National Baseball League

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NLDS Game 4 — October 12, 1938
San Diego Padres 10, San Francisco Giants 5
Series tied 2–2 — Game 5 back at Oracle

🎙️ Chris “Mad Dog” Russo (absolutely furious)
ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!
Seven–to–one in the fourth inning! SEVEN TO ONE! And this is the two-time recent World Series champ we’re talkin’ about! You can’t come into PETCO in a closeout game and give up a three-run third and then a FOUR-RUN fourth! You just can’t!
John DuPont? He didn’t survive the fourth! Ten hits! Seven runs! The Padres were lining rockets all over the yard!
And George Setton?! TWO HOME RUNS! Five RBIs! He practically rented space in left field! First inning — boom! Eighth inning — BOOM again! Every time the Giants even THINK about making it interesting, Setton slams the door with a sledgehammer!
You get it to 7–5 in the eighth — Price triples! Perdomo triples! Now you’re thinkin’, “Here we go! The champs are comin’!” And what happens?
Three batters later — Perkins knocks one in — and then SETTON again! Two-run homer! Ballgame! Over! Done!
You don’t win championships givin’ up TEN runs and FOURTEEN hits in a playoff game! I don’t care what you did in ’35! I don’t care what you did in ’36! This is 1938!
Game Five now. Winner take all. And if you’re the Giants, you better wake up — because San Diego just punched you square in the mouth.

🎙️ Vin Scully (calm, luminous, reflective)
On a gentle October afternoon in San Diego, beneath clear skies and a breeze drifting softly toward right field, the Padres found their urgency — and their thunder.
Before many in the crowd of 34,911 had settled into their seats, George Setton introduced himself once more.
A solo home run in the first inning — a firm reminder that this was not to be a coronation.
Then came the third… and the fourth… and suddenly the ballpark was alive.
Cesar Morin’s triple in the fourth inning was struck like a streak of lightning into the right-field corner, two runs racing home as the Padres built a commanding lead. Chris Perkins followed with a ringing double, and Setton, fittingly, added another run-scoring hit. It became a cascade — four runs in the inning — and the Giants were left searching for breath.
To their credit, the champions of 1935 and 1936 did stir.
Bill Valenzuela launched a majestic home run in the seventh, a soaring drive that momentarily hushed the crowd. In the eighth, Greg Price and Edgar Perdomo each delivered triples, and the deficit narrowed to two.
For a fleeting moment, one could almost feel the tide beginning to turn.
But baseball can be exquisitely cruel.
In the bottom of the eighth, with the Giants within striking distance, Setton stepped forward once more. A towering drive to left-center — his second home run of the afternoon — and with it, the tension dissolved into celebration.
Four hits. Two home runs. Five runs driven in. A performance that will be remembered in San Diego for years.
And so the Division Series, so confidently leaning toward San Francisco just days ago, now returns north for a decisive fifth game.
One game.
One autumn evening.
And somewhere between the roar of the crowd and the hush before the first pitch, a season will either continue… or gently fade into memory.

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San Francisco Giants: 7th NLCS berth
1915 1916 1917 1934 1935 1936 1938

🎙️ Mad Dog & Costas React — Giants 17, Padres 4
NLDS Game 5 — October 14, 1938
San Francisco Giants vs San Diego Padres

🎙️ Chris “Mad Dog” Russo (ecstatic, unhinged joy)
THIS is what champions DO!
Down 4–0 before half the crowd finished their coffee — and what happens?! They hang SEVENTEEN on San Diego! Seventeen! In a Game Five! In October! Are you kiddin’ me?!
You wanna jump on the Giants early? Fine! Perkins steals two bags, Setton doubles, Padres put up four in the first — and for about 12 minutes you’re thinkin’, “Uh oh, here we go.”
And then BOOM! Five in the bottom of the first! Campbell double! Snapp rips one! Shepard knocks in a run! It’s 5–4 before you can blink!
And they never stopped!
Jeremy Dick — GRAND SLAM in the fifth! 435 feet! That’s not a home run — that’s a statement!
Tim Snapp? SIX RBIs! Six! Two bombs! Seven total bases! The guy practically needed a police escort around the bases!
And Edgar Perdomo — four runs scored! Bill Valenzuela — series MVP, hitting .500 with ten RBIs in the series! That’s clutch hitting! That’s October DNA!
You score five in the first, two in the third, five in the fifth, two in the sixth, three in the eighth — this was an avalanche! San Diego walked into Oracle with hope… and walked out buried!
Seven NLCS appearances! Four in the last five seasons! The ’35 and ’36 World Champs are STILL standing!
Dynasty? I’m sayin’ it! DYYYYNASTY!

