That was some World Series for Madison Bumgarner, huh? It's safe to say that he single-handedly won the Giants' third title in five years, and his performance is unlikely to be repeated any time soon. Three games, 21 innings, 17 strikeouts, one run allowed, two wins, one save. He threw a third of San Francisco's innings in the series and held the Royals to a .127 batting average. The craziest part is that he actually raised his career World Series ERA to 0.43.
Bumgarner just put together the single greatest World Series by a pitcher in recent memory. The only thing that even comes close is Randy Johnson in 2001, when he picked up three of the Diamondbacks' four wins, including one in relief in Game 7 the day after starting and going seven innings in Game 6.
Outside of those two, there hasn't been one pitcher that single-handedly dominated a World Series this century. (That's what all those sweeps and five-gamers will do for you.) Not even Josh Beckett in 2003. He's remembered for that 2-0 shutout in the Game 6 clincher at the Old Yankee Stadium, which earned him Series MVP honors, but Beckett actually lost Game 3 and, unlike Bumgarner and Johnson, hadn't been particularly dominant earlier in the postseason.
So, I hope everyone appreciates what we just saw from Madison Bumgarner, who's quickly developing a reputation as one of the greatest World Series pitchers ever. It's different eras, so it's not a fair comparison, but what Bumgarner did could be considered a modern-day equivalent of the single greatest World Series ever for a pitcher, Christy Mathewson's three shutouts in six days in 1905.
Unfortunately, everyone who personally remembered Mathewson's performance 109 years ago is long since dead, and those games obviously aren't preserved on video for all time. But what Bumgarner did in 2014 (and in 2010, and in 2012) will live on for eternity. He's not just on his way to becoming an October legend. He's already there. Because he's done this three World Series in a row.
I could easily go back through all the memorable World Series pitching performances in history. From Mathewson to Babe Ruth to Don Larsen to Whitey Ford to Sandy Koufax. Then there's Bob Gibson capping perhaps the most remarkable pitching season ever by going 3-0 against the Red Sox in 1967 and the Tigers' Mickey Lolich doing the same thing a year later, when he beat Gibson in Game 7.
But I'm going to limit myself just to dominant World Series pitching in my lifetime, which means we're starting in the 80s. And the 80s gave us two great ones. Royals fans remember one of them fondly. It was 1985, when Bret Saberhagen got the win in Game 3, a 6-1 victory, then tossed an 11-0 shutout in Game 7. Three years later it was Orel Hershiser, whose 1988 season was one of the greatest ever for a pitcher. He capped it off by winning World Series MVP honors after going 2-0 and giving up a total of two runs and seven hits in his two starts.
And, of course, there's my single favorite World Series pitching performance ever. The reason I think Jack Morris belongs in the Hall of Fame. His 10-inning, 1-0 shutout in Game 7 of the 1991 World Series is something I'll never forget. But he also got the win in Game 1 of that series and came out of Game 4 with the Twins leading 2-1, eventually getting a no-decision in a 3-2 loss. Those remarkable October efforts all pale in comparison to the World Series legend that is Madison Bumgarner, though.
Perhaps it's only fitting that we end one of the most pitching-dominant years in recent memory by talking about the amazing pitching of a left-hander that plays in the National League West. It's just not the NL West lefty we thought we'd be talking about. I guess we shouldn't be surprised, though. Because the Giants are building a dynasty. As long as they've got Bumgarner, they might continue winning the World Series in even-numbered years for the foreseeable future. So, Bay Area, you might as well start planning that 2016 championship parade now.
No comments:
Post a Comment