Going into the 2014 MLB postseason, all the talk was focused on one historic pitcher. He’d just come off one of the best seasons in league history, tearing up the NL West along the way.
Yes, it was the Los Angeles Dodgers and Clayton Kershaw that had baseball fans around the country thinking of a World Series title. And rightfully so, as the Dodgers ace put together 21 wins and a 1.77 ERA to help his team win the NL West.
However, the Dodgers suffered an early exit, and the then the talk immediately shifted to another NL West team and its ace. The San Francisco Giants earned the second wild card spot and throttled the Pittsburgh Pirates at their home stadium.
It was Madison Bumgarner that threw the complete game shutout to lead his team to a spot in the ALDS against the Washington Nationals. The Nationals boasted one of the best rotations in the league, with Stephen Strasburg and a slew of others.
Although Bumgarner lost his only game against the Nationals, he allowed just two runs in seven innings of work. It didn’t matter, though, as the Giants won the series in four games.
Then, the Giants moved onto play the St. Louis Cardinals, another perennial power in the postseason. Bumgarner pitched his second shutout in Game 1 and closed out the series with an eight-inning outing in Game 5.
By the time the World Series came upon the Giants, Bumgarner was beginning to emerge as this postseason’s star. However, what he did in the series set him apart from any other pitcher in baseball history.
He out-dueled James Shields is Game 1, going seven innings and allowing one run. He threw his second complete game shutout in Game 5. Then, with everything on the line, he came in on three days rest to pitch five scoreless innings to get the save and give the Giants their third World Series in three years.
Let’s put all of this together. Bumgarner, who had a 2.98 ERA in the regular season, pitched 52.2 innings in the postseason and allowed six runs for an ERA of 1.03 in October.
Bumgarner pitched two complete game shutouts, while only one other pitcher even made it to the nnth inning this postseason. Also, the 52.2 innings pitched in the postseason is a record, but it sure isn’t the only one he set this year.
How about the two-win, one-save World Series? He and Rawly Eastwick of the 1975 Reds are the only two pitchers to do it. However, Bumgarner one-upped Eastwick by putting together the longest save in World Series history, going five innings to hold onto a one-run lead in Game 7.
But maybe the most impressive statistic of this entire run is Bumgarner’s stellar World Series ERA: 0.25. Yes, this accounts for the two previous World Series, but the fact that it’s still that low is a testament to how strong Bumgarner was.
He has now pitched 36 World Series innings and has allowed one run; one single run. He’s in a group of six that have pitched 20 or more innings and have a Sub-0.50 ERA, and that includes Sandy Koufax and Christy Mathewson.
It seems like this article is simply a list, but that’s how many records Bumgarners broke this postseason. It simply was one of the best performances by a pitcher in postseason history. Kershaw may have the regular season, but Bumgarner is the league’s best when it counts.