They weren’t supposed to win it all. That rang true this year, as it did in 2010. Even with their pitching the first time around, which had an arguably stronger rotation and bullpen, the San Francisco Giants never stood a chance against the overpowering bats of the Texas Rangers. This time, the Detroit Tigers housed the supposedly unbeatable combination of Justin Verlander and Miguel Cabrera. If you take “Rangers” and “Cliff Lee” from baseball writers’ 2010 predictions and replace them with “Tigers” and “Justin Verlander,” the result are eerily familiar.
This year’s ESPN expert predictions were as accurate as the ones from two years before, with only 5 out of 28 writers correctly predicting the Giants as the victors. None expected them to sweep the Tigers; all 5 of the supporters thought the Giants would take the series in 6 or 7 games. Some excerpts from the reasoning and expert analysis include “too much Verlander,” “Verlander delivers one more crown for Miggy” and “The Giants can’t match up with the Tigers’ dominant starting pitching.”
The last two times the Giants reached the World Series they were considered the serious underdogs, so from where is this separation coming? They don’t talk the talk, but they walk the walk. Is it because, as Hunter Pence mentioned in his on-field post-game interview, they have some sort of X factor? Are they underrepresented in the national media because of the ever-present east coast bias? Have the last two championships merely been a fluke? It might be a combination of all of the above or none of these reasons.
Despite the media’s and subsequently the entire country’s unassuming perception of the Giants, two wins in the last three seasons certainly demonstrates the strengths the team has amassed. Their farm system is not necessarily the strongest, but the current lineup is a ragtag mix of veterans and players under 25 that works together perfectly. The Giants have both Madison Bumgarner and Matt Cain locked in for many years to come, Brandon Belt has a bright future, Buster Posey is already a proven star who deserves a major contract and Pablo Sandoval has a lot of raw talent to offer. For the first time, homegrown shortstop Brandon Crawford’s defensive talents have been recognized on a national level.
Whether or not the front office has succeeded in creating a driving force of a team, the Giants still might remain unrecognized for what talent the team truly possesses. But I’ve always preferred to be the fan of an underdog team. It makes winning that much sweeter.
Brittany Yu is a contributing writer. Email her at [email protected].