KANSAS CITY Mo. Somewhere beneath the champagne spray inside the Giants clubhouse Bruce Bochy held the World Series trophy aloft. It glistened and dripped under the lights as the manager barked his congratulations
Then Bochy put baseball's ultimate prize in the safest possible hands.
He handed it to Pablo Sandoval.
We got three We got three We got three the Giants third baseman shouted to the delight of his teammates. He splayed the fingers of both hands to make sure everyone was counting along.
There is a time on the near horizon when the question will be whether this third title will be Sandoval's last in San Francisco.
As a possibly fitting farewell he caught the last out of the Giants' 3 2 victory over the Kansas City Royals in Game 7 squeezing Salvador Perez's foul pop and then falling on his back and screaming to the skies.
With three championships now to choose from Sandoval said this was his favorite.
This was a crazy one. Drama Everything '' he said. This is the one I enjoyed more than anything.
Madison Bumgarner was the series MVP but only the pitcher's historic brilliance prevented Sandoval from being in the conversation again. The third baseman batted .429 against the Royals and tied for Hunter Pence for the team high with 12 hits.
In the decisive game at Kauffman Stadium he went 3 for 3 with a double and two runs scored. Already entrenched as an October legend each swing during these playoffs seemed to yield another milestone
Among players with at least 40 World Series at bats Sandoval's .426 batting average trails only David Ortiz (.455) and Bobby Brown (.439). His 26 hits in these playoffs established an MLB record for a single postseason eclipsing the previous mark of 25 set by Marquis Grissom (1995 Braves) Darin Erstad (2002 Angels) and David Freese (2011 Cardinals). Along the way he ran his streak to 25 consecutive postseason games of reaching base safely. That tied him with Boog Powell for the third longest such streak in major league history trailing only Miguel Cabrera (31) and Chase Utley (27). Sandoval's 19 career postseason extra base hits are a franchise record. His 20 RBI trail only Barry Bonds (21) and Buster Posey (also 21) in the team's postseason record books.Then there are the countless reasons Bochy handed the trophy to Sandoval.
You could see the difference in Pablo once his postseason started '' the manager said. His focus his third base play was as good as I've ever seen from any third baseman. That's what I'm proud of is how he made himself a good defender.
As far as what happens I don't know. It's obvious I love this kid '' Bochy said. Hopefully something gets done but these are things that take care of themselves in the winter.
Once he set the trophy down Sandoval found a relatively quiet space in the corner of the clubhouse. Standing near him was Brad Horn a representative from the Baseball Hall of Fame.
Sandoval joked that he was in no rush to hand anything over. After the three titles the Cooperstown halls ought to be pretty well stocked with Panda memorabilia.
I've been giving a lot lately '' Sandoval said. I want to enjoy and take everything that I can.
Contact Daniel Brown at dbrown mercurynews.com.
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