November 1, 2010: Tim Lincecum, Giants beat Rangers for their first World Series title since moving to San Francisco

“Torture” was the theme for the 2010 San Francisco Giants.

In April 2010, after disappointing back-to-back losses to the San Diego Padres, Giants broadcaster Duane Kuiper started the craze during the next day’s broadcast, saying:

“Giants baseball … [pause] … torture!”1

Torture was thoroughly embraced by Giants fans. The slogan was used to describe heartbreaking losses, but also nailbiting victories.

The Giants had won their last World Series championship in 1954, as the New York Giants.2 That year there were no major-league baseball teams west of the Mississippi, President Eisenhower was in his first term, gas was 21 cents a gallon, and a first-class postage stamp cost 3 cents.3

The franchise moved to San Francisco in 1958. Even with superstars like Willie Mays, Juan Marichal, and Barry Bonds, the Giants hadn’t won a World Series title in three appearances since they moved west.4

San Francisco’s pathway to the 2010 postseason was as improbable as it was torturous.5 At the All-Star break, the Giants were in fourth place in their five-team division. Statistically, they were the weakest offensive team to reach that year’s postseason.6

The Giants picked up players who were cut or waived from other teams like Cody Ross and Pat Burrell, and the roster included players who were not highly coveted by other major-league clubs such as Aubrey Huff and Juan Uribe.7

Kuiper watched the team come together. “I think they looked across the clubhouse and saw somebody like them that another team didn’t want and, in the end, it drew everybody closer and they really loved playing with each other,” he said.8

The Giants included misfits, castoffs, and characters who bonded with each other, and they meshed with the inclusive, quirky culture of San Francisco.9 They included closer Brian “The Beard” Wilson with his black-dyed beard; Pablo Sandoval, the “Kung Fu Panda”; reliever Sergio Romo; and two-time National League Cy Young Award winner Tim “The Freak” Lincecum with his skate-punk vibe and looks.

“It’s strange to say, but the weirder you are, it seems like the more you win,” said Huff, who was known for wearing his red “rally thong” around the locker room to keep the team loose.10

Characters aside, the Giants had excellent pitching in 2010. They allowed the fewest runs in the majors, recorded the most strikeouts, and yielded the fewest hits with runners in scoring position.11

To reach the 2010 World Series, the Giants eliminated 2009’s pennant winners, the Philadelphia Phillies, in the NL Championship Series, setting up a matchup with the Texas Rangers.

The Rangers had defeated their league’s 2009 World Series representatives, the reigning World Series champion New York Yankees, in the American League Championship Series, and they were experiencing a drought of their own. The Washington Senators moved to Arlington, Texas, for the 1972 season and became the Rangers. Entering 2010, the Rangers had played in three postseason series, but had only one playoff-game victory in their 38-year history. The fanbase was hungry for success.12

Texas’s 2010 season was one of its best. Team President Nolan Ryan had predicted at least 90 wins;13 the team delivered a 90-72 record and won the AL West Division title easily. A midseason trade brought in Cliff Lee, the 2008 AL Cy Young Award winner.14 Closer Neftali Feliz was impressive with 40 saves, earning 2010 AL Rookie of the Year honors.

Texas had a team batting average of .276 to top the majors. The Rangers’ offensive juggernaut was led by 2010 AL MVP and batting champ Josh Hamilton, Vladimir Guerrero Sr., and Nelson Cruz.15

On November 1, 2010, San Francisco was leading Texas three games to one in the 106th World Series. Game Five featured a rematch of Game One’s pitchers: the Giants’ Lincecum vs. the Rangers’ Lee. Game One was expected to be a pitchers’ duel, but both starters were shaky and the Giants won, 11-7. Lincecum arrived at Rangers Ballpark wearing a suit and colorful bow tie.16

The ceremonial first pitch was thrown by Baseball Hall of Famer Fergie Jenkins and the national anthem was sung by country music legend and former professional baseball player Charley Pride.17

After five scoreless innings, Lincecum had given up a walk and a single, while Lee had yielded two singles.18

During the top of the sixth, the Rangers had a scare. With two outs, the Giants’ Freddy Sánchez singled to right. The next batter, rookie catcher Buster Posey,19 belted the first pitch from Lee deep to right; it looked like a homer. It was caught by Nelson Cruz near the wall.

