09-18-2003, 11:27 AM
San Francisco takes NL West crown
By Rich Draper / MLB.com
SAN FRANCISCO -- Hugs. Smiles. Laughter. Shouts of joy. Champagne showers.
Even for veteran Giants who have been here before, celebrating the National League West title in the clubhouse never gets old, never gets boring, and emotions soared and uniforms got soaked Wednesday night.
San Francisco clinched the crown with an 8-3 victory over the San Diego Padres at Pacific Bell Park, but the players and 40,014 fans waited for several minutes, watching the crucial Arizona-Los Angeles game on the video screen ... waiting for the finish.
Then it happened, the Diamondbacks doing their big California rival a favor by beating the Dodgers, dropping the Giants' magic number from one to none and prompting the Giants to whoop and holler while the fans erupted in prolonged cheers.
Fireworks blazed from behind the scoreboard, the water cannons boomed their usual victory salute.
Giants clinch ... now what?
More work to do
Barry Bonds
Just the beginning -- that was the rallying cry for the Giants on Wednesday night after they clinched the National League West title. For while they're happy the pennant is secured, the pressure is just beginning to percolate.
If the season ended today, the Giants would face the NL Wild Card winner in the Division Series, tentatively slated to start Sept. 30 at Pacific Bell Park. And the Giants, who finished second to Arizona in the NL West last season, are well aware that anything can happen in the playoffs.
That may change, of course, if the Dodgers sneak past Florida and Philadelphia, or if a Central team nabs the Wild Card and the Braves end up with a better record than the Giants. Then Atlanta, which clinched a share of the NL East crown Wednesday, would face the Wild Card winner and the Giants would host the NL Central champs.
There's also the matter of the home-field advantage for the hoped-for National League Championship Series. The Giants will win that if they tie or beat Atlanta's overall record.
No one expects a letdown after claiming the division flag, for as J.T. Snow put it, there are too many veterans and solid players on the Giants for them to lose focus now.
"I don't know how to explain this year, with new guys on the team, a new manager and dealing with all the adversity," said Snow. "But one word sums up this team: character. Guys always did what was asked of them."
For some players, San Francisco's loss to the Anaheim Angels in last season's World Series was painful, coming within five outs in Game 6 of winning it all.
For others, it is old news.
"That's baseball," said Barry Bonds. "You lose, you lose, that's life. But then you move on. We weren't down at all. You can't compare last year's team with this one, though, because we're not there yet."
-- Rich Draper, MLB.com
This was not routine, far from it, even for a club that had been in first place wire to wire, 171 straight days breathing that rarified atmosphere.
This was a season of injuries, of family-member deaths -- from dearest, No. 1 fan Marjorie Wallace to Jason Schmidt's mother, Vicki, Yorvit Torrealba's grandmother and Barry Bonds' father, Bobby -- of trades, of heartbreaking losses and knot-in-your-tummy finishes.
Adversity. Tragedy. Pressure. But through it all, the Giants' amazing depth and talent shined through.
"People say you get used to this sort of thing, but you don't," said Schmidt, who upped his record to a career-best 16-5 and struck out 11 batters Wednesday. "You don't want to get too excited because this is just the start of things -- there's a long way to go."
The Cy Young candidate had a bit of a wobbly start against the Padres, giving up three runs in the first two innings, but then allowed only two hits after that, blowing the Padres away.
"I was a little stiff, but a couple guys said we were going to give you a lot of runs and they did, giving me a second wind," smiled Schmidt, as bubbly was poured down his shirt. "They gave me a lot of room to breathe. Sixteen wins? Outstanding. If we don't win it all this year, it's not worth a whole lot, to tell you the truth."
It seemed fitting that Schmidt, the team ace, the quiet man with a rocket-firing arm, would be on the hill this night. He helped make the clinching possible.
"I didn't know it was going to be tonight," he said. "This has been an unreal year. For me, it's like the stars are aligned just right, the planets, whatever. This has been that kind of a year. But we have to take it all the way."
Schmidt established a career high for strikeouts in a season with 207 and became the first Giants to break the 200 K mark since John Montefusco fanned 215 in 1975.
He had a big support group behind him, with Andres Galarraga blasting his 397th career homer in the second inning -- a two-run blast -- and Marquis Grissom following suit with a two-RBI homer in the third off Padres pitcher Mike Bynum.
Bynum departed after yielding two runs in the fifth on RBI singles from Rich Aurilia and Barry Bonds, the latter preceding the base hit by lashing two foul shots into faraway McCovey Cove.
Schmidt gave up a first-inning homer to Mark Loretta and two more runs in the third on a single by Humberto Quintero and a run-scoring triple from Ramon Vazquez.
Then, the Cy Young candidate found his groove, as he struck out 11 of the next 15 Padres and cruised to his 11th victory in his last 13 games. It was the fifth time this year Schmidt has fanned at least 10 batters.
