SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. – It was one of the most important closed-door meetings in Giants history. The time was August of 2010. The place was manager Bruce Bochy’s office.



Bochy did not preside over it.



General manager Brian Sabean did. He called his four of his five starting pitchers into the room — Tim Lincecum, Jonathan Sanchez, Barry Zito and a 21-year-old Madison Bumgarner, with Matt Cain exempt because he was getting ready to face the Arizona Diamondbacks — and read them the riot act. He challenged them to pitch up to their capabilities. If the struggling offense scored just one run, it was up to them to win 1-0.



“Basically the gist of it was, they’re underachieving, they’re better than this,” Bochy recalled Thursday. “But it was a lot stronger than that, trust me. And they did respond. They pitched like their hair was on fire.”



All the way to the first World Series championship in the...