Kuzul

The San Francisco Giants have not won a World Series in over 55 years. Their counterparts, the Texas Rangers, have never won period.

Nonetheless, both of these squads have proven themselves worthy of dancing in the Fall Classic. Texas found their way in a six-game upset (if you can call it that) of the powerhouse Yankees, while San Franasco (thank you Tommy Wiseau) marched into Philadelphia and conquered the Phillies.

Great, is it not?

Yet as Giants closer Brian Wilson caught slugger Carlos Beltran (err, Ryan Howard) looking at strike three to end the NLCS, baseball commissioner Bud Selig shared the same look of shock. It was at this moment he realized, the 2010 World Series (just one year after a thrilling New York/Philadelphia stand) would be split between San Francisco and Arlington.

I’ll say that again. San Francisco and Arlington.

It is no secret to people any longer. The game of baseball is dying in the public eye. Even as a lockout looms ahead, the NFL draws huge on weekends. College football is carried on virtually every channel. Ball fields are being torn up and replaced by million-dollar dog parks.

In 2005, Major League Baseball experienced their first major drop-off in World Series ratings. For the first time since total viewer stats were released in 2001, the classic failed to reach 20 million viewers for at least one game of the series. Not even Chicago, a market who had the White Sox searching for their first World Series since 1917, could generate a substantial number of spectators. Since then, only two World Series games have reached that plateau, both of which were series clinchers (’07 and ‘09).

Feel like adding insult to injury? Throw in Game 3 of the 2008 World Series between the Phillies and Rays, which failed to eclipse 10 million viewers. That’s right: people were more interested in spending $10 at a movie theater on a Saturday night than watching a World Series game for free.

Now, we fast-forward to 2010. The Giants will obtain home-field advantage after the National League won the All-Star Game (ironically in the home of the last team San Francisco faced in the World Series), meaning a 4:30 PM local time start for just about every game of the series. With only two of the games taking place on a weekend, that means that a majority of west coasters will likely be in their office for the first pitch. Unless you work for Michael Scott, things don’t look too good for you.

Then, the Arlington argument comes into play. I mentioned earlier that the 2005 World Series brought in dismal ratings. The Houston Astros, a Texas product, were the National League representative. If a city of 2.3 million could not spur some steam, how are we to expect Arlington to do so?

So Mr. Selig, things may not look so great for you. Because of two pesky teams spurring on with a “no-quit” attitude, you miss out on a repeat of a fairly marketable rematch.

However, perhaps this is not exactly a bad thing. While the 2010 World Series may be a ratings-bruiser, the battle of the Rangers and Giants could also restore credibility to a game which could use a boost in that particular field.

The Texas Rangers are the epitome of front office perfection. With new ownership at the helm (not to mention the greatest pitcher of all-time at the helm of the helm), Texas soared past the AL West-laggers, at one point controlling the best record in baseball. They brought in an aging slugger to be their designated hitter, a retiring catcher to call games, a pissed-off outfielder to gun out runners and a southpaw who has established himself to be one of the best clutch-performers of all-time. Throw in an MVP superstar and a manager looking for redemption, and that proves to be a pretty effective formula.

As for the Giants, they are the captains of charisma. Having accomplished a remarkable comeback to capture the NL West, their youth and heart has driven them to greatness. They traded a retiring catcher (quite possibly the same one mentioned above) to bring in a rookie star. Their manager, a World Series-alumnus himself, worked through a blown $126 million investment and a torn pitching staff to reach the pinnacle of the baseball world. Also, be sure not to forget an NLCS MVP who was claimed on waivers a few months back.

While the 2010 World Series may not prove to be the most efficient for the sport of baseball, this type of story has been in the making for a long, long time. Both squads have upset the odds, and are incredibly hungry for a taste of champagne (or even ginger ale). It may be true the series may not be watched by many, but for those who do, it will undoubtedly be enjoyable.

Oh, perhaps I forgot to mention something. The last time the Giants were in the Fall Classic was also the last time a World Series game eclipsed 30 million views.

In the words of Wilson, this championship match-up may be quite “delicious” for the real fans of baseball.

This article can be found on SportsFullCircle!

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All that can be said about this Giants team in 2010 is, “Wow!”

