This World Series was one of the most entertaining series of my lifetime. I would put this series at number 2 behind the 2001 World Series where the Diamondbacks beat the Yankees.
(You must remember that I was born in 1987 and don't fully remember the Twins win in 1991.)
However, this win goes beyond that when you think of San Francisco's two biggest stars, Madison Bumgarner and Buster Posey.
For both of these terrific athletes, their first full seasons in the league was 2010. During that season, the duo led the Giants to the World Series. Now, in their 5th full season each, they have won their 3rd World Series Championship for the Giants. Wow! 3 World Series Titles in 5 years! Do not forget their age either, because as impressive as this is, Bumgarner is 24 years old! Posey is only 27! There is more to come from this impressive battery. They have not won for a historical powerhouse either. The Giants had not won since 1954 when they were the New York Giants prior to this duo. Jeter has his 5 championships in 20 seasons, but it was for the team with the highest payroll every year except the last two (Dodgers) while the Giants are nowhere near that. The Giants were 7th in payroll this season, a full 80 million behind the Dodgers and 50 million behind the Yankees. In 2012, the San Francisco Giants were 8th in payroll. They were 10th in payroll in 2010. These payroll numbers show that the team wasn't cheap, but they also weren't buying superstars left and right like the New York Yankees were doing.
To further illustrate the dominance of Posey, look at the 2011 season when the Giants lost him to a broken leg...
Those 2011 Giants missed the playoffs by 8 games. They were beaten out by an inferior Arizona team that couldn't hold water with San Francisco. Posey would only come back to win the MVP of the league coming off said broken leg. He of course would win that MVP and lead the Giants to another championship in 2012. Then obviously they won it this season. San Fran not only doesn't win without Posey or Bumgarner, they don't even make the playoffs without either one. You sub one of the two out for a league average guy and they have 0 championships.
That brings me to my next point on Bruce Bochy. Look, Bochy is a Nole and I love the guy for that. However, there is no doubt that the guy doesn't sniff the Hall of Fame without these two players. Those 3 rings that this team won though should put Bochy in Cooperstown. The rings put him in an elite class of manager and are truly impressive. There is absolutely no way though that if another team had Posey and/or Bumgarner that these Giants win. It just doesn't happen. During the Yankee wins in Jeter's career I would argue that you sub any of those guys for a league average player and the Yankees win at least 3 titles and Torre is still a HOF. However, with one of these guys switching, that same thing doesn't happen for the Giants. This team would win 0 titles. The Bruce Bochy factor must be considered.
Look, I realize there is a lot of baseball left in these young players' careers. I also realize that neither of these guys did it alone. They had strong personnel around them. In addition to that though, I just realize how historically great they are. It is no coincidence that these two came up and this team started winning. It is no coincidence that Madison Bumgarner completely dominated the World Series multiple times. There is no coincidence behind this guy being compared to the greatest of all-time in the playoffs and stacking up favorably. That guy and his catcher Posey are simply fantastic. The best thing is that they got a lot of good baseball left in them. There are no two players in all of Major League Baseball right now that I would rather have than Madison Bumgarner and Buster Posey. That should say all it needs to about what I think of this duo. Unfortunately, for the rest of baseball they are on the same team.
-Noland
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