The 40th Anniversary Trip, Part III - AT&T Park

A part of the San Francisco portion of our recent trip was devoted to taking the guided tour of the home of the San Francisco Giants, AT&T Park.

Whenever rankings of major league baseball parks are complied and published, you usually see AT&T Park and PNC Park listed at the top of these lists.  Now being a Pittsburgher and a Pirates fan, I will probably never concede that any place is better than PNC Park, but I have to be honest with you, AT&T Park is really nice, and I can see how this place finds its way to the top of many lists.  

You begin your tour from the Giants clubhouse store, work your way through various lounge areas and concourses, and take an elevator to the top level, whereupon you are directed to your first glimpse of the actual playing field, which is the picture you see at the top of this post.  It is called the "view level", and the view is spectacular, although it was enshrouded in fog the day we were there.  

Even from that top deck view, you get the sense that you are really close to the field, so the intimacy that is such a great part of the charm of PNC Park also exists in AT&T Park.

As you can see, we were ready for some action:

Of course, it would have been nice to actually see a ball game that day, but it was January, after all, and on the tour, we did see more of the Park than we would have if we were there on a game day.  Oh, and you can see by the cap I am wearing that I did spend some money in that Clubhouse Store before the tour began.

Here are some of the highlights:

The outside walls of the ball park feature plaques of a Giants "Wall of Fame".  I took pictures of these three Pirates nemeses of my youth:

For what it is worth, there is a plaque on this Wall for Bobby Bonds, but no such plaque for Barry Bonds, yet.

Inside what would be the equivalent of PNC's Lexus Club, you find these really beautiful  baseball murals.  The murals are huge, and these photos do not do them justice.

Throughout the Park, the Giants pay tribute to their history, including their roots in New York, but it is dominated, as you would expect, by one man.  Both on the outside, 

and the inside.

The tour takes you into the clubhouses and, on this day, the visitor's dugout, where I got the chance to channel my inner Clint Hurdle.

And I was also able to get some pictures of me with Giants heroes past

and present.

I am most grateful to Marilyn for forcing the issue of a tour of the ball park.  How many wives would do such a thing?  However, we both really enjoyed the two hours that we spent there. It was a worthwhile touristy thing to do, even in our limited time in the city.

San Francisco is really a terrific town, and I have detailed the rest of our visit in a post a few days ago.  A great town to visit, and one I would love to see again some time, and maybe on that next visit, the Giants will actually be playing a game that night.

The World Series and Madison Bumgarner

I cannot let any more time pass by without a salute to the Giants historic, or at least quasi-historic, World Series victory, their third such title in the last five seasons (see The Grandstander of October 11, 2014).  It is a remarkable feat in this era of wild cards and multiple tiers post-season playoffs.  A dynasty?  Yeah, I would say so.

I will also point out this quote from The Grandstander's World Series preview from October 21:

Okay, you want a prediction.  I'll give you the Giants to win in six games.  The biggest reason for that will be the ace pitcher of the Giants, Madison Bumgarner.  He has been completely dominant in the post-season, and I believe that he will be the difference between the two teams.

Well, it took seven games, not six, but otherwise, as the saying goes, I believe I had that.

And how about that Game Seven?  Really, it was everything you would have wanted in a seventh game, and when you tie in the performance of Series MVP Madison Bumgarner, pitching five innings of near flawless relief on only two days rest, you have, as Sam Spade might put it, the stuff that dreams are made of.

Much was made off the World Series performance of Bumgarner, not only in his other worldly 2014 Series, but of his total World Series performances when his 2010 and 2012 records are included.  That got me to thinking, so I decided to do a little comparison shopping to see just exactly how Bumgarner compares to some of the greatest pitching performances in the history of the Fall Classic.

I make no claim that this list is all-inclusive.  I just picked some of what I knew, without giving it too much deep thinking, to be among the greatest pitching performances in World Series history. I am sure that there are many that I have left out, but I think this is a pretty good list.  In some instances, I included just one World Series (a couple of the pitchers were only in one Series), and in some cases, I included both a single season, and a pitcher's complete World Series record.  I also confined this ONLY to the World Series and did not include Divisional and LCS records.

