just ended. But let’s take a look at five reasons why the Giants could repeat.

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After two thrilling wins in San Francisco, the World Series shifted to Arlington, Texas, on Saturday night. The Rangers finally showed some signs of life and won game three in front of their home crowd. Tonight, the Rangers will look to even the series with Tommy Hunter on the mound. The Giants will send Madison Bumgarner to the bump and are seeking a commanding three games to one lead.

The big pregame news is Giants outfielder Pat Burrell isn’t starting. Instead, Nate Schierholtz will start in his place.

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

Much has been made of the Giants’ Tim Lincecum and the Rangers’ Cliff Lee, and with good reason.

But after that matchup failed to produce the expected pitching duel, the Giants’ Matt Cain more than filled the ace role for San Francisco as they took a two games to none lead in the World Series, winning 9-0.

It’s about time we recognized Cain for the stud pitcher he is. After finishing the 2010 season with a 3.14 ERA and 177 K’s with 61 walks in over 223 innings, the Giants’ number two starter has been number one in the postseason.

Cain has now gone more than 22 innings without giving up an earned run.

But the game two victory took more than just the pitching of Matt Cain.

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Game 1 of the World Series had all the feel and all the hype of NLCS Game 1, except now one of the greatest potential postseason pitchers (Roy Halladay) had been replaced by the third greatest postseason pitcher of all time in Cliff Lee, who had posted a 7-0 record with a 1.25 ERA, third to only Sandy Koufax and Christy Mathewson. 

Tim Lincecum had similarly shown that he was no postseason slouch, posting a 2-1 record with a 1.98 ERA. His opener was an electric 14 K complete game two-hit shutout.

Critics, pundits, fans and media everywhere were calling for a pitcher’s duel for the ages. As put slightly sarcastically by ESPN, it was going to be a 7-13 minute game, and they would flip a coin at the end of 48 innings.

If you gave everyone an over-under on three total runs scored, there would have been a fair amount of people calling for three, and everyone would have called the under on five.

However, there is not a person on the planet that called for a total of 18 runs, of which 11 would be given up by the starting pitching of Cliff Lee and Tim Lincecum. Then the two most effective bullpens in the postseason went on to give up a total of seven runs in 6 2/3 innings.

So, WHAT HAPPENED? Let’s find out.

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