The Madison Stroll

I saw quite a bit of this year's World Series, the most I've seen in quite a while. This was because I'm not working, and because I live in the Pacific Time Zone now, so the whole thing was over by 8:30 local time.

This wasn't a great series; though it went seven games, only two games were close. But those two were great games, and game seven was a coronation of Madison Bumgarner as one of the all-time Series greats, and gets all sorts of arguments started about the greatest World Series pitchers of all, which makes every baseball fan's nipples get hard.

Bumgarner, a 25-year-old from Hickory, North Carolina, bears a striking resemblance to Jim from The Office, and looks like he would be right at home in a pickup truck with a blue tick coon hound in the back. He did win a pickup truck from a mumble-mouth executive from Chevrolet, but it doesn't look nearly broken in enough to rumble around Hickory.

Bumgarner was the story of the Series. The Giants would not have won without him--I can't find them now, but his numbers versus the other starters for the Giants are a stark contrast. Bumgarner won two games and saved another (this was changed from three wins about an hour after the contest), in the process lowering his ERA to 0.49 for the Series and earning the longest save in World Series history. With two other Series under his belt, Bumgarner now has a 0.25 ERA, the lowest in Series history (minimum 25 innings pitched).

Is the the greatest WS pitcher ever? He's certainly one of them. Most might concede that Christy Mathewson was the greatest. In 1905 he threw three shutouts, which is unmatched, and his career WS ERA is 0.97, with four total shutouts. But! His career WS record is 5-5, as the Giants lost three straight Series in the 1910s. Another competitor for the crown is Bob Gibson, who is 7-2 with a 1.89 ERA, two shutouts, and nine complete games in nine starts. Think about that. In three World Series, and outside of the deadball era, Gibson was never removed from a game.

Sandy Koufax had some hard luck in the Series--he has a 0.97 ERA in four series, including two shutouts in 1965, but overall a 4-3 record. Eddie Plank, in four Series, has a 1.32 ERA, but a 2-5 record. Of recent vintage, we remember Curt Schilling of the Bloody Sock. He has an impressive record, in four Series (with three different teams) of 4-1 and a 2.06 ERA, with an 11-2 overall record in the postseason.

There have been some sterling one-year wonders. I remember Mickey Lolich in 1968, who won three complete games, had an ERA of 1.67, and pitched game seven on one day's rest. I believe he is the last pitcher to start and win three games in a Series.

Bumgarner, for the record, is 4-0 with that 0.25 ERA. If he never pitches another inning in the World Series, I think he will have the distinction of greatest World Series pitcher, at least in this century.

As for the rest of the Series, as I said, most of the games were one-sided. Before Bumgarner's heroics, the laurels were earned by the hirsute Giant rightfielder, Hunter Pence (he looks a bit like the Wolfman, mid-transformation) and the roly-poly third-sacker, Pablo Sandoval, who every time I looked up was getting a hit, with authority. The Royals were carried by their fleet team of outfielders, making circus catches as a routine, especially the action-movie named Lorenzo Cain. The Royals also had a trio of unhittable relievers: Kelvin Herrera, Wade Davis, and Greg Holland, each staking out an inning after the sixth. Unfortunately, in game five, the Giants got into the bullpen before those innings.

I like low-scoring games best because great plays tend to stand out more. In game seven it was the grab and flip by Giant second-baseman Joe Panik, who unlike his name, kept his cool and took a single up the middle and turned it into a double play (why did Eric Hosmer, or any runner, for that matter, slide into first base? It actually slows you down). We also get to second guess more often, such as why Royals skipper Ned Yost let Nori Aoki bat for himself in the eighth, not even hitting half his weight (there were also tongues wagging when Yost had Alcides Escobar, hitting much better, sacrifice bunt before Aoki earlier in the game).

In the ninth, with Bumgarner practically unhittable, we had some drama, which could have been spectacular. With two down, Alex Gordon ripped a single to center. Gregor Blanco and Jose Perez had a misadventure with the ball, and Gordon found himself on third. Salvador Perez had a chance to be a hero, but popped to third, where Sandoval caught the ball and fell back on his ample rump, as if taking the Nestea Plunge. But what if Gordon had tried to score on the ball that rattled around the outfield? Deadspin broke it down and calculated that if Gordon had been running full speed (he slowed around first base, naturally) and if all relay throws were accurate, he would have been out by a mile. But if he had run? Nate Silver put it that no matter what the outcome, that would have been one of the most exciting plays in World Series history. Instead, he was stranded on third.

The Giants have now won three championships in five years, and have tied the Red Sox for the most this century. Bruce Bochy has more certainly ensured his plaque in Cooperstown. The Giants were the fifth team in in the National League--the first "extra" wild card team to win it all. Though the Giants have a sort of even-number dynasty going, it reinforces the notion that once the baseball playoffs start, anyone can win, and seeding doesn't matter. I like that unpredictability.