Year two of the Stewart-Giants project is ahead of schedule as the Giants defeat the Mets in a Game 7 to win the National League pennant (25th all time) and head to the World Series. This 2053 World Series will very much be the Stewart World Series as the Giants will come up against the Kansas City Royals juggernaut that Stewart built! The Royals will be seeking their 7th World Series in 11 years, with the Giants looking for their 10th all time, and first since 2036.
The Royals, who won the regular season series 2-1, will be overwhelming favourites as the best team in baseball in the regular season. They had the best offense in baseball but only the 6th lowest runs allowed, with several missing parts of the season with injury.
The position players are very well known to Stewart, with everyone in the starting line up either having played for, traded for, or draft by Stewart. Two players averaged over .300 in Juan Montelongo and Bernalldino Igrejas although neither managed 100 G due to injury. Mike Gronkiewicz batted .287 with 102 RBIs and 26 HRs while managing 98 SBs to shatter Jorge Corujo’s KC record. A.J. Terry led the team in HRs, with 31, and 96 RBIs while C Nelson Saiz matched Gronkiewicz’s .287 average.
Braden Montalbano is the undoubted ace of the pitch staff, and is the only LHP. Steve Mondie remains from Stewart’s last staff, an injury-hit season leading to a 5.17 ERA and the rotation is rounded out by David Conforto and trade acquisition Luis Rosa. The Royals will be missing Rob Cope and Randy Wambolt. In the bullpen, Jared Baynes had 37 SV with a 1.82 ERA, Chris Kelley (2.58), Pete Acors (2.04) and Eric Chaney (0.71) all had ERAs under 3.00. With 3 LHP in the bullpen, the Royals have a good balance of arms.
Game 1 in Kansas City: Andy Frederick vs Braden Montalbano (2049 Trade SEA)
- Kansas City wins 5-4
- Montalbano: 6.1 IP, 3 H, 0 R
- Frederick: 6.0 IP, 7 H, 3 R
- Pete Acors (W): 1.1 IP,1 H, 0 R
- Juan Peralta (L)(BS): 1.0 IP, 2 H, 2 R
- Jared Baynes (SV): 1.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R
- San Francisco HRs: Juan Zetino (7th, 2R), Nevio Clinton (7th, 2R)
- 1-0 Kansas City
Game 2 in Kansas City: Juan Montoya vs Steve Mondie (2050 Trade PHI)
- San Francisco wins 7-4
- Montoya: 3.1 IP, 5 H, 3 R
- Mondie (L): 4.2 IP, 7 H, 5 R
- Jong-hun Hong (W): 1.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R
- Rickey Martino (SV): 1.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R
- San Francisco HRs: Kevin Dobbs (5th)
- POTG: Kevin Dobbs (SF) 3-4, HR, BB, 3 RBI
- 1-1 Series Tied
Game 3 in San Francisco: Jesus Barbosa vs David Conforto (2046 Scouting Discovery)
- Kansas City wins 13-6
- Conforto (W): 5.0 IP, 7 H, 4 R
- Barbosa (L): 3.2 IP, 7 H, 5 R
- San Francisco HRs: Sergio Ibarra (6th, 3R)
- Kansas City HRs: Mike Gronkiewicz (6th, 2R)
- POTG: Mike Gronkiewicz (KC) 4-6, HR, 8 RBI, Cycle
- A.J. Terry (KC) ties KC playoff record with 4 R, 4 BB
- Mike Gronkiewicz (KC) ties AL playoff record with 8 RBI
- 2-1 Kansas City
Game 4 in San Francisco: Cason Willard vs Luis Rosas (2053 Trade BAL)
- San Francisco wins 7-3
- Willard (W): 7.2 IP, 9 H, 2 R
- Rosas (L): 5.1 IP, 6 H, 4 R
- Martino (SV): 1.1 IP, 1 H, 1 R
- San Francisco HRs: Steve Boyd (8th)
- Kansas City HRs: Juan Montelongo (9th)
- POTG: Steve Boyd (KC) 3-4, HR, 4 RBI
- 2-2 Series Tied
Game 5 in San Francisco: Frederick vs Montalbano
- Kansas City wins 10-0
- Montalbano (W): 6.2 IP, 2 H, 0 R
- Frederick (L): 6.0 IP, 5 H, 6 R
- Kansas City HRs: Gronkiewicz (4th, 2R), A.J. Terry (6th, 2R), Nelson Saiz (7th, 2R), Bobby Nickelberry (9th, 3R)
- Mike Berger (SF) INJ running bases DTD 4 day
- 3-2 Kansas City
Game 6 in Kansas City: Montoya vs Mondie
- Kansas City wins 14-3
- Mondie (W): 5.1 IP, 6 H, 3 R
- Montoya (L): 4.2 IP, 6 H, 4 R
- Kansas City HRs: Nickelberry (5th, 3R), Saiz (7th, GS)
- POTG: Nelson Saiz (KC) 3-4, GS HR, BB, 5 RBI
- 4-2 KANSAS CITY WINS
Series MVP: Mike Gronkiewicz (KC) 9-24, 2 HR, 13 RBI
An amazing postseason run comes up just short for the Giants as the Kansas City Royals win their 9th World Series to draw level with San Francisco. The Giants took the only two games the Royals lost in the postseason but ultimately, they couldn’t keep the Royals bats quiet as Kansas City outscored San Francisco 49-27, helped by their Game 5 shut out in San Francisco that turned the series decisively in their favour.
This was an overachieving season for the Giants though, with a .500 record the hope at the start of the season with predictions of a losing record from the computers. Stewart is unlikely to think the core of his team is in place but there are certainly signs of players that can contribute in the future.