Category: Uncategorized

By Jeremy Kahn

When the 2014 season very few people thought that this version of the San Francisco Giants would make another run towards the postseason.

Obviously, people forgot that this is an even year and in the past two even years, the Giants made a great run to two World Series titles in 2010 and 2012.

Well, this is an even year and once again, the Giants are on their way back to the World Series for the third time in the past five years.

Awaiting the Giants in the World Series is the Kansas City Royals, a team that returned to the postseason for the first time since 1985.

These two teams faced each other back in the second weekend in August, and the Giants left Missouri’s largest city with three consecutive losses after being swept by the upstart Royals.
Despite opening with a 42-21 record, and a nine and a half game lead over the Los Angeles Dodgers early in the season, the Giants faltered and slipped into the Wild Card game against the Pittsburgh Pirates.

Behind a Brandon Crawford grand slam, the Giants shutout the Pirates 8-0 to move on to the National League Division Series against the Washington Nationals, the best team in the National League in 2024.

The Giants could have cared less the Nationals were the best team in the NL, as they defeated them in four games, including a 18-inning thriller that saw Brandon Belt hit a solo home run to give them a 2-1 victory.

Moving onto the NLCS for the third time in five years, the Giants would be an underdog against the St. Louis Cardinals in a rematch from the 2012 NLCS that saw the Giants comeback from a 3-1 deficit to defeat the Cardinals in seven games.

Once again, the Giants came up with some heroics, as they won Game Three on a walk-off throwing error by Michael Wacha and then clinched the pennant on a walk-off three-run home run by Travis Ishikawa.

The World Series begins on Tuesday night at Kauffman Stadium, and will continue there on Wednesday before heading to the Bay Area over the weekend.

By Jeremy Kahn

The last time the Kansas City Royals were in the World Series, there were only 26 teams in the major leagues and there were no teams in Colorado, Arizona and Florida.

Fast forward 29 years, and the Royals not only returned to the playoffs for the first time since defeating the St. Louis Cardinals in a thrilling seven-game series, but now they are just four wins away from winning the World Series for the second time in team history.

The Royals’ opponent in the World Series is the San Francisco Giants, a team that is making their third World Series appearance in the past five years.

Things were looking bleak for the Royals, as they fell to 48-50 on July 21; however from the next day until August 19, the Royals won 22 out of their next 27 games , including passing the three-time defending Central Division Detroit Tigers on August 11, the latest that the Royals were in first place since August 29, 2003.

Ned Yost’s team was in first place until September 12, when the Tigers passed them to take the Central for the fourth consecutive season.

The Royals finished the season with a record of 89-73, the most for the team since 1989, and clinched their first ever wild card appearance.

In the wild card game, the Royals defeated the Oakland A’s 9-8, when catcher Salvador Perez hit a walk-off single in the bottom of the 12th inning.

The Royals trailed the A’s 7-3 in the bottom of the eighth inning.

After defeating the A’s in the wild card game, the Royals swept the American League Western Division Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim in three games, moving on to the American League Championship Series for the first time in 29 years.

Awaiting the Royals in the ALCS was the AL Eastern Division Champion Baltimore Orioles, who swept the Royals division rivals, the Tigers.

In the ALCS, the Royals turned the same trick that they did against the Angels and swept the Orioles in four games to clinch their first AL pennant in 29 years.

By Jeremy Kahn

SAN FRANCISCO-Travis Ishikawa was playing for the Pittsburgh Pirates when the 2014 season began and now with one swing of the bat, he helped the San Francisco Giants obtain their goal.

Ishikawa hit a three-run walk-off home run off of Michael Wacha in the bottom of the ninth inning to help the Giants defeat the St. Louis Cardinals 6-3 to win their third National League Championship in the past five years.

He is the fourth player in major league history and first in NL history to hit a walk-off home run to send his team to the World Series.

Magglio Ordonez of the Detroit Tigers did it in 2006 against Huston Street of the Oakland A’s, three years earlier, Aaron Boone of the New York Yankees did it against the Boston Red Sox and Chris Chambliss did it for the New York Yankees off of Mark Littell of the Kansas City Royals in 1976.

Wacha cane on for the first time in the postseason, and promptly gave up a single to Pablo Sandoval, and then retired Hunter Pence on a fly out, then walked Brandon Belt and then Ishikawa hit one into the right field seats.

Michael Morse was the hero just one inning earlier, as he hit a game-tying solo home run off of Pat Neshek that sent the sellout crowd of 43,217 into an absolute frenzy.

After Morse hit the home run that tied up the game, Bruce Bochy brought in Santiago Casilla; however he gave up a single and two walks to load the bases and Bochy went to the bullpen again.

Bochy brought on veteran Jeremy Affeldt, and he faced just batter and he retired Oscar Taveras on a ground ball back to Affeldt, who ran to the base for the final out of the inning.

Madison Bumgarner went seven innings, allowing three runs on five hits, while walking two and striking out five as he did not fare in the decision.

Adam Wainwright, who dropped the opener of the NLCS at Busch Stadium went seven innings, allowing two runs on four hits, while walking two and striking out seven, as he did not fare in the decision.

