Torture pays off for fans

Buster Posey caught the final strike, started to rush the mound, then stopped and turned toward the dugout.

The rookie catcher wasn't quite sure what to do or where to go and it's hard to blame him. It's not as if the San Francisco Giants win the World Series every day.

Back in San Francisco, the scene was similar. One day after Halloween, orange and black remained in style as Giants fans flooded from the bars out into the streets to celebrate.

The Giants are World Series Champions.

For senior Ryan Mirch, who made the trip up on the Caltrain to watch the game in a bar near the stadium, the moment will stay with him forever.

"People were spraying champagne everywhere. Stuff was lit on fire," he said. "I've never hugged so many random people. It's the greatest moment of my life, plain and simple."

More than a half-century after moving West, the Giants are taking the trophy to the city by the Bay for the first time. Tim Lincecum was wicked on the mound, Edgar Renteria broke a scoreless duel with a three-run homer in the seventh inning and San Francisco beat the Texas Rangers 3-1 in a tense Game 5 Monday night.

The prize that eluded Willie and Barry for so long finally belongs to San Francisco, thanks to a band of self-described castoffs and misfits and their shaggy-haired ace.

"World Series champs, 2010. Can you believe this?" October ace Matt Cain said.

It was an overdue victory. Willie Mays led the Giants to their previous crown in 1954, four years before they left the Polo Grounds in New York. After that, they never quite got it done despite the likes of baseball giants Barry Bonds, Juan Marichal and Willie McCovey.

"This buried a lot of bones - '62, '89, 2002," Giants general manager Brian Sabean said, ticking off losing Series appearances. "This group deserved it, faithful from the beginning. We're proud and humbled by the achievement."

In the Year of the Pitcher, the World Series proved the oldest adage in the game: Good pitching stops good hitting, every time. Lincecum and the team with the best ERA in the big leagues completely shut down Josh Hamilton and the club with the majors' top batting average.

Texas managed just 29 hits in the five games. The Giants scored 29 runs, with Renteria hitting .412, leading all Series players with six RBIs and becoming the MVP.

"They beat us soundly," Rangers manager Ron Washington said. "They deserve it."

The Giants hit only .237 the entire postseason, the lowest for a Series winner since the Dodgers batted .227 in 1988. But they did enough to hand Cliff Lee his first two career losses in the postseason after a 7-0 start.

"It takes a lot of luck for this to happen," said center fielder Aaron Rowand. "You can have all the talent in the world. Those Giants teams with Willie Mays and McCovey - they had four Hall of Famers on that team. We had the talent on this team, especially on the pitching side, but we got lucky, too. It takes a little bit of both to win a World Series."

Lincecum won this game of Texas Hold 'em, beating Lee for the second time in a week. He gave up three hits over eight innings and struck out 10.

The two-time NL Cy Young winner arrived at Rangers Ballpark wearing a bow tie, as if he was going to a party. He had one on the mound, for sure.

"Pretty collected. I was very poised out there. From the first inning on my adrenaline kind of just dissipated and I was able to calm down," he said.

Wilson pitched a perfect ninth for a save, completing a surprising romp through the postseason for a pitching-rich team that waited until the final day to clinch a playoff spot.

Wilson struck out Cruz swinging to end it, turned toward center field and crossed his wrists in front of his chest as he does after all his saves.

Manager Bruce Bochy enjoys calling his Giants a ragtag bunch. Maybe Renteria, Cody Ross, Huff and Freddy Sanchez fit that description. Cut loose by other clubs this season and before, they all wound up in San Francisco.

"For us to win for our fans, it's never been done there, and with all those great teams," Bochy said.

Renteria reprised his role of postseason star. His 11th-inning single ended Game 7 of the 1997 World Series and lifted Florida over Cleveland.

Forget that he made the last out in the 2004 Series that finished Boston's sweep of St. Louis - this journeyman's path led to another title, helped by his go-ahead home run in Game 2.

"It was a tough year for me," the oft-injured shortstop said. "I told myself to keep working hard and keep in shape because something is going to be good this year."

A team seemingly free of egos did everything right to take the lead in the seventh. Ross, the surprising MVP of the NL championship series, stayed square and hit a leadoff single and Juan Uribe followed with another hit up the middle.

That put a runner at second base for the first time in the game and brought up Huff, who led the Giants in home runs this year. So what did he do? He expertly put down the first sacrifice bunt of his career.

Renteria homered with two outs, and that was enough.

"Wow. I don't know. What can you say," the 23-year-old Posey said. "This is ultimate high in baseball and I got to experience it my first year here. I don't know what to say."

Many years ago, one swing of the bat prompted a call that resonates throughout Giants history and beyond.

"The Giants win the pennant! The Giants win the pennant! The Giants win the pennant!" announcer Russ Hodges shouted over and over after Bobby Thomson launched "The Shot Heard 'Round the World" in 1951.

Time to redo that cry: The Giants win the Series! The Giants win the Series! The Giants win the Series!

From AP reports.