Giants finally mark their territory in San Francisco with World Series

In the crazy aftermath of yesterday's World Series win by San Francisco, an attendant outside the Giants' dressing room was handing out waterproof coats.

There was no chance of it pouring deep in the bowels of Rangers Ballpark in the heart of Texas, but it was raining champagne after a 56-year drought had just been broken.

The players had no need for the coats. They were soaked to the skin and loving every minute of it, drenching each other with cans of beer and spraying fizzy champagne over the swarm of media who had come to capture the celebrations, hiding their cameras and notepads under their raincoats.

"This is your dream," Giants manager Bruce Bochy said. "It starts out when you're a kid playing wiffle ball in the backyard when you sign a professional contract.

"Players talk about winning awards sometimes, but they always deflect that to, I want to win the World Series. That's what the game is about, being in this moment right now. So I'm living a dream."

The last time the Giants won the World Series, for the fifth time, was in 1954, when the franchise was based in New York. They relocated to San Francisco in 1958, but success did not follow them to the West Coast of the United States. They made the World Series in 1962, 1989 and 2002 but lost each time.

Not one of the players who helped them end their drought yesterday was born when the club last won the World Series but the significance was not lost on any of them.

"It's a euphoric feeling that's so hard to describe," Bochy said. "What was neat through all this is Willie McCovey and Willie Mays, Will Clark, J.T. Snow, Shawon Dunston, all those guys that played on World Series teams, they were in the clubhouse, they were pulling for these guys. They wanted them to win and the players felt that along with the fans."

San Francisco starting pitcher Tim Lincecum, who is known as The Freak because of his long flowing hair and small frame, said the Giants were relieved to wrap it up in five games despite missing out on the chance to win at home.

"We wanted to just nail it down here in Texas," he said. "That was a big thing, coming in here, kind of shutting them up, doing what we can."

Brian Wilson, the bearded closing pitcher who has developed a cult following in San Francisco, was also taken by the moment.

"This one was for the fans, this one was for the greats of San Francisco that played there before us, and obviously for us," he said."There's a lot of guys in that room right now that nailed it all season."

Even the MLB commissioner Bud Selig was caught up in the excitement.

"It's a remarkable story," he said, "To see them finally win it all after all these years... this is truly something special."

In the Year of the Pitcher, the World Series proved the oldest adage in the game: Good pitching stops good hitting, every time.

Lincecum and the team with the best ERA in the big leagues completely shut down Josh Hamilton and the club with the majors' top batting average.

"This doesn't make sense. You don't realise it. It's something that's surreal. But that's what we are, World Series champs," said Giants pitcher Matt Cain.

Back on regular rest, Lee and Lincecum were sharper than ever. Lee was in command from the start, mixing his fastball, curve, cutter and changeup at will. Lincecum looked even more wicked, causing Hamilton to take such an awkward swing that his bat whirly-birded 20 rows into the stands. "We just got cold at the wrong time with the bats," he said.

Neither team got a runner past first base through the six innings. Lee got Andres Torres to swing way over a breaking ball for strike three to begin the game, then made Sanchez take a wild hack before shattering his bat. The left hander retired Ross on a pop-up to end the inning and exchanged fist bumps with manager Ron Washington.

Ross took another crazy swing in the Giants fourth. And when Uribe later lofted a two-out fly ball, Lee didn't even bother to watch it being caught. He was already trotting toward the dugout.

Lee was in trouble for only an instant before the seventh. Sanchez hit a two-out single in the sixth, his sinking liner glancing off the glove of a diving Cruz in right field. Buster Posey followed with a deep drive that Cruz caught a step before bumping into the padded wall, prompting the rookie Giants catcher to pop his batting helmet with both hands. Texas hit just .190 in the five games and was outscored 29-12.

"They beat us soundly," a gracious manager Texas Ron Washington admitted afterwards. "They deserve it."