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Winning the 2014 title was probably the most difficult of the three.
They had to endure an 18-inning game on the road in Washington, a Cardinals team that never quit, and a Cinderella-story Kansas City Royals team that pushed the Giants to Game 7 of the World Series.
Not to mention, the Giants had to make a run without their leadoff hitting catalyst Angel Pagan and with a rookie starting at second base. Their postseason horse Matt Cain was out for the season in July and every starting pitcher not named Madison Bumgarner struggled to make it to the sixth inning throughout the postseason.
But the resilient Giants still found a way to get it done, with their hard work rewarded with a parade down Market Street on Halloween.
From Bumgarner's complete-game shutout in the Wild Card Game in Pittsburgh to Pablo Sandoval's catch on a foul-ball popup to wrap up the World Series, the Giants had their fans on the edge of their seat all October--torture and all.
For my top five moments from the Giants' 2014 championship run, check out my article on NBC Bay Area.
Here are a few honorable mentions:
1. Michael Morse's Game-Tying Homer Run in NLCS Game 5
The Giants were six outs away from heading back to St. Louis in the National League Championship Series up 3-2, missing a shot to clinch the pennant at AT&T Park. But Michael Morse, who was injured for a month with a strained oblique and relegated to pinch-hitting duties, did not want to pack his bags that night for the Midwest.
The Giants did indeed pack their bags for Missouri, but it was to play in the World Series in Kansas City, as Travis Ishikawa brought the pennant home to San Francisco one inning later.
2. Pablo Sandoval's Game-Tying Double in NLDS Game 2
The Giants were dead in the water in Game 2 of the National Division Series. Washington Nationals starting pitcher Jordan Zimmermann threw 8 2/3 shutout innings and was just one out away from beating the Giants 1-0. But a two-out walk to Joe Panik prompted Washington skipper Matt Williams to go to his closer Drew Storen. Buster Posey singled off Storen, leaving it up to Pablo Sandoval as the Giants' last hope in Game 2.
Although the Nationals gunned down the lead run Posey at the plate, the Giants tied the game at one in dramatic fashion. Nine innings later, thanks to a clutch home run by Brandon Belt, San Francisco closed out the longest game in postseason history and was up 2-0 in the best-of-five series.
3. Hunter Pence's Acrobatic Catch in NLDS Game 4
What can Giants fans say? Hunter Pence is just awesome. And he showed why with one out in the sixth inning in Game 3 of the NLDS. With Ryan Vogelsong pitching arguably his best game of the season, the Giants were leading 2-1 and Washington slugger Jayson Werth thought he had a one-out triple. But Pence said...
Pence's catch at the right-field wall proved to be huge, as the Giants won the game 3-2. Had Werth tripled, the Nationals may have rallied and the series could have shifted to Washington tied 2-2. But thanks to Pence, the Giants advanced to the NLCS with a Game 4 win.
These three moments did not make my top five, but having too many top postseason moments is a great problem to have.
Follow Vince on Twitter @vintalkingiants.
Questions or comments? E-mail my blog mailbag at vince.cestone@yahoo.com. Your questions may be answered on my blog.
My favorite was Sandoval's double
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