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2012 World Series
2012 World Series logo
Team / Wins Manager Season
San Francisco Giants (4) Bruce Bochy 94–68, .580, GA:8
Detroit Tigers (0) Jim Leyland 88–74, .543, GA:3
Dates: October 24–October 28
MVP: Pablo Sandoval (San Francisco)
Television: Fox
TV announcers: Joe Buck and Tim McCarver
Radio network: ESPN
Radio announcers: Dan Shulman and Orel Hershiser
Umpires: Gerry Davis (crew chief), Dan Iassogna, Fieldin Culbreth, Brian O'Nora, Brian Gorman, Joe West
ALCS: Detroit Tigers over New York Yankees (4–0)
NLCS: San Francisco Giants over St. Louis Cardinals (4–3)
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The 2012 World Series was the 108th edition of Major League Baseball's (MLB) championship series. The best-of-seven playoff was played during the 2012 MLB season between the National League champion San Francisco Giants, and the American League champion Detroit Tigers, with the Giants defeating the Tigers in four games to win their seventh World Series title. The Tigers became only the third team to be swept in the World Series after sweeping the League Championship Series (LCS), following the 1990 Oakland Athletics and the 2007 Colorado Rockies. The Giants' Pablo Sandoval, who in Game 1 tied a record for hitting three home runs in a World Series game, was named the World Series Most Valuable Player (MVP).

As has been standard since 2003, home field advantage for the series was decided by the outcome of the All-Star Game. The 2012 All-Star Game, played on July 10 in Kansas City, Missouri, was won 8–0 by the National League. (The two teams were heavily involved in the outcome: of the eight runs, all but one were scored and/or driven in by a Giant, while the NL's five first-inning runs were given up by Tigers ace Justin Verlander.) The 2012 World Series began on Wednesday, October 24 at AT&T Park in San Francisco, and ended on Sunday, October 28 at Comerica Park in Detroit. This was the fourth World Series matchup since the MLB postseason expanded to three rounds that one team won its LCS in a sweep and the other was extended through a Game 7. The previous three occurrences saw the Game 7 pennant-winner prevail, in 1988, 2006 and 2007, and this trend continued with this series.[1]

It was the first World Series to include the batting champions from each league – Buster Posey of the Giants and Miguel Cabrera of the Tigers – since 1954, when the Giants' Willie Mays and Bobby Ávila of the Cleveland Indians met.[2]

The Giants became the first team since the 1966 Baltimore Orioles and the first NL team since the 1919 Cincinnati Reds to achieve consecutive shutouts in the World Series.[3] Giants' pitching held the Tigers to a .159 batting average in the series, the lowest for a team since the Los Angeles Dodgers hit .142 against the Orioles in the 1966 World Series.[4]

Background[]

San Francisco Giants[]

Main article: 2012 San Francisco Giants season

The Giants finished the regular season at 94–68 to win the National League West title before defeating the Cincinnati Reds in the National League Division Series in five games, losing the first two at home but winning the last three on the road, the first major league team ever to do so. They then came back from a 3–1 deficit to defeat the St. Louis Cardinals, the defending 2011 World Series champions, in the National League Championship Series, thus winning all six games facing elimination in consecutive postseason series, another first. This was the Giants' 22nd NL pennant, and their second World Series appearance in three years (since 2010, when they defeated the Texas Rangers in five games).

San Francisco's major preseason acquisitions were outfielders Melky Cabrera and Ángel Pagán. Cabrera set the Giants' franchise record for most hits in May with 51,[5][6] while Pagán broke the SF Giant record for most triples in a season with 13. Cabréra, however, was not selected for the Giants postseason roster after being suspended for 50 games on August 15 for being caught with performance-enhancing drugs in his system.[7] At the time, he had a major league-leading 159 hits and was second in the NL with a .346 batting average, after being voted the 2012 All-Star Game MVP.[8][9][10] The suspension expired after the NLDS, but manager Bruce Bochy opted not to add him to the NLCS or World Series rosters.[11] After Cabrera's disqualification from the batting race, All-Star Buster Posey finished the regular season with a .336 batting average to win the 2012 NL batting championship, and starting pitcher Matt Cain threw the first perfect game in Giants history and the 22nd in major league history on June 13.[12]

The Giants were also boosted by interim closer Sergio Romo, who converted 14 out of 15 save opportunities after regular closer Brian Wilson's season ended a few days after the start of the season, and midseason addition Marco Scutaro, who had ended the regular season at .306 with a 20-game hitting streak, tied an LCS record with 14 hits (and a .500 average) against the Cardinals en route to winning NLCS MVP honors.