Here you go:

Pitcher	Season	Games	IP	W-L	Save	ERA	K	BB	WHIP
Madison Bumgarner	2014	3	21	2-0	1	0.43	17	1	0.476
	Career (3 WS)	5	36	4-0	1	0.25	31	5	0.528
Christy Mathewson	1905	3	27	3-0	0	0.00	18	1	0.519
	Career (4 WS)	11	101.2	5-5	0	0.97	48	10	0.836
Babe Adams	1909	3	27	3-0	0	1.33	11	6	0.889
Mickey Lolich	1968	3	27	3-0	0	1.67	21	6	0.963
Bob Gibson	1967	3	27	3-0	0	1.00	26	5	0.704
	Career (3 WS)	9	81	7-2	0	1.89	92	17	0.889
Sandy Koufax	1965	3	24	2-1	0	0.38	29	5	0.750
	Career (4 WS)	8	51	4-3	0	0.95	61	11	0.825
Lew Burdette	1957	3	27	3-0	0	0.67	13	4	0.926
Randy Johnson	2001	3	17.1	3-0	0	1.04	19	3	0.692
Whitey Ford	1960	2	18	2-0	0	0.00	8	2	0.722
	Career (11 WS)	22	146	10-8	0	2.71	94	34	1.137
Mariano Rivera	Career (7 WS)	24	36.1	2-1	11	0.99	32	8	0.963
Babe Ruth	Career (2 WS)	3	31	3-0	0	0.87	8	10	0.935

You can draw your own conclusions form this, but here are some of mine:

• For a WS career, that 0.25 ERA of Bumgarner's is the best.  Ever.
• For one single WS, I don't think anyone is ever going to top Matty's performance in 1905.
• But if you're an "analytics guy", it needs to be noted that Bumgarner's WHIP in 2014 is better than Matty's of 1905.  In fact, it is the best such number on this particular list.
• It was hard to choose which single Series of Koufax' to select here.  He was the MVP in both the '63 and '65 Series.
• As a Pirate fan, I am glad that Whitey Ford didn't get a third start in 1960.
• That Babe Ruth guy was some ball player.  I heard that he could even hit a little.

So as to the original premise, I think that we can presume that if Madison Bumgarner never throws another pitch, or if his career fizzles out beginning in 2015, it is safe to say that he most definitely now belongs in the pantheon of All-Time World Series Greats.

All that said, if you were a manager, and had to pick ONE pitcher to start ONE game with everything on the line, who would it be?  

I'm still picking this guy:

The World Series Is Here!!!!

The 2014 World Series begins tonight!!  Magic words, indeed.

Once upon a time, the World Series was THE biggest event on the sports calendar.  In the minds of many, it still is the biggest event in sports, but even the most die hard baseball fans have to concede that that is no longer the case.  The reasons for that are, as Chuck Noll might have put it, many and they are great, but that is the subject for another time.  For now, however, let's talk about this upcoming addition of the Fall Classic.

I cannot remember a time when the playoffs leading up to the Series have been as dramatic and exciting as the two wild card games and four series that have produced the Kansas City Royals and San Francisco Giants as opponents for the Championship.  (OK, I concede that one of those Wild Card games wasn't all that dramatic.  Traumatic, maybe, but not dramatic.) I can only hope that the World Series will continue serving the drama that we have seen thus far, and I am truly hoping that this one goes the distance and produces what to me is the greatest event in sports: a Seventh Game of the World Series.

I usually develop a rooting interest in one team or another over the course of a post season.  Oft times, that rooting interest is produced by a fervent dislike for one of the teams.  Not so in 2014.  In my mind, there a lot of reasons to root FOR either team, and not any compelling reason to root AGAINST either of them.  All things being equal, I will usually choose the National League team to root for, and the Giants give an additional reason, for me anyway, in that they are seeking to win their third World Series title within a five year period.  As I detailed on this Blog in post a few days ago, such a feat has been done before, but it is, apart from the New York Yankees, still a somewhat rare feat.  The last time it was done by a non-Yankee team was when the Oakland A's won three consecutive Series from 1972-74. So, the historical excellence of such a feat intrigues me.

The Royals, on the other hand, are a great story. A small market team that has been in baseball's wasteland for 29 seasons gets a wild card spot, and precedes to compile an 8-0 record in the Playoffs to make the Series.  I mean, who can't root for an underdog like that?

So let's just go to the Cliche Closet and just "root for a great Series".

