Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		3.5
Audio		3.0
Extras		2.0
Overall		3.0

Official 2010 World Series Champions Film: Texas Rangers vs. San Francisco Giants Blu-ray Movie Review

Fear the beard, buy the Blu-ray.

Reviewed by Martin Liebman December 11, 2010

They call themselves 'misfits.'

Love them or hate them, one can't help but respect the 2010 San Francisco Giants. If a team -- a team -- ever earned a World Series title, it was this ragtag group of San Franciscans led by a dominant young pitching staff and a collection of mostly castoff veteran hitters who won't grab many regular-season headlines or find themselves one day enshrined in Cooperstown, but they came together as an offensive unit and made their pitching hold up to defeat three of baseball's best squads in the postseason to capture the title "World Champions." It was a season that didn't seem to favor the Giants; the offense was a question mark -- standout third baseman Pablo Sandoval struggled throughout the year, and Rookie of the Year Buster Posey didn't see any big-league action until his midseason call-up -- and the team barely hung on during the first half of the season, relying on pitching to win games and hoping just to tread water during a late-season August swoon by star pitcher Tim Lincecum that saw the Cy Young winner lose all of his five decisions that month and accumulate a cringe-worthy ERA that approached 8.00. As of the fourth of July, the Giants were a mere single game over .500, 7.5 games out of first and in fourth place behind a pitching-heavy Padres team, a dangerous Colorado squad, and the wealthy L.A. Dodgers group with question marks in the owners' box. A 20-8 month of July propelled the team into second place as of August first, and even through Lincecum's struggles that month, the Giants continued to play competitive baseball and lost only 1.5 games in the standings, trailing the season's surprise team, San Diego, by three, the Giants' position in the standings helped by San Diego's season-long 10-game losing streak that stretched from August 26 through September 5. By then, the Giants were only a game back in the standings, and five days later found themselves tied with San Diego. By the season's final weekend, the Giants were three games ahead with three to play as the Giants and Padres fittingly squared off to close out the season and decide the NL West. The Padres won games one and two, but the Giants -- behind a five-inning, three-hit outing by youngster Jonathan Sanchez -- closed out the Frairs' magical season with a 3-0 victory and earned a ticket to the postseason to face manager Bobby Cox's Atlanta Braves in the best-of-five NLDS.

What a treat!

The Giants entered postseason play as a team not expected to make it out of the National League. The Braves had question marks of their own on offense, and they, like the Giants, relied on a strong starting pitching staff to overcome injuries to key players such as Chipper Jones and the struggles of outfielder Nate McLouth. The Giants-Braves series seemed like a tossup, and the battle of Rookie of the Year candidates -- Jason Heyward for the Braves and Buster Posey for the Giants -- ended up favoring the team from San Francisco. The Giants' ace, Tim Lincecum, tossed a gem of a game one, striking out 14 en route to a 1-0 complete game shutout, a performance that was almost every bit as dominant as Phillies ace Roy Halladay's no-hitter in game one of the Reds-Phils series. Game two went to the Braves and featured a dramatic extra-inning homerun from midseason acquisition Rick Ankiel, but the Giants strong starting pitching carried the club to identical 3-2 victories in games three and four to wrap up the series to face the two-time defending National League Champion Philadelphia Phillies. The Phillies seemed like an unstoppable force; not only was their pitching staff as good as -- if not better than -- the Giants', they also boasted a murderer's row-like lineup that promised to be the difference in the series. In the end, though, it wasn't Ryan Howard, Jayson Werth, or Chase Utley providing the heroics, but instead an unheralded little outfielder the Giants claimed off waivers from the Florida Marlins, Cody Ross. Ross took postseason hero and Cy Young winner Roy Halladay deep twice in game one, instantly erasing the mystique of the veteran hurler's magical postseason no-hitter and leading the Giants to a 1-0 series lead. The Fightin' Phills stormed back to dominate the Giants 6-1 in game two, and back in San Francisco for game three, ace-in-the-making Matt Cain tossed a gem of a ballgame to lead the Giants to a 3-0 win and a 2-1 lead in the best-of-seven series. Midseason acquisition Roy Oswalt had no luck slowing down the Giants in game four, but Tim Lincecum proved human after all in game five, losing to fellow game one starter Roy Halladay and cutting the Giants' lead in the series to 3-2. Back in Philly for game six, Juan Uribe blasted an eighth-inning homer to seal the game and the series to send the suddenly red-hot and destiny-driven Giants to the World Series.

Awaiting the team from San Francisco was the upstart Texas Rangers. Their ownership dilema settled and the team finally pitching as well as they hit behind the left arms of Cliff Lee and C.J. Wilson and the right arm of the recently returned-from-Japan Colby Lewis, the Rangers seemed like a team as primed as the Phillies to topple the Giants and win their first-ever World Series. After a disappointing loss in game one, the Rangers stormed back in their ALCS matchup with the vaunted New York Yankees to offensively dominate the series and earn a trip to the Fall Classic, but the Giants would prove to be a much more formidable foe, even with a drastically smaller pocket book in tow. The Rangers were the heavy favorite entering the series, and while Ron Washington's club pulled out to an uneasy 2-0 lead in game one, the Giants tied the game in the third and busted it open in the sixth, chasing the until-now impenetrable Cliff Lee and blasting a grand slam off of reliever Darren O'Day to to jump out to a big lead. The Giants tacked on a few more and survived a ninth-inning Rangers rally to take a 1-0 series lead in a game that ended 11-7. Game two was another high scoring affair, but all the runs found their way into the Giants' column, the team amassing seven eighth-inning tallies en route to a 9-0 victory. The Rangers were happy to be back in Arlington, and former Japanese league hurler Colby Lewis managed to put a stop to the Giants suddenly red-hot offense by blanking the Giants through six and helping the Rangers to their only win. Game four saw Giants' rookie Madison Bumgarner stifle the Rangers offense all night long, blanking Texas on three hits through eight innings and getting his team one win away from a title. Ace Tim Lincecum confidently took the ball in game five and once again one-upped the Rangers' Cliff Lee, giving up only one run through eight and handing the ball off to the bearded one -- closer Brian Wilson -- who saved the game and earned the Giants their first World Series title since they were the New York Giants in 1954.

