2002 National League Championship Series

The 2002 National League Championship Series (NLCS) was a Major League Baseball playoff series played from October 9 to 14 to determine the champion of the National League, between the Central Division champion St. Louis Cardinals and the wild-card qualifying San Francisco Giants. It was a rematch of the 1987 NLCS, in which the Cardinals defeated the Giants in seven games. The Cardinals, by virtue of being a division winner, had the home field advantage.

The two teams were victorious in the NL Division Series (NLDS), with the Cardinals defeating the West Division champion and defending World Series champions Arizona Diamondbacks three games to none, and the Giants defeating the East Division champion and heavily favored Atlanta Braves three games to two.

The Giants won the series in five games but were defeated by the Anaheim Angels in seven games in the World Series.

Game 1
Wednesday, October 9, 2002, at Busch Stadium (II) in St. Louis, Missouri

The Giants struck first in Game 1 off of Matt Morris with two on via Benito Santiago's RBI single to score Kenny Lofton from second. Next inning, Morris struck out David Bell and Kirk Rueter, but then gave up four runs before finally retiring Reggie Sanders. Lofton singled, stole second, and scored on Rich Aurilia's RBI single. After Jeff Kent singled, Barry Bonds's two-run triple scored Aurilia and Kent before Bonds scored on Santiago's RBI single, giving the Giants an early 5−0 lead. The Cardinals got on the board in the bottom of the inning off of Rueter on Fernando Viña's RBI groundout with runners on second and third, but solo home runs by Lofton in the third and Bell in the fifth off of Morris gave the Giants a 7−1 lead. Albert Pujols hit a two-run home run in the bottom of the fifth off of Rueter cutting the Giants' lead to 7−3, but the Giants got those runs back in the sixth on Santiago's two-run home run off of Mike Crudale. The Cardinals cut the lead to 9−5 on Miguel Cairo's two-run home run in the bottom of the inning, then made it 9−6 on J.D. Drew's home run in the eighth off of Tim Worrell, but Robb Nen pitched a scoreless ninth for the save as the Giants went up 1−0 in the series.

Game 2
Thursday, October 10, 2002, at Busch Stadium (II) in St. Louis, Missouri

In Game 2, the Giants went up 1−0 on Rich Aurilia's home run in the first off of Woody Williams. His two-run home run in the fifth made it 3−0, also off Williams. Those were the only runs Williams allowed in six solid innings, but Giants starter Jason Schmidt pitched $2 1/2$ shutout innings before allowing Eduardo Pérez's home run in the eighth for the only run the Cardinals would score. The Giants added a run in the ninth on Ramón Martínez's groundout off of Jason Isringhausen with runners on first and third while Robb Nen pitched a scoreless bottom of the inning for his second consecutive save. The Giants went up 2−0 in the series heading to San Francisco.

Game 3
Saturday, October 12, 2002, at Pacific Bell Park in San Francisco

In Game 3, the Giants loaded the bases in the second with no outs off of Chuck Finley, but only scored once on Rich Aurilia's sacrifice fly. The Cardinals responded in the third off of Russ Ortiz with Édgar Rentería's sacrifice fly and Jim Edmonds' RBI groundout scoring a run each after managing to put runners on second and third. They extended their lead to 4−1 on solo home runs by Mike Matheny in the fourth and Edmonds in the fifth, but Barry Bonds' three-run "splash hit" home run into McCovey Cove in the fifth tied the game, 4−4. This was the first (and, so far, only) time a Giants player had recorded a "splash hit" in the postseason. In the sixth, Eli Marrero hit a leadoff home run off of Jay Witasick to take back the lead for the Cardinals. In the ninth, the Giants were given the opportunity to win the game when Bonds walked with one out, representing the tying run, but this was followed by a strikeout and a flyout by Benito Santiago and Reggie Sanders, respectively, sealing the Cardinals' 5−4 win and cutting the Giants' series lead to 2−1.

