10. Paul Rudd
Most MLB teams boast at least one celebrity fan, however, you’d be hard pressed to find one more affable and charming than Kansas City Royals fan Paul Rudd. Whether leading a rousing seventh-inning stretch, or inviting fans to a celebratory “kegger” at his mother’s house in a post-game interview, the K.C. native was a notable figure during the World Series, whose presence brought humour and humility to an already exciting final.
9. Game One (Oct. 21)
While it ended in blow-out fashion with a 7-1 victory for the San Francisco Giants, Game One of the World Series marked the first time in 29 years that the Kansas City Royals had played in a World Series game. To put that number in perspective, that same year saw Ronald Reagan sworn in for his second term as U.S President, and the band Wham! dominated the charts with smooth singles like Careless Whisper.
8. Game Two (Oct. 22)
Those who foresaw a close-pitching, low-scoring matchup between teams that finished 12th and 10th in team ERA respectively during the regular season were wrong, with Game Two being no exception. Tied at two apiece in the bottom of the sixth, Kansas City exploded for six runs in the inning, including a two-run homerun off the bat of second baseman Omar Infante, giving the Royals their first victory in a World Series since 1985.
7. Hunter Pence
Perhaps dwarfed by the gargantuan performance of teammate Madison Bumgarner, Giants right fielder Hunter Pence quietly had a monster World Series, batting a collective .444 with one homerun, and five RBIs in seven games. Mixing in some solid defense in right field, Pence was the anchor in the Giants’ offence whose bat seemed to come alive at the right time.
6. Jeremy Guthrie
It seems that every World Series needs a Cinderella story. The 2014 World Series had the Royals’ Jeremy Guthrie. Having never pitched in a post-season game in any of his 11 MLB seasons, the 35-year-old Guthrie found himself starting in Game Seven of the World Series. Though his team would lose, and Guthrie would last only 3.1 innings, the Stanford alumni offered one of the nicer stories of the World Series, proving that hard work and determination really do pay off in the end.
5. Madison Bumgarner dominates Game Five (Oct. 26)
Bumgarner, the big lefty, utterly dominated the Royals’ offense in Game Five, striking out eight batters for the complete game shutout, lowering his 2014 postseason ERA to a minuscule 0.56. The win gave the Giants a 3-2 lead on the series.
4. Royals win Game Six (Oct. 28)
Following their lackluster shutout loss in Game Five, the Royals rebounded in a big way at home in Game Six, crushing the Giants by a score of 10-0 to force the decisive Game Seven. Backed by a
sublime performance from 23-year-old pitcher Yordano Ventura, who gave up just four hits in seven scoreless innings, the Royals’ bats went to work against Giants starter Jake Peavy, scoring seven runs in the second inning.
3. “Stuff and things”
One of the most memorable World Series moments happened off the field in a press conference following Game Seven. After winning MVP honours, Madison Bumgarner was presented with a brand new Chevrolet Colorado by executive Rikk Wilde, whose bumbling, sweaty speech has since gone viral, and made Wilde something of a minor celebrity. Surely his line of “stuff and things,” used to describe the vehicle’s interior, has potential to be immortalized on a t-shirt.
2. Giants win World Series
In what was a very fitting end to a great MLB season and an even greater World Series, the San Francisco Giants defeated the Kansas City Royals 3-2 in Game Seven for their third title in only five years. Decided by none other than Madison Bumgarner, who pitched the final five scoreless innings of the game in relief on only two days’ rest for the save, the San Francisco Giants cemented themselves as this millennium’s only true baseball dynasty with the win.
1. Madison Bumgarner
No story can even begin to touch what Bumgarner accomplished. Named Series MVP after going 2-0 and allowing only one run in 21 innings, with a paltry 0.25 ERA to boot, the 25-year-old was a dominating force for the Giants, whose performance has been heralded as one of the greatest in World Series history.