🎙️ Bob Costas (measured, resonant, historical perspective)
There is something uniquely revealing about a Game Five.
All the tension of a series distilled into nine innings. The margin between advancement and elimination razor thin.
For one inning — perhaps less — it seemed the afternoon might belong to San Diego. Four quick runs. Stolen bases. Crisp swings. A confident beginning.
But the Giants did not panic. They responded.
Five runs in the bottom half of the first — not with desperation, but with poise. Controlled aggression. Line drives into the cool Bay air.
From there, it became less a contest… and more a declaration.
Jeremy Dick’s grand slam in the fifth inning was the decisive blow — a soaring drive that removed any lingering doubt. Tim Snapp’s remarkable afternoon — six runs batted in — underscored the depth of a lineup that refuses to concede an October stage.
And consider this broader arc.
This marks the seventh time the Giants have advanced to the League Championship Series… and the fourth in five seasons. They are no longer merely talented — they are established. The championships of 1935 and 1936 are not distant memories; they are part of an ongoing era.
Now, a new chapter awaits against the Miami Marlins — an upstart club that swept aside St. Louis with quiet efficiency.
October often demands resilience. On this afternoon, the Giants demonstrated something even more formidable.
Authority.
Seventeen runs. Nineteen hits. No errors.
And another opportunity to chase history.

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ALCS
Tampa Bay Rays at Anaheim Angels
October 15, 1938 — Angel Stadium of Anaheim

There are postseason games that unfold according to expectation. And then there are those that wait — patiently, almost politely — before revealing their true nature in the final moments.
Game One of this League Championship Series belonged to the latter.
For seven and a half innings, the afternoon seemed firmly in Tampa Bay’s possession. Behind the composed and efficient work of Justin Truelove, and buoyed by an early offensive burst, the Rays built a 5–0 lead that felt substantial, if not decisive.
Rod Francia’s 434-foot home run in the second inning set the tone. Chris Eckert, whose speed and daring were on full display, tripled twice — tying a Tampa Bay postseason record — and repeatedly pressured Anaheim’s defense. Mark McDonald reached base, stole at will, and scored twice. By the fifth inning, the Rays appeared in command, their advantage extended to five runs.
Yet October has a way of withholding certainty.
Danny Cespedes labored but endured for Anaheim, keeping the margin from growing insurmountable. And gradually, almost imperceptibly, the Angels began to stir.
In the eighth inning, a triple by Ricky Resendez ignited the first genuine unease in the Tampa Bay dugout. Akiyuki Amano followed with a run-scoring double, trimming the deficit to three. The crowd — 34,853 strong under a mild Southern California sky — sensed the shift.
Still, the Rays carried a 5–2 lead into the ninth.
Jonathan Collings, the 1931 Cy Young Award winner, was summoned to secure the final three outs. His résumé suggested reliability. The inning suggested something else.
Corey Wright singled. Carlos Guzman tripled sharply into the gap, scoring Wright and bringing the tying run closer to the plate. A walk, a fielder’s choice, and then a defensive miscue extended the inning further. The lead, once comfortable, had narrowed to a single run.
And then came Dave Johnston.
Already 2-for-4 on the afternoon with a double, Johnston stepped in with two outs and two men aboard. Collings delivered a sinker. Johnston did not miss.
The ball traveled 411 feet into the right-field seats — a clean, unambiguous arc that required no interpretation. A three-run home run. A walk-off. And with one swing, a 7–5 Anaheim victory.
It was a game defined not merely by statistics — though Johnston’s three hits and three runs batted in will endure in the box score — but by timing. By resilience. By the fragile nature of October leads.
The Angels, once quiet, now lead this series one game to none.
And the Rays, who controlled nearly every measurable aspect of the afternoon, are left to contemplate the only measure that ultimately matters.
The final one.

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NLCS Game 1 — October 16, 1938
Miami Marlins at San Francisco Giants
Giants win 11–10 — Lead series 1–0

