SF Giants win World Series --> 2nd in 3 Years!!!

It's like a dream come true.

The home team here just won the 2012 World Series title!

SF Giants win World Series
Henry Schulman, San Francisco Chronicle
Sunday, October 28, 2012

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Photo: Lance Iversen, The Chronicle / SF


Detroit --

Matt Cain had one thought as he watched Marco Scutaro dig in for the at-bat of his life.

"I was just hoping he hadn't burned up all of his big hits through the year already," Cain said. "He's had so many. I was hoping he had another one in there for us."

The little Giant, the one they call "Blockbuster," did indeed. With two outs in the 10th inning, Scutaro floated a single to short center field. Austin Jackson charged hard but finally had to concede he would lose the battle with gravity.

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The ball fell in, Ryan Theriot scored from second base, and three Sergio Romo strikeouts later, the San Francisco Giants were 2012 World Series champions after a 4-3 victory and a four-game sweep of the Tigers that sounds as implausible as the comebacks against the Reds and Cardinals that made Sunday night's celebration possible.

When Romo threw a fastball past Miguel Cabrera for strike three, out three, the Giants charged toward one another on a frigid, damp field and set off the biggest celebration in San Francisco in, what, two years?

Romo pumped his fist three times as Buster Posey raced to hug him. They had won their second rings. Angel Pagan won his first and dropped to his knees in center field. In the mad scrum behind the mound, Scutaro hit Javier Lopez's mouth with the back of his head and drew blood, though the reliever did not mind.

"It's championship blood," Lopez said.

In the middle of the clubhouse, manager Bruce Bochy hoisted the Commissioner's Trophy over his head and got a Champagne bath that drenched his big old dome.

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He still looked stunned a half-hour later as he prepared to walk onto the field to do an interview.

"It's unbelievable what happened here the last two to three weeks," Bochy said. "I'm amazed. I couldn't be prouder of these guys."

To win one World Series in this era of parity and expanded playoffs is hard. Two in three years bespeaks a continuity of success rarely achieved.

The Giants are the second team to accomplish the feat since the playoff field was doubled from four to eight teams in 1995. The other was the New York Yankees, who won three in a row from 1998 to 2000. The Giants, Yankees, Marlins, Cardinals and Red Sox have won multiple titles in the wild-card era.

The Giants also got hot at the right time, as many title teams do. They finished their run to the championship with seven straight wins. Their longest winning streak during the regular season was six.

And a group of players who spoke so often about "team" put their final rally where their mouths were.

Theriot scored the winning run on a hit by the man who took his job, Scutaro, after the Giants acquired the 36-year-old from Colorado in July.

Theriot, the designated hitter, opened the 10th inning with a single off lefty Phil Coke, his only hit of the Series and third of the postseason. Brandon Crawford sacrificed and Pagan struck out to bring Scutaro to the plate with two outs.

Scutaro was a godsend for the Giants down the stretch, the MVP of the National League Championship Series. But to that point, he had been 3-for-15 in the World Series.

"My plan was to stay calm and just try to see the ball, just let it travel and try to make good contact," said Scutaro, who thought for a fleeting moment that Jackson would catch it.

"I thought, 'Get down! Don't stay up!' " he said. "When I saw it drop, I was thinking, 'Oh my God.' "

An entire visiting dugout and the faithful back home had the same thought as Theriot raced around third and scored easily ahead of a high throw. When Theriot rose from his slide, he ran just as hard toward the dugout, clapping his hands, with a deranged look.

"It was kind of a bitter-beer face," Brandon Belt said, laughing. "It was so awesome. Once again, Marco came through for us."

For the only time in the World Series, the Giants had a fight. The lead shifted from 1-0 Giants (on a Belt triple in the second) to 2-1 Tigers (on Cabrera's wind-blown home run against Cain in the third) to 3-2 Giants (on Posey's sixth-inning home run, his first extra-base hit since his grand slam in NLCS Game 5 at Cincinnati).

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Cain gave the lead back on a two-out, opposite-field homer by Delmon Young in the bottom of the sixth.

Cain was angry that he let Detroit back into the game but said to himself, "You know what? It's over. I've got to get the next guy out, get us back in the dugout and let these guys battle."

And they did. Jeremy Affeldt struck out Cabrera, Prince Fielder and Young in the eighth after a leadoff walk. Affeldt added a fourth straight strikeout in the ninth, which Santiago Casilla finished. Romo did what he has done all season, and all postseason, and saved it with no muss, no fuss - and in this case, no contact.

"We beat adversity, man. We did some stuff that's never been done before," Pagan said. "We came back twice in the playoffs. We refused to go home, and look where we are."

Flying home for a Wednesday morning parade down Market Street.

Henry Schulman is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer.
http://www.sfgate.com/giants/article/SF-Giants-win-World-Series-3989059.php

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Congrats Doc

How did the European teams fare?

drjohncarpenter wrote:

It's like a dream come true.

**Yawn**

Outside of the Bay area, most Americans are still asking "was there a World Series this year"?