In the bottom of the sixth, the Rangers’ Mitch Moreland hit a leadoff single up the middle, but Lincecum got the next three Texas batters out on just four pitches. The score remained 0-0. Through six innings, nobody from either team had advanced to second base.

In the top of the seventh, Ross singled to center. In rapid succession, Uribe singled on a line drive to center and Huff put down a well-executed bunt to advance Ross to third and Uribe to second. It was the first sacrifice bunt in Huff’s major-league career.20 Lee struck out Burrell for the second out. The next batter, Édgar Rentería,21 smoked a line-drive, three-run homer to left-center. Giants 3, Rangers 0.

“I know Cliff Lee is a great pitcher and I have a lot of respect for him,” said Rentería. “He threw a cutter inside, but the ball didn’t cut. It just stayed in the middle.”22

In the bottom of the seventh, Lincecum surrendered a solo home run to Cruz. The next batter walked, but Lincecum was able to get out of the inning without further damage. San Francisco 3, Texas 1.

Going into the bottom of the ninth, the score remained 3-1. As Giants closer Wilson took the mound, fans in San Francisco’s bars chanted, “Fear the beard!”23

Wilson had his work cut out for him, facing the heart of the Rangers order: Hamilton, Guerrero, and Cruz. Hamilton struck out. Guerrero grounded out to shortstop. The Giants were one out away from their first World Series championship since moving to San Francisco.  

Cruz and Wilson played a cat-and-mouse game that resulted in a full count. Wilson delivered a hard-thrown cutter.24

Here’s the final call from Kuiper on KNBR radio:

“Swing and a miss and that’s it! The Giants for the first time in [over 50 years] are World Champions as they come pouring out of the dugout. … And you can’t help but think that this group is celebrating for the Say Hey Kid, for Will the Thrill, celebrating for Number 25,25 and celebrating for all you Giants fans wherever you are! Giants fans, this party is just getting started!”26

“Looking at these kids and how excited they were, I had some tears in my eyes,” Mays said from his Bay Area home shortly after the game. “It’s a wonderful feeling for me, and I’m sure it’s a wonderful feeling for these kids and their families.”27

Giants third-base coach Tim Flannery: “You know what we did? We respected the game. The game of baseball is sacred, and if you honor it, a little window opens up. Tonight, the world opened up for us.”28

“This team is all about San Francisco – a bunch of misfits who overachieve,” said Giants fan Elisa Viramontes.29

After about two minutes of watching the Giants celebrate on the field, the Rangers fans began chanting “Let’s go, Rangers.”30 Those chants echoed through the ballpark concourses as the fans exited. In many respects, it seemed like a victory party for the Claw and Antler Nation, reveling in the Rangers’ outstanding season and their first World Series appearance.31

The Giants’ party moved from the infield to the locker room. Napa Valley champagne was sprayed all over the place,32 but the real party, a massive celebration in the heart of San Francisco, would occur two days later.

On November 3, 2010, the largest crowd in San Francisco’s history jammed the streets for the victory parade.33 Over a million fans turned out to see their Giants.34 There were over 50 cars and floats including cable car replicas.35 Mays was at the head of the parade in a 1959 Cadillac.36 Willie McCovey was in a 1941 Cadillac. Rentería had been named the World Series MVP and was in a 1954 Corvette.37

Orange, black, and white confetti fell from downtown skyscrapers.

“People [were] appreciative that we were able to accomplish something that not only was important to us, but was important to the entre Bay Area. … It was super sweet, dude,” Romo said.38

“I always wondered when people said ‘It’s just a game,’” Giants’ general manager Brian Sabean said. “Well, that’s B.S. It’s not just a game. … If you see how people’s lives revolve around baseball, see how generational it is. … The outpouring at the parade blew everyone away. … It was genuine, it was loud.”39

Along the parade route, numerous fans held signs reading: “Torture Never Felt So Good.”