🎙️ Mike Francesa (measured, authoritative — but impressed)
Alright. Let’s settle down and unpack this because this was an absolute circus.
Seventeen hits for Miami. Ten runs. They led 7–1. They led 9–6. They led 10–6 in the eighth inning.
And they lost.
That’s very hard to do in October.
The Giants got punched early. Kawazu knocks in a run in the first. Davila hits a 441-foot homer in the fifth. Tyler Adams goes deep in the sixth. Miami just kept scoring. Parker didn’t have it. Childress didn’t have it. Benton’s just trying to hold the line.
And then the sixth inning happens.
David Fuentes — three-run homer. Suddenly it’s 7–4. Steve Taylor triples. And Travis Campbell — two-run homer. Just like that, it’s 7–6 and Oracle Park is alive.
Campbell wasn’t done. He hits another two-run homer in the eighth. Eight total bases. Four RBIs. That’s why he’s been doing this for 12 years.
But here’s the play of the game: bottom of the ninth.
Down 10–8.
Snapp reaches on an error. Jeremy Dick singles. O’Brien — pinch hitting — doubles. Two runs score. Tie game.
And then Steve Taylor, who already had three hits, lines the walk-off single.
Ballgame.
You give up 11 runs on 10 hits, you usually win that game. Miami had their chances. But you cannot give extra outs to this lineup.
You just can’t.
🎙️ Chris “Mad Dog” Russo (joyful, almost giddy)
MIKE! THIS is why October baseball is the BEST THING IN SPORTS!
Seven to one! Seven to one in the sixth! I’m sittin’ there thinkin’, “Uh oh! Marlins are stealin’ Game One on the road!”
Davila’s hittin’ lasers! Holte’s everywhere! Grissett drivin’ in runs! They had SEVENTEEN hits!
And then the Giants just say, “Nah. Not today.”
Fuentes — BOOM! Three-run homer!
Taylor triples — the guy’s flyin’ around the bases!
Campbell hits one! Then he hits ANOTHER one! Two homers in an NLCS game!
You wanna talk big-time players? That’s a big-time player!
And the ninth inning?! Oh, forget it!
Snapp reaches — thank you very much, left fielder!
Dick singles!
O’Brien off the bench — ropes a double! Tie game!
And then the balk! A BALK in the ninth inning of an NLCS game! You can’t make it up!
And then Taylor — base hit to center! Ballgame! Crowd goin’ bananas! Forty-four thousand people losin’ their minds!
That’s championship DNA, Mike! That’s what teams that have won in ’35 and ’36 do!
🎙️ Francesa (leaning forward)
Here’s the bottom line.
Miami can hit. They proved it. Ten runs, seventeen hits — on the road — in Game One of a League Championship Series. That’s not small.
But San Francisco’s lineup is relentless.
Nine walks. Timely homers. Clutch at-bats with two outs. And when you combine power with patience? That’s dangerous.
Campbell was the Player of the Game — and deservedly so. But don’t overlook Taylor: three hits, three runs, walk-off single.
That’s leadership.
🎙️ Russo (beaming)
And now the Marlins gotta wake up tomorrow knowin’ they HAD this game!
You don’t wanna give the Giants oxygen. You just don’t! They breathe October air better than anybody!
Series 1–0. Oracle Park rockin’. Giants smell another pennant run.
And if Game One’s like this?
Buckle up.
This one’s gonna be wild.

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ALCS Game 2 — October 16, 1938
Tampa Bay Rays at Anaheim Angels
Angels win 6–3 — Lead series 2–0 (Now 7–0 in the postseason)

🎙️ Colin Cowherd
Let me tell you something about dynasties — or what becomes a dynasty.
It’s not always about flash. It’s not always about the biggest payroll or the loudest bats.
Sometimes? It’s about the adult in the room.
And right now, the adult in October is Anaheim.
Seven and oh.
That’s not hot. That’s not lucky. That’s organizational.
Mario Monzon is 35 years old. In today’s game we’d say, “Oh, he’s past his prime.” Nope. Seven innings. Two runs. 112 pitches. Calm. No panic. No drama. Just surgical.
Meanwhile, Tampa Bay had chances. Ten hits. Early 2–1 lead. Mark McDonald stealing bags. Rod Francia squaring balls up. Johnny Nava triples.
But here’s the difference: traffic doesn’t matter if you don’t cash it in.
Anaheim does.
Second inning? Dave Johnston — 426 feet. Tie game. Immediate answer.
Fifth inning? They manufacture a run. Steal a base. Take the extra 90 feet. Tie it 2–2.
And then the sixth inning — this is the series right here.
Ricky Resendez double. Johnston walks. And Akiyuki Amano — the catcher — not your cleanup hitter — lines a two-run double. Veteran at-bat. No panic.
That’s culture.
Then Ricky Abrego triples. Three-run inning. Game tilts. Series tilts.
And what I love? They tack on another in the seventh. David Antillon homers. You know what that is? That’s a team that doesn’t let you breathe.
Tampa Bay isn’t playing poorly. Mike Winnie wasn’t awful — but in October, “not awful” gets you beat.
Here’s the bigger takeaway.
Anaheim doesn’t beat itself. Zero errors. Smart baserunning. Timely power. Veteran pitching. And when they go to the bullpen, David Smith shuts the door like he’s closing a bank vault.
Seven wins. Zero losses.
You know what that tells me?
They don’t rely on momentum — they create it.
Now this thing shifts to Tropicana Field. And Tampa Bay has a decision to make.
Are they good?
Or are they October good?
Because Anaheim right now? They look inevitable.
And inevitability is terrifying.

