Among the 25 World Series champions since 2000, how did the 2010 Giants land in this spot?
They were the start of a dynasty, and the strongest of the bunch, too. Three World Series victories in five seasons began here, in Buster Posey’s rookie year, thanks to his production as well as huge campaigns from third baseman Aubrey Huff, who batted .290/.385/.506 with a team-leading 26 home runs; outfielder Andres Torres, who combined a more-than-solid .268/.343/.479 with an impact glove; and Pat Burrell, signed as a free agent after the Rays cut him loose in mid-May following an abysmal start to the year — he’d hit .266/.364/.509 with 18 homers in 96 games for the Giants. Posey was the star, though, slugging over .500 as a catcher and winning Rookie of the Year while picking up some NL MVP votes, all while taking charge of the pitching staff that was this club’s true strength.
Despite that group above, the Giants were an average at-best team offensively. Aaron Rowand and Nate Schierholtz were holes in the lineup, while Pablo Sandoval was a disappointment at third. Freddy Sanchez, Edgar Renteria and Juan Uribe hit just fine, but were not outstanding by any means — what made it all work, though, is that this was a fine defensive unit. And that strengthened a rotation where Barry Zito was somehow the weakest link.
Matt Cain and Tim Lincecum were co-aces at the top, with Cain posting a 3.14 ERA in 223.1 innings, while Lincecum was at 3.43 through 212.1 while leading the National League in strikeouts. Jonathan Sanchez actually produced a better ERA than either of them at 3.07, but over 193.1 innings — his starts were also a little less predictable, since he led the majors in walks allowed but also in fewest hits per nine. It was by no means a repeatable trick as the rest of his career attested, but he only had to get away with it once. Then there was 20-year-old Madison Bumgarner throwing 111 innings with a 3.00 ERA and 18 starts — it’s no wonder that Zito, having more of an inning-eating campaign than anything, didn’t stand out as a star in this group despite his name.
The bullpen featured a three-headed monster of Santiago Casilla, Sergio Romo and closer Brian Wilson: the worst ERA of the bunch was Romo’s, at 2.18, and the group combined for over six wins above replacement — an absurd figure for a trio of relievers that over their 192 innings as a unit, actually outperformed even the best rotation members on the club, two of whom picked up Cy Young votes.
The Giants took some time to find their identity, but adding Burrell and Bumgarner in-season changed both the lineup and the rotation, and Wilson’s ascension into an upper-echelon reliever who ended up with more Cy Young votes than his more-than-capable rotation mates gave them that little extra boost. “Even-year magic” was often the refrain for this era’s Giants’ teams, but 2010’s championship was legit.
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