San Francisco Giants: 15 Greatest Moments at AT&T Park

7. Kenny Lofton Sends the Giants to the 2002 World Series

The 2002 Giants were a special team. The lethal combination of Bonds and Jeff Kent and the timely hitting of Benito Santiago and David Bell made a fierce lineup. Rich Aurilia and Snow were fan favorites at shortstop and first base respectively. Highlighted with “Woody” himself, Kirk Rueter, the Giants featured a solid rotation of veterans such as Rueter, Russ Ortiz, which were mixed perfectly with young hurlers Jason Schmidt and Livan Hernandez. Closer Robb Nen was also dominant even while injured as he risked his career to battle with his teammates to the end.

Had it not been for the menacing rally monkey in Anaheim, the 2002 team would have brought the first World Series trophy to San Francisco and achieved immortal status.

Veteran outfielder Kenny Lofton was just what the Giants needed at the top of the lineup, as he was a threat to get on base by single or walk and steal second base to give more RBI chances to the sluggers that followed. On this night, however, he was the hero, sending the Giants to the World Series for the first time since 1989.

The game was televised on FOX, and was intended to be a neutral broadcast. However, Joe Buck and Tim McCarver were still not as widely known just yet, and their bias towards the St. Louis Cardinals was out in the open, as Buck’s father was the legendary Jack Buck, longtime play-by-play announcer for the Cardinals, and McCarver was a former catcher in St. Louis.

The silence that follows Lofton’s single, followed by the change in tone, meant that Buck and McCarver had to give credit to the Giants, and were saddened by the Cardinals’ loss after the constant attention and time they spent praising the Cardinals instead of taking a neutral stance.

Next: Barry and His Godfather