The funny thing is, to be perfectly honest, I had a feeling coming out of spring training the team would do something special.

I told my friend to look out for the Giants this year. We were the best team in spring training and on paper and on the field had the best pitching in all of the Majors.

Even though I’m not a gambling man, I wanted to go put down a futures bet for the Giants to win it all. With 20/1 odds, there would be a nice payday if things worked out.

In investing or gambling, the goal is always to identify positions of leverage through superior knowledge or value.

In the Giants case, they would have great pitching along with strong potential from additions like Aubrey Huff, Mark DeRosa, Buster Posey, as well as the return of 2009 studs like Pablo Sandoval, Bengie Molina and Juan Uribe.

Say what you will, but there was only a tiny chance the Giants couldn’t best their record for 2009, 88-74.

The team was a better one going into 2010 then it was coming out of 2009, and some credit surely has to be paid to Brian Sabean and the brass.

Moreover, Sabean kept insisting the Giants did have the payroll to play with the big boys of New York and Boston.

Whether Texiera was ever going to come here when he could hit innocent fly balls for home runs in Yankee Stadium is another question.

So the Giants were better than 2009, had money to spend if it came down to it, a GM that was willing to roll the dice and a manager who had already led a team to the World Series.

The odds-makers had it wrong. The Giants should have been slotted anywhere from 4/1 to 10/1. 20/1 was absurd and therefore represented superior value.

I got as far as looking at flights and even thought about driving to the border and hitting a sports book near Reno.

But alas, I got lazy and never did.

Winning a sweet payout would have been nice if the Giants go on to win it all.

I do believe that this is the year.

I’ve had dreams about them doing it this year. The four-hit game Buster Posey had in Game 5 of the NLCS I dreamed about six weeks ago.

I’m either a little psychic or a little crazy.

Anyway, the most important thing about following the Giants is definitely not gambling. It’s not even entertainment.

It’s the camaraderie, friendship and love that having the common bond of San Francisco Giants creates and facilitates.

And the team, fans and ownership here all deeply and truly hold dear and embody this value.

So in a sense, we’ve already won.

But let’s not let that stop us from going down to Texas and wrangling us some Ranger meat!

Go Giants and enjoy the video!

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Words can’t describe this moment, a team with no real star beating the two-time NL champion. Throughout the playoffs the Giants have been the dark horse to reach the World Series, and now they are here.

Do they have a shot against the Rangers’ high octane offense? Yes. You can never write the Giants off. With that, here is why the Giants have a real shot at winning the 2010 World Series.

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It’s the law of gravity. Something that must be very delicately handled and respected. The question remained are we going up? Or is this the law of science forcing us to accept, there is no other way to go?

What goes up, must come down.

After too many years without a championship in Philadelphia, 2008 brought the end of a drought. 2009 assured us that we had something special on our hands.

Sure Shane Victorino doesn’t make too good of mistakes sometimes but, they’ll make it through—they always do. Yeah, Chase Utley slumps but someone will come through. Yeah Ryan Howard strikes out but he always seems to hit one when we need it.

It’s ok to have faith, but, at some point, you’ve got to look at everything and decide, something needs to be fixed.

Shane Victorino’s over-eager base running did us no favors in the bottom of the eighth, Utley’s careless mistakes cost us  this time. And Ryan Howard—those strikeouts, really, really did cost us this time.

It’s not something Phillies fans should look at as a terrible thing, though. The Phillies now know, they are not wizards. They need to work on that stuff.

Granted, injuries, clearly, have plagued this team from the first week of the season on. This was the first game the Phillies played all season as their true line-up. It all looked good, to begin, but after the Giants played, as they have all series and battled it out.

Taking advantage of the opportunities was key, and it’s something the Phillies have become known to do. It just wasn’t working for them—this whole postseason to be honest.

The Phillies left 11 men on base. They were 2-for-11 with runners in scoring position, no at-bat more painful than when Howard was struck out looking to end the 2010 season.
 
Matt Gelb, of Philly.com reports that some of the Phillies remained at the top step of the home dugout as many fans didn’t move from their seats.

Everyone was stone cold. It was like watching your father get beat up by a neighbor… yeah, that was exactly the feel.

