Major League Baseball

World Series win hasn't changed Giants

Published Feb. 15, 2011 12:00 a.m. ET

foxsports

Just in case you’re worried that the San Francisco Giants are about to turn humorless and corporate — a very defending-world-champion thing to do — I offer the following anecdote from Reporting Day at Camp Bochy.

A little past noon, as the clubhouse thinned, closer Brian Wilson engaged in a 20-minute give-and-take with reporters. His responses ranged from thoughtful to absurd. That is typical for him. He recounted offseason trips to Disneyland, Kauai and Thailand while noting a newfound inability to escape notice in public. To go incognito, he explained, “I’d have to shave.” And we know that’s not going to happen.

Wilson was nails in the ninth inning last season, particularly down the stretch. The Giants would not have won their first title since 1954 without him. He threw the pitches that clinched the NL West … the NLDS … the NLCS … and the World Series.

So, I asked him on Monday: Of those four baseballs, how many did he keep?

Just one, he said. The last one. Buster Posey, the wise-beyond-his-years catcher, gave it to Wilson once the title celebration was done. A nice story.

Then Wilson told us where the baseball resides now.

“To be honest with you,” he said, “I put it in my candy jar.”

That’s when I knew for certain that the 2011 Giants — just like the 2010 Giants — will be all Haight and no Hollywood.

“A Halloween candy jar,” Wilson continued. “I put it in there and thought, ‘Well, I’m not going to lose it here.’ And it was a delicious treat to win a World Series.

“(It’s) in the kitchen. I pick it up every once in awhile, kind of play catch with it, toss it around. I think, ‘Well, that was special.’”

So there you have it: One of the most important artifacts in San Francisco baseball history rests in a container that was previously filled by Whatchamacallit candy bars and root beer lollipops.

And no, Bruce Bochy is not surprised by this.

“I don’t know if he should let that get out — he’s asking for a mob to break into the house and find that ball,” said the manager, who seemed more amused than concerned. “But that seems appropriate for Willie.”

Despite some subtle changes — Edgar Renteria and Juan Uribe are gone, along with some of Pablo Sandoval’s girth — the Giants’ frat house has hardly changed since we saw them celebrate after Game 5 in Arlington.

Wilson, who was spotted driving an unmarked police car to Scottsdale Stadium over the weekend, insisted that the team’s vibe is “never going to change.” It’s hard to disagree with him. Besides, he’s doing his part: The Beard is thicker than when you saw it during the World Series.

Tim Lincecum, who wore a tuxedo for a recent magazine cover shoot, showed up on Monday in a hoodie, plaid shorts and flip-flops. He can’t remember his last haircut. But it wasn’t this winter.

“It’s like Animal House,” said Ron Garcia, the Giants’ home clubhouse assistant. “Wait till (Aubrey) Huff gets here.”

Contrast that with the scene some 2,000 miles away in Clearwater, Fla., where the Philadelphia Phillies put their rotation for the ages on display. The five starting pitchers — Roy Halladay, Cliff Lee, Roy Oswalt, Cole Hamels, Joe Blanton — appeared at a joint news conference, with neatly printed name cards before each of them.

The Giants beat the Phillies in the NLCS. The Giants beat Lee (twice) in the World Series. No matter. The Phillies are expected by many to win this year’s pennant, for reasons that Bochy openly acknowledged.

“Because of track record, you have to look at their staff as the best staff in baseball,” Bochy said. “I think everybody in the National League will tell you that it looks like the road to the World Series is going to have to go through Philadelphia, with their club. But we’re certainly proud of our staff. I still don’t think they quite got the credit they deserved, for the job they did in the postseason.”

He added: “When you have Halladay, Oswalt, Hamels, Lee — all of them have a track record. Our guys just don’t quite have that kind of track record.”

Is Bochy trying to stoke the same underdog complex that helped to propel the Giants through the postseason last year? Maybe. But it’s more likely that he offered an honest assessment of the two teams, in the same way that most baseball observers have.

And really, that explains why being a Giant is such a great gig right now: You are a defending world champion. You play in one of the most unique, most relaxed cities in America. You have an excellent chance to advance deep into the postseason, thanks to Lincecum, Matt Cain and friends. And yet, you will experience far less pressure than the Yankees did last year. Frankly, the Phillies and Red Sox (coming off a non-playoff season) have higher external expectations than the defending world champs.

When that was pointed out to Giants reliever Javier Lopez, he laughed and said, “I think that’s probably a good thing.”

“Maybe that’s the East Coast bias — I don’t know,” Lopez said. “If they can grab some of the headlines, that’s fine. We’re just fine playing where we’re at and not trying to stick out too much. Everybody knows what we can do. We showed it last year. Maybe it’s not the sexy story. Hopefully we can make it one.”

Said outfielder Cody Ross, the NLCS MVP: “People will probably pick Philly (to win the World Series), because of their rotation. … We’re still not the favorite. I love it. We were the underdog all the way through the playoffs. We like it like that.”

An optimistic Giants fan could point to the fact that San Francisco’s chances of winning the World Series appear at least as good as they were at this time last year. And that turned out quite well for Bochy and his team.

A baseball … in a jar … somewhere in Wilson’s kitchen … proves that much.

“I still have it,” Wilson confirmed, before adding a qualifier that we should have seen coming. “I’m pretty sure I have it.”