San Francisco: The San Francisco Giants on Friday brought home their third World Series trophy in five years to elated fans who lined a 3-km parade route along the city’s Market Street.
Revellers ignored an intermittent rain to salute the Giants, who defeated the Kansas City Royals with a heart-stopping 3-2 victory on Wednesday in a winner-take-all Game Seven.
“This is the best moment of our lives and our baseball careers,” World Series Most Valuable Player Madison Bumgarner told a crowd of thousands gathered in front of City Hall.
“In spring training, we have one goal, and that’s to win another championship. And here we are with our third one in five years. That’s pretty amazing. Like they’ve been saying, this is a dynasty.”
A lanky, left-handed pitcher, Bumgarner was stellar in the World Series, limiting the Royals to just one run in 21 innings. He won two games and saved the finale.
The Giants, who also won the title in 2010 and 2012, defeated the Royals on Wednesday in Kansas City, the first time a team has won a World Series Game Seven on the road since 1979.
Last year the Giants finished 76-86 and out of the playoffs.
Catcher Buster Posey reminded the crowd of the end of the 2013 season when Giants players came onto the field after the final game and promised that they would be fuelled by the failure.
“And the cool thing was, you guys believed us,” he said. “And we believed that we could get back here. Because of that belief, because of you guys packing out the ballpark every night, bringing your energy, your passion, this is the product.”
The Giants’ first order of business in the off-season will be to re-sign third baseman Pablo Sandoval, a clubhouse leader who hit .429 in the World Series.
Friday, however, was all about enjoying the moment.
“Feeling good about a team is all about how much love you put into it,” Giants fan Seth Miller said. “This year the Giants happened to give a lot back.”
Meanwhile, the Chicago Cubs sacked manager Rick Renteria on Friday and then wasted no time confirming their pursuit of Joe Maddon.
“Last Thursday, we learned that Joe Maddon - who may be as well suited as anyone in the industry to manage the challenges that lie ahead of us - had become a free agent,” Cubs president Theo Epstein said in a statement.
“We confirmed the news with Major League Baseball, and it became public knowledge the next day. We saw it as a unique opportunity and faced a clear dilemma: be loyal to Rick or be loyal to the organisation,” Epstein said.
“In this business of trying to win a world championship for the first time in 107 years, the organisation has priority over any one individual. We decided to pursue Joe,” he added.