Giants Stun Tigers, Baseball World

By John Gilbert

Before the World Series started, if someone predicted one team would win in a four-game sweep, the unanimous concensus would have been the Detroit Tigers. Instead, the San Francisco Giants pulled off an incredible feat by sweeping the Tigers in four straight.

It was an inspiring Series for a Giants team of basically unsung heroes. Before the Series, or at least before the playoffs, who ever heard of Pablo Sandoval, Marco Scutaro, Brandon Crawford, Gregor Blanco, Buster Posey, Barry Zito, Ryan Vogelsong, Matt Cain or Sergio Romo, or Hunter Pence. Among others. They rose up together and formed a perfect explanation to the overworked term “chemistry.” This team had it. They chased Justin Verlander, the best pitcher in baseball, in Game 1, and they never looked back.

Posey is the Joe Mauer of the National League. Not only a superb catcher, he led the Major Leagues in hitting, but few realized it, because the Giants play way out West, after East Coast newspapers and ESPN have gone to sleep. I did say, after the league playoffs, and the stirring rallies San Francisco made to beat Cincinnati and St. Louis from seemingly hopeless deficits, that I thought the underdog Giants had far better defense than the Tigers. Turns out, once they beat Verlander in Game 1, the edge in pitching shifted decidedly to the NLers. And after watching closely, I believe Brandon Crawford might be the best shortstop in baseball. And Gregor Blanco didn’t have to come through with his game-breaking hits to be a hero after his sensational catches in left field. Scutaro was just as brilliant as he was while earning the NL playoff MVP honors.

And now we, as basically American League loyalists, listen to the alibis that Detroit got rusty from the long layoff after sweeping the Yankees. Think about that. Sweeping the Yankees, which was considered impossible, is now being transformed to a liability! Too bad about the slump, people say. Slump? They said the same thing about the Yankees in the AL final against Detroit. It’s just that we trade the names Rodriguez and Cano for Cabrera and Fielder.

Face it, a great-hitting and red-hot Tiger team was completely outplayed by the magical Giants. The last out of the Series was a perfect microcosm of the Series: Cabrera, the AL triple-crown winner, comes up for a last chance against Romo, the Giant closer who looked like he had gotten a bad deal from a costume shop when he tried to buy a fake Rasputin beard. Romo has a good fastball, but he throws a slider that genuinely appears impossible to hit. It starts breaking when it leaves his hand, and it keeps breaking, although he seems to be able to control how much it breaks by its velocity.

I made the comment that with his slider, why would Romo ever bother throwing a fastball? He went after Cabrera, slider-slider-slider-slider-slider…Strikes, foul balls, it was a classic duel. Romo wound up one more time, and everybody at Comerica Park knew it would be one more slider . Cabrera knew it, too, and he was ready. Instead, Romo fired a fastball, low and on the inside corner. Cabrera froze, and took the pitch. Called strike three. Game over. Series over.

Congratulations, San Francisco Giants.

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• About the Author

  John Gilbert is a lifetime Minnesotan and career journalist, specializing in cars and sports during and since spending 30 years at the Minneapolis Tribune, now the Star Tribune. More recently, he has continued translating the high-tech world of autos and sharing his passionate insights as a freelance writer/photographer/broadcaster. A member of the prestigious North American Car and Truck of the Year jury since 1993. John can be heard Monday-Friday from 9-11am on 610 KDAL(www.kdal610.com) on the "John Gilbert Show," and writes a column in the Duluth Reader.
  
  For those who want to keep up with John Gilbert's view of sports, mainly hockey with a Minnesota slant, click on the following:
  
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• Exhaust Notes:

  PADDLING
  More and more cars are offering steering-wheel paddles to allow drivers manual control over automatic or CVT transmissions. A good idea might be to standardize them. Most allow upshifting by pulling on the right-side paddle and downshifting with the left. But a recent road-test of the new Porsche Panamera, the paddles for the slick PDK direct-sequential gearbox were counter-intuitive -- both the right or left thumb paddles could upshift or downshift, but pushing on either one would upshift, and pulling back on either paddle downshifted. I enjoy using paddles, but I spent the full week trying not to downshift when I wanted to upshift. A little simple standardization would alleviate the problem.
  
  

  SPEAKING OF PADDLES
  The Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution has the best paddle system, and Infiniti has made the best mainstream copy of that system for the new Q50, and other sporty models. And why not? It's simply the best. In both, the paddles are long, slender magnesium strips, affixed to the steering column rather than the steering wheel. Pull on the right paddle and upshift, pull on the left and downshift. The beauty is that while needing to upshift in a tight curve might cause a driver to lose the steering wheel paddle for an instant, but having the paddles long, and fixed, means no matter how hard the steering wheel is cranked, reaching anywhere on the right puts the upshift paddle on your fingertips.
  
  

  TIRES MAKE CONTACT
  Even in snow-country, a few stubborn old-school drivers want to stick with rear-wheel drive, but the vast majority realize the clear superiority of front-wheel drive. Going to all-wheel drive, naturally, is the all-out best. But the majority of drivers facing icy roadways complain about traction for going, stopping and steering with all configurations. They overlook the simple but total influence of having the right tires can make. There are several companies that make good all-season or snow tires, but there are precious few that are exceptional. The Bridgestone Blizzak continues to be the best=known and most popular, but in places like Duluth, MN., where scaling 10-12 blocks of 20-30 degree hills is a daily challenge, my favorite is the Nokian WR. Made without compromising tread compound, the Nokians maintain their flexibility no matter how cold it gets, so they stick, even on icy streets, and can turn a skittish car into a winter-beater.