The Best Team No One Knows

If A Dynasty Builds in the Bay Area and the East Coast Doesn’t Hear it, Does it Make a Sound?

Dynasty seems to have become a dirty word in sports these days. What exactly constitutes a dynasty? Do the championships have to be consecutive? If it happens anywhere other than the East Coast and there isn’t a “superstar” player, does anyone notice or care? So is the story of the San Francisco Giants. Winners of two of the last three World Series, and a team that looks poised to make a serious run at title number three. To borrow a term from DJ Khaled, and most recently our President Barack Obama, all they do is win. So how exactly did we get here to this point?

When talking about the San Francisco Giants the conversation must start with the quiet, unassuming legend in the making by the name of Buster Posey. Most on the East Coast just know Posey as that guy that got hurt in that home plate collision they kept showing on SportsCenter. What they should know him as is the leader of one of the best teams in baseball who already has an MVP, a batting title, a Rookie of the Year and two rings on his resume. He also anchors one of the best pitching staffs in baseball behind the plate.

That pitching staff is the next topic of discussion when it comes to the beasts of the Bay Area. They are led by Matt Cain, the power pitching, perfect game throwing, and before this year, most consistent hurler in the game. Sorry, I sort of channeled my inner Nature Boy Ric Flair there with that description. Cain this season has been the opposite of everything he has been previously, yet the team still finds itself in first place. If and when he gets going, watch out, this team could lock up a playoff spot early. Next up as far as notoriety is concerned is Tim Lincecum, the two time Cy Young Award winner who has seen his stats go down every season since 2010. He may be at a point in his career where he would be much more effective out of the bullpen, which is exactly what he was last postseason when rotations could be shortened, but due to a lack of a serviceable replacement and money owed, San Francisco has to ride it out with him in the rotation. Barry Zito, another Cy Young winner and contract albatross is still chugging along with the Giants, never putting up earth shattering stats but doing just enough to win. He’s a veteran pitcher who knows how to pitch and get outs, as evidenced by the fact that he hasn’t hit 90 on a radar gun since Zack Morris and the gang partied Hawaiian Style. Finally, the least known, but overall best pitcher on the staff is Madison Bumgarner. Bumgarner is the 23 year old country kid with two rings already to his name. Bumgarner is quiet and unassuming like Posey, but this guy has character written all over him. During a recent broadcast, Bob Brenly, the color analyst for the Arizona Diamondbacks told two stories about Bumgarner that had to be heard to be believed. For a wedding gift he gave his wife a five day old calf and on a bus ride to the park from the hotel for a game, the bus broke down and Bumgarner got down in the street and fixed the problem, allowing the team to continue to the park without a massive delay.

Characters are another way to describe this winning bunch. It all started with Brian Wilson, the All Star closer, who I believe was more of a distraction and was nowhere near as funny as he thought he was. Despite my personal feelings on his act, he was himself, for better or worse and it opened the door for other guys to do the same. Sergio Romo, the team’s new closer, and successor to Wilson, celebrates outs in a way that would make Joba Chamberlain blush, but when you can walk the walk and talk the talk there’s something to be said for it. Next up is the Kung Fu Panda himself Pablo Sandoval. This guy has never met a pitch or a meal he didn’t like, and yet despite his hair on fire at bats and Chris Farley physique, he is one hell of a hitter and seems to get the clutch hits whenever the team needs it. Finally, there is Hunter Pence, a mid-season pickup last year from Philadelphia. When looking up reckless abandon in the dictionary you will find Pence’s picture. He goes all out and plays with a passion very few can match. He looks like a psychotic lumberjack, and I wouldn’t doubt him running head first into a brick wall because someone asked him to or he thought it would help the team. When guys see a teammate with that type of heart and passion it rubs off on the rest of the clubhouse.

The Giants never routinely light up the scoreboard, but with good pitching they never have to. Plus, it seems like whenever they do need to score runs and get hits, they end up getting them. Having the experience they do and the continuity of playing with each other for so long, they know what to expect from one another and know exactly how and when to push each other. I read recently that there’s nothing more dangerous in sports than a team that knows its identity, and there’s no better description of the Giants than that. It’s just a shame no one West of Bristol knows enough to appreciate it. Save me some Garlic Fries fellas and I’ll see you in October.