MLB: 2010 World Series is an undeniably strong recap of the Giants' miraculous postseason run towards a World Series title. The film captures not only the highlights of the game but the makeup of the team and the flavor of the city from which they hail, taking a pleasing look at the city and the beautiful ballpark by the Bay, though a more in-depth look at all the features that make AT&T Park one of the best in the game would have been a nice feature or even extra somewhere on the disc. The film briefly looks back at the history of the team, its last World Series title in 1954, and the highlights leading up to the team's postseason run, including the call-up of Buster Posey, the signings of Pat Burrell and Cody Ross, and the trade of fan-favorite Catcher Benji Molina to Texas, guaranteeing him a World Series ring no matter the victor. Best of all, there's an emphasis on team; the Giants are portrayed as a group of "misfits" and castoffs that failed to catch on with other teams. Outside of the pitching staff, that's quite true and a far cry from the way the large-market teams like the Red Sox and Yankees do business, trying to buy their way to titles by signing high-dollar All-Star veterans rather than smartly building a well-rounded team into a contender. MLB: 2010 World Series is a fresh and exciting experience that makes for thrilling viewing even considering that the outcome of the film is never in question; even Texas Rangers fans might consider this a keepsake reminder of the season that was. Technically, MLB: 2010 World Series is a slick and well-produced affair; it looks good, plays quickly, and features a balanced and amicable narration from Comedian Rob Schneider.

Official 2010 World Series Champions Film: Texas Rangers vs. San Francisco Giants Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

MLB: 2010 World Series delivers a handsome and generally proficient 1080i, 1.78:1-framed transfer. Of course, the presentation isn't without flaws; the glossy video sheen gives off a decidedly flat appearance and the transfer is saddled with some unsightly but not overwhelmingly ugly bugaboos such as intermittent shimmering, a few poor color gradations, jagged edges, and at least one instance of barely-noticeable cross-coloring. Still, Shout! Factory's Blu-ray delivers far more good than bad. Detailing is incredibly strong in places, with close-up shots of player uniforms revealing the fine texturing and the heavy stitching that have secured patches, names, and numbers onto the fabric. Other details -- faces and the various odds and ends seen around the ballparks, for instance -- also look quite good. Colors are bold and invigorating, particularly the shades of Giants orange and the Rangers' red, white, and blue. Game footage looks about like it did during the live broadcasts but without some of the more unsightly compression artifacts and other uglies that occasionally crept into the feed. This isn't a perfect Blu-ray image, but Giants and Rangers fans should be very pleased with the quality of this release.

Official 2010 World Series Champions Film: Texas Rangers vs. San Francisco Giants Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

MLB: 2010 World Series features an out-of-balance DTS HD MA 5.1 lossless soundtrack. This one's primarily made up of music and dialogue. The former oftentimes competes with or threatens to drown out the latter, but Narrator Rob Schneider's words are never completely dominated by the music. Dialogue -- whether Schneider's narration; interview clips with players, coaches, or others; or general pre-game on-field chatter; is all delivered strongly through the center channel. However, the track not only dominates the dialogue with music, but it tosses far too much of it into the back channels to the point that it simply becomes too much to bear. Still, it's relatively clear and not at all lacking in volume at reference level, and it's accompanied by several instances of room-shaking bass. This is a flawed track that tries to do too much and ultimately ends up overwhelming the listener rather than delivering a smoother and more enjoyable audio experience.

Official 2010 World Series Champions Film: Texas Rangers vs. San Francisco Giants Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

MLB: 2010 World Series features no less than 14 segments (1080i) under the "bonus" tab, many of which are also seen in the main feature. Each is fairly self-explanatory in title, and all are listed below.

• This Week in Baseball: Buster Posey (4:18).
• Giants Clinch NL West: Final Out (1080i, 1:03).
• NLDS Game 5: Last Out (0:45).
• NLCS Game 1: Cody Ross 1st HR (0:57).
• NLCS Game 1: Cody Ross 2nd HR (1:09).
• NLCS Game 6: Juan Uribe HR (1:20).
• NLCS Game 6: Last Out (2:01).
• WS Game 1: Juan Uribe HR (1:30).
• WS Game 2: Edgar Renteria HR (1:51).
• WS Game 4: Freddy Sanchez Defense (1:35).
• WS Game 5: Lincecum Strike Outs (2:11).
• WS Game 5: Edgar Renteria HR (1:28).
• WS Game 5: Final Out and Celebration (4:47).
• WS Parade (2:40).



Official 2010 World Series Champions Film: Texas Rangers vs. San Francisco Giants Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 




MLB: 2010 World Series is a quality retrospective piece that briefly recaps the Giants' regular season and follows to dramatically reveal all the highlights of the team's destiny-driven run through the playoffs and towards a much-deserved World Series title. Packed not only with baseball action but a bit of history and San Francisco culture, the film is nicely balanced but never strays from its objective of allowing fans to relive the string of highs that was the 2010 Giants postseason run. The film is of a high enough quality that general baseball fans -- not just Giants fans -- will want to relish its exciting look back at one of the more improbable but certainly most exciting postseason runs in the past 10 years. Shout! Factory's Blu-ray release sports a flawed audio presentation but delivers a strong 1080i video transfer and offers a supplemental section that picks out the best of the best highlights for easy access. Recommended.