Giants’ ‘Core Four’ set to be enshrined in Wall of Fame together originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area
SAN FRANCISCO — Nobody will ever top what Madison Bumgarner accomplished in Game 7 of the 2014 World Series, although in an odd way, what Jeremy Affeldt did that night was maybe nearly as impressive.
Affeldt had a bubble behind one eye because of medication he was taking, and during that postseason run he at times had a hard time seeing. When he took the mound in the second inning at Kauffman Stadium he saw two different Buster Poseys, one standing in front of the other. The situation was made even worse by Kansas City Royals fans waving white flags in the seats behind the plate.
After getting out of the second inning, Affeldt went down to the dugout tunnel to give his eyes a break from the lights and try some additional eye drops. Posey walked up and asked if he was OK.
“Man, I can’t see,” Affeldt told him. “He’s like, ‘What? You can’t see?’ I’m like, ‘Well, I can, I’m just seeing two of you and I’m seeing the crowd. I’m having a hard time figuring out which one is you.'”
On this week’s Giants Talk Podcast, Affeldt recalled how Posey insisted that they go and tell manager Bruce Bochy that he had to make a pitching change.
“I’m like, “You go and tell that man right there to take me out of the game, you’re going to get a defibrillator,'” Affeldt said.
With an assist from Brandon Crawford and Joe Panik, Affeldt and Posey made it through the third and the fourth. After that, it was Bumgarner time, and the Giants were soon champions for a third time in five years.
That memorable Affeldt outing ended up being his last in a postseason, and because Bumgarner kept Sergio Romo and Santiago Casilla from being needed that night, it put the finishing touches on an incredible run by the Core Four.
On Saturday, Affeldt, Romo, Casilla and Javier Lopez will go on the organization’s Wall of Fame, in large part because of how historically dominant they were as a group for three title runs.
During the 2010, 2012 and 2014 postseasons, each of them appeared at least 23 times, and only Romo — the only one of the four to throw the final pitch of a season — had an ERA above 1.00. Combined, the Core Four had a 1.14 ERA and 0.80 WHIP in 78 2/3 innings with 70 strikeouts to 18 walks. They faced 296 batters and allowed just two home runs.
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