San Francisco claim World Series

San Francisco Giants are the 2012 World Champions.

They won with heart. They won with spirit. They won with collectiveness, unselfishness, small ball, and above all that; pitching.

These Giants have surprised us all, there is no denying that. I mentioned that the Tigers would have to be careful having rested for a relatively long period after their sweep of the Yankees in the ALCS, but that would be an excuse belittling the Giants’ quality.

San Francisco has one of the strongest rotations in the game and they showed yet again that to get it done in the post season you don’t need a $200million payroll, a Triple Crown winner or the best pitcher in baseball; what you need is all-round quality, which includes a solid bullpen and an effective bench.

The most fascinating stat from this incredible run enables us to rewind to the NLCS when the Giants were down three games to one against the St. Louis Cardinals and facing elimination for the second time in these playoffs alone. Since that day, Bruce Bochy’s team have won seven straight games while allowing only seven runs in that stretch.

Adding to that, their starting pitchers were 6-0 during that run and posted a 0.99 ERA. Don’t think there is more? Their relief pitchers did not give up a lead in those seven games. No wonder Detroit looked like a different team to the one we saw in earlier rounds. The Tigers could barely manufacture a run let alone reduce a deficit or make a comeback in this series.

The Giants had lost three-time All Star closer Brian Wilson for the majority of the season with an elbow injury, but up stepped Sergio Romo who locked down two saves in three appearances in the world series, including getting Miguel Cabrera looking for the final out of this glorious season.

Romo went up, screaming to the heavens. Catcher and star player Buster Posey almost started running to the mound before he had even caught the called strike, because he knew it was over. The Giants had won their second title in three years, somehow, and now it was time for the realisation and celebration.

While the champagne flowed in the small visiting clubhouse – apt for a ballclub so close and united after a long and gruelling season – the Giants had not yet realised just how special this performance was. They say that team spirit only takes you so far, and for moments in this postseason the Giants were on the cusp of elimination.

They had to call upon six-year failure Barry Zito to win not once but twice in do-or-die games and he did so with the force of old. And today, on this special night in Detroit, the 10th inning that gave the Giants that crucial fourth run was built around guys who were fulfilling different roles earlier in the season.

Ryan Theriot, who was making his first postseason at-bat this year, singled off Phil Coke. Theriot was the starting second baseman for the Giants to begin the year, but we’ll get to that in a moment.

Next up was Brandon Crawford who has been unbelievable at shortstop in this series, and he laid down the perfect bunt to move Theriot into scoring position. Coming to the plate now, with two outs, was Marco Scutaro, the infielder who came to San Francisco in a July trade from the Colorado Rockies.

Scutaro singled cleanly on a 3-1 pitch to centre field, and Theriot burst home for the run that made all the difference. Funnily enough, Scutaro was the man who replaced Theriot on the diamond in July, and that just shows the unselfishness of this team. When others may moan and demand a move, Theriot slipped nicely into his bench role and has been producing offensively ever since. Meanwhile Scutaro has been one of the key differences for this team, and it was his big hit that sealed the championship, at least on the batting side.

That’s the difference right there. While the NL West rival Dodgers went out and acquired four big names in a blockbuster, the Giants got outfielder Hunter Pence and Scutaro. Pence was key in motivating a sometimes despairing Giants team when they faced elimination. Scutaro was good with the bat and in the field.

Tim Lincecum was dropped to the bullpen, arguably the face of this franchise, but got on with his job and executed perfectly in his new role.

That is how this team won.

They understand their roles, and they all perform accordingly. No fuss, no ego-trips, just one common goal to win a championship. They can now go and celebrate this incredible feat while all other teams try and steal some of the magic that has made this San Francisco journey so inspiring.