This was Bochy's third World Series appearance as a manager, and his second with the Giants. Before leading San Francisco to the 2010 title, Bochy led the 1998 San Diego Padres to the NL pennant before they were swept by the New York Yankees in the World Series.

Bochy's starting rotation for the Series against Detroit was Barry Zito in Game 1, Madison Bumgarner in Game 2, Ryan Vogelsong in Game 3 and Matt Cain in Game 4.[13]

Detroit Tigers[]

Main article: 2012 Detroit Tigers season

The Tigers finished the regular season at 88–74 and won the American League Central pennant, their first repeat title in the divisional-play era (i.e., since 1969) and their first consecutive pennants or playoff appearances since 19341935. They defeated the Oakland Athletics in the American League Division Series three games to two, and then swept the New York Yankees four games to none in the American League Championship Series, to win their 11th American League pennant and earn their first Series appearance since 2006, when they lost to the St. Louis Cardinals four games to one.[14]

Their starting rotation was led by Justin Verlander (17–8, 3–0 in the pre-Series postseason) and Max Scherzer (16–7, 1–0 in the pre-Series postseason), who finished first and second for strikeouts in the American League with 239 & 231 respectively.[15] With a .330 average, 44 home runs and 139 RBIs, slugger Miguel Cabrera became the first player in 45 years to win the Triple Crown, leading the American League in batting average, home runs and runs batted in (RBI). The last player to accomplish this feat was Carl Yastrzemski for the pennant-winning Boston Red Sox in 1967.[16] Cabréra also holds a major league record in the postseason with at least one hit in all 17 of his League Championship Series appearances (7 games with the world champion Florida Marlins in 2003, and 10 games with the Tigers in 2011 & 2012).[17] A major acquisition before the season was the signing of slugging first baseman Prince Fielder to a nine-year, $214 million deal in January.[18]

It was Tiger manager Jim Leyland's third trip to the World Series, and his second with the Tigers. He previously won the World Series with the 1997 Florida Marlins four games to three, and lost in 2006 to the Cardinals with the Tigers four games to one. He was hoping to join Sparky Anderson (1975-6 Cincinnati Reds; 1984 Tigers) and Tony La Russa (1989 Oakland Athletics; 2006 & 2011 St. Louis Cardinals) as the only managers to win a World Series in both major leagues.

Leyland's starting rotation for the series was Verlander in Game 1, Doug Fister in Game 2, who had set the AL record for consecutive strikeouts during the 2012 regular season with nine (major league record: Tom Seaver, New York Mets, ten, 1970),[19] and Aníbal Sánchez and Scherzer for Games 3 and 4, respectively.[20]

Summary[]

Template:MLB Playoff Summary

Umpiring crew[]

Gerry Davis, as senior umpire of the six, was the crew chief, setting a new record for the most postseason games umpired in major league history at 115, including the five games of one of the 2012 Division Series and the four games of the 2012 World Series.

He was assisted by fellow regular-season crew chiefs Brian Gorman and Joe West, along with Fieldin Culbreth, Dan Iassogna and Brian O'Nora.[21]

Game summaries[]

Game 1[]

Wednesday, October 24, 2012 – 5:07 p.m. (PDT) at AT&T Park in San Francisco[22]

Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Detroit 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 2 3 8 0
San Francisco 1 0 3 1 1 0 2 0 X 8 11 0

WP: Barry Zito (1–0)  LP: Justin Verlander (0–1)  
HRs:  DET – Jhonny Peralta (1)  SF – Pablo Sandoval (3)

File:Pablo Sandoval on July 15, 2010.jpg

The Giants' Pablo Sandoval hit three home runs in Game 1.