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🎙️ Chris “Mad Dog” Russo — FUMING After NLCS Game 2
Miami Marlins 14
San Francisco Giants 11
Series tied 1–1

ARE YOU KIDDING ME WITH THIS GAME?!
TWENTY-TWO HITS! TWENTY-TWO! In an NLCS game! At ORACLE! With a chance to go up 2–0!
You can’t give up 14 runs in October! You just CAN’T!
Let’s start with the obvious — Tomoo Kawazu. Thirty-eight years old! Thirty-eight! And he looks like he’s 28 out there!
Two home runs. Six hits. SIX! Four runs scored, four driven in, fourteen total bases! The guy tied the National League playoff record for hits in a game! And you let him steal a base in the ninth just for fun?!
Ernie Pritchett? Four innings. Eight runs. Game Score of NINE! NINE! That’s not October pitching — that’s batting practice!
And here’s what drives me CRAZY — the Giants kept coming back! They’re down 4–0 in the first. They make it 4–3 immediately. Down 10–4 in the fifth — and they score FIVE in the bottom half! Fuentes hits a two-run homer, Price knocks one in, they cut it to 10–9!
You’ve got momentum! You’ve got 43,000 people going nuts!
And what happens?!
You give it right back!
Sixth inning — Kawazu double. Grissett triple. Another run.
Eighth inning — Kawazu AGAIN! 433 feet! Then Adams hits a two-run homer! Three more runs! Ballgame!
Every time the Giants made it a fight, Miami punched them in the mouth again!
And don’t tell me this was all pitching — the Giants had FIFTEEN hits! Taylor had three. Perdomo had three. Valenzuela hit a 443-foot bomb in the first! They scored ELEVEN runs and still lost by three!
That’s unacceptable!
You score 11 in an NLCS game, you’re supposed to win by five — not lose by three!
Now the series shifts to Miami. LoanDepot Park. Crowd behind the Marlins. And guess what?
Kawazu looks like he found the Fountain of Youth.
If you’re San Francisco, you better figure out how to get that guy out. I don’t care if you walk him. I don’t care if you pitch around him. I don’t care if you pitch underhand!
Because if this turns into a slugfest every night?
Miami just proved they can trade punches.
Series tied. Momentum flipped.
And the Giants just let a 2–0 stranglehold slip right through their fingers.

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🎙️ Bob Costas Recaps ALCS Game 3
Anaheim Angels 15
Tampa Bay Rays 10
Angels lead ALCS 3–0 — Now 8–0 this postseason

Ballpark: Tropicana Field
There are postseason victories… and then there are proclamations.
What unfolded this afternoon in St. Petersburg was less a baseball game and more a relentless exhibition of offensive will.
Fifteen runs. Sixteen hits. Ten home runs.
And an unblemished October record that now stands at eight wins without defeat.
The Angels did not merely win Game Three — they overwhelmed it.
Ricky Abrego began the barrage in the second inning with a two-run home run, offering an early signal of what was to come. In the third, David Antillon launched a solo shot. In the fourth, the game tipped irreversibly: Corey Wright homered, Juan Garcia followed with a three-run drive, and Anaheim surged ahead 7–1.
But if that seemed decisive, it was only a prelude.
Antillon would homer again in the eighth. Garcia would do the same. Carlos Guzman added one of his own. And then there was Akiyuki Amano — three home runs, tying an Angels postseason record — each swing echoing through the dome like a metronome marking inevitability.
By the end of the eighth inning, Anaheim had built a 15–4 advantage. The Rays, to their credit, did not retreat quietly. Five runs in the ninth — including home runs from Francisco Hernandez and Santos Garcia — added drama to the box score, if not suspense to the outcome.
What distinguishes this Angels club is not merely its power, though the power is undeniable. It is the distribution of it.
Antillon: 3-for-4, two home runs, four runs scored.
Garcia: three hits, four runs batted in.
Amano: three homers, three driven in.
Guzman: five total bases.
Eight different players reached base. Six drove in runs. No errors were committed. And even when Tampa Bay mounted its late rally, Anaheim absorbed it without panic.
Wayne Dirlam was not dominant — he did not need to be. The Angels’ offense created such margin that steadiness sufficed.
There is something quietly historic about beginning a postseason 8–0. It speaks not only to talent, but to preparation, to focus, to an understanding of the moment.
Anaheim now stands one victory away from a pennant.
And as this series continues beneath the artificial light of Tropicana Field, the Rays are left confronting a simple truth:
To defeat the Angels, one must first slow them.
Thus far, no one has.

