The 2014 World Series Highlights film is a wonderful way to reflect on the topsy-turvy Giants' season. As Bart Giamatti might have called it, a season that never ended.
In early June the Giants looked unbeatable but by the end of September they limped into the post season as a wild card without Matt Cain, Angel Pagan or Marco Scutaro. Nobody picked them to win anything -- nobody except themselves and their fans.
In the Wild Card game vs. the Pirates. Brandon Crawford hit a grand slam to silence the crowd and Madison Bumgarner began his magical postseason with a complete game shutout. The film then moves to the NLDS vs. the Nationals which featured one game that tied the longest post season game ever (18 innings staring Yusemeiro Petit and Brandon Belt), and another which showcased Hunter Pence's awesome catch against the right field wall at AT&T Park, as the Giants dismantled the team with the best regular season record in the National League.
Then the NLCS. This was the fourth time the Giants have played the Cardinals for the National League Pennant and for the third time in a row the Giants came out on top. The last couple of innings of game 5 were amazing -- Mike Morse's pinch hit home run to tie the game in the 8th and then Travis Ishikawa channeled Bobby Thompson to win the pennant with his 9th inning walk off home run. Wow!
When the Giants won the 2012 World Series all the drama was in the NLDS and the NLCS -- the series itself was a quick 4 game sweep. In 2014 we got a World Series brawl. The Kansas City Royals, seemingly everyone's sweetheart, had breezed through the post season undefeated. They had great defense, stole bases and their pitchers threw heat. The Giants, we were told, had no chance. The series went back and forth with momentum changing every few innings. In game 4 the Giants turned a 4 run deficit into an 11-4 romp -- torture into triumph. In game 5 Madison Bumgarner pitched his SECOND complete game shutout of the postseason (paging Clayton Kershaw) and the Giants looked set.
Game 6 in Kansas City brought back horrible memories of Anahiem in 2002: Rally Monkees, Dusty Baker handing the game ball to pitcher Russ Ortiz and the Giants blowing a 5-0 lead with only 8 outs remaining. This time the result was equally horrible, but it hurt less as the Royals toasted the Giants 10-0. The whole season came down to game 7.
1979 was the last time a team won World Series game 7 on the road. In 2002 the Giants fell short but this time they had a weapon. With a 3-2 lead, they brought out Madison Bumgarner who pitched 5 innings of shutout relief, capping one the greatest postseasons any pitcher has ever had. The Giants won the game and the series -- the ghosts of 2002 have been exorcised.
The only thing about the film that made me sad was watching the Panda's last moments as a Giant. Pablo Sandoval is a mixed blessing, but he always plays with enthusiasm. Regardless of what he does, he will never be loved in Boston or anywhere else as much as he was loved in San Francisco.
Needless to say, this is a must have for any Giants fan. Enjoy the memories of the season that never ended.
Very good summary of the Giants regular season and all the twists and turns of the postseason that led to a world championship. Good interviews with the players who made big plays and Bruce Bochy and Giants executives. Very inspirational. They don't necessarily have the most talent but I like the way they never give up. One example I remember is during the 2012 regular season the Dodgers made a blockbuster trade and many people predicted they would win the pennant after that. But instead they started losing and the Giants played a game where they trailed 8-0 going into the the ninth inning and scored nine runs in the bottom of the ninth to win the game and got hot after that and pulled away to clinch the pennant. The Giants have been underdogs in every series during every one of their three postseason runs and every time have found some way to come out on top.\ Above and beyond baseball, this DVD gives hope to those facing tough times or being in an underdog situation to keep going and not give up.
It was FANTASTIC! I loved having the last game of the NLCS with Ishi's walk off! I loved seeing all 7 games or the W.S. and I loved being able to hear my fave announcers, Dave, Jon, Kuip and Kruk.....that was PRICELESS! There was one small annoying thing regarding the sound though. The volume changed unexpectedly and randomly sometimes. It was only a problem because the person I bought it for is hard of hearing. So sometimes it was too loud and other times to low for even me to hear. Didn't happen a lot though.Oh, and at the beginning there was a disclaimer that if we watched it with the SF crew sound....some things would be out of sync with the video. I knew it but it annoyed me anyway. You know, Erin Andrews and Joe Buck etc. Anyway, I give it 5 stars because I enjoyed it so much in spite of the little glitches! If you are a perfectionist or have OCD...don't buy it :D But anyone else...it's TOTALLY worth it!