San Francisco Giants Win 2012 World Series

World Series MVP Pablo Sandoval hit three home runs in Game 1

I could not have been more wrong in my prediction of the World Series. I had the Detroit Tigers taking home the title after dismantling my Yankees in just four games and I projected the Tigers to take the series in seven games. The San Francisco Giants won the series in four games. Literally the complete opposite.

Who cares about what I thought, hats off to the San Francisco Giants who quietly have started a dynasty after winning their second World Series title in just three years. They won six consecutive elimination games after trailing the Cincinnati Reds in the Divisional Series 2-0 and winning the final three. The Championship Series was the same deal as they trailed 3-1 to the defending champion St. Louis Cardinals before taking the final three in that series as well to advance to the World Series.

The World Series was where the Giants really flexed their muscles taking the first four games of the series, completing the sweep. They came out and delivered an early message when they lit up the defending Cy Young winner and AL MVP Justin Verlander for five runs, knocking him out in just four innings. The eventual MVP of the World Series, Pablo Sandoval, also went on to hit three home runs in one game making him the fourth player in MLB history to accomplish that feat in a World Series game. Sandoval joined elite company with Albert Pujols, Reggie Jackson, and Babe Ruth.

Another bright spot for the Giants in the series was their young pitching staff. Madison Bumgarner and Ryan Vogelsong each started and won Games 2 and 3 respectively. That being said, they didn't just win those games, they dominated them. Bumgarner and Vogelsong shut out the Tigers offense in consecutive games as the Giants held the Tigers scoreless for 20 consecutive innings.

The bullpen also was lights out as only one reliever, George Kontos, who was pitching in garbage innings during Game 1 when the Giants were up 8-1 at the time. The rest of the bullpen posted a 0.00 ERA for the entire series and was headlined by the performance of closer Sergio Romo. Romo earned a save in three of the four games.

One Last Thing: One guy that you have to feel good for is Tim Lincecum. This is a guy who was one of the most dominant pitchers in baseball and still should be in the prime of his career, but had a horrible regular season. Lincecum went 10-15 with a 5.18 ERA and was even demoted to the bullpen in the playoffs, but he accepted his role and was huge for the team in the World Series. He appeared in two games for 4.2 innings and struck out eight without allowing even one hit.