THE GIANTS WIN THE PENNANT!!! THE GIANTS WIN THE PENNANT!!!

I had two reactions after Brian Wilson froze Ryan Howard with a gutsy 3-2 slider on the outside corner to clinch the pennant for the Giants. One, obviously, was pure elation, kind of like this guy: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/blogs/giants/detail?entry_id=75395 (fitting because I live in Philly too). The other was asking myself the same question that all of the disappointed Philly fans asked themselves: Are you serious; THIS team is going to the World Series?

I'm sure most Giants fans have pinched themselves, but this is no dream: these Giants, a self-described "cast of misfits" are your 2010 NL Champions.

Obviously, I'm quite the homer, but I, along with most Giants fans, did not see this team coming even close to winning a pennant. I thought they'd make the playoffs, and then falter against superior competition. As Damon Bruce said, "This team can't hit a lick, but they're in the World Series?!" Remember, this team's two marquee free agent signings last offseason were an injured Mark DeRosa, and Aubrey Huff, a player that no team wanted. How did this team knock off the two-time defending NL Champions and shock not only the city of Philadelphia, but baseball spectators across the globe?

As they've done all year, they won with their pitching. The Phillies have an intimidating lineup, but the Giants' starters and relievers shut down Philadelphia's big hitters. In the NLCS, Chase Utley hit .182, Shane Victorino hit .125, Raul Ibanez hit .211, and Jayson Werth hit .222. Ryan Howard, despite hitting .318, did not have an RBI. The Phillies batted .167 with runners in scoring position. The starters, aside from Matt Cain, didn't dominate the Phillies, but they kept the Phillies' hitters off-balance all series. What more can you say about the bullpen? Javier Lopez was so lethal against lefties that he forced Charlie Manuel to change his lineup, and Brian Wilson, although he took 5 years off of all Giants fans' lives, saved 3 games and earned a victory in Game 4.

Just like it's been since September, there were different heroes every game on the offensive side. It was Cody Ross in Games 1 and 3, Buster Posey and Juan Uribe in Game 4, and Aubrey Huff and Uribe again in Game 6.

Game 6 of the NLCS will live forever in Giants lore. It was a prime example of what the 2010 Giants are: a team with no superstars (well, maybe except Lincecum) and much more than the sum of its parts. Jonathan Sanchez didn't have anything, and usually, the Giants would lose that game. But nearly every person on that 25-man roster saved Sanchez and contributed to the clinching win. Aubrey Huff smartly ran the bases in the 3rd inning, driving in a run and scoring the tying run on Placido Polanco's throwing error. Jeremy Affeldt, who had become somewhat of a forgotten man in that bullpen, saved the game for the Giants by shutting down Ryan Howard, Jayson Werth, and Shane Victorino with runners on base after Sanchez's implosion. 21-year old Madison Bumgarner pitched two scoreless frames while leaving the bases loaded and Raul Ibanez at 3rd base. Javier Lopez made Utley and Howard look foolish in the 7th. Juan Uribe hit a band-box homerun that will haunt Philly fans for years. Tim Lincecum struck out Jayson Werth for a huge out in the 8th inning, and Brian Wilson gutted a 5-out save. If that isn't a great example of unselfish team work, I don't know what is.

Brian Murphy on KNBR spoke about how this Giants team weathered some ghosts from the past, and why it may bode well for the Giants as they enter the World Series. The Giants, until last Saturday, had a horrific history of going on the road with a 3-2 series lead. In 1987, the prime of Roger Craig's Humm-Baby era, the Giants took a 3-2 lead into St. Louis, but gaffes by Candy Maldonado and Atlee Hammaker cost that team a pennant. In 2002, the Giants were five outs away from winning the....why am I writing about 2002? It's just going to depress me; we all know what happened.

It was looking like deja vu after Jonathan Sanchez couldn't throw a strike to save his life, the Phillies took a 2-0 lead, and Citizens Bank Park was going nuts. But this team didn't give up, and didn't let the past haunt them. They said, "We're not going down tonight. Not us." The fighting spirit of this team has been unbelievable to watch throughout the season.

