As the Champagne flowed and the San Francisco Giants celebrated a third World Series title in five seasons, they were already thinking about another championship run.
Powered by an electrifying effort from left-handed pitcher Madison Bumgarner, the Giants beat Kansas City 3-2 on Wednesday for a 4-3 triumph in Major League Baseball's best-of-seven final that had manager Bruce Bochy talking about the team's ability to remain a perennial contender.
"We've kept our core players. We've got some good young players," he said. "The thing I love about what's happening in San Francisco is the continuity we have so that allows you to hopefully compete and contend every year."
The biggest player who could leave is 28-year-old Venezuelan third baseman Pablo Sandoval, who like 25-year-old Bumgarner has been a key figure in the thrilling title trilogy.
"I love this kid," Bochy said. "I've had him since I came up and hopefully something gets done, but these are the things that take care of themselves in the winter."
Sandoval batted .429 for the World Series with a one-year record 26 playoff hits in the championship run.
"It was amazing the way we did it," Sandoval said.
Bumgarner dazzled with a sparkling command of pitches, his accuracy deadly and endurance epic. His sinker ball especially seemed to defy gravity as well as Royals batters, teasing swings for strikes only to drop below the bat at the instant.
Over 21 innings, one third of the entire World Series, Bumgarner surrendered only one run, producing the lowest earned-run average in a final since 1965 at 0.43 and his World Series career 0.25 ERA over 36 innings is the lowest in major league history for anyone with 25 innings or more.
Not since 1909 had a pitcher combined two World Series wins and more than three innings of relief.
Bumgarner is a throwback to an ironman era of mound masters more than a century ago.
On the other side, the long-struggling Royals finished just shy of a fairytale ending in their first playoff appearance since winning the 1985 title.
Only 12 of their 25 players were alive 29 years ago, the last time Kansas City celebrated baseball success.
"We've got a really good young core of players, and I think we're going to be good for years to come," Royals manager Ned Yost said. "With this post-season experience, the guys have gotten over the hump."
How they achieved success, with fielding and speed and teamwork and a joy at just playing the game, brought them nationwide US support.
"I think America has fallen in love with this group because of their energy, their passion, their fun-loving nature," Yost said.
"Even through the most stressful times, you can't pan in our dugout and not see them laughing and having a good time with each other and I think people love seeing that.
"I think they like seeing major league teams play like they were 14, 15 years old, having a great time with each other."
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