For me, this third SF Giants World Series win was the sweetest. When they won in 2010, I wasn’t familiar with the team and still pissed Bonds was gone. In 2012, I knew the team, but I was recovering from heart surgery. That put a bit of a damper on things.
But this year, the 2014 Series, I knew most of the players and the ones I didn’t — such as second baseman Joe Panick and newly-minted left fielder Travis Ishikawa — I was more than happy to get to know. Nothing like an 18-inning game to catch up on the new guys.
Here’s what I loved about the Series:
— The Giants got in with a walk-off home run by Ishikawa and nearly turned Joe Buck into Russ Hodges. But Joe left it at only one refrain of “The Giants win the pennant.”
— Two evenly-matched teams featuring clutch hitting, an ace on each side, an old pitcher on each side, and two overpowering bullpens.
— A game seven.
And what a game seven it was. The Giants led early, earning two runs in the second, but starter Tim Hudson got chased in the bottom half as the Kansas City Royals tie it at 2. Then the Giants eked out a run on a broken bat single by Michael Morse in the fourth, who plated two of the three Giants RBI.
That would conclude the night’s scoring. Here’s the amazing part — the final five innings were riveting. I could not take my eyes off the TV, because Bruce Bochy rolled the dice and brought in Madison Bumgarner in relief on two days’ rest.
Sounds boring, wasn’t at all.
So pay the Panda, who became an unrestricted free agent the day after game seven. He’s part of the team’s winning nucleus, along with Bumgarner, Hunter Pence, Buster Posey, Joe Panick, Matt Cain (who was injured during the Series and did not play) and Tim Lincecum (who I haven’t given up on).
Pay the Panda. They may not win another championship, but trust me. You’re gonna wanna see those Panda heads in the stands.
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Notes:
— Could the Dallas Cowboys once again finish with an 8-8 record for the fourth year in a row? Do these choke artists possess this kind of artistry? We will see. Today’s game against the Cardinals wasn’t easy, and I doubt they would have won even with Tony Romo in the lineup. But they lost against the Washington Skins with Colt McCoy at the helm and Romo in the game. Looks like the beginning of a choke to me.
— What’s that odd harmonica-like sound in the background of the crowd noise? I heard it during the World Series and the NLCS. Hear it during some college football games, too. Maybe it’s just the sound of my old tube TV dying.
Austin Sports Guy 