It started off the same way every year has for the Giants since 2008: they got the pitching staff of a champion...now will their offense do enough to push them through this year? Like most years, I was one of many who was skeptical of Brian Sabeans offseason moves. Beltran walked, Freddy Sanchez was hobbled, Pagan was coming off career lows, Cabrera was coming off career highs and our ROY catcher was returning from just about everything breaking in his lower foot. "Are we winning the world series? Lets just shoot for the NL West."
It became clear I had underestimated Sabean like I have a few other times in his tenure as the GM of the Giants, his offseason moves proved to be both deadly and heartbreaking all at the same time. Pagan brought us back a glimpse of 2010 Torres at the top of the lineup, Cabrera was at the top of the NL batting column, the dumpster dive Blanco was filling in nicely in right field and Theriot was doing his best Freddy Sanchez impersonation. The Giants finally had the look of a average if not above average offense, with guys producing before and after Panda and Posey. Most importantly, while Posey didn't come off the block hitting .300, you could tell the swing was still there and it was only a matter of time before he was going to be back to his old self.
The Giants could very well have been a 100 win team this year had Tim Lincecum been his traditionally excellent self. His struggles I think kept a lot of fans from believing this team was destined for greatness earlier on in the season, as an ERA of 6 would have normally been too much for the Giants bats to make up for. However, when you have a left fielder hitting .350 mid way through the season, it tends to help make up for poor performance in other areas and Cabrera provided a spark that I hadn't seen since the 2009 version of Pablo Sandoval and then some. Cabrera quickly became the face of the Giants and put them in the national spotlight when he took home All Star MVP honors.
The first time I realized that the Giants were a serious contender in 2012 was when I attended a game on August 14th, 2012 for this lineup:
| Angel Pagan CF | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Marco Scutaro 2B | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Melky Cabrera LF | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Buster Posey C | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Pablo Sandoval 3B | ||||||||||||||||||||||
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The Cabrera steroid scandal hit the Giants hard and shook a fan base that was feeling pretty darn good about itself. The team appeared to be gelling and Melky was a fan favorite to say the least. To think that this man was fraudulent in his ability and his ethics after all we had believed he had accomplished in the season was frustrating. We were losing our best hitter, as the Dodgers were about to acquire a former all star outfielder, 1st baseman and pitcher. 2 games up, things were not looking good. Yet, again the team persevered...
Buster Posey showed that not only was he an all star caliber player during the 2nd half of the season, but he was capable of being a most valuable player. A .385 batting average, 16 home runs and a 1.100 OPS, while playing catcher; just mind boggling numbers. I would have been more than happy with Buster Posey playing near his 2010 numbers, but he went well above it. Just think about the grind the catching took on his newly reconstructed legs and how instead of surviving, he flourished as the season progressed. And where many similar Sabean moves had succeeded and failed, Sabean makes a move few notice that changes the landscape of our season. Adding Scutaro while Sandoval was down was potentially the move that made the season, as I have never seen a player transform himself or his team like Marco did. He appeared at times as unbreakable: like you almost knew the man was going to drive the ball back up the middle for a base hit. If Sandoval doesn't break the only Hammate bone he has left, there is a good chance that Scutaro is never a Giant. Scutaro was the ultimate figure head for the 2012 Giants, giving it all at the plate and on the field.
When many thought the Dodgers would take us in the standings, they began to slip away and it became clear the Giants were destined to stay atop the NL West. The Giants had lost their best hitter 110 games into the season, picked up a former all star who would barely hit .200 and their rivals had spent 200+ million dollars picking up big names, but the Giants persevered and played fundamental baseball to get a spot in the playoffs. The pitching was suspect the last month of the season and it seemed like the once perfect pitching rotation might actually be a point of weakness (many articles were written about how the reds had a better rotation going into the series) once the playoffs started.
The Reds series was a test for both the Giants players and Giants fans. A collage of arms beat us in game 1 after Cueto went down and we made Bronson Arroyo (who was fantastic) look like a right handed Tom Glavine, hitting the outside with a high 80's fastball and destroying us with his offspeed stuff down. We left San Francisco down 0-2 and many hung their heads low. I did however note at the time that the back end of the Reds rotation would have trouble in games 4 and 5 due to the Cueto injury and Latos history of needing full rest. Lincecum came up big, Rolen committed a rare error, our offense came back to life and our MVP hit a grand slam in a clinching game.
In many ways the Cardinals felt like they would be the hardest test for our team, since they had no weakness and were strong in their bullpen, starting staff and balance through their lineup. The Giants pitching was shaky in games 1,2 and 4, which resulted to a 3-1 lead for the cardinals. Once again, the team was forced to persevere and get back in the series. Zito had the key moment in the series, when he shut the Cardinals down for 7 and 2/3rd innings and brought the series back to ATT where we would shut the Cardinals down for the next 2 games. The bats had clearly come alive and the starting pitching had just had 3 straight amazing performances, they were ready for a over rested and unbalanced Tigers lineup.
The World Series was testament to how the Giants played 2012, great pitching with good defense and enough bursts of offense to keep us in every game. When Pablo hit those 3 home runs against Verlander, I felt for the first time in the playoffs that I was confident we would win. The tigers needed that road victory and could not afford to depend on the tired arms of Sanchez and Scherzer. It was evident during games 3 and 4 that those guys didn't have their best stuff and our hitters were good enough to handle what they had left in the tank. In game 4, everyone knew exactly what we needed in the 10th inning: a bloop and some Marco Scutaro. When he stepped up to the plate, it seemed destined for him to knock in Theriot, as by this point in the season Scutaro could do no wrong. Romo finished the game out in style, striking out the AL MVP Cabrera and giving San Francisco its 2nd World Series in 3 years.
The 2012 giants were vastly different than the 2010 version, no torture, just strong fundamental baseball from a group of guys that played for each other. The Matt Cain perfect game symbolized the 2012 Giants: when every guy steps up and does their job, perfection really is possible. This team didn't rely on timely home runs like the 2010 Giants and lightning in the bottle wasn't what got us to the World Series. We did all the little things and we did them better than our opponents, whether it was leading the league in sac flys, bunting guys over in the 10th inning, making that diving catch with runners in scoring position or shutting down a teams running attack. Think about all the adversities the Giants faced this year:
- Lose closer to season ending surgery
- 2 Time Cy Young Pitcher finishes the year with a 5+ ERA, the highest among qualifying starters
- 1B prospect hits 7 home runs for the year after hitting 9 in his first season in 2/5 the plate appearances
- Pablo Sandoval only plays in 108 games after breaking his Hammate bone again
- 1st half MVP tests positive for PEDs and is shut down for the season
- To help the team after losing 1st half MVP, add a former all star who hits only .219 for the rest of the season.
- cleanup hitter is coming off season ending ankle surgery the year before
When something went wrong, there was always someone to step up and fill the shoes. It was a classy team that played hard and did enough to support the brilliant pitching. The bullpen during the playoffs was unbelievable, as it produced 2.35 era and .180 batting average in support of starting pitching that often needed 3+ innings of work. The 2012 Giants will be remembered by most for producing 6 elimination game victories, tying the all time record. I will remember it for being the best TEAM I have ever watched in San Francisco.
