World Series- Royals vs Giants

[Sunstroke]

^^Who, time after time, hasn't figured out how to get it done when the lights are the brightest.  I love the kid, but I'll take the guy who is nails when it means the most.

This all comes back to the "team accomplishments vs individual accomplishments" debate.

This is the same debate that puts Tom Brady ahead of Peyton Manning on the all-time greatest QB list. Tom is a fantastic QB, and arguably one of the top-10 QBs of all time, but Peyton IS the greatest of all time. Talent and ability are the only measurements in the debate I'm looking at, and Peyton has more talent than Tom...and Clayton has more talent than Madison.

I posed the "starting a baseball team, every player back in the pool, which pitcher do you take first?" question to three of my baseball fanatic friends today. The response was Kershaw: 3, Everyone else: 0

[Spider-Dan]

I still think you're (greatly) undervaluing a pitcher when you compare them to a QB.  A dominating pitcher is the equivalent of like, your entire defensive front 7 on a football team... maybe even more than that.

QBs are important, but they aren't nearly THAT important.

[JGreenMachine]

Bumgarner is a beast.  Pitches a shutout in game 5, comes in and gives up one single then shuts down the Royals the rest of the way. Retired 12 straight after that single.  He gets the World Series MVP trophy and no one is more deserving

[Sunstroke]

^^^ Couldn't agree more.

Still can't believe how many fastballs upstairs that the Royals were swinging at though.

[MaineDolFan]

^^^ Couldn't agree more.

Still can't believe how many fastballs upstairs that the Royals were swinging at though.

They aren't starting upstairs, though, and his delivery is almost criminal.  His delivery / release point on those high and away heaters SCREAMS cutter (which he throws), and they are coming out of his hand in the strike zone and rising.  It's NUTS.  It's almost like a knuckleball, as a hitter you need to decide to swing when you've established a release point with the pitcher hand, and establish timing (and hope to hell the bat is somewhere close to where the ball is). 

Go back and look where the Royals were swinging through.  The swing / miss was maybe chest high, where Posey, a couple times, had to literally stand up to catch a couple of those. 

IF you get a bat on one, it's going on the ground.  Madison made one mistake and kept one chest level and Gordon mauled it.  They are lucky that thing didn't bounce around a little more, could have been a in-the-park tying run.

A complete magical show. 

Amazing.

Another 88 win San Fran title.  These guys are nails.

[Dave Gray]

I watched the bottom of the ninth.  Exciting.  I thought that guy in the outfield who let that ball past was going to be the next Buckner.

[Spider-Dan]

So does this make the Giants a "dynasty" and the "team of the '10s"?

Some of the sports radio talking heads (national, not local) have been saying that failing to make the playoffs in their off years disqualifies them.

[MaineDolFan]

I think 3 titles in 5 years is pretty good.  But I also think 3 titles in 10 years is also good, which puts the Sox in the conversation as well. 

I don't know about dynasty, I tend to agree a team should win at least two back to back, but I will say San Fran is certainly in a upper tier right now.

[MaineDolFan]

I watched the bottom of the ninth.  Exciting.  I thought that guy in the outfield who let that ball past was going to be the next Buckner.

The Gordon could have scored crowd need to quiet down, however.  He was at 3rd when the ball hit the cut off.  It takes three seconds, literally, for the ball to travel from the cut off to the catcher, the ball would have been waiting for him.  You can't run into the last out of the WS at home.  No collisions allowed, so he couldn't try to knock it free.

It was a good hold sign at 3rd.

[Spider-Dan]

I think 3 titles in 5 years is pretty good.  But I also think 3 titles in 10 years is also good, which puts the Sox in the conversation as well. 

2 of BOS's championships were in a different decade.  It would be difficult for them to be team of the '10s based on one title (of course, they could win more).

NYY and BOS both have 2 titles in the '00s (the only teams with 2), but NYY has more pennants.  I don't really know if there was a team of the '00s, but if so, I guess I'd give it to NYY?

[EDGECRUSHER]

If I was a Giants player, I would ask Bumgarner permission before I accepted my championship ring. The most dominating pitching performance in playoff history and the numbers back this up.

Seriously, ask permission first.