* 3B Pablo Sandoval makes a sliding catch to wrap up a 3-2 win in Game 7 of the 110th World Series at Kauffman Stadium. .... 2014 Canadians in the Minors … Canadians in College 2015 Canadian draft list Letters of Intent

 

By Bob Elliott

KANSAS CITY -- Hall of Famer Willie Mays won one.

All-time home run leader Barry Bonds played in one once.

Hall of Famers Juan Marichal, Willie McCovey, Gaylord Perry and Orlando Cepeda never won in a San Francisco Giants uniform.

And now the likes of Jeremy Affeldt, Santiago Casilla, Javier Lopez and Sergio Romo and have each won three World Series.

Three ... 1, 2, 3 World Series.

Of course so have the likes of Madison Bumgarner, Buster Posey, Pablo Sandoval, Tim Lincecum and Matt Cain,

Bruce Bochy’s boyos won their third World Series in five years with a 3-2 win over the Kansas City Royals in Game 7 of the 110th World Series Wednesday night.

Five of the first six game were decided by five or more runs. Only Game 3 (a 3-2 Royals win) was close ... until Game 7,

DH Michael Morse hit a jam shot to right off Kelvin Herrera with one out in the fourth breaking the tie and the way the Giants relievers pitched it might as well have been 10.

Madison Bumgarner took over in relief in the fifth and set down 14 Royals in succession when Alex Gordon hit an 0-1 pitch to centre.

Catcher Buster Posey raced out from behind the plate, while Bumgarner thrust his fist into the air.

Except the ball bounced in front of centre fielder Gregor Blanco and Gordon raced all the way to third. Now, there was some drama ... tying run less than 90 feet away. Sal Perez up.

Bochy was asked about Gordon’s ball ratlting around the warning track.

“I was like ‘let’s get the ball in, Gordon can run,” Bochy said. “Blanco is such a good defender. Once the ball got by him you figure this is how the game would go. I was hoping Blanco would catch it to be honesty.”

Finally on the sixth pitch Perez popped up to third baseman Pedro Sandoval who and then back in excitement ... like George Bell in 1985 when the Blue Jays clinched their first post-season berth.

The Giants became the first National League team to win that often in that short of period of time since St. Louis Cardinals, winners in 1942, 1944 and 1946.

Brian Sabean, the longest tenured general manager in the game, has done it again.

Knock the Giants all you want for their 88 regular-season wins and squeaking in with a wild-card berth.

The win in Game 7 was their 100th of the season dating back to a 9-8 win over the Arizona Diamondbacks March 31.

Mays won in 1954 as Giants swept the Cleveland Indians in four games and he made a catch off Vic Wertz. Perhaps you saw it.

Of the group of Marichal, McCovey, Perry and Cepeda, only Cepeda won a World Series when he played for the St. Louis Cardinals.

All of which shows it’s now how good you are, but the company you keep come October. Randy Knorr (zero post-season starts) has World Series rings from 1992-93 Blue Jays.

Winning is always about timing: Hall of Famers Ernie Banks, Billy Williams and Fergie Jenkins, life long Chicago Cubs, never played in a World Series.

It’s now always how well you play, it’s who you play with -- excluding the Giants Game 6 and Game 7 starters Jake Peavy (four outs) and Tim Hudson (five).

This year’s Giants were on the same team as Sandoval, the soon-to-be free agent, whose double in the eighth was his 26th this October breaking a single-post season record formerly held by Marquis Grissom, Darin Erstad and David Freese.

This year’s Giants are managed by Bochy, whose IQ is about five times about what he shows and his baseball IQ is 10 times above that.

And most of all the Giants are three-time World Series champions because of Bumgarner. He pitched a complete-game shutout in Game 5 on Sunday and while all of San Fran and even parts of Oakland demanded Bochy start the lefty, he went with Hudson.

With a 3-2 lead in the fifth out came Bumgarner, third pitcher in last 56 years to pitch in relief after a World Series shutout. The others: Randy Johnson in 2001 for the Arizona Diamondbacks (1 1/3 scoreless in Game 7), Mike Caldwell for the 1982 Milwaukee Brewers (1/3 of an inning in Game 7).

Caldwell faced three hitters.

Johnson threw 17 pitches.

Bumgarner faced 17 hitters. He threw 68 pitches in his five scoreless innings.

He allowed nine hits, one walk and one run in 21 innings for an 0.43 World Series ERA ... this year.

So go ahead hoist any platitudes on Bumgarner you want.

They all fall short of accurate description.

How much talk was going on in the dugout about the seventh, eighth and ninth about Bumgarner continuing.

“I was concentrating on making pitches,” Bumgarner told reporters. “I wasn’t thinking about ho0w many innings I was going, or how many pitches or anything. I was jut thinking about getting out.

“Fortunately for me there were some quick ones and that gave me a chance to stay out there. We’ve got one of the best closers in the game that could have come in at any time and closed the door so I’m thankful my team believing in me and letting me stay out there.”

The lefty said after Game 6 he was ready to throw “200 pitches” and Bochy said he’d likely use him for two innings.

The answer was probably closer to Bumgarner’s prediction with 68 pitches.

Bumgarner has now pitched the most innings in a single postseason (52 2/3).

Allowing a lead-off single to Omar Infante, who was bunted to second, Bumgarner retired the next two hitter Nori Aoki on a slashing drive towards the left field line and then striking out Lorenzo Cain.

Home growns: No less than 13 players are homegrowns drafted by scouting director John Barr like first rounders Bumgarner, second baseman Joe Panik, catcher Posey and Lincecum, as well as first baseman Belt (fith rounder), shortstop Crawford (fourth), Matt Duffy (18th), Travis Ishikawa (21st), Juan Perez (13th), Romo (28th), Andrew Susac (second), Ryan Vogelsong (fifth) and free agent Sandoval.

The Giants won despite the fact that Matt Cain was injured and Bochy wouldn’t pitch Lincecum either up by five or down by five.

In Game: Royals had two relievers up in the first four innings before Kelvin Herrera took over with first and third with one out in the fourth. You remember Kelvin? He usually pitches the seventh ... The Giants had a pair of relievers working in the second and Lincecum in the fourth before going to Affeldt after the Royals rallied to tie ... Hudson worked 1 2/3 facing eight men, 24 hours after Peavy lasted 1 1/3 innings going against nine Royals ... Hudson got five outs and was gone, while Jeremy Guthrie retired 10, making it the first Game 7 in which neither starter registered more than 10 outs. The fewest outs a winning team has gotten from starting pitcher in a Game 7 is one: Vic Aldridge of 1925 Pirates and Curly Ogden of 1924 Washington Senators ... Sandoval reached on an infield hit, advanced on a Hunter Pence single and one out later scored when Michael More singled to right off Herrera in the fourth for a 3-2 lead ... Gordon doubled Billy Butler home and then scored on a fly ball to tie it 2-2 ... Giants took a 2-0 lead in the second Guthrie hit Sandoval, allowed singles to Pence and Belt while two fly balls got the job done.