Jon Jay gave the Cardinals a 1-0 lead in the top of the third inning, as he hit a scorching double over the head of Travis Ishikawa to score Tony Cruz from second base.

Cruz led off the frame with a walk against Bumgarner, then advanced to second base on a perfectly executed sacrifice bunt by Adam Wainwright and then after Matt Carpenter walked, Jay picked up his second hit of the night.

Joe Panik gave the Giants the lead in the bottom of the third inning, as he hit a two-run home run onto the arcade in right field.

Gregor Blanco got the rally started in the inning, as he singled with two outs and then Panik hit his first ever home run at AT&T Park.

The Panik home run was the first by a Giants player since Brandon Belt hit a solo home run in the top of the 18th inning in Game Two of the National League Division Series on October 4 at Nationals Park.

Just one-half inning following the Panik two-run home run, Matt Adams hit his third home run of the postseason and then two batters later, Tony Cruz hit his first home run of the postseason to give the lead back to the Cardinals.

Adams helped the Cardinals advance to their fourth NLCS in a row, as he hit a three-run home run in the bottom of the seventh inning off of Clayton Kershaw of the Los Angeles Dodgers and the Cardinals became the first team since the 1998-2001 New York Yankees to advance to four consecutive championship series.

Bumgarner looked shaky in the early going, as he gave up back-to-back singles to Jay and Matt Holliday in the first inning; however he was able to get out of the jam, as Jhonny Peralta lined out to Pablo Sandoval, who quickly threw to Panik to get Jay for the final out of the inning.

Wainwright got off to a tough start as well, as he allowed a leadoff single to Blanco in the bottom of the first inning, but was then able to get Panik to fly out to Jay in center field, then Buster Posey grounded out to shortstop for the second out and then Wainwright got out of the jam, as he got Pablo Sandoval to groundout to Kolten Wong at second base to end the inning.

The Giants blew up a big opportunity in the bottom of the fourth inning, as Sandoval doubled to leadoff the inning, Hunter Pence then walked, but then Brandon Belt lined out into a double play and after a Ishikawa walk, Brandon Crawford struck out to end the inning.

Following the Ishikawa walk in the bottom of the fourth inning and subsequent strikeout of Crawford, Wainwright did not allow another base runner.

On the other side of things, Bumgarner did not allow anyone to reach base following the Cruz home run before being pulled.

By: Phillip Torres

SANTA CLARA- The San Francisco 49ers (4-2) are set to face the AFC Champion Denver Broncos (4-1) in Denver on Sunday Night Football. In a matchup that has two of the powerhouse teams in the NFL, the game is more than deserving to be on National Television.

49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick is coming off of perhaps his best game of the season as he threw for 343 yards and three touchdowns against the St. Louis Rams. San Francisco beat the Rams 31-17 in a dominant victory on Monday Night Football. After a slow start on offense the 49ers stepped on the gas peddle and never looked back. It started with an 80 yard touchdown pass from Kap to Brandon Lloyd. The score came right before the end of the second quarter.

The Broncos are coming off of a 31-17 road victory over the New York Jets as well. The victory for Denver improved their record to 4-1 and keeps them just one game back of the San Diego Chargers. Peyton Manning remains a top quarterback in this league as he is still playing extremely well for a man his age.

San Francisco will enter the game on a three game winning streak. An impressive streak that holds victories against the 5-1 Philadelphia Eagles, Alex Smith and the Kansas City Chiefs, and a dominant victory in ST. Louis. the winning streak has the 49ers at 4-2 and in a great position to be sitting at 5-2 going into their bye week after a victory in the Mile High City.

The task will not be easy, as Denver is still trying to prove that they are the team to beat in the AFC. The Broncos would hold a wild card spot of the season ended today, and they feel like they are a better team that that. Denver’s receiving core will be a tough task to handle for the 49ers secondary, but Perish Cox, the NFL’s interception leader will not back down from the challenge. Cox has played exceptional since taking over for the injured Tramaine Brock as the number one starting corner. Cox currently leads the NFL with three interceptions.

A victory in Denver is crucial for a few reasons. One being that the Arizona Cardinals and Seattle Seahawks have easy opponents. The Seahawks will be at St. Louis and the Cardinals will be hosted by the 0-5 Oakland Raiders. If things works out the way they should, the Cardnials will be 5-1 and Seattle will be 4-2. So, a victory to put San Francisco at 5-2 is very important.

By Jeremy Kahn

SAN FRANCISCO-Between the founding of the National League in 1876, and continuing all the way until 1968, the New York/San Francisco Giants and the St. Louis Cardinals made the World Series a combined 27 times; however that changed in 1969.

It was in that season, that Major League Baseball broke the American League and the National League into two divisions in each league.

Just three years into the division play, the Giants would make their first ever appearance in the National League Championship Series, where they face the National League Eastern Division Champion Pittsburgh Pirates.

After winning the first game behind starting pitcher Gaylord Perry, and two-run home runs from both Tito Fuentes and Willie McCovey, the Pirates muscled their way to three consecutive victories and defeated the Giants in four games on their way to winning World Series over the Baltimore Orioles in seven hard fought games.

