Welcome to the Offseason, and Congratulations to Our Contest Winners!
As many of you know, the Chicago National League Baseball Club was unable to qualify for the postseason this year and therefore could not celebrate like the San Francisco Giants are right now. Sad, I know. But we can tie it in to the Cubs somehow anyway. This is the first World Series sweep by a National League club since former Cubs manager Lou Piniella led the Cincinnati Reds to the title in 1990. This is the first World Series sweep in either league since now-Cubs president of baseball operations Theo Epstein’s Boston Red Sox won it all in 2007. And of course you know that former Cub legends Angel Pagan and Ryan Theriot were instrumental (well, more Pagan than Theriot even though Theriot scored the winning run in extras) in this World Series victory, and Xavier Nady sat on the bench and did Nady things. So there’s that. And so, as we look at some other team celebrate sweet victory for the 297832575th time since the Cubs last won in 1908, we go into the offseason and hope for the best as the North Side guys get back on the path to glory. And yes, I’m well aware that the Kung Fu Panda is belly-bouncing a snow leopard and not a tiger, but humor us here.
Oh, by the way, we had a contest…
Let’s start with the obvious: The San Francisco Giants are your 2012 World Series champions, defeating the Detroit Tigers in a four-game sweep with a final score of 4-3 (7 runs total) in the clinching game.
For the tiebreakers:
- Four game series (SWEEP!)
- Four homers hit by the Giants in the series
- Three stolen bases altogether
- Pablo Sandoval is your World Series MVP
So let’s check the entries in spreadsheet format below:
| Contestant | Champion | Runs | Games | Winner HRs | Combined SB | WS MVP |
| Steve Carney | Yankees | 9 | 5 | 2 | 7 | Derek Jeter |
| Bwoodrum | Tigers | 7 | 5 | 3 | 2 | Justin Verlander |
| Adam | Tigers | 8 | 5 | 5 | 6 | Prince Fielder |
| Haight | Giants | 6 | 7 | 5 | 5 | Matt Cain |
| Evil Cardinals Fan Schultzy | Cardinals | 15 | 7 | 12 | 6 | Pete Kozma |
| chiziggy | Cardinals | 7 | 7 | 10 | 8 | Chris Carpenter |
| Christian | Tigers | NA | 6 | 6 | 5 | Miguel Cabrera |
| Steve | Tigers | 7 | 6 | 7 | 10 | Justin Verlander |
| Peggy Thurman | Tigers | 8 | 6 | 4 | 8 | Prince Fielder |
| Tom Cooper | Yankees | NA | 5 | 8 | 12 | Derek Jeter |
| terry van sickle | Giants | 7 | 6 | 5 | 9 | Buster Posey |
| Michael Paniak | Tigers | 6 | 7 | 6 | 3 | Justin Verlander |
| shayne knipp | Tigers | 7 | 7 | 7 | 5 | Prince Fielder |
| Sharon Holston | Tigers | 7 | 6 | 7 | 3 | Prince Fielder |
| Ray Silva | Giants | 7 | 6 | 4 | 5 | Buster Posey |
| Mike Praznowski | Tigers | 7 | 6 | 8 | 6 | Justin Verlander |
| Ron Barnes | Tigers | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | Miguel Cabrera |
For Golden Ticket #1, we’re looking for all the folks who correctly picked the Giants to win the World Series. That means Haight, Terry Van Sickle and Ray Silva (seriously, quit winning shit, man) are in the running. We have to use the four tiebreakers. Terry and Ray are closest to the four-game sweep with their guess of six, so we go to the next tie-breaker. Ray correctly predicted four homers hit by the Giants. Jesus Ray. Seriously. Quit winning shit. This is ridiculous. But if you can fly yourself out, the ticket is yours. If not, we’re giving it to Terry. Haha.
For Golden Ticket #2, we’re looking for the folks who correctly predicted the combined final score in the World Series clincher. A lot of you actually got this right but the guy who got the closest to the first tiebreaker (number of games in the series) was Brad Woodrum, our friend from Cubs Stats and FanGraphs, who predicted a five-game series. Congratulations Brad! And congratulations for not being Ray Silva. Not that Ray sucks, but he is cleaning house and we needed a fresh face.
We refer you to the previous contest post for how to claim your prize:
Claim Your Prize: Once the winners are determined at the conclusion of the World Series, they will be announced in a subsequent blog post. Use our contact form with the e-mail you used to submit your comment to confirm it’s you. We will send you contact information for Anno and Ivy so you can pick up your pass at the Sheraton on the first day of the Convention. This is to prevent you from welching on Rule #3 above and so we can give the pass to a runner-up if you decide not to show up. But why wouldn’t you want to go?
Thanks for following World Series Dreaming, stick with us for offseason coverage and more!
For those of you who didn’t win, at least thank Angel Pagan for swiping second so you can have a free Taco Bell taco.