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🎙️ Chris “Mad Dog” Russo — RELIEVED After NLCS Game 3
San Francisco Giants 12
Miami Marlins 11
Giants lead NLCS 2–1

📍 LoanDepot Park
OH. MY. GOODNESS.
I need a glass of water after that one!
Twelve to eleven?! In October?! On the road?! In front of 53,000 people who thought they were about to steal control of this series?!
The Giants tried to give this game away three different times — and somehow they’re walking out of Miami with a 2–1 lead!
Let’s start here: Tim Snapp. TWO home runs. Nine total bases. Three runs scored. Player of the Game — and deservedly so. Every time this lineup needed oxygen, he delivered it.
But the seventh inning? That’s where this game flipped on its head.
They’re down 6–4. You’re thinking, “Uh oh. Marlins got momentum.” And then —
Steve Taylor — BOOM! Solo shot.
Travis Campbell gets plunked.
Bill Valenzuela — TWO-RUN HOMER!
Snapp — ANOTHER homer!
And they didn’t stop! Hit after hit after hit! Eight runs in the inning! EIGHT! In an NLCS game on the road!
That’s championship firepower!
Valenzuela again coming through — two homers, three RBIs. The guy’s hitting over .400 this postseason! Santo Domingo’s finest just keeps delivering in the biggest spots.
And Steve Taylor? Three hits, three RBIs, nine total bases! He was everywhere!
But here’s the part that’ll keep Giants fans awake tonight —
You’re up 12–6… and you can’t relax for one second.
Miami claws back. Kawazu triples. Sigaran’s got four runs scored. Holte driving balls all over the park. They make it 12–8. Then 12–11 in the eighth. You can feel the walls closing in!
And in the eighth inning — bases loaded, chaos everywhere — Tomoo Kawazu grounds into a double play.
That saved the season tonight. That’s the ballgame right there.
Then Martinez comes out in the ninth and somehow, SOMEHOW, gets three clean outs. No drama. No tying run on second. Just three outs and get on the plane feeling grateful.
This wasn’t pretty. It wasn’t clean. The pitching? Shaky. Bachus gave up six. The bullpen bent like a palm tree in a hurricane.
But they survived.
And in October, sometimes survival is enough.
Now the pressure flips. Giants up 2–1. Miami just threw everything they had at them — 15 hits! 11 runs! — and still lost.
You don’t apologize for road wins in the League Championship Series.
You take ’em. You breathe. And you get ready for tomorrow.
Because if this series keeps going like this?
We’re gonna need defibrillators.

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Anaheim Angels: 1938 American League Champions (2nd pennant)
1934 1938

🎙️ Bob Costas — ALCS Game 4 Recap
October 19, 1938
Anaheim Angels 13
Tampa Bay Rays 8

📍 Tropicana Field
There are sweeps… and then there are statements.
What the Anaheim Angels have accomplished over the past two weeks is something far rarer than a pennant. It is perfection.
Nine games. Nine victories.
Toronto in two. Cleveland in three. Tampa Bay in four.
Not a single blemish.
With a 13–8 victory this afternoon, the Angels completed a 4–0 dismissal of the Rays and captured the second American League pennant in franchise history. The first, of course, came in 1934 — when Anaheim defeated the San Francisco Giants to claim its inaugural World Series championship.
History, it seems, has a taste for symmetry.
From the outset tonight, the Angels played like a club determined to remove all suspense. Three runs in the first inning — Carlos Guzman’s leadoff double setting the tone, Juan Garcia driving in two, Akiyuki Amano lining a run-scoring single. Before many in attendance had settled into their seats, Anaheim led 3–0.
They would never trail.
Jared Vaught was steady rather than spectacular — six innings, three runs — but the offense rendered precision unnecessary. The decisive moment arrived in the sixth inning. Ahead 5–1, Anaheim unleashed four runs in a sequence that felt emblematic of their October dominance: Guzman doubled home a run; David Antillon launched a two-run homer; and suddenly the Rays were chasing shadows.
Corey Wright — tonight’s Player of the Game — added a majestic two-run blast in the seventh, part of a three-hit, three-RBI performance that underscored the depth of this lineup.
And then there is Antillon.
Named series MVP, he concluded the Championship Series hitting .562, with four home runs, a .632 on-base percentage, and the quiet confidence of a man who understands the larger objective. “We’re not done yet,” he said afterward — a remark less boastful than declarative.
Tampa Bay, to its credit, did not fade. The Rays homered three times and scored late, trimming the final margin to five. But even in the ninth inning rally, the outcome never felt uncertain. Anaheim’s control of this series — indeed, of this entire postseason — has been unmistakable.
Nine and zero.
Such a record speaks not only to talent, but to clarity of purpose.
Now they wait.
The National League Championship Series continues, with the San Francisco Giants holding a 2–1 advantage over the Miami Marlins. Should the Giants prevail, baseball would be treated to a compelling reprise of 1934 — Anaheim and San Francisco, once again, for the sport’s highest prize.
But that is for another evening.
For now, the Angels stand alone atop the American League — undefeated, unchallenged, and unmistakably formidable.
The American League pennant belongs to Anaheim.
And October, at least thus far, has belonged to perfection.