As a Philadelphia resident, there was nothing sweeter than wearing my orange and black in celebration and seeing the looks of shock and disbelief on the faces of Philly fans. These fans thought the NLCS was over before it even started, and they were getting ready for another Phillies/Yankees World Series. Even though the Giants were up 3-2, when the series shifted back to Philly, they thought the Giants had no chance. I'm sure that most Philly fans are still thinking, "How the $*@! did that happen?"

Bruce Bochy deserves a statue to honor how well he managed this series. He pushed all of the right buttons: switching Cain and Sanchez in the rotation, starting Renteria and Rowand in Game 3, starting Uribe at 3B in Game 6, removing Jonathan Sanchez early in Game 6, and his overall managing of the bullpen. Quite a masterpiece by Bochy, and I hope that the rest of the country found out that the quiet, unassuming, and sometimes boring Bruce Bochy is terrific at what he does.

The Rangers are a great team, and they will be tough to beat. They have Cliff Lee and an offense that features a lethal combination of speed and power. The Giants are underdogs again, but I think they'd prefer nothing else. They'll torture the Rangers and use everything they've got to scratch some runs across. Why should it be any different? Maybe I'm delusional, but I really believe that this team is special, and that they'll find some inexplicable way to bring San Francisco it's first World Series Championship. We'll probably age ten years through the process, but it'll be worth it.

Bring On The Phillies!

Torture and resiliency. If there are two words I'll use to remember the 2010 Giants, no matter how the series against the Phillies goes, it will be those. The first word, torture, is obvious: this team refuses to do anything easily. The second word, resiliency, speaks volumes about this team's grit and ability to rebound after countless tough losses during this season. Resiliency (well, along with some historically great pitching) carried the Giants in their series win against the Braves to secure their first trip to the NLCS since 2002.

Game 2 was a crushing loss. The Giants got a terrific outing from Matt Cain and actually scored runs without help from the Braves' defense. They had a 4-1 lead going into the 8th inning set up perfectly for Sergio Romo and Brian Wilson to shut the door. That was their formula for success all season: give a lead to the bullpen and game over.

Eric Hinske's 8th-inning homerun in Game 3 had the potential to be the ultimate back-breaker for the Giants in the NLDS. How were they going to respond to a gut-wrenching loss like that one? But Travis Ishikawa, Freddy Sanchez, and Aubrey Huff each gave the at-bats of their lives in the 9th inning, and thankfully for the Giants, Brooks Conrad was playing 2nd base for the Braves. Most teams would have folded after Hinske's homerun. But these Giants have shown a toughness and grit all season that allows them to shove aside heart-breaking moments.

We all knew the Giants were deep in pitching, but did anyone expect the dominance the starting rotation displayed against the Braves? I thought they'd be good, but not historically great. Here are the combined numbers that Tim Lincecum, Matt Cain, Jonathan Sanchez, and Madison Bumgarner posted in the NLDS:

29 innings, 17 hits, 3 earned runs, 5 walks, 36 strikeouts

That adds up to a 0.93 ERA, which by the way, was the third-lowest starters' ERA by any NL team in the playoffs, and a 0.76 WHIP. Amazing numbers.

Granted, the Braves had a lineup that made the Giants look like the 1927 Yankees, and the Giants will surely face a greater challenge going against Chase Utley, Ryan Howard, and Jayson Werth. I live in Philadelphia and I hear 24/7 about how great the Phillies' big-three starters Roy Halladay, Roy Oswalt, and Cole Hamels are. They are terrific, at times unhittable, and what they did in the NLDS, shutting down the Reds' league-leading offense, was very impressive. But the Giants will counter with starters of their own who are just as good, and perfectly capable of shutting down the Phillies' offense. The Phillies' starting 8 position players have hit a collective .231 against the Giants' starters in their careers.

