Even if you're not a diehard San Francisco Giants fan, there are plenty of reasons to celebrate the team's second surprise World Series title in three years.
The Giants weren't necessarily the most talented team, but they played the game the right way, with great pitching, solid defense and timely hitting. And they played as a team. Role players stepped up after the season-ending injury to closer Brian Wilson and the shocking drug suspension in August of their best player, Melky Cabrera. When struggling star pitcher Tim Lincecum was relegated to the bullpen for most of the playoffs, he didn't complain; he just pitched brilliantly.
The Giants can't be accused of trying to buy the championship, either. Their payroll ranked seventh on opening day. Unlike their bitter rivals, the Los Angeles Dodgers, who broke the bank at the trading deadline, the Giants picked up what seemed to be some minor pieces. One was a journeyman infielder named Marco Scutaro. He proved to be an amazing clutch hitter during the drive to the division title, won MVP honors for the League Championship Series and delivered the winning hit Sunday night to finish off the sweep of the Detroit Tigers.
As a team and as individuals, the Giants displayed remarkable resiliency. In the series against Cincinnati and then St. Louis, San Francisco won six do-or-die elimination games in a row. Barry Zito overcame six years of withering criticism for his rich contract to pitch like an ace again. When catcher Buster Posey suffered a horrific injury in a home-plate collision last year, some wondered if he would make it back. Already the National League's "Comeback Player of the Year," he's likely to be named MVP, too.
The final out Sunday night was recorded by Sergio Romo, who personifies why the Giants are such a feel-good story.
He grew up in the hardscrabble farming town of Brawley, in the Southern California desert near the Mexican border. It has one of the state's highest unemployment rates, but a tradition of growing baseball players as well as lettuce.
Romo's road to the big leagues was not smooth. Like promising young players before him, he crossed the border to cut his teeth in the adult leagues in Mexicali. After graduating from high school in 2001, he went to four colleges before the Giants drafted him in 2005. It took him three years to make the majors; it was only the last two months that he became the closer, with all the pressure to get the last outs.
He saved three of the four World Series wins, striking out the side in the 10th inning Sunday night.
"I feel very blessed," he said afterward. "Beyond blessed."
So should Giants fans.
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