The Giants added a run in the sixth as Benito Santiago smoked a double to the right-center field wall and scored on Jose Cruz Jr.'s sacrifice fly. In the eighth, Cruz drove home Edgardo Alfonzo with an infield single.
Cruz looked on with goose bumps as the game wound down, fairly nonchalant for the first six frames, but then a feeling he never had before crept inside him.
A championship. OK, only the division. But it was a new, wonderful experience.
"I'm on a high right now," crowed Cruz. "I wasn't really excited late, then I looked up at the scoreboard and saw the Arizona score and we were up -- it was like, 'Oh, my God.' It was great. And it only gets better from here."
From his corner property in the Giants clubhouse, Bonds talked softly with friends and family -- then came the media horde, microphones hoping to capture every word.
Bonds did not homer this night, but it hardly mattered. He was the fire that burned brightly in this team's furnace all season with his 43 homers and counting, with his leadership and strength.
"We can't let up now," said the 39-year-old veteran. "We'll see what happens, but hopefully this will carry over. We played good all year and consistently all year, and the bottom line was all the young pitchers did so well."
Bonds smiled broadly, but inside he knows the score. It's only mid-September, yet October and the tension-filled playoffs loom.
"We have more games to play and sometimes you lose focus," he said. "Sometimes that can be your downfall. You can't just turn it on and off, so the guys have to be ready every day and keep going. We've got a good team, but in the playoffs anything can happen. You can party all you want to, but it can end real quick."
The Giants did party, though. Boy, did they ever. Music thumped in the clubhouse, plastic sheets covering the cubicles containing their gear. Pitcher Jim Brower was fizzy and bubbly from a champagne bath. Camera lights blinked on and off.
What made it ever-so-special was the Giants being in first from start to finish -- an amazing 171 days with at least a share of the divisonal lead. No San Francisco club had ever accomplished that feat, and only eight other teams had done it in Major League history.
It was the first NL West crown for the Giants since the 2000 season and sixth since the San Francisco squad first won in 1971, adding titles in 1987, 1989 and 1997.
Eight-year veteran Rich Aurilia is a "lifetime" Giant and has seen titles and near-titles. It's a thrill every time, he said.
"With all the changes we made, all the injuries, obstacles, trades we made and personal losses, it doesn't get old," he said. "It's still fun. But it's back to work tomorrow. We'll enjoy this night then get on with this thing."
The season continues Thursday at 12:35 p.m. PT, as Sidney Ponson goes for his fourth San Francisco victory, opposing the Padres' Jake Peavy.
Rich Draper is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.
By Rich Draper / MLB.com
SAN FRANCISCO -- Hugs. Smiles. Laughter. Shouts of joy. Champagne showers.
Even for veteran Giants who have been here before, celebrating the National League West title in the clubhouse never gets old, never gets boring, and emotions soared and uniforms got soaked Wednesday night.
San Francisco clinched the crown with an 8-3 victory over the San Diego Padres at Pacific Bell Park, but the players and 40,014 fans waited for several minutes, watching the crucial Arizona-Los Angeles game on the video screen ... waiting for the finish.
Then it happened, the Diamondbacks doing their big California rival a favor by beating the Dodgers, dropping the Giants' magic number from one to none and prompting the Giants to whoop and holler while the fans erupted in prolonged cheers.
Fireworks blazed from behind the scoreboard, the water cannons boomed their usual victory salute.
Giants clinch ... now what?
More work to do
Barry Bonds
Just the beginning -- that was the rallying cry for the Giants on Wednesday night after they clinched the National League West title. For while they're happy the pennant is secured, the pressure is just beginning to percolate.
If the season ended today, the Giants would face the NL Wild Card winner in the Division Series, tentatively slated to start Sept. 30 at Pacific Bell Park. And the Giants, who finished second to Arizona in the NL West last season, are well aware that anything can happen in the playoffs.
That may change, of course, if the Dodgers sneak past Florida and Philadelphia, or if a Central team nabs the Wild Card and the Braves end up with a better record than the Giants. Then Atlanta, which clinched a share of the NL East crown Wednesday, would face the Wild Card winner and the Giants would host the NL Central champs.
There's also the matter of the home-field advantage for the hoped-for National League Championship Series. The Giants will win that if they tie or beat Atlanta's overall record.
No one expects a letdown after claiming the division flag, for as J.T. Snow put it, there are too many veterans and solid players on the Giants for them to lose focus now.
"I don't know how to explain this year, with new guys on the team, a new manager and dealing with all the adversity," said Snow. "But one word sums up this team: character. Guys always did what was asked of them."
For some players, San Francisco's loss to the Anaheim Angels in last season's World Series was painful, coming within five outs in Game 6 of winning it all.
For others, it is old news.
"That's baseball," said Barry Bonds. "You lose, you lose, that's life. But then you move on. We weren't down at all. You can't compare last year's team with this one, though, because we're not there yet."