The Giants jumped to a 6–0 lead in the fifth inning en route to a 8–3 victory in Game 1, on the strength of Pablo Sandoval's 4-for-4 with 4 RBI, on three home runs his first three times up and a final single. He joined Babe Ruth (in 1926 & 1928), Reggie Jackson (in 1977) and Albert Pujols (in 2011) as the only players ever to hit three home runs in one World Series game. Sandoval was the first player to hit three homers in Game 1 of the Series, and the only one to homer in his first three plate appearances.[23] Tiger ace Justin Verlander lasted only four innings, giving up five Giant runs, including Sandoval's first two homers. San Francisco starting pitcher Barry Zito did much better, allowing only one run in 5+23 innings. The Giants scored their final two runs in the seventh inning off demoted Tigers closer José Valverde, who hadn't pitched since Game 1 of the ALCS and who had surrendered nine earned runs in his last two appearances, against the Yankees in Game 1 of the ALDS and the Athletics in Game 4 of the ALCS, for two consecutive ninth-inning blown-save collapses in 3+13 postseason innings. Jhonny Peralta hit the Tigers' only home run, for two meaningless runs in the ninth with the game out of reach.

After Zito had allowed a run on three hits in the sixth inning, he was relieved by Tim Lincecum, who pitched 2+13 perfect innings with five strikeouts. It was only the second World Series game in which three Cy Young Award winners (Lincecum, Verlander and Zito) pitched; the first time it happened was Game 3 of the 1983 World Series, when Steve Carlton started for the Philadelphia Phillies vs. Mike Flanagan for the world champion Baltimore Orioles and was relieved by Jim Palmer.[23]

Game 2[]

Thursday, October 25, 2012 – 5:07 p.m. (PDT) at AT&T Park in San Francisco[24]

Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Detroit 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0
San Francisco 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 X 2 5 0

WP: Madison Bumgarner (1–0)  LP: Doug Fister (0–1)  SV: Sergio Romo (1)  

The Giants went ahead 2–0 in the series after winning Game 2. The game remained scoreless until the bottom of the seventh when, with the bases loaded and nobody out, Brandon Crawford grounded into a double play scoring Hunter Pence, whose sacrifice fly in the eighth, with the bases loaded and one out, in turn scored Pagán with the second and last Giant run. The Tigers' best chance to score occurred in top of the second. With Prince Fielder on first, slugger Delmon Young lined a double into the left field corner. Fielder was sent home on a gamble by third base coach Gene Lamont, but was tagged out on a close play at the plate by catcher Buster Posey after two perfect relay throws (from left fielder Gregor Blanco and, moving to the left side of the diamond to serve as the backup cutoff man after Blanco had overthrown shortstop Brandon Crawford as the intended lead cutoff man, second baseman Marco Scutaro). Madison Bumgarner pitched seven shutout innings, yielding only two hits with eight strikeouts, for the win.

Game 3[]

Saturday, October 27, 2012 – 8:07 p.m. (EDT) at Comerica Park in Detroit[25]

Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
San Francisco 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 7 1
Detroit 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 5 1

WP: Ryan Vogelsong (1–0)  LP: Aníbal Sánchez (0–1)  SV: Sergio Romo (2)  

With their 2–0 victory in Game 3, the Giants became the first team in a World Series to record back-to-back shutouts since the Baltimore Orioles threw three straight against the Los Angeles Dodgers in Games 2-4, completing a sweep of the 1966; and the first NL team to do so since the Cincinnati Reds threw back-to-back shutouts against the Chicago White Sox (soon to be disgraced as the traitorous Series-throwing Black Sox) in 1919.[26] San Francisco starter Ryan Vogelsong pitched 5+23 shutout innings. Detroit had the bases loaded with one out in the fifth inning, but Vogelsong got Quintin Berry to strike out swinging and Miguel Cabrera to pop out harmlessly on the second pitch (after lining a hard grounder just foul past the first base on the first pitch) to end the Tigers' scoring threat. The only runs of the game were scored in the Giant half of the second inning, on a one-out triple by Gregor Blanco scoring Hunter Pence from second and a hard two-out single by Brandon Crawford scoring Blanco.

