A 3rd World Series win in 5 years as Manager of the Giants could put Bruce Bochy on the running board for a “tears of joy” eventual ride to the Hall of Fame.
After two games at Kansas City, the 2014 World Series moves to San Francisco for three, starting Friday night, October 24th. Here are the broad swipe observations that jump off the page to us here at The Eagle, so far:
1) With Madison Bumgarner a possible three-time starter in a seven game World Series, the Giants have to remain the slight favorites until KC proves they can get to him.
2) Never count out the Royals on the road, The Orioles apparently did.
3) Both clubs have their own brands of never-give-up team drive. It’s fun to watch them go after each other, even if some pundits are always bored when a small franchise team from the Midwest reaches the Series, especially if their city’s initials are “KC”. Kansas City will never live down two facts: (a) The city is not located on either the Pacific or Atlantic oceans; and (b) the city was once noted for being the small town club that functioned as the MLB-level talent supplier and virtual farm club of the New York Yankees.
4) The stoic, mostly expressionless, sometimes puzzled look on KC manager Ned Yost’s face makes him an easy target for blame if the Royals don’t win the Series.
5) The grizzled, longshoreman port boss look of Giants manager Bruce Bochy keeps me looking for Terry Malloy to show up with blood on his face and jersey to pinch hit for the Giants at some crucial point in one of these games. (If you don’t know who Terry Malloy is, order a Netflix copy of the 1954 movie, “On the Waterfront.”
6) Hunter Pence seems well on his way to an eventual “leotard look” in the way he wears his uniform pants. Those Pence pants are now worn well above the knees as those long black socks continue to demonstrate their apparently endless elasticity to the job of rising higher and higher.
7) The Kansas City Royals play the kind of baseball that the Houston Astros are hoping to play. They are fast and powerful on offense, fast, smart, and athletic on defense, and their Game Two pitching proved it was all that we knew it could be.
8) Royals center fielder Lorenzo Cain may be the fastest guy in the big leagues. Unless I misunderstood, one of the TV guys said last night during Game Two that Cain was clocked at 20 MPH running the bases during the big 6th inning 5-run scoring explosion by KC.
9) Hunter Pence says he heard nothing from the fans as he was running the bases following his 1st inning HR in Game One – and we believe him. That kind of hearing loss is common among intense people with normally short attention spans. Once they achieve their riveting goal, the neurological shock to the system may often cause a brief shutdown to the senses, particularly to hearing, because the person is going through an intense sensory overload in the wake of accomplishment and they cannot take on any more new information.
10) Something’s wrong with Tim Lincecum of the Giants. On the verge of getting through two scoreless relief innings in the 7th and 8th, he did something to hurt his arm and had to leave the game. The guy appears to have lost his mechanics and has now hurt himself trying to force his way back to the incredible level he used to occupy. The mop-up, look-see first Series appearance by Lincecum in Game Two was likely his last. We haven’t seen the reports on his injury, but it didn’t look good.
11) The Pecan Park Eagle has no dog in this fight. We just just want some good close action and a seven game contest. If Kansas City wins, it’s a win for Cinderella. If San Francisco wins, it will be their third World Series victory in five years (2010, 2012, and 2014) – and all with different player mixes under manager Bruce Bochy. By winning his third World Series in four tries (He got there once with the Padres) Bochy may have found his running board for an eventual “tears of joy” ride to the Hall of Fame.
The Pecan Park Eagle 
October 23, 2014 at 12:35 pm |
Bruce Bochy: former Astro.
October 27, 2014 at 1:32 pm |
The Giants will win the series in 6 games. Better hitting-fielding-pitching (Bumgarden is as dominant as Koufax) and a better manager. Sf can manufacture runs via the small ball route and without Butler KC has no offense