Author’s Note

The Giants went on to win the World Series in 2012 and 2014 as well. After such a long drought, winning three championships in five years was certainly a treat for the fanbase. The number of memories created in that five-year span are overwhelming and bring a lot of smiles.

Any discussion of the Giants’ 2010 championship should include their legendary clubhouse manager Mike Murphy. Murph was batboy for the Pacific Coast League’s San Francisco Seals in 1957. He got a similar job with the Giants in 1958, and in 1960 he became a clubhouse attendant. In 1979 he became the Giants’ equipment manager.40 He’s a humble, hard-working guy who has worked for the Giants throughout their entire history in San Francisco. During his tenure, he met almost every Giants player, over 1,500 of them.41 Full of stories and remembrances, he is literally a living embodiment of San Francisco Giants history. When the 2010 World Series championship was won, Murph was the first Giant to touch the trophy. Several of the players told him “Murph, we won it for you.”42 As Carl Steward of the Bay Area News Group wrote in November 2010: “Murphy has seen it all – every broken bat, every broken dream, every broken heart. I’m just guessing that when his name is announced to accept his ring next April, he might get the loudest ovation. After all, for real longtime Giants fans, there is a little part of Murph in all of us.”43

On April 9, 2011, when the Giants received their World Series rings during an on-field ceremony, the first ring presented went to Mike Murphy.44

After over six decades with the Giants, Murph retired after the 2022 season at age 81.       

Acknowledgments

The author thanks John Fredland, Kurt Blumenau, and Gary Belleville for their assistance. This article was fact-checked by Thomas Merrick and copy-edited by Len Levin.

Sources and Photo Credits

In addition to the sources cited in the Notes, the author consulted Baseball-Reference.com, Retrosheet.org and SABR.org for general player, team, and season data.

https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/TEX/TEX201011010.shtml

https://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/2010/B11010TEX2010.htm

Photo credit: Tim Lincecum, Trading Card Database.

Notes

1 Billy Witz, “‘Torture’ for Giants Becomes Triumph,” nytimes,com, October 6, 2010, https://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/07/sports/baseball/07sfgiants.html.

2 At the time, it was the majors’ third longest drought without a World Series championship. The Chicago Cubs’ most recent championship was in 1908, and the Cleveland Indians’ was in 1948.

3 Jeff Sullivan, “Remembering the Giants’ 1954 World Championship,” November 2, 2010, sbnation.com, https://www.sbnation.com/mlb/2010/11/2/1788571/giants-1954-world-series-championship. In the 1954 World Series, the Giants, managed by Leo Durocher, swept the Cleveland Indians, four games to none. It was the first Giants World Series title since 1933. During Game One of the Series, Giants center fielder Willie Mays made a spectacular catch with his back to the infield. This play has been immortalized as “The Catch,” one of the most iconic moments in baseball history.  

4 Henry Schulman, “San Francisco Celebrates First World Series Title in City’s History,” San Francisco Chronicle, November 2, 2010: A1. San Francisco appeared in the World Series three times but came up short each time. In 1962, Willie McCovey’s line drive would have been a title clincher if it hadn’t been gloved by the Yankees’ Bobby Richardson to end Game Seven. The 1989 Bay Bridge Series is forever associated with the Loma Prieta earthquake and the Oakland A’s sweeping the Giants. The 2002 collapse against the Anaheim Angels was perhaps the most disappointing for San Francisco: In Game Six, the Giants had a three-games-to-two Series lead and led by 5-0 in the seventh inning. The Giants were just five outs from clinching the championship. They lost that game 6-5. In Game Seven, the Angels took the title with a 4-1 victory.

5 A notable example of torture came in the final days of the 2010 regular season. The Giants needed to win just one of three home games against the second-place San Diego Padres to clinch the NL West Division. True to form, they lost the first two games and didn’t clinch until the last day of the season, winning their first division title in seven years.

6 Tim Cowlishaw, “From Start to Bitter End, Giants Outplayed Rangers,” San Jose Mercury News, November 2, 2010: 2D.

7 Mark Purdy, “Champs! – San Francisco Finally Gets Its Crown. Called Characters and Misfits, These Giants Played the Game Right,” San Jose Mercury News, November 2, 2010: 1A.

