World Series Review

Well, it may have lacked drama but I certainly enjoyed the end result of this year's world series. It was the lowest rated in history but I see that more as a baseball problem than a Giants/Tigers problem. There was a story that you could have sold to America but you would have had to do it outside of New York and that is not something that Bud Selig understands. So, much of America missed this year's fall classic because it did not feature the Yankees, Red Sox or, to a lesser extent, the Phillies. The east coast was absent and baseball doesn't sell beyond that very well.

They could have sold the best pitcher in the majors and the best hitter in the majors against a team that refuses to die. They could have sold the pugnacious play of the Giants against the old school American League style of the Detroit Tigers. They could have sold the comeback stories that were all over the Giants, from Posey to Zito to Sandoval and so on. However, they didn't sell any of that. Well, actually they did but the ratings reflected the major problem, they didn't sell it early enough. The reason nobody outside of Detroit and San Francisco cared is because you didn't pay attention to the Giants this year and you forgot about the Tigers. Baseball should have reminded you but they gamble ratings by selling certain teams in certain markets.

So, for those who may have missed it, you missed some good games and great stories. In game one, you had Pablo Sandoval humbling the most feared pitcher in the game and the Giants knocked Verlander out before the 5th inning. That capped a string of 10 games in which the Giants had knocked 7 starting pitchers out before the 5th inning. However, it was the only time in this series as the final three games were mostly pitching dominant. In game two, you had the gritty Doug Fister surviving an early line drive off his head while pitching into the 7th and not allowing a run to score through six against the mechanically improved MadBum who delivered another 7 shutout innings in the world series. The Giants used small ball and took advantage of the weak Tigers bullpen to win 2-0 and head to Detroit leading the series by that same count.

In Detroit, the pitchers continued to outshine the hitters. In game 3, Ryan Vogelsong and Anibal Sanchez battled early mechanical flaws to combine for just under 13 innings of pitching and just 2 runs allowed.  Both runs came in the top of the second before Sanchez could settle in. Despite chances all night long, Volgelsong and the Giants bullpen continually turned them aside. The 2 runs held up and the Giants took a commanding 3-0 lead. Then, game four, when it seemed like you could jump on the Tigers early and rip their hearts out instead you got the best game of the series. The two teams traded punches all night until the Giants played small ball in the top of the tenth to put the series away.

There was a lot to like about this series, if you wanted to give it a chance. Tim Lincecum was a huge story heading into it because you weren't sure how much of a factor he would be. As it turned out, he came up big in getting out of potential threats in the 6th inning of games one and three. Both times, he went on to pitch two more innings of dominant baseball. The freak was a huge factor in the series despite not getting a win or a save. He was the X factor that the Tigers had no answer for. Maybe America didn't see it but we all did and we won't soon forget it.