More than 40,800 people file into a single setting; thousands more wish they could be there.
Excitement in the air, great players, great fans and a great atmosphere could only equal one thing: the World Series.
“I think it is one of — if not the best — sports championship,” said senior baseball player Ben Esser. “I am definitely excited each year for the World Series.”
In the 108th World Series, the general public found itself witnessing a historic matchup between the San Francisco Giants and the Detroit Tigers.
In the first game alone there was an epic face-off between pitchers Barry Zito and Justin Verlander. Zito was surprisingly able to gain the upper-hand on Cy Young Award winner Verlander.
“To be able to go up against Verlander and give our team a chance to go up 1–0, and the fact that we won, it’s just kind of surreal,” said Zito in an interview with ESPN. “It’s just a pleasure to be a part of it all.”
Despite the solid performance from Zito on the mound, the night was stolen by Giants third baseman and teammate Pablo Sandoval. On the night of Oct. 24, Sandoval hit a perfect four for four, including three home runs. Hitting three home runs made Sandoval one of only four men to lay claim to such a feat.
“The guy had one of those unbelievable World Series nights that they’ll be talking about for years,” said Tigers manager Jim Leyland in an interview with CBS Sports. “So I tip my hat to him.”
In addition to the historic performances of Zito and Sandoval, the Giants as a unit were able to come together and win game one of the World Series.
In game two, there was not as much ‘historical’ excitement. However, through a strong pitching performance from Madison Bumgarner, the Giants were able to gain a 2–0 win, as well as a 2–0 series lead.
“I wanted to go out there and try to pitch well for our guys and the fans, and that’s all I was thinking about,” said Bumgarner in an interview with the San Francisco Chronicle.
In game three the Giants put on another dominant pitching performance headlined by Ryan Vogelsong. Vogelsong pitched nearly six innings of shutout baseball and lead the Giants to a 2-0 victory, putting them up three games to none.
“I’ve been waiting for this since I was five years old,” Vogelsong said in an interview with MLB.com. “I wasn’t going to go down without a fight, that’s for sure.” In the game that completed the sweep for the Giants, it took extra innings for them to win. The Giants eventually won on a Marco Scutaro single that drove teammate Ryan Theriot in from third base.
“These guys made it easy,” Manager Bruce Bochy said to the Washington Post. “They never complained. They just wanted to win.”
When the Giants were up 2–0, many fans at Guilford seemed to be jumping on the Giants bandwagon.
“The Giants pitching staff is too deep, both starting and bullpen,” said sophomore John Richardson. “(The) Giants will win the series.”
First-year Sam Mozon felt similarly.
“The Giants are playing textbook baseball,” said Mozon. “They find a way to score runs; the Giants will take it all.”
With the Giants claiming their second World Series title in the past three years, they are proving themselves to be somewhat of a baseball force.
Though the series ended with the Tigers being swept, both teams gave the fans plenty to cheer for and left them anxious to see what next season holds.
