SAN FRANCISCO - Madison Bumgarner sat in the outfield alongside Jake Peavy before Game 7 of the World Series and told his teammate exactly what needed to happen: Tim Hudson would work a few innings and get the ball to Bumgarner, who would hand it off to the bullpen to finish the championship.
[b]Mike Montgomery Jersey[/b] .Peavy quickly offered his own prediction that Bumgarner would end it himself.Thats exactly what MadBum did, following up a pair of World Series wins with a save at Kansas City to close out San Franciscos third title in five years and cap a brilliant post-season that made him a household name — or, at the very least, a household nickname. He is the 2014 Associated Press Male Athlete of the Year.I was sitting in the outfield with Madison and he was asking me how I thought this game was going to play out, Peavy recalled this month. I said to him: Madison, when you get the ball, youre not coming out of the game. Youre the best guy weve got. ... He said, Man, thats exactly what I hoped you would say and exactly what he wanted. He just needed some confirmation, somebody to believe in him as well. I said, Fight for that ball, man, and what he did will go down in the ages as the best ever.The shaggy-haired left-hander who takes as much pride in his pitching and durability as he does his deep North Carolina roots, Bumgarner became Octobers biggest star for a San Francisco club that really needed one during another improbable World Series run.Bumgarner finished first in a vote by U.S. editors and news directors. He beat out Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw — who won the National League Cy Young and MVP. Retiring New York Yankees star Derek Jeter and golfer Rory McIlroy tied for third place. The award was announced Tuesday.After months of the same questions about his well-tested left arm, Bumgarner made light of it all.He had just thrown 270 innings, including 21 with two wins and a save in a World Series that went the distance against the fellow wild-card Royals.I got a splinter in my finger the other day. That was kind of painful, Bumgarner quipped, sounding perfectly serious. Fortunately, it was on my right hand.Bruce Bochys 25-year-old workhorse has earned the managers trust that he will speak up if anything ever feels off with his arm. Otherwise, hes going to keep getting the ball.With that tricky cross-body, three-quarters delivery — resembling a sling shot — Bumgarner shows hitters the ball briefly with an outstretched arm before that rapid release and suddenly its right there leaving batters baffled.On two days rest in Game 7, that day he sat with Peavy in Kansas City, he pitched five scoreless innings of relief in a 3-2 win.Only after that would Bumgarner acknowledge he might need a mental and physical break at last after tossing a record 52 2-3 post-season innings.You know what? I cant lie to you anymore, he said. Im a little tired now.Pitching coach Dave Righetti began fielding inquiries before the World Series began about whether Bumgarner had the chance to make three appearances. He knew it could happen, though it wasnt exactly planned.You dont realize when youre in the middle of the eye, Wow, what this guys doing is so special, Righetti said. That really hasnt been done in years. ... When youve got a healthy guy whos on a roll, those are the kind of guys who change big series and do special things.The Giants locked up Bumgarner long-term in April 2012 on a $35.56 million, six-year contract through 2017. It could keep him in orange and black even longer, given the $12 million options for the 2018 and 2019 seasons. That almost seems like a bargain now given Bumgarners performance and star power on baseballs biggest stage.Bumgarner was MVP of the World Series and NL Championship Series, going 4-1 during the post-season following an 18-10 regular season.From his four-hit, 10-strikeout gem that got things started in an 8-0 wild-card win at Pittsburgh all the way through his brilliant relief outing in Game 7 of the World Series, Bumgarner dazzled like never before.He pitched a different game than we had seen from him earlier in the season, Pirates manager Clint Hurdle recalled recently. We had watched video and saw how much sharper he had gotten as the season played out. In the wild-card game he had command of all his pitches and lived on the edges the entire outing. He also used his fastball up in the zone with deadly accuracy.Bumgarner made the rounds on the post-Series appearance circuit, then took a break to attend a rodeo.Despite the heavy workload, Bumgarner will be eager for spring training come February.Everything feels great and were looking to just keep a normal off-season and a normal routine, Bumgarner said.It will hardly be normal given the attention and hype he is sure to generate after a spectacular 2014.I just love the way hes handled everything, all the attention, Righetti said. It looks like hes stayed the same.
[b]Jon Lester Jersey[/b] . After a 99-97 loss to the Toronto Raptors on Wednesday night, his Celtics coaches and teammates have only positive things to say about the Toronto-born rookie.
