Major League Baseball

Giants lineup pieced together perfectly

Published Oct. 11, 2010 1:00 a.m. ET

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San Francisco general manager Brian Sabean stood in the back of the clubhouse in the aftermath of the Giants knocking off the Atlanta Braves in four games in the NL Division Series on Monday night, enjoying the celebration, but deflecting any attention sent his direction.

"Talk to the guys in uniform," Sabean said. "Those are the guys who did the job. They are the ones who got us here."

However, it was Sabean who brought those guys "here." It was his never-ending tinkering with the lineup, underscored by the success the Giants had in bringing a premature end to the managerial career of Atlanta's Bobby Cox in four games.

It was his juggling that allowed the NL West champions to advance to an NLCS showdown with the two-time defending NL champion Philadelphia Phillies beginning on Saturday night.

It seems fitting that in the Giants' 3-2 Game 4 victory at Turner Field it was Cody Ross, the final piece to the mix-and-match puzzle Sabean solved, who unloaded the home run off Atlanta right-hander Derek Lowe that broke up a possible no-hitter with one out in the sixth. It was also Ross who delivered the game-winning single off reliever Jonny Venters with two outs in the top of the seventh.

"Every guy we put on the field has done something exceptional to get us to this point," said closer Brian Wilson. "For Sabean to bring in these guys from the farm system and from outside, you can't ask for anyone to have done a better job. What more could you want?"

The Giants did, after all, overtake San Diego and hold off Colorado in the final days of the regular season to claim the NL West title, then disposed of the Braves in the next step in their bid to claim the franchise's first world championship since 1954, when it still called the Polo Grounds in New York home.

And they did it with a roster that in the NLCS included eight players who weren't on the Opening Day roster, five who were brought in from outside the organization and with a starting lineup in Game 4 that had only two names on it who also were on the Opening Day lineup — first baseman Aubrey Huff and shortstop Juan Uribe, who actually was at second base back in April.

While Wilson finished off the Game 4 victory, he was the only one of the four pitchers manager Bruce Bochy called on who were with the Giants on Opening Day.

Rookie left-hander Madison Bumgarner was a June 26 call-up who established himself as a key part of the rotation.

Right-hander Santiago Castilla was a late-May call-up to fill in a bullpen need.

Lefty Javier Lopez came from Pittsburgh in a trade on July 31, the same day right-handed reliever Ramon Ramirez was acquired from Boston.

Catcher Buster Posey, who opened the season at Triple-A Fresno and was considered the prime prospect in the organization, got the call-up on May 29, initially spent the bulk of his time at first base, took over the catching chores July 1 when popular Bengie Molina was shipped to Texas, and evolved into the cleanup hitter down the stretch.

Burrell was released by Tampa Bay and then signed initially to a minor-league contract so he could get some at-bats before an early June call-up when he took over in left field.

"I was sitting on the couch doing nothing," he said. "It's not like my phone was ringing off the hook."

And there was more fine-tuning in August with the acquisition of infielder Mike Fontenot from the Chicago Cubs and the waiver claim of Ross from Florida, a move believed to have been prompted by a desire to block him from getting to San Diego, which had lost center fielder Tony Gwynn, Jr., with a broken hand.

"Soon as I got here, Sabean called me in his office and encouraged me,"  Ross said. "He said, 'We're trying to win.' That was enough for me. I told him whatever was needed, I was ready. I put the ego aside. I just wanted to win."

The Giants were six games back of the first-place Padres when Ross was claimed on Aug. 27. They went 21-11 the rest of the season, including a 3-0 victory against the Padres in Game 162 to clinch the division title.

"The key to this thing was the guys set aside their own agenda," Bochy said. "We had guys who we were starting when the season started and they were coming off the bench when we made additions. And those guys, like Renteria and Rowand, handled everything so professionally. We don't get here without that attitude."

That included, as much as anything, a pitching staff that was the foundation of this team accepting the fact the new guy, Posey, was taking over for Molina, who'd been the shepherd of the staff.

It's a move Bochy, a former catcher, worked carefully to put in place, initially having Posey catch a game or two a week while playing first base the rest of the time, and about a month later deciding it was time to trade Molina to clear the way for Posey.

"I guess, in a non-egotistical way, I've got confidence in myself," Posey said.

"I think to play this game and be successful, you have to believe in your abilities and the work you put in during the offseason, the work you put in during the spring, the work you put in before the games, so that when it's time to go, you feel like you're prepared — prepared enough to succeed."

No one questions his or the rest of the Giants ability to succeed anymore.

This is a group that's been pieced together over the course of the season, but has found a comfort among one another.

"What was big was bringing in (Aubrey) Huff last winter, and then Burrell,"  Wilson said. "Those two came into the clubhouse and took over the leadership. They adapted to us crazy guys who had come up together through the system.

"They have held us together. They made sure all of us fit in with one another."

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