Collection of tales about the big one that got away

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Juan Marichal, Willie Mays and Willie McCovey couldn't bring a World Series championship to San Francisco, but (Barry) Bonds, who is Mays' godson, did. And he did it in breathtaking fashion.

Bonds hit a towering sixth-inning home run in the Giants' x-x victory against the Anaheim Angels in Game 6 of the World Series, putting the final stamp on his World Series MVP award, which he won almost more for what he didn't do than what he did. Bonds had xx intentional walks in the Series.

-- Mel Antonen, USA Today,

writing for the paper's Web site

What killed the Angels, what made the Giants champions in six entertaining games, capped by Saturday's x-x win at Edison International Field, is that so many of the Jordanaires came up unexpectedly huge.

J.T. Snow, after hitting six homers all year, crushed a big one as the Giants stole the opener. Call him Steve Kerr.

David Bell, so quiet he could find a second career as a mime, won Game 4 with a single off Angels rookie Francisco Rodriguez. Call the K-Rod killer John Paxson.

GIANTS26-C-24OCT02-SP-CG---Giants Shawon Dunston greets Shawon Dunston jr. at homeplate after his fifth inning homerun. The San Francisco Giants play the Anaheim Angels in Games 5 of the World Series at Pac Bell Park in San Francisco, Ca. October 24, 2002. Carlos Avila Gonzalez/San Francisco Chronicle less GIANTS26-C-24OCT02-SP-CG---Giants Shawon Dunston greets Shawon Dunston jr. at homeplate after his fifth inning homerun. The San Francisco Giants play the Anaheim Angels in Games 5 of the World Series at Pac ... more Image 1 of / 1 Caption Close Collection of tales about the big one that got away 1 / 1 Back to Gallery

Kenny Lofton, the fading outfielder grabbed from the White Sox at the trading deadline for a case of sunflower seeds, turned back the clock. His perfect bunt in Game 4 turned this series around. Call him Ron Harper.

-- Michael Berardino, South Florida Sun-Sentinel,

after quoting Barry Bonds as saying he and Jeff Kent were like Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen

This World Series will be remembered for its offensive orgy. It will be remembered for the home run tonight that capped Shawon Dunston's career and broke a scoreless tie. It will be remembered for the bat boys, equal parts naughty imps and loving sons.

And it will be remembered for the Rally Monkey, the Angels' simian demagogue who made his last stand on the video screen at Edison Field, then disappeared for the winter. But mostly, it will be remembered for the way Bonds, his career lacking only this ultimate triumph, dominated nearly every facet of this Series, from the media's hype to the managers' strategy to the eye-popping stat sheets.

There could be no other Most Valuable Player.

-- Dave Sheinin, Washington Post

San Francisco finally has its championship, Barry Bonds finally has peace and somebody finally back-handed the Rally Monkey. One Giant leap for Bay-kind.

-- Tom Stinson, Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Shawon Dunston is not Willie Mays, not Hank Aaron, not Willie Stargell, not Mickey Mantle. And he knows that for certain because Giants manager Dusty Baker (trying to explain to Dunston why he was no longer an everyday player) once told him so.

To the Giants, though, Dunston is as big and as bad them all, maybe as big and as bad as Barry Bonds.

In fact, today he is as big and as shiny as the Golden Gate Bridge, and is it a coincidence the Golden Gate is painted Giants' orange?

Dunston's two-run fifth-inning home run broke a scoreless tie Saturday night and jump-started the Giants toward a x-x finishing-touch victory over the Anaheim Angels and the 2002 World Series championship.

-- Hal McCoy, Dayton (Ohio) Daily News

The Rally Monkey has been tranquilized. The noise sticks have been silenced.

The Angels have gone home for the winter.

-- Bill Shaikin, Los Angeles Times

They don't know where their manager is going to wind up, not to mention their superstar second baseman. They're never quite sure if and when their mega-superstar left fielder will receive his token strikes of the night (although they have a pretty good idea what he's going to do with them when he does).

But the San Francisco Giants know this much: They are the champions of baseball.

-- Larry Stone, Seattle Times

Mission accomplished, at long last, for San Francisco's Giants, who finally are what their name suggests.

Barry Bonds, emperor of baseball, is a World Series champion. It means so much more, in so many ways, than being emperor. Maybe now he'll finally loosen up, let down his guard and embrace a world that keeps its arms spread, hopeful.

-- Lyle Spencer, Riverside Press-Enterprise

Dunston joined the pantheon of "little guys" who have become World Series heroes, and the Giants hoisted the world championship trophy for the first time since the team moved from New York to California in the late 1950s. The last time the Giants were on top of the heap was in 1954, when they scored a stunning four-game upset of a Cleveland Indians team that had set the American League record for regular-season victories with 111. That was the series of Willie Mays and "The Catch."

This will be remembered as the Series that completed Bonds' impressive resume, but it also will be remembered for Dunston's unlikely launch to crack a scoreless tie and for a fabulous comeback performance by starting pitcher Russ Ortiz. Ortiz had been hammered in his first World Series start six days earlier, but he pitched into the seventh inning and gave up just four hits on the way to his third victory of the postseason.

-- Peter Schmuck, Baltimore Sun

The Giants won for Bonds, who finally has a championship to go with a 17- year career that long ago assured him a first-ballot ticket into the Hall of Fame.

The Giants also won for their respected manager, Dusty Baker, and for veterans like Dunston and Jeff Kent and Benito Santiago and Kenny Lofton. Those four players found themselves in the right place at the right time to win the championship that had eluded them in their combined 55 years of major league service.

-- Richard Justice, Houston Chronicle

Forty-five years isn't all that long . . . unless you really are one of the few people who have truly waited that long for the Giants to pay off on their yearly promises to win the World Series. But for you precious wacky few, 45 years was an eternity. It took Russ Ortiz and Barry Bonds and Shawon Dunston and a dugout full of smart, talented, tough-minded people to take your call after so much time on hold.

-- Ray Ratto, The Chronicle

He is the Scarecrow, frightening to no one, exceptionally wise to the people who know him best. Shawon Dunston plays sporadically, mentors his teammates and understands baseball as well as anyone in the Giants' clubhouse. Last year, he won a huge wager with Barry Bonds. Now, he drives a slugger's car with only a few more home runs than you or I.

On Saturday night, though, Dunston delivered a two-run shot, the most unlikely homer of the 2002 World Series, and guided the San Francisco Giants down the yellow brick road.

-- Gwen Knapp, The Chronicle