Black and orange are colors we often see in October, but this year there is another reason for seeing these colors more often.
The San Francisco Giants won the World Series on Wednesday night in an epic battle against the Kansas City Royals.
Students have been representing the black and orange all month long as the team has gone from being the national league wildcard to being World Series champions. This was the third time in five years that the Giants have won the biggest series in baseball, which makes them the newest dynasty to step up to the plate.
“We have been spoiled as Giants fans,” sophomore Taylor Mathis from Reno, Nevada, said. “It’s been a good five years for us.”
BYU students come from all around the country and the Giants fans on campus also come from a lot of different geographies. Zoee Hancock, a junior that is studying accounting from Michigan, described why she roots for the Giants.
“I was at the game when Barry Bonds hit his 600th home run,” she said. “I’ve been a big fan ever since then.”
BYU professors are also involved in the Giants mania.
“I’ve been a Giants fan since I was six years old,” marketing professor Michael Swenson remembers.
There were many reasons that this last World Series was entertaining. Both teams were wildcards, Kansas City had not been to the playoffs in 28 years and the Giants had been to the World Series twice before in the past five years. Something else that made this World Series special for BYU students was the fact that a former Cougar was pitching for the Royals.
Jeremy Guthrie pitched for BYU his sophomore year before he served an LDS mission in Spain. Guthrie started in games 3 and 7 for the Royals during the series.
Swenson said he had mixed emotions going into Game 7 because of this BYU connection. He described how he was cheering for both Guthrie and the Giants throughout the series.
The Giants would end up winning Game 7, but the Royals did not go down without a fight. There was no clear winner of the game until the final out when Pablo Sandoval caught a foul ball with the Giants holding a 3-2 lead.
The hero for the Giants throughout the series was left-handed pitcher Madison Bumgarner. He pitched 5 innings for the Giants in Game 7 after only a 48-hour rest from pitching a shutout against the Royals earlier in the week.
Johnny Garrison, a senior from San Francisco described Bumgarner as a “beast” throughout the series.
Bumgarner took home the MVP trophy and the hashtag “MadBum” has gone viral on social media.
Even BYU Athletic Director Tom Holmoe showed support for the World Champion with a tweet immediately following the game.
“Last name Ever, first name Greatest… Madison Bumgarner!”