8 Major League Baseball Productions, “2010 World Series Film: San Francisco Giants vs. Texas Rangers,”, YouTube Video (Erik Stone), 1:25:37, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lLR0QsopgVU. Accessed June 9, 2024.

9 Giants manager Bruce Bochy referred to them as his “dirty dozen” and “ragtag” group.    

10 Andrew Baggarly, A Band of Misfits (Chicago: Triumph Books, 2015), Introduction. (ISBN 978-1-62937-098-9).

11 Gil LeBreton, “Rangers’ Bats Are a Mystery in Giants’ Storybook Ending,” Fort Worth Star-Telegram, November 2, 2010: DD.

12 “2010: Torture and Joy,” thisgreatgame.com, 2010 Yearly Reader, https://thisgreatgame.com/2010-baseball-history/. Accessed June 13, 2024.

13 “2010: Torture and Joy.”

14 On July 9, 2010, the Seattle Mariners traded Cliff Lee with Mark Lowe to the Rangers for Blake Beavan, Josh Lueke, Justin Smoak, and minor leaguer Matt Lawson.

15 2010 regular season statistics for the heart of the Rangers’ order:

• Josh Hamilton: .359 BA, 1.044 OPS, 32 home runs, 100 RBIs.
• Vladimir Guerrero Sr.: .300 BA, .841 OPS, 29 home runs, 115 RBIs.
• Nelson Cruz: .318 BA, .950 OPS, 22 home runs, 78 RBIs (in 108 games).

16 Ben Walker (Associated Press), “Land of Giants – Renteria, Lincecum Bring World Series Title to San Francisco,” Seattle Times, November 2, 2010: C1.

17 “2010 World Series,” baseball-almanac.com, 2010, https://www.baseball-almanac.com/ws/yr2010ws.shtm. Accessed June 5, 2024. Pride, a Grammy Award-winning country artist, played Negro League and Minor League baseball as a pitcher. He had a strong connection with the Texas Rangers and participated in Rangers games and events. Similarly, Jenkins had a Texas connection as well, having pitched for the Rangers during six seasons of his 19-season major-league career.

18 Leading into Game Five, the two starting pitchers’ stats were:

• Cliff Lee: 3-1, 2.51 ERA for the 2010 postseason. Regular season: 12-9, 3.18 ERA, 28 starts, 7 complete games, 212⅓ innings, 195 hits, 18 walks, 185 strikeouts.
• Tim Lincecum: 3-1, 2.79 ERA in 2010 postseason. Regular season: 16-10, 3.43 ERA, 33 starts, 1 complete game, 212⅓ innings, 194 hits, 76 walks, 231 strikeouts.

19 Buster Posey began the 2010 season with the Giants’ Triple-A affiliate. He finished 2010 not only as a World Series champion, but also as the NL’s Rookie of the Year (.305 BA, .862 OPS, 18 home runs and 67 RBIs in 108 games). On July 1, 2010, the Giants’ traded catcher Bengie Molina to the Rangers to make way for Posey to become their everyday catcher. Molina played in 61 games for the Giants in 2010 and received a World Series ring even though he played for the losing team. Molina was a key contributor for Texas in 57 regular-season games and in the postseason. He retired after the 2010 Series.

20 In the 2010 regular season, Huff was the Giants’ team leader in games (157), hits (165), home runs (26), RBIs (86), and OPS (.891). Being a high-performing offensive player, his sacrifice bunt was not expected and he nearly beat it out at first base.

21 Rentería called his shot against Cliff Lee, twice telling Giants center fielder Andres Torres he was going to homer in Game Five. “He told Andres he was going to hit one and he did it,” said outfielder Aaron Rowland. “He Babe Ruth-ed it, I guess.” In the 1997 World Series, Rentería won Game Seven for Florida with an 11th-inning single up the middle off Cleveland’s Charles Nagy. Besides Rentería, only three others have a game-winning RBIs in two World Series-clinching games: Yogi Berra, Lou Gehrig, and Joe DiMaggio. Rentería also played in the 2004 World Series as a St. Louis Cardinal. In the final game of that Series, he made the final out. This made Rentería one of only two players to get a World Series-ending hit and hit into a World Series-ending out, as per STATS LLC. The other was Goose Goslin, who struck out for Washington vs. Pittsburgh in 1925 and singled for Detroit against the Chicago Cubs in 1935.  

