Game 6: Dickey vs. De La Rosa.  How could this possibly not be anticlimactic after that unreal Game 5?  Actually, Im afraid to ponder that question.  Lets just move on now.    

Okay, so how would SHI bounce back?  Well, they started the game with a BB, SB, RBI DO, BB, and WP that set up Pujols with another 3-run HR chance, but he turned it into another SF instead.  After the 2^nd out, DeJesus joined SFEs long list of defensive infamy with a dropped fly ball to score the 3^rd run.  How would Dickey handle pitching with this 3-0 lead?  Pretty damn well, thanks.  He did make a mistake in the 3^rd that Arencibia put in the seats to make it 3-1.  On to the 5^th, where SHI continued their baserunning flubs with a CS, that Jones followed with a long home run.  Hey, we can hit them too!  So it should have been 5-1, but SHI settled for 4-1 instead, at least until the 7^th when the pesky Ryan hit a leadoff TR and scored on a SF.  Dickey kept cruising along and led 5-1 through 7, but Casilla led off with a DO and SHI called on Elbert.  SFE countered with Soto, who took one for the team and would miss game 7.  SHI sent in Casilla, who continued his fabulous series by retiring Pence and Bautista.  Axford took over and SFE replaced Big Papi with Napoli, who rewarded them with a mighty whiff!  It remained 5-1 in the bottom of the 9^th and Axford struck out 2, but Arencibia staved off elimination with a single.  In came Raburn, who had a couple big HR in the series, but struck out this time to end it. 

SHINER WINS!  DING DONG, THE WITCH IS DEAD! 

Whew, I really needed that one, particularly after suffering through game 5.  SFE wouldnt have had many players left for a game 7, but Im still very glad to avoid playing that one. 

Congrats to Tom on assembling yet another great team and making me work awfully damn hard to finally get this championship for Shiner.  He's still way ahead of me in championships, but I did win both of the leagues we share this season.  Oddly, my only other ones also came in the same season, way back in 2006.  Hopefully I won't have to wait until 2018 to win again...

Key series themes include:

1)      Horrifically bad D for SFE.  They went 10-22 (57.1%) on X-plays with 10 errors!  Pence, Wright, and Raburn were the worst offenders with a combined 4-11 and 6 E.  Meanwhile, SHI was 28-32 (87.5%) with only 2 errors, both by GG Ryan, oddly enough.  SHI has a very strong defensive team, particularly with Weeks not playing much, but SFE isnt really that bad.  Yikes.

2)      SFE dominating SHI in HR by a count of 12 to 4.  SFE only scored 22 runs overall in 6 games and almost all of them came via the long ball.  SHI led the CL with 245 HR in the regular season, but had to find other ways to score in the WS, with bad SFE D as a big contributor.  7 of their 32 runs were unearned.       

3)      The SHI bullpen was mostly awesome, allowing only 6 runs (5 earned) in 33 IP for a 1.36 ERA.  Three of those runs came off Chen after he had pitched 4 scoreless innings in the G5 marathon.   Two were solo shots off Axford.  Casilla led the pen with 7 scoreless IP over 5 G and 13 K.  That helped SHI put up a 2.65 team ERA despite 2 shaky starts from Hamels (4.97 ERA).  Special kudos go to Dickey for his huge performance in game 6 when we really needed it.

4)      Hamels didnt lose either of his starts, because Halladay was worse (0-2, 6 ERA).  Rivera got 1 save, but was 0-1 with a 7.2 ERA.  Pineda, Lincecum and most the SFE bullpen pitched well though, particularly in G5.  They did have a 3.36 ERA, despite all the X-hits.

5)      The unlikely offensive heroes for SHI were Ryan (8-20, a cool .400 BA) and Izturis (only .59, but some huge hits and 4 RBI).  The more likely hero was Molina (.290 with 6 RBI).  Pujols hit .345, but only 3 RBI as he failed to homer and had a knack for getting his hits with the bases empty.  Several of the part-timers contributed, led by Jones with half of the teams 4 HR in only 6 PA.  At the other end of the spectrum, Markakis, Young and Willingham combined for an ugly 11-69 line.

6)      As for SFE, Ortiz hit .286 with a bunch of big hits, including 3 DO and 2 HR.  Part-timers Arencibia, Betemit, Downs, DeJesus, and Casilla had some big moments, but most of the regulars were disappointing.  Pence, Napoli, Freeman, and Bautista all hit.207 or worse.  Almost everyone had at least one HR though.  Raburn was only 2-11, but tied Ortiz for the team lead with 2 HR and 4 RBI.

7)   I'll finish with an overall playoffs note.  In their march to the championship, Shiner was only 4-6 at home, but won an amazing 8 of 9 games on the road.  I guess they should try not to have the best record next season.  Their supposed ace Hamels only had a 4.35 ERA in 6 GS, but was still 2-0.  Molina hit .321 in the playoffs and led the team with 13 RBI.  Pujols finished at .250 with 2 HR and 9 RBI.  Way to earn your money, big man. 

Okay, enough of this.  Ive fulfilled my obligation to write this up for posterity.  Time to kick back and enjoy the championship