World series notebook
Sub-90 Series This is the first World Series to feature two teams that failed to win 90 games in a complete season. But recent history mutes the notion that the second wild card cheapens the importance of the regular season. None of the other four teams to win the wild-card game (introduced in 2012) went on to win the pennant. And the teams that met in the World Series last year, Boston and St. Louis, had the best records in their leagues. A Royal Roll The Royals have an 11-game post-season winning streak dating to their three victories to close out the 1985 World Series. The record for consecutive post-season wins is 12, held by two Yankees teams. The Yankees swept three World Series between 1927 and 1932 and won 12 in a row from Game 4 of the 1998 ALCS until Game 3 of the next year’s ALCS. Big Stage for a Big Winner The Giants’ Tim Hudson is the majors’ active leader in victories, and this is his first World Series. Hudson has never won a Cy Young Award, but his career is better than you may think. Hudson has 214 wins, a .633 winning percentage and a 3.45 career ERA; only nine pitchers in history have better figures than Hudson in all three categories. They are Grover Cleveland Alexander, Christy Mathewson, Roger Clemens, Randy Johnson, Lefty Grove, Jim Palmer, Mordecai Brown, Whitey Ford and Pedro Martinez. Been There, Done That The Game 1 pitching matchup will feature James Shields for the Royals and Madison Bumgarner for the Giants. Both are undefeated as World Series starters, Shields with a victory for Tampa Bay in 2008 and Bumgarner with wins for San Francisco in 2010 and 2012. The last Game 1 matchup between pitchers with prior World Series wins as starters was in 1999, when the Yankees’ Orlando Hernandez beat the Braves’ Greg Maddux. Journey Never Ends Fans at Kauffman Stadium sing along to
Don’t Stop Believin’ during every game before the bottom of the sixth inning. The song, of course, was a Journey hit, and Journey’s Steve Perry is a regular at AT&T Park in San Francisco. Fans of the Detroit Tigers, the Giants’ opponents in the 2012 World Series, also sing Don’t Stop Believin’ during games — and the Giants swept the Tigers in that series. Similar Series Stories The Giants’ Bruce Bochy and the Royals’ Ned Yost were backup catchers for teams that lost in the World Series in the 1980s. Both played just one game and reached base in their only plate appearances. Yost walked for the Milwaukee Brewers in the ninth inning of Game 6 of the 1982 Series, and Bochy singled for the San Diego Padres in the ninth inning of Game 5 of the 1984 Series. Common Alumni Only one player — Pat Sheridan — has played in the World Series for both teams. Sheridan, an outfielder, went 4 for 18 for the Royals in 1985 and 0 for 2 for the Giants in 1989. Two current managers — the Padres’ Bud Black and the Athletics’ Bob Melvin — played for both teams, as did Giants reliever Jeremy Affeldt, one of the first players traded by Royals general manager Dayton Moore in 2006. Hall of Famer Gaylord Perry started his career with the Giants and finished with the Royals; Dan Quisenberry, who pitched in 10 of the Royals’ 13 World Series games in the ’80s, ended his career with San Francisco in 1990.