2014 World Series: San Francisco Giants vs Kansas City Royals

i associate them with great pitching and good-enough hitting, though it looks like that's not even the case this year

This year's identity is screwing up less than the other team.

Their identity is from the continuity of players (and the manager) -- same as for any other successful team. They have a lot of them -- MadBum, Timmy Jim, Cain, the bullpen, Posey, Panda -- even if they all didn't have starring roles each of those years. All of the Red Sox's three 21st century championship teams had more player turnover for instance (not to mention managerial and front office turnover).

yeah to me their identity is more or less great pitching, good enough offense (which has been taken to a higher level w/ posey and sandoval) and good defense to match that OF made entirely of power alleys and strange gaps.

that and getting a shitload of good luck and amazing performances from randos like aubrey huff, cody ross, pat burrell, juan uribe, edgar fucking renteria, marco scutaro, etc etc etc etc etc

yeah the BPers were talking about future nostalgia for "the Andres Torres-Cody Ross years"

They'll be a great story if they win this year, and obviously they're a fantastic postseason team. As a dynasty, though, I don't think you can overlook that their regular-season win totals will be 88, 94, and 92--very ordinary, and the divisional-play era, probably not good enough to make the playoffs half the time at least. (I'm guessing.) Schoenfield rounded up the three-in-five teams the other day:

Only five times has a team other than the Yankees won three titles in five years: the Red Sox did it twice early in the 20th century, the last time from 1915 to 1918; the Oakland A's from 1972 to 1974; the St. Louis Cardinals from 1942 to 1946 and the Philadelphia A's from 1910 to 1913. So that's impressive company.

I'd have to look at the earlier teams, but they don't rank with the '70s A's, I don't think.

Giants made no changes at all to the roster that has brought them to the Fall Classic, while the Royals made just one minor tweak. Kansas City swapped out infielder Christian Colon for another infielder in Jayson Nix.

http://www.sbnation.com/mlb/2014/10/21/7028555/royals-giants-set-world-series-rosters

Timmy lives

he's been down in the basement drinking coffee for about the last four hours, and he should be all ready to go.

yeah i don't have a problem with a team that's never really in contention for best in their league, but for a dynasty, come on now

http://www.clickhole.com/article/wow-scientists-taught-baseball-manager-rudimentary-1223

http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/so-youre-about-to-pitch-to-pablo-sandoval/

There's a heat map of KC OF range within

http://grantland.com/the-triangle/2014-mlb-playoffs-giants-royals-world-series-preview-predictions/

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.

so ready for this, have driven my co-workers crazy this postseason.

great start

i hear Giant fans.

Can't imagine.

Xpost

who is the 3rd base coach for the giants? why did he wave posey in? reynolds is talking about how great the relay was but any RF in baseball, even the very worst, would have been able to beat posey on that

baseball is a game of inches and posey was out by about 39 feet

SLIDE BUSTER SLIDE

come on royals, i have $1 million USD riding on this

RAM INTO THE CATCHER BUSTER

RIP KC

(occasionally appears in) BIG GAME(s) JAMES

was shields ever good in big games or is it one of those ironic nicknames?

just want to point out that my gf is really creeped out by the face and dimeanor of brandon belt

he looks like a more athletic samm levine from freaks and geeks

has she studied Pence carefully? xp

big gaem jaym

on pace for a 5-hr game

they should not have sent Posey home on that play but Tim Flannery probably said hell with it this is the World Series.

im OK with it though he did take a run off the board.

good reasoning by both of you

xposts

He got the nickname in the minors as a kind of tribute to the Lakers' "big game" James Worthy. So, not an ironic name, but not related to his on-field performance.

alright who's ready for the best pitcher in the history of all sports as well as sports movies

he's no curt schilling

madbum "walter big game johnson" bumgarter

Tim Flannery probably said hell with it this is the World Series.

If he really did literally think this, he should have his dick nailed to a two by four.

cyison youngbum

lol at William

best defensive pitcher of all time madjim bumkaat

everything had to be perfect but Posey was running.

ok stop making fun of me already

he is really good though

<3

madbee bumgok

i have a lot more

posey's been thrown out at home at least three times in the #postseason, yes?

goddamn harold reynolds is the unequivocal worst thing about this whole post season