Giants Win Over Rangers Helps Erase Memories Of 2002 World Series

The Giants, of course, just Monday night put the finishing touches on a World Series title by beating the Rangers in five games. And it was only Monday night that their fans were finally able to forget about all the misery they went through back in 2002.

The 2002 Giants were a team managed by Dusty Baker and led by Barry Bonds, who slugged 46 home runs. He was supported by second baseman Jeff Kent, and the pitching staff was led by Russ Ortiz and Jason Schmidt.

The Giants won 95 games in the regular season and made the playoffs as the NL Wild Card. In the playoffs, they eliminated the Atlanta Braves in five games in the NLDS, and then eliminated the St. Louis Cardinals in five games in the NLCS. That set up a World Series showdown against the southern California rival Anaheim Angels.

And the Giants were able to pull out to a 3-2 series lead before flying to Anaheim for Game 6. And it was in that Game 6 that they held a 5-0 lead in the top of the seventh inning. But the Angels were able to get big home runs from Scott Spiezio and Darin Erstad in what became an incredible comeback win, and John Lackey then went on to shut the Giants down in Game 7 as the Angels pulled off the dramatic championship.