Okay, you want a prediction.  I'll give you the Giants to win in six games.  The biggest reason for that will be the ace pitcher of the Giants, Madison Bumgarner.  He has been completely dominant in the post-season, and I believe that he will be the difference between the two teams.  I also believe that this simply amazing run of the Royals cannot sustain itself to produce another four wins, and there is the chance that KC manager Ned Yost will do something to screw things up.

One more thing.  There has been much gnashing of teeth among the baseball purists over the fact that, because the both LCS ended early, there has been a four and five day layoff for the teams, and that this will somehow cause the players to get stale and rusty leading up to the World Series.  Are you kidding me?  Both the Giants and Royals have played over 170 games since April to lead to this point, and in four off days, they have all gotten, fat, lazy, and unprepared?  Please, give me a break on that one, or should I just say...

PLAYYYYYY BALLLLLLLL!!!!!!

Hail to the Giants!

Another come-from-behind-to-tie-it-up-and-win-it-with-a-walk-off-homer to decide the National League pennant last night.  

Giants 6 - Cardinals 3.  Giants win series, four games to one.

As I was at the Pitt football game last night, I didn't get to see what appeared to be a classic Bumgarner-Wainwright pitcher's duel, and a bunch of home runs.  I did get to the car after the football game in time to hear the bottom of the ninth inning, just in time to hear Travis Ishikawa - TRAVIS ISHIKAWA!!!! - go Bobby Thomson and deliver the pennant to the Giants.

Really, these games in the WC, LDS, and LCS leading up to the World Series....could they possibly have been any better or more exciting?

(Well, yeah, the Pirates could have beaten the Giants in that Wild Card game, but I digress.)

Here's hoping that the Giants-Royals World Series will not be anti-climactic, and that the tension, suspense, and terrific baseball will continue...and that it will go seven games.

Allow me to cogitate a bit before giving you a revised prediction (I had called Cardinals and Royals prior to the LCS).  Game One is Tuesday night.  I will have it for you prior to the first pitch.

Hail to the Royals!

Congratulations to the Kansas City Royals for nailing down their first American League pennant in twenty-nine years after completing their four game sweep of the Baltimore Orioles last night.

This run that the Royals have put on in the post-season has been amazing.  I mean, 8-0!  Who does that?  Well, since this is the first time it has ever been done, I guess the answer to that question is "nobody".  The really amazing thing is how close the Royals came to elimination in the Wild Card game thanks to an amazingly dumb move by manager Ned Yost when he yanked James Shields in the fifth inning with the lead, which was promptly blown when he brought in a starting pitcher who had never pitched in relief, let alone in a lose-and-go-home playoff situation.  His team bailed him out that night, and has proceeded to boot out the Angels and Orioles without losing a game.  I look at Yost standing in the dugout and he just seems totally clueless to me, but, hey, what do I know?  Right now, he seems, to me at least, to be the luckiest guy in the baseball world.

I spoke with my brother Jim the other night prior to game three.  Jim follows the American League much more closely than I, and he frankly stated that the Royals "bubble would burst" that night and that they wouldn't win another game after that.  I'm hoping that he didn't bet on that one.  He also stated that there was no way that the Royals were a better team than either the Angels or the Orioles, and by any objective measure, he is no doubt correct, but here they are in the World Series.  Baseball is an amazing sport in that it takes 162 games to identify the best teams, yet the sport's championship is decided in short bursts: short series that can end in only three or four games.  Is that fair?  Maybe not, but in the words of Hyman Roth, "This is the business that they have chosen".

And speaking of managers, most of the so-called experts will tell you that Buck Showalter is one of the very best managers in the game (and in comparison to Yost, he is Miller Huggins and John McGraw rolled into one), yet I was intrigued by his demeanor throughout the series with the Royals.  I don't want to say he seemed disinterested, but he seemed almost emotionless in the dugout.  He seemed to make all the right moves, and despite being swept, his team was in every game and could easily have won any of this games with the Royals.  I guess he figured that Durocher- or Weaver-like tantrums weren't going to do any good, so I suppose we should salute him for bringing some level of maturity to the dugout.

********

Over in the National League, the Giants took a three to one series lead with another thrilling, come from behind win over the Cardinals, and could close it all out tonight.

