Editor’s note: I’m traveling to Not Los Angeles over the next week or so, which means I’ll have limited time to work on longer features. I will make it up to you in a week or two, when there will be thousands and thousands of dumb hot stove rumors, I promise.
Until then, enjoy some quick posts about happier times
On October 26, 2010, the Giants were at home, waiting for the World Series to start.
On October 26, 2012, the Giants were in Detroit, waiting for the World Series to continue.
This is not the best episode of What the Giants Were Doing? However, it does feature one of the happier World Series memories! I don’t know if there’s a term for a game in a seven-game series where both teams are 2-2. A pre-rubber match? There should be a term. Work on a term, everyone. Even if it’s just a made up name, like the flop, turn, or river.
JOE BUCK: And the Giants win the game, evening up the series at two a piece. They’ll have Madison Bumgarner on the mound for the Santa Fe pancake game, so you know they’re feeling pretty good about their chances.
After the Giants looked like they were about to lose and fall behind 3-1, they roared back and scored 11 runs in the game, evening up the series. Then they brought Bumgarner back after his dominant Game 1 start, and he was even better.
He had a plan. And he executed it perfectly.
Hitters are now 1-for-24 this postseason in AB's ending on a Bumgarner fastball UP above the waist. #WorldSeries #SFGiants
— Inside Edge (@InsideEdgeScout) October 27, 2014
The Royals couldn’t hit his high fastball. To be fair, that’s his catch phrase in the regular season, too, but the Royals seemed especially baffled. Remember how the Series ended, for example, with Buster Posey squatting only because tradition dictated it.
The runs of the game weren’t especially memorable, with Brandon Crawford hitting an RBI groundout and singling home a run with two outs in his next at-bat. Juan Perez proved that Wade Davis was mortal, even if it didn’t seem like it meaned much at the time. Other than Bumgarner’s dominance, the most memorable play of the game was this:
Brandon Belt was way over on a shift, and he forgot just how far over. The mistake was compounded by Bumgarner breaking late to cover first, probably because he was also not expecting a grounder to (basically) second turning into something so dramatic.
What I remember most about watching that game was the news of Oscar Taveras, who was killed along with his girlfriend in a drunk-driving accident, and feeling guilty for assigning any meaning to this game at all. I led the recap off with Taveras partly to assuage my own guilt and work through the emotions, I think. The memories of the game are still uncomfortable, even if they were incredibly exciting and Giants-friendly.
This was one of the games that cemented the Bumgarner legend that was freshly poured. After the game, some Royals had thoughts.
"We don’t have to face Bumgarner no more," Dyson said.
That’s from the Kansas City Star, and I’d like to think that Bruce Bochy read that and thought, "Wait, are they scared of Bumgarner? Because that gives me an idea ..." It turns out that the Royals had to face Bumgarner one more time, after all.
After this game, though, it was fair to wonder if it was the end of Bumgarner’s postseason. And what a brilliant postseason it was! Good job, good effort, thanks for all the stuff, now hit the showers and we’ll see you next spring.
TO BE CONTINUED