[b]Ron Santo Jersey[/b] . -- The Sacramento Kings have signed first-round pick Nik Stauskas to his rookie contract.BRISTOL, Tenn. - If two rain delays totalling more than five hours werent enough, the water-logged race at Bristol Motor Speedway had a battery fly out of a car and spread a toilet paper-looking substance all over the track. And that wasnt even the strangest occurrence Sunday. Moments before Carl Edwards closed in on what should have been the white flag lap, the caution lights were accidentally turned on from the flag stand. As NASCAR tried to figure out what was going on, the sky opened up and prevented the race from resuming. Edwards was awarded the win under caution — a victory he was headed to before the mishap — and celebrated his third career win at Bristol with his trademark backflip on the slick concrete. "Oh, man, I thought, This is stupid. I shouldnt do this ... Its awfully glossy. It might be slick," he said. "I didnt want to stick it perfectly and have my feet go that way and break my arm on the concrete. That would have been terrible. I was actually really nervous about that." NASCAR vice-president of competition Robin Pemberton said a person in the flag stand leaned on the manual override switch and that turned on the caution lights. Six seconds after the lights were turned on, the flag man waved the yellow flag. Pemberton said that the flag man can wave the caution flag without a call from series officials in the tower if they see a proper reason. "We were scanning cars and spotters, and theres some of us in the tower that only heard it after the teams were talking about it because we were looking at other things around the racetrack," Pemberton said. Said Edwards: "No harm, no foul, lets act like it just didnt happen." The victory makes Edwards the fourth winner in four races this season and, under NASCARs new rules, is supposed to get him into the 16-driver Chase for the Sprint Cup championship. "Just to have a win this early, man, it is a huge relief," he said. Five other things from water-logged Bristol: BUMP-AND-RUN: With Chase berths conceivably on the line with a win, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. was salivating at a shot at teammate Edwards when the final caution came out at Bristol. But he knew if the race went green again, his only chance would be the old Bristol bump-and-run, which hasnt been used in years. Its a risky move to do to a teammate, but owner Jack Roush said he expected nothing less from Stenhouse. "When it comes time to really charge for the checkered flag, there are no team orders, there aree no rules," Roush said.
[b]John Lackey Jersey[/b]. "I expect them to race one another as they expect to be raced, not only with one another, but with everybody in the garage. I expect Ricky is as fierce a competitor as there is out there, and if his car has the speed in it and he can get to the car in front of him, particularly the short track, youd bump-and-run and take the prize if you could. Id be disappointed if he didnt have that in his mind." AWESOME ARIC: Aric Almirola finished a career-best third — and Richard Petty Motorsports teammate Marcos Ambrose was fifth as four Ford drivers placed in the top-five — but Ambrose felt he could have gotten more. He restarted second behind Carl Edwards with 70 laps to go and had one solid chance to take the lead. If hed gotten past Edwards, he just might have grabbed his first career victory. "These races are so hard to win, and it was a great day for us," he said. "Im not disappointed at all with third, but when you see it and you can taste it and its that close, you wonder what could have went different." SMOKE RISES: Tony Stewart salvaged what looked like it was going to be an awful weekend with a season-best fourth-place finish. It came after he qualified 37th, needed two Saturday practice sessions with crew chief Chad Johnston to make significant improvements to the car and needed the entire race to work his way into the top-10. "Its a step in the right direction for sure. This is a big one. If you come out of this place with a top-five youve had a good day," he said. DISSAPOINTED WITH THE FINISH: Kyle Larson flirted with the lead and was in position to race for the win until the race-changing caution with 77 laps remaining. He went to pit road third, took four tires and restarted ninth. So even though he finished a career-best 10th, the rookie wasnt thrilled. "Its crazy to think its kind of a disappointing finish for the way we ran for most of the race, but all in all it was a good race," Larson said. DALES BAD DAY: Dale Earnhardt Jr.s strong start to the season finally came to an end at Bristol, where he finished 24th after opening with a win and two second-places. Although his Chevrolet wasnt great all weekend, his trouble Sunday was compounded by two left-front tire issues. Once he was out of contention, he was basically just making laps for the bulk of the race. It cost Earnhardt the points lead, which went to Brad Keselowski. Earnhardt now trails Keselowski by 10 points.
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