None of the series played so far have been pushed to the maximum limit, which would seem to indicate a strict lack of drama in the MLB Playoffs this year.  Nothing could be further from the truth.  With the exception of our own Pirates' 8-0 loss to the Giants, these playoffs have been exciting and thrilling almost beyond compare.  Extra inning games, walk off wins, lead changes, come from behind wins, great pitching performances, all sorts of managerial strategies, both good and bad ...these playoffs have had them all.  They have been totally and completely compelling in my view.

Yeah, I know that they start too late, take too long to play (four hour, nine inning games are becoming the norm), and are telecast on fourth tier, backwater cable outlets, but if you have been watching them, you have been seeing some absolutely terrific baseball games.  I am sorry that I will miss the Bumgarner-Wainwright match-up tonight due to a date with the Pitt Panthers at Heinz Field, but I look forward to the balance of that series (no, I am not writing off the Cardinals until I actually see the the final nails pounded into their coffin), and the World Series ahead.

Giants on the Verge of History

Two days ago in this space, I commented upon the fact that the San Francisco Giants have an opportunity to do something that I thought was quite special: win their third World Series Championship in the space of five baseball seasons.  For those with short memories, the Giants won the Series in 2010 and 2012, and begin play in the National League Championship Series this evening.  As of now, they have a one in four chance of winning that third Series title in this half-decade.

That got me to wondering just how "special" would this feat actually be?  So, with help of Google and a spreadsheet, I can come to the conclusion, in the words of Yogi Berra, that such a feat is "rare, but not unusual".  It has been accomplished a total of thirteen times in the 108 previous years in which the World Series has been contested.  It needs to be noted, however, that that figure is skewed somewhat due to the domination, beginning in the early 1920's of the New York Yankees.  The Yanks have pulled off this feat a total of eight times:

NY Yankees Seasons	# of World Series Wins	# of Seasons
1936-39	4	4
1937-41	4	5
1939-43	3	5
1947-51	4	5
1949-53	5	5
1952-56	3	5
1958-62	3	5
1996-2000	4	5

You will note that I am looking at five year segments of time in this analysis, and this causes  some overlap in seasons.  Curiously, there was no five year window in which the Yanks nailed down three or more titles when one George Herman Ruth patrolled the outfield and dominated the Murderer's Row lineup.  That anomaly aside, the periods of Yankees' "Three or More in Five or Less" covers the eras of Lou Gehrig and Joe DiMaggio to Mickey Mantle, Yogi Berra, and Whitey Ford to Derek Jeter and Mariano Rivera.  Joe McCarthy to Casey Stengel to Joe Torre.  That is quite a timeline.

And how about that 5-for-5 stretch from 1949-53?  I think it is safe to bet that that is something that will NEVER be accomplished again.

So, if you take the Yankees out of the equation, how often has the Three in Five-or-Less been done?  Well, then the numbers become a bit more rare and less than usual.

Team	Years	# of World Series Wins	# of Seasons
Philadelphia A’s	1910-13	3	4
Boston Red Sox	1912-16	3	5
Boston Red Sox	1915-18	3	4
St. Louis Cardinals	1942-46	3	5
Oakland A’s	1972-74	3	3

Only five teams have pulled off this particular hat trick.  It happened three times in the second decade of World Series play, and it included a bit of overlap with the Red Sox winning four titles in the space of seven seasons form 1912-18.  That particular  accomplishment took so much out of the Sox that it took them, as we all know, another 86 years before they would win another.

When the Athletics became the first team to pull this off after 1913, Connie Mack couldn't bear to pay the freight to keep his club together, so he sold off all of his star players and the team stunk for another twenty years.  They then won three straight pennants and two World Series from 1929-31, whereupon he cheaped out and broke up the team again.  It would take another forty-some years and two franchise shifts before the Athletics became relevant again, but when they did - three straight Series wins from 1972-74.

The outlier here are the Cardinals teams from 1942-46.  I believe that they are probably discredited because their victories occurred when many star players were in the military during WW II.  I am not sure that that is fair, since every other team was playing under the same conditions, and those Cardinals teams, managed by Hall of Fame manager Billy Southworth could only play the schedules that they were given, and they were the only team to win it three times during that particular five year span.

So there you are. Winning three-or-more in a five year (or less) span, has been done before, but take out the Yankees, and you do have something that is pretty special.  So, I am rooting for the Giants to pull this one off.  I don't know about you, but I like seeing history happen before my eyes.