Game 4[]

File:San Francisco Giants win 2012 World Series Fans react to moment of win.theora.ogv

The crowd in San Francisco Civic Center reacting just as the Giants won. City Hall visible in the background

Sunday, October 28, 2012 – 8:15 p.m. (EDT) at Comerica Park in Detroit[27]

Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 R H E
San Francisco 0 1 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 1 4 9 0
Detroit 0 0 2 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 3 5 0

WP: Santiago Casilla (1–0)  LP: Phil Coke (0–1)  SV: Sergio Romo (3)  
HRs:  SF – Buster Posey (1)  DET – Miguel Cabrera (1), Delmon Young (1)

Scutaro's RBI single in the top of the tenth, allowing Ryan Theriot to score, was the difference in the Giants' 4–3 victory in Game 4, sweeping the Tigers to win the World Series. San Francisco had scored first in the top of the second when Brandon Belt tripled to right field with one out, scoring Hunter Pence just as they had done in the same inning of Game 3, but this time the Giants could not score Belt from third even with two hard-hit balls (Blanco's hard grounder right at second baseman Infánte, and Crawford's near-gapper to right-center run down by right fielder Dirks).[27] Detroit took the lead in the 3rd inning with Cabrera's two-run homer off Matt Cain, a wind-aided, otherwise routine high fly that just made it over the wall in right-center for an opposite-field round-tripper which gave the Tigers their first and only lead of the Series, ending a 20-inning scoreless streak.[28] The Giants regained the lead with Buster Posey's resounding blast for a two-run homer in the top of the sixth just to the right of the left field foul pole, but Delmon Young tied the game on a Matt Cain hanging slider with a line shot off-field solo home run to right-center in the bottom of the frame. After stellar relief from Jeremy Affeldt and winning pitcher Santiago Casilla in the eighth and ninth followed by Scutaro's winning single in the top of the tenth scoring designated hitter Ryan Theriot, who had opened the inning with a clean single, closer Sergio Romo struck out the side in the bottom of the 10th, ending with a called third strike on Cabrera on a surprise tailing fastball (after several consecutive hard sliders) for the last out (and his third save) of the Series.[27][28]

Since the visiting team won the Series for only the second time in three years (the last time this happened being the 2010 Series, ironically also won by the Giants), the trophies for the winning team and Most Valuable Player (Sándoval, who hit .500 added to the three home runs his first three times up in Game 1) were presented in the Giants' locker room. Incidentally, the Giants franchise's last four World Series clinching victories all occurred on the road in a similar fashion.

Composite line score[]

2012 World Series (4–0): San Francisco Giants (N.L.) over Detroit Tigers (A.L.)

Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 R H E
Detroit Tigers 0 0 2 0 0 2 0 0 2 0 6 20 1
San Francisco Giants 1 3 3 1 1 2 3 1 0 1 16 32 1


Broadcasting[]

Television[]

In the United States, Fox televised the games, with Joe Buck calling play-by-play in his 15th World Series, and Tim McCarver handling color commentary for his 23rd World Series. Ken Rosenthal also appeared on the Fox telecasts as a field reporter, with Erin Andrews and Chris Myers joining him for select games. MLB International syndicated its own telecast of the series, with announcers Gary Thorne and Rick Sutcliffe, to various networks outside the U.S.[29] Additionally, the American Forces Network and Canadian Forces Radio and Television carried the games to U.S. and Canadian service personnel stationed around the globe. Fox Deportes carried the Series in Spanish on American cable and satellite TV.

However, on August 24, Tribune removed affiliate WTIC from Cablevision systems in Connecticut, causing viewers to miss Games 1 and 2 of the series. An agreement between Cablevision and Tribune was reached on October 26, the day before Game 3.

Ratings[]

Game Ratings
(households)
Share
(households)
American audience
(in millions)
1 7.6 12 12.2
2 7.8 12 12.3
3 TBA TBA TBA
4 TBA TBA TBA

Radio[]

ESPN Radio broadcasts the World Series nationally, with Dan Shulman and Orel Hershiser working their second consecutive World Series together. ESPN Deportes Radio aired the Series for Spanish language listeners, with Ernesto Jerez and Guillermo Celis announcing.

Locally, the two teams' flagship stations broadcast the series with their respective announcing crews. The Giants' English-language broadcasts aired on KNBR-AM (with Dave Flemming, Jon Miller, Mike Krukow, and Duane Kuiper announcing) with their Spanish-language broadcasts on KIQI-AM (with Erwin Higueros and Tito Fuentes), while WXYT-FM and AM carried the Tigers' English-language broadcasts (with Dan Dickerson and Jim Price). Due to contractual obligations, the non-flagship stations on the teams' radio networks carried the ESPN Radio broadcasts of the games, although the local broadcasts were also available on XM Satellite Radio and to Gameday Audio subscribers at MLB.com.

