For almost the entirety of the 2021 MLB season, baseball fans were anxiously anticipating a potential playoff matchup between the Los Angeles Dodgers and San Francisco Giants. On October 6th, those fans had their wishes granted, thanks to Chris Taylor’s heroics in the NL Wild Card game against the Cardinals, or should I say, Mike Shildt’s incompetence. Regardless, with one swing of the bat, the Dodgers utility man punched his squad a ticket to the NLDS, where they were set to square off against the Giants in a postseason series for the first time in MLB history. This is despite combining for 12 playoff appearances and four World Series titles in the past 10 years. Crazy, right? 

The pair of NL West powerhouses battled it out 19 times in the regular season, with 10 of those games going to the Giants and the other nine going to the Dodgers, showing just how evenly matched they were. The two teams were neck and neck in the divisional race essentially all year, but the Giants ultimately held on to the first place spot, finishing at 107-55, good for the best record in baseball this year. The Dodgers were right on their tail for months and they finished just one game behind their division rival with a record of 106-56, the second-best in the league.

The excitement surrounding this playoff series was unlike any series we have seen in recent years. Before this season, the last time the teams with the two best records in baseball faced off in the MLB postseason was 55 years ago when the Baltimore Orioles defeated the Dodgers in the 1966 World Series. Unlike in that matchup, this series was between two teams who share one of the longest-standing rivalries in all of sports. How’s that for high stakes? Prior to Game 5, legendary Dodgers broadcaster Vin Scully took to Twitter to share his thoughts on the importance of the game. 

The finale of this epic series did not disappoint, proving Vin Scully is still capable of making great calls, even in retirement. Logan Webb was his usual self, tossing seven innings of one-run baseball and striking out 7. The pitching for the Dodgers was just as stellar as Corey Knebel, Brusdar Graterol, Julio Urias, Blake Treinen, and Kenley Jansen combined to allow one run across 8 innings. The game remained tied until the top of the ninth inning, when Cody Bellinger pulled an RBI single into right field, driving in Justin Turner as the go-ahead run. After a controversial call, the game came to a close in dramatic fashion, and with it, the series. Down 2-1 with two outs in the bottom of the ninth and a runner on, Giants first baseman Wilmer Flores stepped to the plate looking to be a hero. That opportunity was quickly stripped from him when first base umpire Gabe Morales rang Flores up after checking his swing on an 0-2 pitch that he clearly did not go around on. The replay confirmed this, and the fact that the series ended on such a horrible call is both laughable and sad at the same time. Now, the odds of Wilmer Flores battling in a two-strike count against future Hall-of-Famer Max Scherzer, who he is 0-17 against in his career, were probably pretty slim. But we all know anything can happen in baseball, and Wilmer just so happens to be the all-time Mets leader in walk-off hits. Just saying. Whether or not that call actually would have altered the outcome of the game is irrelevant. Calls like that simply cannot happen. It is completely unacceptable to end any game or series like that, especially one of that magnitude. That is an awful look for Major League Baseball and its umpires, plain and simple. Hopefully, this serves as a wake-up call to MLB and sparks it to change its current rule of check-swing calls being unreviewable because that should never happen again. Was it a terrible call? Undoubtedly. But were the Giants robbed? No. At the end of the day, the Dodgers were the better team and I do not think it would have made a difference either way. Regardless of the outcome of that game, this is a season to be proud of for the San Francisco Giants. 

The Giants’ success this season came as a surprise to just about everyone in the baseball world. Coming off a 2020 season in which they finished 29-31 (14 games behind the reigning champs) and a rather uneventful offseason, PECOTA had San Francisco projected to finish 75-87 in 2021. Clearly, they were off the mark there, but I can’t say that I blame them because just about no one could have predicted this sudden surge, including Giants fans themselves. The sheer fact that no one saw it coming was perhaps what made their season so magical. They came into the year with no expectations and the team excelled. Resurgences from veteran players, dominant pitching from under-the-radar signings, contributions from bench players, and unbelievable coaching were the story for the 2021 Giants. They defied the odds and silenced the doubters all season long. People said their success was unsustainable and that they would fall off in the second half. That was not the case as San Francisco continued to go about their business, proving they were, in fact, the real deal. Brandon Crawford, Buster Posey, Evan Longoria, Brandon Belt, Darin Ruf, and Kevin Gausman are all veterans who stepped up big time for the Giants after struggling the last couple of years. Whether or not that kind of production is sustainable for these players going forward remains to be seen, which is why the Giants’ outlook for the 2022 season is such a mystery. Most people seem to envision them returning to mediocrity, which I do not disagree with, at least for now. But who knows, maybe they will shock the world once again. They do have the number #8 farm system in baseball, as well as an incredible manager and General Manager tandem in Gabe Kapler and Farhan Zaidi. So whether or not it happens next year or not, I am confident the Giants will be back here very soon. 

Funny thing, baseball is. This game will rip your heart out and feel no remorse. But we love it anyway. We live and die with this game, whether it causes us rejoice or makes us want to pull our hair out. We become emotionally invested in the teams we support, despite their constantly disappointing us. Why is that? It’s quite simple actually; for the love of the game. Giants fans, you had a hell of a run. No one expected you to be anywhere near where you ended up this year, yet you messed around and had the best record in all of baseball. You finished ahead of what might be the most talented and complete team ever assembled in the Los Angeles Dodgers. That is not a small feat. On Thursday night, it was your turn to have your heart ripped out by our beloved game. You fought and fought, but at the end of the day, we found out who the better team was. All I can say to you now is: don’t cry because it is over; smile because it happened. 

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