Everything comes down to pitching. Baseball is the only sport I follow with real enthusiasm. You can become somewhat depressed until spring training begins (sad face).
Of the three Championships, this one was the series that I was most worried about. It was a tough series with the Royals which could have gone either way. Unlike the other series where I felt confident we'd win thanks to our deep pitching staff- with this series, we had so many holes and so many injuries- I'm actually a little bit stunned that we won it.
I was thinking the same thing, you are lucky to get a hit off Bumgarner. No outs, or even one out you have him stay, but with two I would of let him go if it was close.
I think I heard this right: Before he took the mount tonight, he had pitched 35 innings in various WS. He gave up one run in those innings . . .
For historical perspective on Madison, Google Christy Mathewson 1905 World Series. Any time a performance evokes comparison to Mathewson's feat - 3 shutouts in 6 days - you're in rare air my friends! Stay tough baseball friends, only 3.5 months til the sweetest day on the calendar: when pitchers & catchers report to spring training...T
Agree about Bumgarner There's no way that guy would have scored if waived from third. I never watch baseball, but last night I watched from the third inning and was glued to the TV until the end. Great game, great pitching.
Mike, You are correct he should not have scored. If the throw was offline, he would have been safe. What do you have to lose, with two outs and Bumgarner on the mound ?
I figured K.C. had it in the bag because Bumgarner was the only S.F. pitcher that they couldn't hit, and I thought he'd be unavailable after only two days rest after pitching a complete game. Well, "Mad Bum" must have a rubber arm. To pitch 5 innings of 2-hit ball after only two days rest is a feat that harkens back to the old days of baseball! Truly epic, and deserving of the MVP award. At least he now has nearly 4 months to rest the arm.
My initial reaction was , no way can you send the guy in that situation. After reconsideration. Send him if you think he has better than a 25% chance of being safe. The next batter has to get a hit to score the runner. His average against Bum? .250 at best. I'm glad they did not send him tho. Can you imagine the Sh!#*storm that would be going on if the catcher blocked the plate and the ump ruled him safe or the replay gods got involved and overturned a call. I'm so glad baseball does not have to go through that.
Crawford got the relay in the shallow outfield just as Gordon got to third. On any relay throw within 15 feet of the plate, he'd have been out by 20-30 feet. Granted, anything can happen, but it doesn't look to me that odds are even at 25%. If he's thrown out, then we could spend the entire off-season wondering why the Royals ran themselves out of the game.
Nobody was hitting off of Bumgarner. With two outs, the C/F was indecisive about fielding the ball off of Gordon's bat. Most likely, the C/F could have let the ball drop and played it for a single. My guess, he had ideas about ending the W.S., on a spectacular play. I have seen plenty of messed up relay throws. Sure he will be thrown out with an accurate throw. Posey will be waiting for him. I know we cannot find an answer to put the question to rest. Do you take your chances on the relay throw being off-line, or hope for a base hit off of Bumgarner with 2 outs in the bottom of the 9th ? o/t: Interesting how Billy Beane is almost a household name. Brian Sabean is relatively unknown. I have no bone to gather in this discussion I am a serious Astros fan !!!!!!!!!!! Give us three years.
Hard to say who is the better general manager. I've often felt that if the As had the Yankees payroll, they'd win the World Series every year. Giants certainly have got some mojo going, and Sabean seems to have a knack for mid-season acquisitions. But the Giants also seem to have a knack for picking their share of duds. They typically have $20 million worth of healthy players who don't even make the postseason roster. Interspersed among the rest of the team are some real gamers who carry the day. Guys like Pence never get much acknowledgement outside the organization, but we likely wouldn't have won 2012 or 2014 without his clubhouse leadership.
Nice to see Pence obtain some recognition. He is a very good (+) solid player. Approximate numbers per season - .275/280 BA, 20/25HR and 80/85 RBI with a solid arm and good defense. His issues are lack of patience/swinging at poor pitches and an inability to take a walk. He will never tank it and he comes to the park to play - a gamer. Congratulations to the champs !!!!!!!!
Great game and the best team won. Gordon should have been waved home but the third base coach, who made a similar mistake in game 5 with Cain, was too close to the bag to make a good decision, IMO. With Perez coming up, I would have sent him home for sure and make the throw from short left beat us. Perez swung at everything thrown his way and looked pretty bad. Baum is the best pitcher in baseball right now. Ventura threw a great game in game 6.
I wanted to puke. ALL the announcers talked like bumgarner was a god, and where he was good, and he did peak at the right time, geezus folks he was 18-10 this year so he WAS beatable. Get back to me when he's 20-4 or something like that.