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🎙️ Mike and the Mad Dog — NLCS Game 4 Recap
San Francisco Giants 17
Miami Marlins 14
📍 LoanDepot Park
Giants lead series 3–1

🎙️ Mike Francesa
Alright. Lemme say this clearly.
That was not a baseball game. That was a track meet.
Seventeen to fourteen. Thirty-one runs. Thirty-five hits. Two grand slams by one guy — and he loses!
Floyd Holte drives in NINE runs. Nine! Sets a playoff record. Two grand slams — one in the fourth, one in the fifth — and he’s gotta sit in that clubhouse after the game thinking, “How did we lose?”
Because the Giants just kept answering.
They score two in the first. Miami scores three. Giants score one. Miami scores three. It’s 6–4, 10–4, 10–10, 14–10, 14–13 — I mean it never stopped!
You thought momentum mattered? It didn’t matter tonight.
Greg Price — that’s the at-bat of the season right there. Seventh inning. Down 14–13. Two men on. Two outs. And he ropes a double into right. Two runs score. 15–14 Giants.
That’s October hitting.
🎙️ Mad Dog Russo
MIKE! MIKE! I CAN’T BELIEVE THIS GAME!
You hit TWO GRAND SLAMS in a League Championship Series game and you LOSE?! HOW DOES THAT HAPPEN?!
Holte’s hitting .583 in this series! The guy’s driving in runs like he’s playing wiffle ball in the backyard! Eleven total bases tonight! NINE RBIs!
And it doesn’t matter!
Because San Francisco’s lineup is RELENTLESS!
Perdomo on base four times, stealing bags like it’s July! Fuentes with FOUR hits! Shepard homers! Snapp driving runs in! Jeremy Dick two doubles, three RBIs!
And the pitching?! Forget it! DuPont had a Game Score of ZERO! ZERO! That’s not even a number! That’s a cry for help!
But here’s the difference — the Giants bullpen finally said, “Enough.”
Garcia gives you two scoreless innings. Tyrone Green shuts the door in the ninth. That double play to end it? That’s the season right there for Miami!
🎙️ Mike
And Dog, don’t overlook the ninth inning insurance.
It’s 15–14. You’re hanging by a thread. And what happens?
Price doubles again. Fuentes hits a two-run homer. Now it’s 17–14.
That’s championship poise.
Because if they don’t tack those on, this thing could’ve gone sideways fast.
🎙️ Mad Dog
But MIKE — how about Miami scoring FOUR in the fifth after just giving up six?!
Every time you thought one team grabbed control, the other one said, “Not so fast!”
This series is insane! We’ve had 14–11, 12–11, and now 17–14! These pitchers are gonna need therapy after this!
🎙️ Mike
Bottom line is this:
The Giants are one win away from the National League pennant.
They’ve scored 40 runs in the last three games. Forty!
And now Miami’s got to win three straight against a lineup that just does not stop.
Holte was heroic. Kawazu had three hits again. Flores had four hits.
Didn’t matter.
Because San Francisco has too many bats.
🎙️ Mad Dog
Game Five tomorrow. Miami’s season on the line.
If they don’t find somebody — ANYBODY — to stop the bleeding on the mound?
This thing’s over.
And if the Giants finish it?
Start booking those tickets.
Because Anaheim is waiting.
And if these two offenses meet in the World Series?
We might need to put up a scoreboard that goes to 30.

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🎙️ Vin Scully Recaps NLCS Game 5
Miami Marlins 10
San Francisco Giants 4
📍 LoanDepot Park
Series: Giants lead 3 games to 2

