SAN FRANCISCO — When the Kansas City Royals made a rare visit to Oracle Park last season, catcher Salvador Perez smiled when asked about his most memorable performance against the Giants. Perez has a World Series ring and was named MVP in 2015 as the Royals made up for their disappointment from the previous year.
But that October was Perez’s first time on that big stage, and he knows now that he wasn’t quite prepared, and that two seasoned veterans were only too happy to take advantage of a 24-year-old’s desire to score the tying goal in Game 7.
However, you don’t have to take his word for it. You just have to go back and watch how it happened.
Buster Posey and Perez may both be crouching in Cooperstown for their work one day, but during this memorable battle, both men were standing. Perez was at bat and Posey repeatedly left his catcher’s stance to give Madison Bumgarner a better target as they tried to elevate fastballs.
During an exclusive interview that aired Monday on the “Giants Talk” podcast, Posey recalled how he and Bumgarner agreed on the end of the game after Alex Gordon reached third base with two outs in the ninth inning and the Giants defending a one-run lead.
“The plan was to keep harassing Salvador,” he said. “We thought he was going to get nervous. I think we both knew that if we bounced a curveball in that situation, we’d probably get hit, but he held the ball so well that I felt it wouldn’t be worth the risk of a World Series if the ball hit the front of my plate and bounced over my head.”
“That’s pretty much how it went in my head. I know this guy controls the ball. If he can just get it in the right spot, it’s either going to be a miss or a pop-up.”
The final fastball got the desired result, although Posey joked that he wished the pitch had been “a touch higher.”
“As you can see, I was standing upright,” he said. “As if I was going to throw this thing over the guy’s head.”
Bumgarner’s 68th throw of a historic performance didn’t quite reach Posey’s glove, but it was high enough. Perez hit the ball to third base, securing a third title that Bumgarner, Posey and others from the 2014 team celebrated Saturday at Oracle Park. Before the ceremony, Bumgarner recalled that he didn’t mind staying out of the zone, in part because he felt comfortable getting the game-winning run to first base.
Perez had hit a home run against Bumgarner in Game 1. Next up was another left-hander, Mike Moustakas, who hit 1 for 7 against Bumgarner in the series.
“We just wanted to see what was going on, and honestly, I didn’t mind letting him walk,” Bumgarner said. “I just wanted to take advantage of his aggressiveness, and if he could tone it down a little bit, he probably would have ended up on first base, but we would have just gotten the next guy.”
Download and follow the Giants Talk Podcast