Nails bitten, hair pulled, kids crying…but really, it’s not that bad. Your fightin’ Phils will be back next year. Until then—thanks.

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A terrific NLCS between the Phillies and Giants will continue Saturday in Philadelphia. Notes from Game 5 are below:

• Buster Posey was a vacuum behind the plate. He wouldn’t allow a pitch to get away from him no matter the location, giving Tim Lincecum the confidence to consistently bury his changeup low. 
• The Phillies clearly had a different approach against Posey, consistently attacking him on the inner half of the plate. The strategy worked as the young star catcher went hitless a night after dominating the Phils’ pitching staff with four hits.
• Ryan Howard has given the Phillies nothing so far this series.
• If Charlie Manuel doesn’t want to hit Placido Polanco between Chase Utley and Ryan Howard consistently, why not use Jayson Werth to break up the left-handed combination? Is there a downside to this?
• Howard made a nice play on a sharp liner by Aubrey Huff in the first inning with two on and no outs. After that however, The Big Piece (probably my least favorite nickname for an athlete ever) misplayed two ground balls. One was ruled an error while the other, incorrectly, was not.
• Freddy Sanchez scares me. The guy is a perfect No. 2 hitter and the hit and run Bochy called for in the first inning was executed perfectly.
• Chase Utley continues to look shaky in the field as well as at the plate. Every time he slips into a slump, local media is quick to play the ‘injury card’ but hey, maybe the guy isn’t otherworldly anymore and falls into rough patches like the rest of the Major League population.
• While Jimmy Rollins has continued his poor approach at the plate, his defense has been sparkling. 
• Despite the Phillies mini-rally in the top of the *third inning, they continue to lack the ability to sustain innings without help from poor pitching or poor defense. The team isn’t maximizing its chances and while home runs are often referred to as “rally killers” what better way to maximize a big inning than a two- or three-run blast? Jayson Werth stroked an opposite-field home run to right field in the top of the ninth for an insurance run, but aside from his Game 1 two-run bomb against Lincecum, the Phillies’ vaunted power has been shut down by the Giants.
• Cody Ross isn’t as good as he’s playing right now. Hitting is such a mental aspect of baseball and Ross simply believes he’s better than he is, if that makes sense. And I’m not taking a shot at the guy; his confidence is off the charts as he continues to lock in on each and every at-bat. Ross is locked in and reacting to, not guessing at pitches.
• As good as Ross has been, it was beautiful to watch Werth hose him in the bottom of the fourth. Ross committed the cardinal sin of baseball: making the third out at third base and it took a perfect strike by Starfox to get the job done.
• I find it strange that there are benches on the playing field in San Francisco. I can only assume this is an old-school style tradition? Either way, it’s a bit odd to me.
• The Giants really made Halladay work forcing him to go deep in counts batter after batter. Even when Doc got ahead of the Giants, he often lacked the ability to put them away immediately, most likely due to his injured groin.
• My wife found it funny that several Giants players were “itching their armpits with their bats” during the bottom of the sixth. I kindly explained that this tactic was used to keep their bats dry in the rain.
• Posey led off with a walk in the bottom of the sixth after two close pitches called for balls on 2-2 and 3-2 counts. As a Phillies fan I wanted those pitches, but I was impressed by Home Plate umpire Jeff Nelson. A lesser man would have been easily intimidated by Roy Halladay, but Nelson stuck to his guns.
• It was a great sign to see Rollins steal both second and third base in the top of the seventh inning. A great at-bat by Chooch put runners on first and third and I thought Bruce Bochy made a huge mistake leaving Lincecum in to pitch to pinch-hitter Ross Gload. Gload smashed the first pitch he saw, which was caught by Huff and turned into a double play.
• I’ve never been to San Francisco, but I can’t imagine a better representation of the difference between the two cities than the lady who came out to sing ‘God Bless America’ during the seventh inning stretch.
• I’d like a few less closeups from Fox of those hideous black playoff beards sported by Sergio Romo and Brian Wilson. I think I dislike Romo’s more, but it’s a tough call. 
• I did enjoy the shots of the San Fran crowd. They were into the game from the first pitch and showed an excited, expectant attitude throughout. They believe in their bunch, and now it’s time for Philadelphians to help fuel their team.
• The Phillies bullpen came up huge. JC Romero hadn’t pitched since Game 2 of the NLDS but got an important out, and Ryan Madson and Brad Lidge dominated. Lidge relied heavily on throwing his slider as a strike, not to get hitters to chase, which is often his plan. The Big Truck, Jose Contreras, came up big yet again as well.
• Madson mowed down the most dangerous section of the Giants lineup, striking out the trio of Posey, Burrell and Ross in the eighth.
• Jayson Werth, like Ryan Howard, is at his best when he’s going the opposite way. Maybe Howard took notes on Werth’s opposite-field insurance bomb and will keep his front shoulder from flying out in Game 6, a key, particularly against the left-handed Jonathan Sanchez.
• I thought Bochy made another bad call when he brought in the left-handed Jeremy Affeldt to pitch to Shane Victorino. Vic looked bad at the plate and hit nearly 90 points higher from the right side on the year. Like the Lincecum vs. Gload move, this one didn’t backfire, but why turn a struggling lefty around?
• White towels > Orange Pom-poms