RKS

Congrats Doc

Thank you for the kind thought, Rich_TCB.

The San Francisco Giants story in 2012 will go down as one of the greatest, most improbable, exciting, and gutsy post-season runs in the history of baseball.

Anyone who loves the game understands and appreciates this, no matter where one might live.

I tuned in last night to see them win. I watched a little of the other games, too. Hunter Pence came to you guys via a trade from my Phillies. He was a fan favorite here, he was a pretty cool kid. So I'm happy that he won a championship.

I tuned in last night to see them win. I watched a little of the other games, too. Hunter Pence came to you guys via a trade from my Phillies. He was a fan favorite here, he was a pretty cool kid. So I'm happy that he won a championship.

Hunter Pence was a major addition in so many ways to the San Francisco Giants.

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He provided an emotional lift after the Melky Cabera suspension, his RBIs were a godsend, and his inspirational speeches to the team when their backs were to the wall in the NLDS and NLCS are now a part of baseball lore.

I thought it was telling that the Phillies did not cancel their "Hunter Pence" bobblehead night back in August.

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Obviously, he made a good impression on the Phillies fanbase.

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An acquaintance created this shirt the night the Giants won World Series Game 1:

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Pretty cool!!

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By request, here is the local paper's front page coverage from preview to sweep:

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What a Series!!

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CONGRATULATIONS Doc! That was a dominant performance by the Giants! Their defense and pitching are some of the best in the MLB. As a Phillie fan, I was glad to see Hunter Pence be able to win a World Series ring. The Giants are a real class organization and have one of the best and underrated managers in baseball. Enjoy the victory..

rlj

It was very fun to watch this team play.

They just had something going for them and no team was going to beat them this year.

Even after the game they all handled themselves with class and I have nothing but respect for them.

The only bad thing is I wanted to watch 7 games!

Oh well, maybe the 49ers will win tonight too.

Are you a Niner fan too Doc?

If so, it might be a very good year for you.

I am a fan of all the major Bay Area teams (Giants, As, 49ers, Raiders, Sharks), but most partial to the SF teams since I am a native.

The pitiful way Detroit swung the bat, for a minute there I thought the Braves had secretly slipped in to the Tigers uniforms!

The pitiful way Detroit swung the bat, for a minute there I thought the Braves had secretly slipped in to the Tigers uniforms!

Guess the maxim held true: Great pitching beats great hitting.

In case you missed it on my other Giants topic:

Matt Cain pitched Game 7.

Check out this cool video of Matt and some kids at a San Francisco ball field this past July:

Matt Cain w/ Kari Byron & Tory Belleci from Mythbusters destroy things mid air with his fastball

Fantastic images Doc.You are obviously enjoying the victory and quite right too!You just can't beat a good sporting story,the feelgood memories keep you going for years.

norrie

Guess the maxim held true: Great pitching beats great hitting.

So true indeed

Not a boring series by any stretch...playoffs in general for that matter. Great fan base with great history...reminds me of my packers winning the Super Bowl a couple years back. They did it when nobody expected it.

I am a fan of all the major Bay Area teams (Giants, As, 49ers, Raiders, Sharks), but most partial to the SF teams since I am a native.

I didn't realise that you are a Native American

Ohlone tribe I presume

I am a fan of all the major Bay Area teams (Giants, As, 49ers, Raiders, Sharks), but most partial to the SF teams since I am a native.

I didn't realise that you are a Native American

Ohlone tribe I presume

native
adjective \ˈnā-tiv\
1: inborn, innate <native talents>
2: belonging to a particular place by birth

http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/native

Hope this helps.

Great stuff DOC!! Enjoy this, you never know when it might happen again. I remember how happy I was in 2008 when the Phillies won the World Series. As someone who lives on the east coast, I can honestly say that the Giants are a fun team to watch. Enjoy it and savor it, the SF Giants are a special group, indeed

rlj

Congrats, Doc, on your team! I can't get into baseball unless the Mets do something big, and that's . . . been a while. Shea doesn't even exist anymore, and my poor Jets still have no real home. (They belong in NY! No offense, but they just do.)

(My dad got all excited about it, and I was like "Yeah, the Giants, baseball, moved to SF a long, long time ago. They used to be the NY Giants, right? They won; that's nice." And he was still excited. )

Glad you had a great win!

rjm

Obviously the World Series were great for fans of the Giants. However, for the average baseball fan the series turned out being pretty much a snoozefest and the record low ratings reflect the general lack of interest in this year's match up.

Thanks for the kind words. It's a dream come true for a Giants fan who endured many years of mediocrity.

One more upload, of the victory parade on 10-31-2012 -- talk about having a Happy Halloween!

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Rascally Giants ace reliever Sergio Romo's t-shirt read, "I JUST LOOK ILLEGAL" -- a nice little FYI indeed.


Twitter Reacts to Sergio Romo's "I Just Look Illegal" Shirt
http://storify.com/latinorebels/twitter-reacts-to-sergio-romo-s-i-just-look-illega

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