It would take another 16 years for the Giants to make it back to the postseason, and standing in their way to make to the World Series for the first time in 25 years was non either then the Cardinals.

The Giants were on the brink of their first World Series since McCovey lined out to Bobby Richardson to end the 1962 World Series, but Candy Maldonado was unable to catch a Jose Oquendo flyball in right field and the Cardinals won Game Six by the final of 1-0.

Danny Cox then shutout the Giants 6-0 in Game Seven for their second National League Championship in three seasons.

Luckily, the Giants would not have wait long to return to the postseason, as they returned two years later to face the Chicago Cubs.

Will Clark got the Giants rolling in the first game, as he hit two home runs, including a grand slam, as he went 13-for-20 in the series on his way to winning the NLCS Most Valuable Player Award.

In the end, the Giants would defeat the Cubs in five games for their first National League pennant since 1962.

It would be another 13 years until the Giants made it back to the NLCS, and standing in their way was none other than the Cardinals, the same team that defeated the Giants in seven games 15 years earlier.

Benito Santiago hit a huge two-run home run in the bottom of the eighth inning in Game Four off of Rick White after he walked Barry Bonds intentionally with the bases empty.

After winning Game Four on a Santiago home run in the bottom of the eighth inning, you would not think anything would top that, oh just wait.

When Kenny Lofton singled off of Cardinals reliever Steve Kline in the bottom of the ninth inning, David Bell scored from second base to send the Giants to the World Series for the first time since 1989.

Eight years later, the Giants returned to the NLCS, where they would face the two-time defending National League Champion Philadelphia Phillies.

Unsung heroes like Cody Ross and Juan Uribe would help the Giants advance to the World Series for the first time in eight seasons.

Ross hit two home runs off of Roy Halladay in Game One, and then Uribe hit a walk-off sacrifice fly in Game Four to give the Giants a 3-1 series lead; however the Phillies won Game Five and sent the series back to Philadelphia.

The Giants bullpen was solid in a Game Six after Jonathan Sanchez went just two innings, as they tossed seven scoreless innings and Uribe hit an opposite field home run in the top of the eighth inning.

Tim Lincecum came on to pitch in relief for the first time in his major league career, and allowed back-to-back singles in the bottom of the eighth inning before giving way to closer Brian Wilson, who got Carlos Ruiz to line into a double play to end the threat.

After giving up walks to Jimmy Rollins and Chase Utley, Wilson was able to strikeout Ryan a Howard looking to send the Giants to the World Series.

Two years later, the Giants would face the Cardinals for the third time in NLCS play, after falling behind three games to one, things looked bleak for the Giants; however they would find help from an unlikely source.

Barry Zito would pitch the game of his life, as he struck out six Cardinals in Game Five at Busch Stadium and the Giants shutout the Cardinals 5-0.

Over the next two games, the Giants would out score the Cardinals 15-1 on their way to win their National League Championship in three years after trailing three games to one.

After defeating the Washington Nationals in the National League Division Series, and the Cardinals defeated the Los Angeles Dodgers, the two teams would matchup in the NLCS for the second time in three years.

In their previous three matchups in the NLCS, the Giants lead the Cardinals two series to one.

By: Joe Lami

In the final week of calling Buck Shaw Stadium their home, the San Jose Earthquakes hosted C.D.S. Vida of Liga National in Honduras in a friendly on Tuesday night. Vida has a record of 3-2-6, good for seventh place in Liga National.

Vida has a connection with the Earthquakes, as Quakes’ defender, Victor Bernandez was born in the same town Vida calls home, La Cieba.

San Jose had an early chance in the first half, but was unsuccessful. Mike Fuctio found himself behind the back line of Vida in the 26^th minute. He struck one toward net with his left foot, but completely shanked the opportunity missing the net by a good ten feet.

Vida got on the board first, off of a free kick in the first half. When Eddie Hernandez flicked one into the bottom left corner of the net on a free kick in the 34^th minute.

The Quakes were able to equalize however, early in the second half, as Tommy Thompson found the back of the net in the 47^th minute. It was his first ever marker for San Jose. Shaun Francis picked up the assist, as he crossed it right in front of the goalmouth to Thompson, as Thompson went far post with the tap in.

San Jose had another great chance late in the 75^th minute when a rocket shot from the top of the box was robbed by a diving save by Vida goalkeeper Obed Enamorado.

Quakes’ goalie, Billy Knutsen, made his San Jose debut when he was subbed late in the match in the 76^th minute to take over duties from Bryan Meredith.

Kahri Stephenson gave the Earthquakes the lead on a beautiful shot in the 79^th minute from the left side of the box. The rocket with the right foot found the right corner of the net to put the Quakes on top 2-1.

Stephenson had another great opportunity just two minutes later, as he found himself all alone in the box. He tried the right footed rocket once again, but missed but over the net.

San Jose returns to MLS action on Saturday, as they close out Buck Shaw Stadium, when they host Vancouver Whitecaps.