Championship Blood

Brian Murphy Murphy

Description

The San Francisco Giants won their third World Series in five years in 2014, and Championship Blood: The 2014 World Series Champion San Francisco Giants captures the season like no other book does. This large-format, jacketed, full-color photo book features the dynamic photographs of legendary Sports Illustrated photographer Brad Mangin. Paired with stories and essays by KNBR Sports Radio's Brian Murphy (of the "Murph and Mac" show), Championship Blood is sure to please anyone who considers themselves a San Francisco Giants fan and wants to remember the Giants' historic run in 2014.

Sujets

• Béisbol
• Baseball

Informations

• Publié par: ABRAMS BOOKS
• Date de parution: 16 septembre 2022
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9798887070346
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 5 Mo

Extrait

Joe Panik in dugout in Oakland
Authenticated ball with which Yusmeiro Petit set the MLB record for consecutive batters retired
Tim Hudson pitches in World Series Game 3
CHAMPIONSHIP BLOOD: THE SAN FRANCISCO GIANTS - 2014 WORLD SERIES CHAMPIONS
P UBLISHED IN 2015 BY C AMERON + C OMPANY , an imprint of ABRAMS.
A LL PHOTOGRAPHS BY B RAD M ANGIN . P HOTOGRAPHS 2015 B RAD M ANGIN , EXCEPT this page - this page , this page ( CENTER RIGHT, BOTTOM LEFT, BOTTOM MIDDLE ), this page , this page , ( TOP MIDDLE, TOP RIGHT, CENTER LEFT, CENTER MIDDLE, CENTER RIGHT ), this page - this page , this page , this page , this page , this page - this page , this page - this page , this page , this page - this page , this page - this page , this page , WHICH ARE 2014 M AJOR L EAGUE B ASEBALL PHOTOS . F RONT COVER IMAGE: 2014 M AJOR L EAGUE B ASEBALL P HOTOS .
T EXT 2015 B RIAN M URPHY . F OREWORD 2015 B RUCE B OCHY . A FTERWORD 2015 T IM F LANNERY . I NTRODUCTION 2015 B RAD M ANGIN B RIAN M URPHY
P HOTO OF P AUL M C C AFFREY B RIAN M URPHY ( this page ) BY B ECKY B INIEK P HOTO OF B RAD M ANGIN ( this page ) BY M EG W ILLIAMS
A LL RIGHTS RESERVED . N O PART OF THIS BOOK MAY BE REPRODUCED IN ANY FORM WITHOUT WRITTEN PERMISSION FROM THE PUBLISHER .
L IBRARY OF C ONGRESS C ONTROL N UMBER AVAILABLE ISBN: 978-1-937359-79-9
eISBN: 979-8-887070-34-6
CAMERON + COMPANY
Petaluma, California cameronbooks.com
Opening Day in San Francisco
CONTENTS
FOREWORD
INTRODUCTION
THE JOURNEY
BRANDON CRAWFORD
TIM HUDSON
BRANDON BELT
JOE PANIK
JAKE PEAVY
YUSMEIRO PETIT
MICHAEL MORSE
HUNTER PENCE
BUSTER POSEY
TRAVIS ISHIKAWA
PABLO SANDOVAL
MADISON BUMGARNER
BRUCE BOCHY
AFTERWORD
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The 2010 World Champion Giants

Celebrating World Series Championship in Texas

The 2012 World Champion Giants

Buster Posey
Pablo Sandoval and Brandon Belt celebrate 11-4 victory in World Series Game 4 (left) ; Jeremy Affeldt (right)