-- Rich Draper, MLB.com
This was not routine, far from it, even for a club that had been in first place wire to wire, 171 straight days breathing that rarified atmosphere.
This was a season of injuries, of family-member deaths -- from dearest, No. 1 fan Marjorie Wallace to Jason Schmidt's mother, Vicki, Yorvit Torrealba's grandmother and Barry Bonds' father, Bobby -- of trades, of heartbreaking losses and knot-in-your-tummy finishes.
Adversity. Tragedy. Pressure. But through it all, the Giants' amazing depth and talent shined through.
"People say you get used to this sort of thing, but you don't," said Schmidt, who upped his record to a career-best 16-5 and struck out 11 batters Wednesday. "You don't want to get too excited because this is just the start of things -- there's a long way to go."
The Cy Young candidate had a bit of a wobbly start against the Padres, giving up three runs in the first two innings, but then allowed only two hits after that, blowing the Padres away.
"I was a little stiff, but a couple guys said we were going to give you a lot of runs and they did, giving me a second wind," smiled Schmidt, as bubbly was poured down his shirt. "They gave me a lot of room to breathe. Sixteen wins? Outstanding. If we don't win it all this year, it's not worth a whole lot, to tell you the truth."
It seemed fitting that Schmidt, the team ace, the quiet man with a rocket-firing arm, would be on the hill this night. He helped make the clinching possible.
"I didn't know it was going to be tonight," he said. "This has been an unreal year. For me, it's like the stars are aligned just right, the planets, whatever. This has been that kind of a year. But we have to take it all the way."
Schmidt established a career high for strikeouts in a season with 207 and became the first Giants to break the 200 K mark since John Montefusco fanned 215 in 1975.
He had a big support group behind him, with Andres Galarraga blasting his 397th career homer in the second inning -- a two-run blast -- and Marquis Grissom following suit with a two-RBI homer in the third off Padres pitcher Mike Bynum.
Bynum departed after yielding two runs in the fifth on RBI singles from Rich Aurilia and Barry Bonds, the latter preceding the base hit by lashing two foul shots into faraway McCovey Cove.
Schmidt gave up a first-inning homer to Mark Loretta and two more runs in the third on a single by Humberto Quintero and a run-scoring triple from Ramon Vazquez.
Then, the Cy Young candidate found his groove, as he struck out 11 of the next 15 Padres and cruised to his 11th victory in his last 13 games. It was the fifth time this year Schmidt has fanned at least 10 batters.
The Giants added a run in the sixth as Benito Santiago smoked a double to the right-center field wall and scored on Jose Cruz Jr.'s sacrifice fly. In the eighth, Cruz drove home Edgardo Alfonzo with an infield single.
Cruz looked on with goose bumps as the game wound down, fairly nonchalant for the first six frames, but then a feeling he never had before crept inside him.
A championship. OK, only the division. But it was a new, wonderful experience.
"I'm on a high right now," crowed Cruz. "I wasn't really excited late, then I looked up at the scoreboard and saw the Arizona score and we were up -- it was like, 'Oh, my God.' It was great. And it only gets better from here."
From his corner property in the Giants clubhouse, Bonds talked softly with friends and family -- then came the media horde, microphones hoping to capture every word.
Bonds did not homer this night, but it hardly mattered. He was the fire that burned brightly in this team's furnace all season with his 43 homers and counting, with his leadership and strength.
"We can't let up now," said the 39-year-old veteran. "We'll see what happens, but hopefully this will carry over. We played good all year and consistently all year, and the bottom line was all the young pitchers did so well."
Bonds smiled broadly, but inside he knows the score. It's only mid-September, yet October and the tension-filled playoffs loom.
"We have more games to play and sometimes you lose focus," he said. "Sometimes that can be your downfall. You can't just turn it on and off, so the guys have to be ready every day and keep going. We've got a good team, but in the playoffs anything can happen. You can party all you want to, but it can end real quick."
The Giants did party, though. Boy, did they ever. Music thumped in the clubhouse, plastic sheets covering the cubicles containing their gear. Pitcher Jim Brower was fizzy and bubbly from a champagne bath. Camera lights blinked on and off.
What made it ever-so-special was the Giants being in first from start to finish -- an amazing 171 days with at least a share of the divisonal lead. No San Francisco club had ever accomplished that feat, and only eight other teams had done it in Major League history.
It was the first NL West crown for the Giants since the 2000 season and sixth since the San Francisco squad first won in 1971, adding titles in 1987, 1989 and 1997.
Eight-year veteran Rich Aurilia is a "lifetime" Giant and has seen titles and near-titles. It's a thrill every time, he said.
"With all the changes we made, all the injuries, obstacles, trades we made and personal losses, it doesn't get old," he said. "It's still fun. But it's back to work tomorrow. We'll enjoy this night then get on with this thing."
The season continues Thursday at 12:35 p.m. PT, as Sidney Ponson goes for his fourth San Francisco victory, opposing the Padres' Jake Peavy.
Rich Draper is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.