Game 4
Sunday, October 13, 2002, at Pacific Bell Park in San Francisco

In the first inning of Game 4, the Cardinals took an early 2–0 lead off Liván Hernández, scoring on Jim Edmonds' RBI groundout and Tino Martinez' RBI single. After being held scoreless for the first five innings, the Giants' bats would answer in the sixth, when J. T. Snow hit a game-tying two-run double to score Jeff Kent and Barry Bonds. In the eighth, Benito Santiago would deliver the key blow for San Francisco with a two-run home run following an intentional walk to Bonds. In the ninth, the Cardinals would threaten against Robb Nen, cutting the deficit to 4–3 with Edmonds' RBI single, which put runners at first and third base with one out for slugger Albert Pujols. However, Nen struck out Pujols and J. D. Drew to give the Giants a 3–1 series advantage.

Game 5
Monday, October 14, 2002, at Pacific Bell Park in San Francisco

Game 5 was a pitchers' duel between Matt Morris and Kirk Rueter throughout the first six innings as the Giants looked for their first pennant since 1989. The Cardinals got on the board in the seventh with a sacrifice fly by Fernando Viña, but the Giants responded in the eighth with a sacrifice fly by Barry Bonds. In the ninth, Morris retired Ramón Martínez and J.T. Snow before giving up back-to-back singles to David Bell and Shawon Dunston. Steve Kline was then brought in to pitch to Kenny Lofton, who had yelled at the Cardinals dugout earlier after an inside pitch. On the first pitch, Lofton delivered a walk-off RBI single to right field, scoring Bell as J.D. Drew's throw was off-line, giving the Giants their first pennant since 1989.

Composite line score
2002 NLCS (4–1): San Francisco Giants over St. Louis Cardinals

Aftermath
In the Barry Bonds era (1993-2007), the 2002 postseason would be the only October where the Giants would experience a run of success, let alone win a playoff series (winning two). However, it still did not lead to an elusive World Championship for San Francisco. In the 2002 World Series against the Anaheim Angels, the Giants were eight outs away from winning the Series in Game 6, but late game home runs by Scott Spiezio and Darin Erstad, as well as a two-RBI double by Troy Glaus helped the Angels overcome a five-run, seventh-inning deficit to win. A three-run double by Garret Anderson was the difference in the Angels' Game 7 win to clinch the series. The two teams set a record for combined most home runs in a World Series (21), which stood until the 2017 World Series. The Giants did not win a World Series until 2010.

Despite Dusty Baker's success in San Francisco, he had an increasingly strained relationship with owner Peter Magowan, one that even the Giants' first pennant in thirteen years could not mend. Baker and the Giants mutually parted ways after the season. Baker was not out of work for long as he was quickly snatched up by the Chicago Cubs to become their manager. Baker's Cubs reached the 2003 National League Championship Series, but the team famously fell apart in Game 6 when the Cubs were up 3-0 and five outs from their first World Series appearance in almost 60 years. He would experience success managing the Cincinnati Reds (2010-2013), Washington Nationals (2016-2018), and the Houston Astros (2020–present) in later years. In 2012, his Reds faced his former team the Giants in the National League Division Series. Unfortunately for Baker, his team would again fall apart after leading the series 2–0, eventually losing to the Giants in five games. Baker would finally win a World Series as a manager in 2022 with the Astros. He would retire the following season at the age of 73.

The St. Louis Cardinals would continue to be a perennial playoff team until 2016, winning two World Championships in 2006 and 2011. Meanwhile, San Francisco would begin re-tooling their roster after losing a close NL West race to the Dodgers on the last weekend of the season in 2004. They did not make the postseason from 2004 to 2009. The Giants continued their winning ways in the October against St. Louis, beating them in the 2012 National League Championship Series and the 2014 National League Championship Series, on their way to two World Championships in those seasons.

In 2021, Dusty Baker and Tony La Russa would face off again in the American League Division Series. By then, the two men were the oldest managers in MLB at a combined age of 149. Baker's Astros beat La Russa's White Sox in four games on his way to his fourth League Championship Series as manager. He proceeded to win that series, which made him at the age of 72 the second oldest manager to appear in a World Series, with the 19-year gap between pennants being the second longest for a manager in MLB history.