Well, on a warm October afternoon in South Florida, with the breeze drifting gently toward left field and 52,912 looking on, the Marlins found both their bats and their resolve.
The Giants arrived one victory away from another National League pennant. They will have to wait.
The afternoon belonged to a designated hitter with a golden swing — Octavio Flores.
Flores was simply magnificent. Four hits in five trips. A home run in the third inning to begin the scoring. Three ringing doubles. Five runs driven home. Ten total bases. And with each crack of the bat, the Marlins breathed a little easier.
In the third inning, Miami strung together five hits and four runs. Tomoo Kawazu lined a single to right to plate one. Chris Grissett followed with another. Holden Daggett delivered yet another base hit. It was a relentless rally — line drives finding grass, the ball skipping across the infield, the Giants chasing.
By the fourth, Flores was at it again, doubling home John Evans to extend the lead.
And in the sixth, when there was a faint murmur that perhaps San Francisco might inch back into the game, the Marlins answered with authority. Evans doubled. Flores doubled again. Manny Sigaran singled him home. Three more runs. An 8–0 advantage.
Jonathan Parker simply could not find the answer. Eight earned runs in five innings, and afterward Giants manager Danny Wallace said it plainly: “We didn’t pitch good, and when you don’t pitch good, you lose.”
Bobby Cardenas, meanwhile, gave Miami exactly what it required. Eight sturdy innings. Four runs allowed. He bent a bit in the eighth when Edgar Perdomo launched a two-run homer into the Miami afternoon, and again in the ninth when Jeremy Dick tripled and Greg Price lifted a sacrifice fly. But the margin was too wide, and the Marlins too steady.
Flores returned in the eighth for one final flourish — a double to score Evans, tying a National League postseason record with three doubles in a game.
And so the final score: Miami 10, San Francisco 4.
The Giants still lead the series three games to two. But the tone has changed ever so slightly. The flight now shifts west to Oracle Park, where the cool air by the bay will replace the Florida warmth.
Game Six awaits on Sunday in San Francisco.
And if this series has taught us anything, it is this:
In October, nothing is granted.
Everything must be earned.

[jg2977]

🎙️ Mad Dog Russo — ABSOLUTELY LOSING HIS MIND

ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!
THE San Francisco Giants HAD A 3–1 SERIES LEAD!
THREE. TO. ONE!
And now we’re going to a Game 7 because the Miami Marlins just dropped NINETEEN runs on them at Oracle Park?!
Nineteen to TEN?! In an elimination game?!
This isn’t October baseball — this is batting practice with fireworks!
SIGARAN DESTROYED THEM!
Manny Sigaran — are you kidding me?!
Leadoff homer in the first inning! Bases-clearing double in the second! Five RBIs! Seven total bases! Every time the Giants even thought about breathing, this guy is in the middle of it again!
And how about that second inning?!
Giants up 3–2. Crowd’s into it. You’re thinking maybe they’re gonna close this thing out.
BOOM!
Five runs. Double. Double. Hit by pitch. Rockets all over the yard.
Seven to three. Just like that.
And it never stopped!
THE PITCHING?! A DISASTER!
Ernie Pritchett? Two innings. TEN runs. Game Score of NEGATIVE TWO!
Negative TWO! I didn’t even know that was allowed!
Lowery? Swinford? Benton? It was a parade of gasoline cans!
And this is with a pennant on the line?!
AND DON’T TELL ME THE GIANTS DIDN’T HIT!
They scored TEN runs!
Greg Price hits a three-run bomb!
Perdomo goes deep!
Valenzuela goes deep!
Shepard goes deep!
Ten runs should WIN you a playoff game!
But when you give up 22 hits — TWENTY-TWO! — you’re not winning anything!
MIAMI WOULD NOT DIE!
Holte? Three RBIs.
Kawazu? Seven total bases!
Daggett? Four hits!
Evans? Three-run homer!
They scored in the 1st.
They scored FIVE in the 2nd.
They scored THREE in the 3rd.
They scored TWO in the 4th.
They scored in the 5th.
They dropped FIVE more in the 7th just to twist the knife!
This was a demolition derby!
AND NOW?!
Game 7. Tomorrow. Same ballpark.
The Giants were up 3–1 in this series!
You had them on the ropes!
You’re the powerhouse franchise! You’ve won titles in ’35 and ’36! You’ve lived in October!
And now you’re one bad start away from going home!
I gotta tell ya — the pressure?
It’s ALL on San Francisco now.
Because Miami’s playing loose.
Miami’s swinging free.
Miami just scored 19 runs in your building.
Game 7?!
I wouldn’t miss it for anything.
BUT IF THE GIANTS BLOW THIS SERIES?!
Ohhhhhh, we’re gonna be talking about this one for YEARS.