The Phillies are the most complete team in baseball, and on paper, they are a better team than the Giants. They have an envious combination of dominant starting pitching and forceful hitting. There's a reason why they are heavily favored to win this series, and the Giants are going to have to improve their play dramatically in order to have a chance.

First off, there cannot be any drop-off in the starting pitching from the Atlanta series. Getting through Chase Utley, Ryan Howard, Jayson Werth, and Raul Ibanez is going to be a lot harder than facing Derek Lee, Brian McCann, and whoever the Braves batted 5th and 6th. The starters need to attack the strike zone just as they did against the Braves. The Phillies have a lineup full of patient hitters, and they will wear out opposing pitchers who are not consistently throwing strikes. Also, the pitchers must control the Phillies' running game. The Phillies have a reputation of being a homerun-hitting team, and while that's true, many don't know that they have the best stolen base percentage in baseball over the last couple of years. Lincecum and Sanchez have had problems holding runners all season, and they'll have to do a much better job of making sure the Phillies' baserunners don't get sizable leads. If the starters can hold the Phillies to one or two runs over six-seven innings, the Giants will have a chance.

Of course, most people are giving the Giants a slim chance in this series because of the difference between the two teams' offenses. It is true that the Phillies do have a better lineup, a group that is more than capable of throwing a crooked number on the scoreboard. But one thing the Phillies have demonstrated this season which they didn't show the last two years is that they are prone to slumps. Their offense didn't do a darn thing against the Reds' mediocre pitching. They won Game 2 because Jay Bruce lost a fly ball in the lights, and they scored their two runs in Game 3 on an Orlando Cabrera throwing error and a 375-foot, Cincinnati band-box special, Chase Utley homerun. Many fans here in Philly think that their Phils are going to out-slug the Giants, but I don't think that will be the case. The Giants can shut down the Phillies offense, and I predict that all the games are going to be low-scoring, tight matches.

The offense has to wake up, particularly at the top of the lineup. Andres Torres, Freddy Sanchez, and Aubrey Huff went a combined 8-47 (.170 avg) in the NLDS. The Phillies are not going to give as many gifts on defense as the Braves did, and so the Giants top to bottom must take smart at-bats, and try to draw deep counts from the Phillies' pitchers. Also, the Giants need to have better at-bats with runners in scoring position, particularly with runners on 3rd base with less than 2 outs. They were atrocious in situational hitting against the Braves, and the Phillies are a team that won't forgive the opposition's mistakes. Both the Phillies and Giants are in great shape at the back of their bullpens, but the Phillies have a huge weakness in their middle relief, the bridge between their starters and Ryan Madson and Brad Lidge. If the Giants can force the Philly starters to throw a lot of pitches early, and get to the likes of JC Romero and Chad Durbin by the 5th or 6th inning, they'll have a great shot to do some damage.

All of the "experts" on ESPN and other outlets have picked the Phillies. The Giants are heavy underdogs in this series, but I still like their chances. They're going to play loose, like they have nothing to lose, and the Phillies are going to be under a tremendous amount of pressure. Believe me; Philadelphia, which has always been an Eagles town, is crazy about their Phillies, and they expect nothing less than a World Series parade down Broad Street. One thing we can be sure about is that the Phillies are going to have their hands full with this scrappy Giants team. The Phillies may very well win this NLCS, securing their 3rd-consecutive NL Pennant, but the Giants will give them a serious run for their money. Maybe with a little bit of torture and resiliency, the Giants can pull off the upset.

NL WEST CHAMPS!!!

It was "Giants baseball...torture" in its purest form. As Bruce Bochy said after the game, these 2010 Giants never do anything easily. It had to come down to the final game of the season in nail-biting fashion. But the Giants took care of business today behind a strong outing by Jonathan Sanchez, and clinched their 1st NL West title since 2003 (yeah, I was in high school back then).

