SAN FRANCISCO — The Milwaukee Brewers proved to be an unstoppable force in October, following up a 103-win season with a dominant run through the playoffs.After a couple of early breaks — in Wisconsin, they will forever be grateful that their roof was closed against the San Diego Padres — they steamrolled the Los Angeles Dodgers and Tampa Bay Rays, winning the first title in franchise history. There seemed to be nothing that could even slightly slow their momentum, but back in the regular season, there was an unlikely team that figured it out.
Your San Francisco Giants, losers of 97 games, actually had a winning record (4-3) against the best team in baseball. In June, they split a series at American Family Field that included a 1-0 win over a team that was unbeatable in close games later in the year, and a game in which the Giants scored runs off postseason stars Aaron Ashby and Abner Uribe.
In late July, the Giants took two of three at Oracle Park, including a 16-3 blowout in the finale. In retrospect, the sixth inning that day might have been their most impressive of the season. They put a season-high five runs on...