[jg2977]

San Francisco Giants: 1938 National League Champions (6th pennant)
1916 1917 1934 1935 1936 1938

🎙️ Mike and the Mad Dog — GIANTS ARE GOING BACK TO THE WORLD SERIES!
San Francisco Giants 12
Miami Marlins 8
📍 Oracle Park
Giants win NLCS 4–3

🎙️ Mike Francesa
Alright. Let’s start here.
They had it.
They almost blew it.
But they finished it.
The Giants are going back to the World Series for the SIXTH time. Fourth pennant in six years. That’s not a fluke — that’s a run.
And tonight? Twelve runs, fifteen hits, and just enough pitching to survive.
The third inning won them the pennant. That’s it. End of story.
Up 2–1? No problem.
Campbell triples.
Perdomo hits a two-run bomb.
Valenzuela doubles.
Snapp doubles.
Price hits a two-run homer.
Five runs. Huge lead.
You give this lineup oxygen, it suffocates you.
🎙️ Mad Dog Russo (ECSTATIC)
MIKE — THEY’RE BACK! THEY’RE BACK!
I DON’T WANNA HEAR ANY MORE ABOUT 3–1 LEADS OR GAME SIX DISASTERS!
THIS TEAM CAN HIT WITH ANYBODY!
PERDOMO?! TWO HOMERS! FOUR RBIs! Eight total bases! The guy hit .419 in the series!
VALENZUELA?! FOUR HITS! ELEVEN TOTAL BASES! TWO HOME RUNS! He hit TEN homers this postseason already!
And STEVE TAYLOR — three doubles! Ties the playoff record! MVP of the series! The guy’s hitting .441 in the LCS!
THIS IS A MACHINE!
🎙️ Mike
Now hold on — it wasn’t perfect.
They’re up 12–2 going into the eighth and suddenly Miami scores four. Ninth inning, Davila hits a two-run rocket. Holte’s still lining balls all over the yard.
It got uncomfortable.
But Bachus gave them 7.2 innings. Only two earned runs. That’s guts in a Game 7.
And when it got tight, they pieced it together — DuPont, Green, Martinez. Not pretty. But effective.
🎙️ Mad Dog
And give Miami credit! They didn’t roll over!
Holte with seven total bases!
Sigaran two doubles!
Adams hits one 432 feet in the third!
Davila nearly sends it into McCovey Cove in the ninth!
But they dug the hole too deep!
You can’t give up SIX runs in the first three innings in this ballpark and expect to survive!
🎙️ Mike
Here’s the big picture.
The Giants survived a seven-game war. This wasn’t easy. It wasn’t clean. But it was earned.
Now?
It’s the rematch.
1934 all over again.
The Anaheim Angels — undefeated this postseason — waiting.
Nine and zero.
The Giants have been here before. They’ve won in ’35 and ’36. They’ve lived in October.
But Anaheim? They swept Tampa. They haven’t even been tested.
🎙️ Mad Dog
MIKE, YOU COULDN’T SCRIPT THIS!
THE POWERHOUSE DYNASTY
VERSUS
THE UNDEFEATED MACHINE!
And let me tell ya something —
If the Giants hit like they did tonight?
If Valenzuela and Perdomo keep launching balls into the night?
We are gonna get a World Series with fireworks every single inning!
🎙️ Mike (closing)
Game 7 tension. Twelve runs. A pennant clinched at home.
San Francisco’s going back to the Fall Classic.
Anaheim’s waiting.
And October just got even better.

[jg2977]

.

[jg2977]

1938 World Series

🎙️ Bob Costas — A Measured Look at World Series History

When the curtain rises on this latest Fall Classic, it will not merely be a contest of lineups and rotations, but of memory.
For the Anaheim Angels, the World Series ledger is brief — but indelible.
In 1934, they met the San Francisco Giants on baseball’s grandest stage and won convincingly, four games to one. It was a series defined by poise and execution, Anaheim establishing itself not as a novelty, but as a champion. That triumph remains their singular championship — and their defining October moment.
San Francisco’s history, by contrast, stretches back further and carries the weight of both glory and heartbreak.
In 1916, the Giants captured their first championship, defeating the Houston Astros four games to two — a foundational achievement for the franchise.
The following year brought disappointment. In 1917, they fell four games to one to the Baltimore Orioles, a reminder that dynasties are rarely born without adversity.
Then came 1934 — the aforementioned loss to Anaheim — a series that lingered in the franchise’s memory.
But what followed was a renaissance.
In 1935, the Giants prevailed in a dramatic seven-game struggle against the Cleveland Indians, four games to three — a series remembered for its tension and resilience.
And in 1936, they were dominant, sweeping the Tampa Bay Rays in four straight games, a display of offensive force that left little doubt about their stature.
So the historical ledger reads as follows:
1916 — Champions (def. Houston 4–2)
1917 — Lost to Baltimore 4–1
1934 — Lost to Anaheim 4–1
1935 — Champions (def. Cleveland 4–3)
1936 — Champions (def. Tampa Bay 4–0)
For Anaheim, one appearance. One title.
For San Francisco, six appearances and three championships — with the opportunity now to add another chapter.
History does not determine outcomes. But it does frame them.
And when these two clubs meet again, the echoes of 1934 will not be distant. They will be very much alive.