Saturday-Sunday, October 19-20, 2002 The Giants and Angels split the first 2 games in Anaheim and head to San Francisco for the next 3 games of the 2002 World Series
With Ortiz only lasting 1 2/3 innings and Appier only lasting two plus, it was the shortest combined outing by starting pitchers in a World Series since 1956.
Not to mention the fact the Angels and GIants had the best run differential in their respective leagues. The Angels rallied from a 6-14 start to win 99 games. Only the A's academy-award winning 20 game win streak kept Anaheim from winning the West. And the Giants won 25 of their last 33 to grab the NL Wild Card and went into the playoffs with positive momentum while Arizona was without key players.
For the first time since 1980, two teams that had never won a World Series (at least in their current cities) will square off in this October Showcase. Also, never before has a World Series involved two Wild Card teams, but the Angels' Mike Scioscia and the Giants' Dusty Baker (both of whom were teammates on the 1981 World Champion Dodgers) are given plenty of credit for turning around their teams' fortunes and bringing about this historic meeting. This is the 98th MLB World Series and the fourth time ever the Fall Classic will be played entirely in the Golden State. Anaheim is the setting for Game 1. And in the 2nd inning, Barry Bonds made the most of his first WS at-bat with a blast to Santa Barbara off Jarrod Washburn. Reggie Sanders went deep two batters later. Then, in the 6th, J.T. Snow hurt his former club with a two-run shot. The Angels' Troy Glaus did hit two home runs but it was not enough, as the Giants took the opener, 4-3. Game 2 was a must-win for the Halos. The first four Angels' batters reached base on hits in the first, paving the way for a five-run inning. Both starters--Kevin Appier and Russ Ortiz--were gone by the third. In a seesaw back and forth battle, the Giants scored four in the fifth to lead 9-7. After the Halos scored a run in the bottom half, they tied it in the 6th. Francisco Rodriguez, the 20 year old phenom, took the mound in the 6th, and retired all 9 batters he faced on 26 pitches, with 23 of them strikes. In the bottom of the 8th, the shortest-tenured Angel gave way to the longest tenured: Tim Salmon. Having homered already in this game, he brought down the house with a two-run shot and an 11-9 Anaheim lead. On came Troy Percival, who got two quick outs in the 9th. It made it all the more easier to face Bonds. Percival challened Barry, and Bonds smoked another blast into orbit. One fly out later, the Angels won, 11-10. The series is tied at 1-1 and now, it's on to Northern California.
Both games 1 and 2 were fun and close. Lets hope the 3 games in San Fran are the same. And I forgot JT Snow was part of the 1995 Angels. And Bonds putting on a show so far in his first WS
Same-state-World Series (as of the end of the 2023 season)): WSOX / Cubs = 1906 New York Giants / Yankees = 1921 , 1922, 1923, 1936, 1937, 1951 Brooklyn Dodgers / Yankees = 1941, 1947, 1949, 1952, 1953, 1955, 1956 St. Louis Browns / St. Louis Cardinals = 1944 Los Angeles Dodgers / Oakland Athletics = 1974 , 1988 St. Louis Cardinals / Kansas City Royals = 1985 Oakland Athletics / San Francisco Giants = 1989 Mets / Yankees = 2000 Angels / San Francisco Giants = 2002
For the first time in World Series history the Wild Card teams are made for the championship but until 2014 they do it again also the Giants was made it to the World Series against the Royals