22 Evan Grant, “Giants’ Winning Rally Had a Familiar Look,” Dallas Morning News, November 2, 2010: C07.

23 Chris Haft and Eric Alan, This Is Our Time! (Ashland, Oregon: Confluence Books, 2011), 258. (ISBN 978-1-935952-52-7).

24 Haft and Alan, 258.

25 The Say Hey Kid is, of course, Giants icon Willie Mays, Will the Thrill is Will Clark, and Number 25 is Barry Bonds.

26 “KNBR Call of 2010 World Series Game 5, Final Out,” YouTube Video (KNBR YouTube Channel), 2:55, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3tMEp925_5M. Accessed June 8, 2024.

27 John Shea, “Mays: I Had Some Tears in My Eyes,” San Francisco Chronicle, November 2, 2010: B5.

28 Bruce Jenkins, “Tonight, the World Opened Up for Us,” San Francisco Chronicle, November 2, 2010: B9.

29 Justin Berton, “Fans Sing, Shout, Drink Up Victory,” San Francisco Chronicle, November 2, 2010: A12.

30 Brad Townsend, “Out at Home: Dream Run Ends,” Dallas Morning News, November 2, 2010: A01.

31 “Going to Series a Win for Most,” Dallas Morning News, November 3, 2010: 3. Claw and Antlers were two simple hand gestures adopted by Rangers players during the 2010 season: A bear claw motion as a symbol of strength and outstretched fingers on both sides of one’s head (antlers) to signify speed and agility. Some Rangers fans started referring to themselves as the Claw and Antler Nation. The Texas Rangers returned to the World Series the following year, in 2011, but lost to the Cardinals in seven games. In 2023 the Rangers finally broke through and won their first World Series. They beat the Arizona Diamondbacks in five games. Their manager: Bruce Bochy. After managing San Francisco to three World Series titles, Bochy retired after the 2019 season. He returned to baseball in 2023 to manage the Rangers. He became the first major-league manager to win a championship with a team he previously had beaten in the World Series. He saw parallels between the 2010 Giants and the 2023 Rangers and used the word “torture” to describe what Ranger fans had been through.  

32 Bruce Jenkins, “Tonight, the World Opened Up for Us.”

33 Andrew Baggarly, A Band of Misfits, vii.

34 Chris Haft, “The Beauty of the Parade: Remembering Giants’ 2010 Title Run,” October 24, 2020, mlb.com, https://www.mlb.com/giants/news/featured/remembering-giants-2010-world-series-title.

35 Will Kane, “World Champion Giants to Roll Through Downtown,” San Francisco Chronicle, November 3, 2010: A2.

36 In April 1958 San Francisco held a parade to welcome the Giants to California. Willie Mays was at the head of that parade as well. To honor tradition, the 2010 victory parade followed some of the same route as the 1958 procession.

37 Henry Schulman, “No Rest for the Weary Champions,” San Francisco Chronicle, November 3, 2010: B6.

38 “The Parade (2010) / Inside the Clubhouse,” YouTube Video (San Francisco Giants), 21:58, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=psJtQ-DlXPA. Accessed June 8, 2024.

39 “The Parade (2010) / Inside the Clubhouse.”

40 Bruce Jenkins, “Tonight, the World Opened Up for Us.”

41 Haft and Alan, 1-2.

42 “The Parade (2010) / Inside the Clubhouse.”

43 Carl Steward, “A Win for the Ages – This Is for All Giants and Longtime Giants Fans,” San Jose Mercury News, November 3, 2010: 1B.

44 Mike “Murph” Murphy commemorative plaque on the San Francisco Giants Wall of Fame at Oracle Park, San Francisco. Accessed June 27, 2024.