San Francisco Giants starting pitcher Madison Bumgarner can add another notch to his growing list of accolades. The man that produced one of the greatest, if not the greatest, pitching performances in MLB postseason history, was named the Sports Illustrated Sportsman of the Year. Bumgarner pitched a record 52 2/3 innings during his team’s 2014 World Series run and gave up only six earned runs, good enough for a mind-boggling 1.03 ERA.
Although those stats will be remembered for a long time, his exploits in Game 7 of the World Series in Kansas City were particularly legendary. On just two days of rest following his dominating 117-pitch shutout of the Royals in a borderline must-win Game 5, Bumgarner came on in relief of the struggling Tim Hudson in Game 7 and proceeded to dominate once again, throwing 68 pitches over five innings and almost single-handedly giving San Francisco their third crown in five years.
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