Giants’ Hudson hungry for baseball World Series start (AFP)

San Francisco pitcher Tim Hudson takes the mound on Friday as the Giants host Kansas City in game three of the World Series, a chance on baseball's biggest stage he once feared might never come. The 39-year-old right-hander has 16 seasons in Major League Baseball -- making 457 career starts for Oakland, Atlanta and San Francisco. In the early years, when playoff appearances were plentiful, he never doubted that he would one day pitch in a World Series.