SAN FRANCISCO — During the Kansas City Royals' rare visit to Oracle Park last season, catcher Salvador Pérez smiled when asked about his most memorable game against the Giants. Pérez has a World Series ring and was named MVP in 2015, when the Royals overcame a disappointing year.
But that October, Perez's first time on that big stage, he now knows he wasn't ready, and that a pair of seasoned veterans were eager to take advantage of the 24-year-old's desire to get a game-tying hit in Game 7.
But you don't have to take his word for it, all you have to do is go back in time and see how it happened.
Buster Posey and Perez may one day be recognized in Cooperstown for their crouching exploits and both will thrive, but during that unforgettable battle, they were both standing. Perez was at bat, and Posey repeatedly lost his catcher's position to force Madison Bumgarner to lift his fastball, giving Bumgarner a good target.
In an exclusive interview that aired on Monday's “Giants Talk” podcast, Posey recalled that he and Bumgarner were in agreement about how to end the game after Alex Gordon reached third base with two outs in the bottom of the ninth and the Giants held a one-run lead.
“The game plan was just to keep pitching high, high, high to Salvador,” he said. “I knew he was going to be nervous. I think we both knew that if I bounced the curveball in that situation, I was probably going to get a strikeout. But he had so much control over the ball that I didn't think I was going to risk it hitting the front of the plate and bouncing over my head and deciding the World Series.”
“In my mind, I knew this guy was pitching the ball up high, and if I could get it in the right spot, it would be a whiff or a pop-up.”
The final fastball went as planned, but manager Posey joked, “I wish it was a little higher.”
“You see, I stood up,” he said, “and I threw this thing over this guy's head.”
The 68th pitch of Bumgarner's historic performance fell just short of Posey's glove but was high enough that Perez popped it to third base for his third championship. Bumgarner, Posey and the rest of the 2014 team celebrated Saturday at Oracle Park. Before the ceremony, Bumgarner reflected that he was comfortable pitching the go-ahead run out of the zone in part because he felt comfortable pitching it out of the zone.
Perez hit a home run off Bumgarner in Game 1. The next pitcher was another lefty, Mike Moustakas, who was 1-for-7 off Bumgarner in the series.
“We were just going to wait and see and, honestly, I didn't care if we walked him,” Bumgarner said. “We were going to take advantage of his aggressive nature and if he could have contained his aggressive nature, he probably would have stayed on first base but we would have gotten another hitter.”
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