by Jordan Fickling, sports editor
For six exciting games, the Kansas City Royals and San Francisco Giants traded victories. Game seven was their climatic finish, however it was the Giants who got the last laugh.
Game seven took place at Kansas City, giving the Royals a huge advantage. The Giants had to ignore the raucous crowd and play well if they wanted to come out on top.
“I was really interested in this game. Both teams had an advantage either way you looked at it. Kansas had the home advantage and San Francisco had the recent World Series success,” freshman Cody Chojar said.
In the end, the Giants quelled the Royals rally, in a 3-2 victory thanks to their magnificent pitcher, the World Series MVP Madison Bumgarner.
Giants struck quickly as they scored two runs at the beginning of the second inning, however at the bottom of the inning, the Royals reciprocated with a run of their own.
As the game progressed, Bumgarner took full command. For five consecutive innings, Bumgarner produced a shutout, completely putting a halt to the Royals’ offense.
Giants were unrelenting in their offense, as First Basemen Brandon Belt, Right Fielder Hunter Pence and Third Basemen Pablo Sandoval all produced a run during the anticipated game.
Kansas City had no answers for Bumgarner as his strikeouts continued to stack up much to the dismay of the Kansas City crowd.
At the conclusion of the game, the Giants came out victorious, clinching their third World Series Championship in the last five years.
“I wanted the Royals to win but I expected the Giants to close out the series because the Giants have an overall better team due to their playoff experience and their manager’s [Bruce Bochy] previous success,” senior Zachary Damasco said.
Fans of Kansas City should not be ashamed however. The Royals ended their 29 year playoff drought and became the only non- World Series winning team in Major League Baseball (MLB) playoff history to accumulate the most playoff victories.
Until the MLB season recommences in April, fans will be left with ambiguity. Players will be free agents and many franchises will be struggling to sign ideal commodities to their respective teams. Many fans will share the same question: Can the Giants repeat their season? or Will the Royals finally recapture a Championship? Fans will be asking themselves this for a long time.