Only one man can properly express how Giants’ fans and I feel about the team’s monumental NLCS win
Against all odds, the San Francisco Giants are your 2012 National League Champions. Down 2-0 in the 5 game NLDS, they stormed back against the Reds, winning 3 straight elimination games. They didn’t just come back in those games, but scored runs in bunches, especially in Games 4 and 5. To say this is something the team is not known for, is an understatement.
They flexed their offensive muscle in Game 2 of the NLCS, beating the Cardinals 7-1 to even the series at 1 game apiece. 2 games later, they were staring a 3-1 series deficit after getting outplayed by St Louis. It was at this point that many in the sports world started to write the Giants off, saying they couldn’t come back from such a deficit twice. When you consider that the FOX commentators were Tim McCarver, who played 12 seasons with St Louis, and Joe Buck, who like his father was a Cards announcer, it becomes less confusing why they seemed to favor St Louis a majority of the time. This is to say nothing of sites like ESPN, who liked to talk up how great and resilient the Cardinals are as a team.
Well the Giants just proved all the haters wrong. After getting outstanding pitching performances from Barry Zito in Game 5 and Ryan Vogelsong in Game 6, the Giants didn’t just clinch a Game 7 win, they overpowered the Cardinals 9-0. In those 3 wins they scored 20 runs, while only allowing 1. The pitching and offense were both clicking and Game 7 couldn’t have ended in a more appropriate way. With a massive downpour turning the infield at AT&T Park into a mud pit, the umps let the top of the 9th play out. It was fitting that the last out was a popup caught by none other then Marco Scutaro, who deservedly won the NLCS MVP.
Now the attention turns to the World Series and Game 1 on Wednesday. Of course, with the game mot even over, Buck and McCarver began talking about how great Detroit is and how awesome of a rotation they have, led by Justin Verlander. The Tigers are indeed a great team, but even if they rush out to a 3-0 World Series lead, I wouldn’t count the Giants out.
