As soon as Giants third baseman Pablo Sandoval caught the final out of the World Series against the Royals on Wednesday night, some baseball fans thought about how the Giants had just won their third World Series in five years. But most baseball followers immediately turned their thoughts to the amazing pitching performance turned in by the Giants' Madison Bumgarner. Though it's easy to get caught up in the hype of something that just happened and go overboard with hyperbole, Bumgarner was so good that it is not outlandish to compare what he did to some of the greatest World Series performances. Bumgarner won Game 1, giving up only one run in seven innings. In Game 5, he threw a four-hit shutout. Then, on two days rest, Bumgarner came out of the bullpen in Game 7 to throw five shutout innings to close out the Series. He was named the Series MVP. He also was the National League Championship Series MVP, and he won the Giants' one-game wild-card playoff game against the Pirates with a complete-game shutout. So where does Bumgarner rank among the all-time World Series performances? Here's a look at some of the best single-season World Series pitching performances and where Bumgarner might rank.
Christy Mathewson
New York Giants, 1905
His is still considered the greatest pitching performance in World Series history. Mathewson started three games and didn't give up a run. He shut out in the A's in Games 1, 3 and 5, with Game 3 coming on two days rest and Game 5 coming after one day of rest. That's three complete-game shutouts in six days.
Babe Adams
Pittsburgh Pirates, 1909
The rookie hurled three complete-game victories against the Ty Cobb-led Tigers. Adams put the cap on the Series with a six-hit, 8-0 shutout in Game 7 in Detroit. Cobb, who won the batting title that year with a .377 average, mustered only one hit in 11 at-bats against Adams in the Series.
Stan Coveleski
Cleveland Indians, 1920
In a best-of-nine Series, Coveleski won three times, allowing one run in Games 1 and 4, and throwing a shutout in Game 7 on two days rest.
George Earnshaw
Philadelphia A's, 1930
In 25 innings, Earnshaw had a 0.72 earned-run average. What's most remarkable is he started Game 6 on one day of rest. He allowed only one run, in the ninth.
Lew Burdette
Milwaukee Braves, 1957
Pitching against a powerful lineup — a Yankees team that had Mickey Mantle, Yogi Berra and Hank Bauer — Burdette was the pitching hero of the Series on a staff that had the more well-known Warren Spahn, who won 21 games that season. Burdette won Game 2 and then shut out the Yankees and Whitey Ford in Game 5 1-0. When Spahn got the flu, Burdette was pressed to start Game 7 on two days rest at Yankee Stadium. He responded with a shutout, meaning he didn't allow a run in his final 24 innings.
Sandy Koufax
Los Angeles Dodgers, 1965
Koufax's performance in this Series is remembered almost as much for the game he did not pitch. Koufax, who is Jewish, did not start Game 1 because it fell on Yom Kippur. Koufax didn't win his Game 2 start, but he came back to toss a shutout in Game 5. On two days rest, Koufax took the mound again and threw a 10-strikeout shutout in Game 7 to win the Series against the Twins.
Bob Gibson
St. Louis Cardinals, 1967
Gibson won Games 1, 4 and 7 over the Red Sox to lead the Cardinals to the world championship. He allowed one run in Game 1, none in Game 4 and two in Game 7 for a series ERA of 1.00 in 27 innings.
Mickey Lolich
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Explore all your optionsDetroit Tigers, 1968
The big lefty picked up complete-game victories in Games 2 and 5 against the Cardinals, and then, on two days rest, he started Game 7 against the great Bob Gibson, the winner of Games 1 and 4. Lolich gave up just one run, in the ninth inning, in Detroit's Series-clinching 4-1 victory.
Orel Hershiser
Los Angeles Dodgers, 1988
Hershiser had one of the great postseasons of recent times. After being named MVP of the National League Championship Series, Hershiser won two games in the World Series, both on three days rest. Both were complete games as he beat the mighty A's with Bash Brothers Jose Canseco and Mark McGwire, 6-0 in Game 2 and 5-2 in the Series-clinching Game 5.
Randy Johnson
Arizona Diamondbacks, 2001
Johnson won three games in the Series against the favored Yankees. He pitched a three-hit shutout in Game 2 and forced a winner-take-all game with a Game 6 victory. Pitching on a second consecutive day, Johnson got the final out in the eighth and threw a perfect ninth in Game 7. He was the winning pitcher when the Diamondbacks scored two in the bottom of the ninth off the great Mariano Rivera.
Final analysis
Mathewson's three shutouts in 1905 puts him at the top of the list of greatest World Series for a pitcher. After that, you have a great debate. But I'll go with Bumgarner. In a day and age when pitchers are coddled with pitch counts and usually four days rest, Bumgarner coming out of the bullpen to pitch five scoreless innings in a one-run Game 7 three days after a 117-pitch complete-game shutout is the stuff of legend. He finished the World Series with two victories and a save, and just one run allowed over 21 innings.
tom jones' two cents