Pre World Series Nervous Rambling

The San Francisco Giants won the NLCS pennant for the first time in 8 years, and only the 4th time overall since moving to SF. You think present Giants baseball is torture, try being a Giants fan from 1972-1986. The 1987 Giants took the Cardinals to the 7th game of the LCS, two years after the 1985 Giants finished 62-100. How did the 1985 fans feel? Who was at Candlestick in 1985 (average Giants' attendance in 1985 per game? 10,107!!) telling people not to worry, as 1987 was gonna be a playoff year! Will Clark, Kevin Mitchell, Robby Thompson, Mike Aldrete and Candy Maldonado visited me from the future, telling me that '87 will be great! Jose Uribe will have his career year! It'll be awesome! Two more years!

That never happened. That guy never existed. As tortured as this season was, we didn't have to put up with a 100 loss season....wait....

The Giants went 72-90 in 2008. I was there. I've seen things you people wouldn't believe. Jose Castillo: starting 3rd baseman. Attack ships on fire off the shoulder of Orion. I saw Eugenio Velez and Rich Aurilia as regular starters. I watched C-beams glitter in the dark near the Tannhauser gate. Brian Bocock. Brian. Bocock. All those moments will be lost in time... like tears in rain...

Who would've known that two years after THAT season they would be in the World Series!? Well the World Series starts TONIGHT baby, and we have put the fans in Philadelphia behind us and have Cliff Lee in front of us. Keaton always said, "I don't believe in Roy Halladay, but I'm afraid of him." Well I believe in Roy Halladay, and the only thing that scares me is Cliff Lee.

Let's take this moment, the storm before the tornado, to reflect on the glorious series against the Phillies, and let me present to you MY choices for the NLCS MVP. The Giants came together as a team, and except for poor performances from Santiago Casilla and Edgar Renteria (who really did nothing to help the team in any way in the NLCS), everybody contributed. Here's my countdown of the biggest contributors:

Honorable Mentions:

~Buster Posey: Posey gets an honorable mention for his performance in Game 4 alone. He went 4 for 5 with 2 RBI, and was the first catcher to get 4 RBI in an LCS game since Javy Lopez in 1996. This guy is some kind of special.

~Madison Bumgarner: From his "much better than it looks on paper" start in Game 4 (2 of the ER he got dinged for were allowed by the bullpen) to his even better 2 innings of relief in game 6, MadBum is 21 yr. old (which was how old I was the last time the Giants were in the World Series) and will keep getting better.

~Javier Lopez: Oh man, did I gripe about the Giants trading for Lopez. "Joe Martinez AND John Bowker for a lefty who will give us MAYBE 13 total innings down the stretch!? We traded a 5th starter and an outfielder with high OBP upside for THAT!?" OK, I was way wrong. In the regular season Lopez gave the Giants 19 innings of relief, with 16 Strikouts with only 2 BB. His performance carried over big time in the NLCS, as he pitched in 5 of the 6 games, contributing 4.1 innings, and only allowing 1 hit and 1 BB, while striking out 4. I was way wrong, it was a GREAT move to trade for Javier Lopez.

And now on to the Top 5 NLCS Giants' MVP Countdown!

5. Jeremy Affeldt: Affeldt had a pretty so-so 2010, especially considering in 2009 he was arguably the best middle reliever in baseball (He got MVP votes as a middle reliever!! People gave some of their MVP votes to a middle. reliever. Awesome). For a guy who wasn't used during the LDS, he has come in during some pretty big moments in the LCS. He got 2 big outs in Games 2 and 5, but they're kinda overshadowed because those were the two games the Giants lost. However, nobody can forget his performance in Game 6. Jonathan Sanchez was wild, instigated a dugout clearing, and was removed after two innings. Our starting pitcher only went two innings. The game was clearly spiraling out of control early, and it could have continued spiraling even further. But Affeldt. Affeldt pitched his best 2 innings of 2010. 2 K, no hits, no walks. Just came on with a couple Phillies on base and never looked back. Awesome.

4. Juan Uribe: Uribe has not had the best postseason at the plate. In the LDS and LCS, he has gone 4 for 28, a .143 BA. Buuuuut...TWO of those hits came in Game 6, and ONE of those hits was the most important HR of the LCS. His 8th inning opposite field shot will live on forever in Giants history. Even more remembered will be his pinch hit sac fly to LF in Game 4. Uribe had two of the most important RBI this LCS. Those two RBI were arguably the biggest nails in the Phillies' coffin. He did exactly what a pinch hitter needed to do in that situation: Hit a deep fly ball, nothing more. And he did it with bells on. Juan, your timing is impeccable. Don't ever change. Oh, and it should be noted that his defense was excellent this series. He looks even better at SS after seeing Renteria thrown out there, seemingly unable to move to his left or right. Please, Uribe/Panda on the left side in the WS.

3. Matt Cain: Cain pitched only one game in the LCS, but it was the only game the Giants won by more than 1 run. Cain has been lights out this postseason, allowing no runs over 13.2 innings. His Game 3 performance was just great to see as the first LCS game in SF 8 years. They came back from Philly tied 1-1, and Cain made sure the Giants went up 2-1 in a very important game.

2. Cody Ross:

What can I say about Cody Ross that hasn't been said by every single reporter from every TV station/newspaper/blogger/message board poster/street team/pundit/soothsayer/fairweather fan/man on the street/neighbor who hasn't followed the Giants in years? The dude had a 1.385 OPS in the NLCS. He he two HR off Roy Halladay, he had 3 doubles in the series, 2 BB and the dude was just flat out Cody Ross. His socks are high, his eye black is smeared like Tammy Faye, and the guy is just Cody Ross. He's Cody Ross, plain and simple.

But the #1, in my opinion...

Brian Wilson

It's easy for Major League teams to overvalue the importance of a closer. But closers are a fickle bunch, with a high turnover rate. This year's Mariano Rivera is next year's Derrick Turnbow. This year's Heath Bell is next year's BJ Ryan. This year's Brad Lidge is next year's Brad Lidge. Closers fail early and often, and it SHOULDN'T be different from pitching in any other inning of the game...except it really is different. Brian Wilson pitched in 5 innings spanning the 8th and 9th innings of games that the Giants never lead by more than 1 run. His performance in game 6 was outstanding, and no different than anything else he did this year. He came in to get 5 outs, got an immediate HARD line drive double play (the most important out of the series, bar-none), then had the perfect Giants 9th.

When Duane Kuiper coined the phrase "Giants Baseball: Torture", it was after a game that Wilson saved, that was maddeningly, unnecessarily, and tortuosly close. That's the way the Giants played it all year, so it was only fitting that it happened in the 9th inning of the clinching game.

Wilson had 2 BB over the 5 innings he pitched in the NLCS...and both of them came in that 9th inning against Philly. It can never be easy :)

Brian Wilson was the man standing on the mound at the end of every single NLCS victory. 3 saves, 1 win. The man exemplifies this Giants World Series team, and I can't imagine ending every win with anybody different.

I will never complain about Cody Ross winning the NLCS MVP award. The guy deserved it and then some. But Brian Wilson was the Giants, and he's been the Giants all year long.

Let's do this. 4 more wins.