The Giants have a roster full of likable players, but I felt especially happy for three guys in particular: Aubrey Huff, Freddy Sanchez, and Matt Cain. Huff, formerly on the Tampa Bay Devil Rays (right, before they became just the Rays and a World Series contender), and Sanchez, who used to play for the Pirates (18 losing seasons in a row), wallowed in the basements of their respective divisions their entire careers before they put on a Giants' uniform. It was very fitting that those players drove in the first two runs today, and seeing their reactions as Brian Wilson struck out Will Venable to clinch the division was priceless.

Cain, 20 years old at the time, began his big-league career at the end of the 2005 season, at the beginning of the dark ages of the Barry Bonds era. Although he just turned 26, he's the longest-tenured Giant. Too many times, he's pitched well yet been the victim of terrible run-support, but he never moaned about the team's lack of offense over the past few years. Instead, he focused on turning himself into one of the elite young pitchers in the league. It's great to finally see him rewarded with a trip to the postseason.

Brian Sabean, for all of the criticism he gets (some of it is justified), made a number of smart moves this season: trading Bengie Molina to bring up Buster Posey, signing Pat Burrell, acquiring Javier Lopez, Ramon Ramirez, and Mike Fontenot. But his best move this year was NOT trading Jonathan Sanchez, the pitcher the Giants would have been forced to part with in order to acquire a power bat such as Adam Dunn. Sanchez was dominant over the final month of the season, going 4-1 with a 1.02 ERA and a 1.05 WHIP. The production would have been irreplaceable had the Giants traded him.

As I wrote many times, the Giants' fortunes were going to be determined by the quality of their pitching, regardless of how pathetic the offense looked at times. After being berated by Bruce Bochy and Brian Sabean at the end of August, the pitchers rose to the occasion in September and completely shut down opposing teams. The Giants' pitchers posted a 1.78 ERA in the month of September and held opponents to a .182 batting average. By the way, that includes Barry Zito's 4.66 ERA since September 1st. According to Tyler Kepner of the New York Times, the last team with a better September ERA was the 1965 Los Angeles Dodgers and they ended up winning the World Series (just saying). The bullpen was the perfect compliment to the starting staff, sporting a 0.90 ERA in the month when bullpens usually flame out. Just like in the regular season, the Giants' postseason success will be determined on how well the pitching can shut down the opposition. Usually in the playoffs, strong pitching beats strong hitting.

At the beginning of September, Mike Krukow spoke about how playoff teams have different heroes every game down the stretch. The Giants certainly had a complete team effort in September and the 1st weekend of October to clinch the NL West, with players from across the entire roster coming through in the clutch. There was Juan Uribe on September 4th, crushing a slider into the smoggy night at Dodger Stadium against Jonathan Broxton. There was Nate Schierholtz on September 6th with a two-run triple in the 11th inning in Phoenix. There was Buster Posey on many occasions, including September 12th against Mat Latos in San Diego. Or how about Mike Fontenot, an August waiver-wire acquisition, with a big hit against the Dodgers. Jose Guillen got in on some of the action with a timely grand-slam on September 19 against Milwaukee. There was Pat Burrell on September 29th, crushing a 3-run homerun off Ian Kennedy, and of course, Aubrey Huff and Freddy Sanchez in the clinching game.

The 2010 Giants are in many ways the complete opposite of the 2002 Pennant-winning team. The 2002 team featured slightly above-average pitching at best, and relied almost solely on the superhuman play of Barry Bonds and his sidekick Jeff Kent. But the 2010 Giants, a potent combination of young, exciting players (Lincecum, Cain, Posey, Wilson...), grizzled veterans (Renteria, Huff, Rowand...), and cast-offs (Pat Burrell, Andres Torres, Jose Guillen), are just as special as that 2002 team. This team is a perfect example of the whole being greater than the sum of the parts. Maybe I'm crazy, but I think these 2010 Giants have a deep postseason run in them. They got hot at the right time at the end of the season, and top to bottom, they have the best pitching in the National League. As long as they scratch out some runs, and provide us fans with some more torture, this team will be dangerous in the playoffs.