*The top of the third inning turned the tide. The Phillies looked helpless and harmless against Lincecum through the first two frames. Raul Ibanez’s punched a leadoff single into no-man’s land and after the Giants ace hit Carlos Ruiz in the arm, the inning got strange.

Roy Halladay is a very poor bunter. I’d be surprised if there were five other starting pitchers in the National League who failed more consistently at laying down a solid bunt than Doc. (Maybe the MLB should organize an off-season “Bunt Off” competition between pitchers similar to the Home-Run Derby? I’d watch!)

But anyway, Halladay had a chance to advance two runners into scoring position with just one out. And somehow, someway, he got the job done. It was a crazy play and Pablo Sandoval certainly handed the Phillies a break when he failed to be in position to get the force at third.

After Halladay’s fair/foul bunt The Struggling Shane Victorino stepped to the plate. Victorino hit the ball hard, but right at Aubrey Huff. It wasn’t a difficult play for the first baseman, but he managed to make it look so as he booted the ball into shallow right field. Two runs scored and Victorino, in contrast to Game 4, alertly moved into scoring position.

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Hey there, baseball fans! Welcome to Game Five of the NLCS between the visiting Philadelphia Phillies and the San Francisco Giants.

Amateur baseball historian Evan Adrian here, guiding you through what could be the final game of this series.

The Giants won a classic October contest last night, beating the Phillies 6-5 on a ninth inning sac fly courtesy of Juan Uribe. They now stand just one game away from closing this thing out and punching their ticket to the 2010 World Series.

In a pitching rematch of Game One, the Phillies trot out their ace Roy Halladay to face the Giants’ ace Tim Lincecum. Philly is hoping Halladay can conjure up some of his no-hit NLDS magic and take this series back home. San Fran is hoping to close this one out in front of their raucous home crowd.

Keep it locked right here to follow the action every step of the way!

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The San Francisco Giants are where few thought they would be at the beginning of the season…hell, at the beginning of the postseason. They are one win away from representing the National League in the World Series.

The Giants came into this series as heavy underdogs to the reigning two-time NL champion Philadelphia Phillies.

After shocking the world and hitting around Roy Halladay in Game 1, they have taken care of business so far at home and throw out the winner of the last two Cy Young Awards in Tim Lincecum.

Gotta love the irony here of the Phillies’ Roy Halladay likely winning the Cy Young this year with the Giants likely to go to the World Series. I’m sure Tim Lincecum will gladly accept this reversal of roles.

This was a very emotional win for San Francisco, and they need to avoid any hangover from this game and close out the series tomorrow.

If they don’t, we see two games in Philly against one of the game’s best double-barreled 2-3 punch in Roy Oswalt and Cole Hamels.

Wednesday’s game saw the uprising of a recently dormant Philadelphia offense, which struck lightning to the tune of four runs in the fifth inning, aided by the erratic pitching of Santiago Casilla.

In the end, it was the bullpen that let down Philadelphia. Chad Durbin left a fastball up to Pablo Sandoval that put the Giants up 5-4 in the sixth inning.