References[]

  1. LefKow, Mike. "San Francisco Giants have history on their side", October 23, 2012.
  2. Shea, John. "Overheard at World Series Game 1", October 24, 2012. Retrieved on [[October 25, 2012]].
  3. "Giants beat Tigers 2-0, take 3-0 lead in WS", usnews.com, October 27, 2012.
  4. 2012 World Series Game 4 recap at cbssports.com
  5. Arizona Diamondbacks vs. San Francisco Giants – Recap – May 29, 2012 – ESPN. ESPN.com (2012-05-29). Retrieved on [[2012-09-02]].
  6. Mccauley, Janie (2012-05-31). Kennedy outduels Lincecum to end long skid – Yahoo! Sports. Yahoo! Sports. Retrieved on [[2012-09-02]].
  7. McCauley, Janie. "Giants OF Cabrera suspended for positive drug test", Boston Globe, August 15, 2012. Retrieved on [[15 August 2012]].
  8. Lacques, Gabe. "Melky Cabrera suspended 50 games for testosterone", August 15, 2012.
  9. "Melky Cabrera suspended 50 games", ESPN.com, August 15, 2012.
  10. Melky delivers, earns All-Star MVP honors. MLB.com (11 July 2012). Retrieved on 11 July 2012.
  11. Miller, Scott. Verlander's All-Star exhibition, exiled Melky's heroics tilt World Series home-field advantage. CBS Sports.
  12. Houston Astros vs. San Francisco Giants – Recap – June 13, 2012 – ESPN. ESPN.com (2012-06-13). Retrieved on [[2012-06-13]].
  13. Moore, David Leon (October 23, 2012). Next big stage for Barry Zito: World Series. USA Today Sports.
  14. Beck, Jason. Party to the Max: Tigers sweep way to Series. Retrieved on [[19 October 2012]].
  15. AL Strikeout Leaders. CBS Sports. Retrieved on [[2012-10-19]].
  16. Miggy secures first Triple Crown since 1967. MLB.com (October 3, 2012).
  17. 2012 ALCS Game 4 Recap. CBS Sports (2012-10-18).
  18. Prince, Tigers reportedly reach nine-year deal. MLB.com (January 24, 2012).
  19. Odoardi, Anthony (September 27, 2012). Fister sets AL strikeout mark against Royals. MLB.com. Tigers.MLB.com.
  20. Hagen, Paul (October 26, 2012). Facing uphill climb, Tigers 'pumped' to return home. MLB.com. Major League Baseball. Retrieved on [[October 26, 2012]].
  21. MLB Announces 2012 World Series Umpires. MLB.com (2012-10-23). Retrieved on [[2012-10-25]].
  22. Detroit Tigers at San Francisco Giants – October 24, 2012 | MLB.com Play-by-Play. MLB.com (October 24, 2012). Retrieved on [[October 24, 2012]].
  23. 23.0 23.1 Did you know? World Series Game 1: SF 8, DET 3. MLB.com (October 25, 2012). Retrieved on [[October 25, 2012]].
  24. Detroit Tigers at San Francisco Giants – October 25, 2012 | MLB.com Play-by-Play. MLB.com (October 25, 2012). Retrieved on [[October 25, 2012]].
  25. San Francisco Giants at Detroit Tigers – October 27, 2012 | MLB.com Play-by-Play. MLB.com (October 27, 2012). Retrieved on [[October 27, 2012]].
  26. Nightengale, Bob (2012-10-28). Nightengale: Giant mismatch of a World Series nears end. USA Today Sports. Retrieved on [[2012-10-28]]. “The last National League team to record back-to-back World Series shutouts? Would you believe the 1919 Cincinnati Reds, and that World Series was fixed.”
  27. 27.0 27.1 27.2 San Francisco Giants at Detroit Tigers – October 28, 2012 | MLB.com Play-by-Play. MLB.com (October 28, 2012). Retrieved on [[October 28, 2012]].
  28. 28.0 28.1 "Giants top Tigers in 10th for World Series sweep", ESPN.com, October 28, 2012.
  29. Less is More With MLB International. A Rouge's Point (October 19, 2012).

External links[]

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