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.
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