Jake Peavy holds up 2014 World Series trophy
FOREWORD BY BRUCE BOCHY
When I think of the 2014 World Series champion Giants, I start by thinking of the determination of a group of guys who refused to give in and listen to the odds.
They played with so much heart throughout the postseason. I look at this club, and I see similarities to the 2010 and 2012 championship teams in how they played for each other, not themselves. They wanted to win for each other. They wanted their teammates who d never won one-Huddy, Morse, Panik-to get a ring. They wanted to win for the fans. It was an incredible group of guys who had tremendous focus and a huge sense of purpose, and that purpose was to win for everybody else.
Where does that focus come from? It comes from having so much character throughout the team. Other players feed on it. We do care about each other. It is a family here. It s nice to have the history that we ve had the previous two World Series-the DNA of how to handle the postseason, that s in them too.
We talk about championship blood, and there s something to be said for that. There s so much pressure and tension. Anybody can feel it. These guys have the ability to raise the bar, and they did it again.
Everybody heard about that phrase championship blood when Hunter used it in his speech after we clinched the playoff berth. That s the first time the public had heard it. I had talked about it with the team in meetings. It s in their blood. These guys, sometimes, you want to remind them who they are. This is a team that s had to beat the odds so many times, going back to 2012.
In 2010, they were the misfits. This was the Yes! Yes! Yes! group. Through the tough times, it was a good reminder to let them know they do have championship blood, they know how to get it done. That s what they know.
The phrase came to me from just looking at them, and what they had done, winning two in the previous four years. It was a case of reminding each other who we are.
At the parade at City Hall, Buster Posey talked about how the seeds for 2014 were laid in the 2013 season, when we missed the playoffs. He was right. At the end of 2013, we were all disappointed, after having won the World Series in 2012. You go to spring training in 2014, and these were the things we talked about. We all talked about how we got derailed, what it takes to get back on track, who we are-and that is a champion. If you look at Buster, Hunter Pence, Pablo Sandoval, the pitching staff, there s a lot of pride with these guys. They came in with a bigger sense of purpose. They said, Hey, last year was not good. Sure, we had to deal with some things in 2013, but the bottom line is, we have to play better baseball.
It all started in spring training, with our determination to get back on top. Spring training couldn t have gone better, and it showed with the start we got off to. We were the best in baseball, with a 42-21 record into early June.
The greatest thing about our hot start was our offense. We ve always been known as a pitching and defense club. We re not a team that flexes muscles. But look at that stretch, the power we showed, not just home runs, but lots of doubles, too. We had some guys get off to rough starts, like Pence and Pablo. But Morse was huge, just a huge shot in the arm for us. And Angel Pagan was the guy who got us going, the catalyst. We weren t clicking all the way, but with timely hits, big hits, timely home runs or doubles, we put runs on the board.
Morse was such a key to our start. He reminded me of what happened to the club in 2010 when we acquired Pat Burrell. Morse s presence in the lineup meant so much. Also, what he brought to the clubhouse. He was another great character who played to win. And he did bond with the club. He and Pence became very good friends. He fit right in and added to the chemistry of the club. Morse was willing to do anything to help us. I probably played him a little too much, probably should have given him more days off, but he was always relentless to want to go out and play. And that bat and his presence were important. And he really did a pretty good job in left field. There weren t too many balls he didn t get to.
The other veteran we added was Tim Hudson. Here s a veteran presence I felt would really help our pitching staff, along with giving us a chance to win on a consistent basis. He s such a pro. Also, how good he is out there on the mound. We really needed a veteran-type starter who could consistently give us a chance to win, like he did. Along that line, I think it was another set of eyes and ears for our pitching staff, as far as getting guys to learn how to go about their business.
Our midseason slump got to all of us. It was frustrating. We had been so good. We were up there as the best team in baseball, then to do a 180 and be where we were, particularly when we lost 14 of 17 at home in June. The offense left us. We weren t driving the ball. We lost Pagan due to back trouble. The call came again that this is a team that feeds off Angel. Without him, people thought we really didn t have a chance to get to the postseason, because that s what happened in 2013.
We couldn t win at home. Getting swept at home by Colorado put us in a hole. That sweep, as much as anything, put us in a funk.
I just thought there was too much talent on the club to stay in the funk, despite us losing Pagan. More than anything, the guys somehow kept their focus, kept their noses to the grindstone, and found a way to get out of it. Joe Panik s play was so key, with Joe filling in the hole at second base. And Pablo started picking it up. Brandon Belt got hurt, but we were able to play Morse at first, which allowed us to put Gregor Blanco out there on a consistent basis.
We didn t reach our goal of winning the NL West, but I felt like, with this team, if we could just get in, with our experience, our DNA, our championship blood, we could go all the way.
We fought to get back to the playoffs, and probably had some help, as far as the wild card, with Atlanta and Milwaukee struggling. But we had won 88 games, and we were deserving of being there. I remember talking to the staff and saying, This club can win it again. If we can fight our way to get to the postseason, we ll be looking at a one-game playoff, but with Madison Bumgarner in that one-game playoff, this club could win it again.
We had to go to Pittsburgh.