After willing back to tie on a Jayson Werth double, Oswalt came on in relief in the ninth and proceeded to allow a game-winning sacrifice fly to Juan Uribe.

Aubrey Huff slid across home plate with ease and the Giants took a 3-1 series lead into the night.

Halladay will need to be very sharp tomorrow because this Giants’ lineup is an opportunistic group.

They have had Cody Ross shouldering the load so far, but in this game, everybody who was asked to do so seemingly delivered with RBI from Uribe, Posey, Huff, and Sandoval.

Lincecum will need to be sharp in this last home game of the series for the Giants. Because if he doesn’t bring all he has, this is going back to Philly.

That would be a dangerous proposition, one that this ragtag bunch can’t afford to risk.

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It’s fitting that in what became “The Year of the Pitcher,” we would see fantastic post-season pitching up to this point of the playoffs.  Were you really that surprised that Roy Halladay fired a no-hitter in his first post-season appearance?  If not, you couldn’t have been that surprised that Tim Lincecum threw a two-hit shutout, striking out 14 in his first post-season start.

We’ve seen more great pitching as well.  Matt Cain delivered a lights out outing yesterday afternoon.  We’ve also seen the likes of Cole Hamels, Phil Hughes, and Roy Oswalt step up and pitch fantastic games at one time or another this post-season.  However, with all of their collective efforts, none of them are in the same league as the Rangers Cliff Lee when it comes to post-season dominance.

Just look at Lee’s mind blowing numbers this post-season.  To this point in the 2010 playoffs, the Rangers ace has thrown 24 innings, allowing only two earned runs.  Opponents are hitting a mere .151 off of Lee.  Still not impressed?  How about Lee’s 34 strikeouts to only one walk.  I know, how did he ever walk one?  The guy has lousy control.  Lee’s 3-0 by the way, winning Game 1 of the ALDS when he out-pitched David Price.  He also won the clinching game of the ALDS when he out-dueled Price once again.  Even more impressive was the outing Lee just turned in in Game 3 of the ALCS at Yankee Stadium.

This begs the question, is Lee the greatest post-season pitcher of all-time?  There is a very small list of pitchers that have dominated in October.  Until Lee came along, only Bob Gibson, Whitey Ford, Jack Morris, John Smoltz, and Curt Schilling were on that list.  I’d even give guys like Dave Stewart and Randy Johnson some consideration, but none of those guys are doing what Lee is currently doing.

Maybe Lee’s name should be pencilled in at the top of that list.

It’s not just a one year sample from Lee.  After his 4-0 performance last year for the Phillies, Lee is now 7-0 with a 1.26 ERA, allowing only nine earned runs in eight career post-season games.  Three complete games to go with 67 career post-season strike outs to only seven walks.

The guy is the definition of a work horse.  Look up clutch performer in the dictionary and Lee’s picture will be there.

You may agree to disagree on the topic of Lee being the greatest post-season pitcher in history, but the numbers are hard to argue against.  He’s definitely on one of the greatest runs of all-time.

You can choose whom ever you want.  In a one game situation, bring on your guy.  I’m giving the ball to Lee and I’m probably going to win.

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The four teams vying for a World Series berth have one thing in common: they each have one (at least) of the greatest pitchers in recent postseason history.

Some are already postseason legends, while others are just beginning to etch their place in history.

The Giants-Phillies series has elicited the most reaction regarding sheer pitching prowess, but the other teams posses two of the top postseason pitchers of all-time. 

Many great pitchers buckle under the pressure of the playoff atmosphere, these guys feed off of it. 

Here are the top ten postseason pitchers available…

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Texas Rangers pitcher, Cliff Lee had one of the 2010 MLB postseason’s best performances last night at Yankee Stadium.  He struck out 13 New York Yankees hitters, while only allowing two hits and zero runs in eight innings.

While that seems like an outstanding game, (which it is) a couple other performances have one-upped Lee when it comes down to the final stat line.

2010 is definitely the year of the pitcher (outside of 1968), a couple of hitting performances have been just as important. 

Did the slugger of your favorite postseason team make the list?

Here are the top five performances of the 2010 playoffs (besides Cliff Lee).

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