Giants Win the World Series
KNBR 680 was on full blast on my car tuner as I was parked outside a packed Fireside Bar, completely blocking the Muni lane.<pls check this rewriting of lede. It definitely works better grammatically this way round, and also for conveying the picture, I think.> I was a full six seconds ahead of the telecast. This I know because as Posey hit his home run in the top of the sixth inning, I was yelling and honking my horn six seconds before an outpouring of cheers and yells erupted from all Irving Street bars showing the game.
Driving down the street, you could feel the energy pulsing from the doors of bars and restaurants, but soon after they would all be silenced by Delmon Young’s bottom-of-the-sixth home run.
It was that type of game, back and forth — the Giants charging and the Tigers just trying to stretch this series just one more night, trying to give their ace Justin Verlander one more chance to redeem himself.
It would not happen on this night. The Giants wanted it too bad for all their fans and teammates. Every single player on our team outplayed his opponent defensively and offensively. Each pitcher threw like it was the last pitch, and every hitter stretched every at bat like it was his last.
This World Series was different from that of 2010. This team was a cohesive unit, all marching to one cadence. Bench coach Ron Wotus stood anxiously at the top of the dugout as if he was up to bat next.
The Giants were the underdogs in every game of this World Series, yet they swept their opponent in four games, something that hadn’t happened in 22 years. In such dominant fashion did they win this series that the Tigers’ players simply walked into the dugout after the final out and conceded without a show of emotion, as if they too knew that it was the Giants’ year.
However much one anticipated this, up three games to none, you couldn’t help but feel the emotion as Sergio Romo struck out Triple Crown winner Miguel Cabrera with an 88 mph fastball, jumping into the air and pounding his chest.
The Giants needed 11 wins in the postseason to win it all, and every win was amazing, but the last four will go down in history as epic displays of one team imposing its will over another, showcasing how they made it to this point without their star closer Brian Wilson and slugger Melky Cabrera.
Game One of the series was supposed to be Justin Verlander’s game, but Pablo Sandoval had other plans, becoming only the fourth player to ever hit three home runs in a single World Series game. His name will forever be listed with Babe Ruth, Reggie Jackson and Albert Pujols.
Barry Zito’s performance that same night was ever so fitting, because like Pablo, he did not play in 2010, due to his sub-par performance. It is not just that the Giants won, but the way that they won this year, playing championship-caliber defense and producing runs.
It was also another season for pitcher Ryan Vogelsong to show that he too belonged in the majors. Buster Posey needed this season to show that his rookie year was no fluke, and that he is the player everyone thought he was.
So in the end, San Francisco got a championship, but for the Giants, this meant much more. Perhaps this is the start of a dynasty. The Giants showed that, once again, it isn’t about the team with the highest payroll or about the media darling; it is about who goes out and plays every single out like it is the last one.
