Above link has the four factors that decide tonight's World Series game 7.

The fourth factor? "Luck."

Luck could play a big role tonight; it sure has so far. The Royals entered the World Series as the clearly superior defensive team, with an outfield that turned scores of would-be singles, doubles, and triples into outs. As I wrote Monday, the Giants washed away that advantage: The Royals allowed a .429 BABIP against bloopers (soft-hit liners and short fly balls) through the first five games of the series, compared to just .235 for the Giants.

In Game 6, that luck turned right around, as the Royals scored seven runs in the second inning thanks to a blitzkrieg of blips and bloops. Gordon started the inning with a dying quail that landed in front of Gregor Blanco. After a solid single to right by Salvador Perez, Mike Moustakas snuck a double down the right-field line that was a few inches from rolling foul. Alcides Escobar hit a squibber that Brandon Belt misplayed, then Lorenzo Cain hit another bloop, pushing the score to 4-0. When Eric Hosmer chopped a ball in front of home plate, over Brandon Crawford’s head, and into center for a two-run double, the game had reached apocalyptic levels of lousy Giants luck.

That second inning offered a reminder that Giants fans, Royals fans, and all baseball fans should keep in mind heading into tonight’s winner-takes-all send-off: We can handicap each team’s strengths and weaknesses all we want, but that doesn’t change the reality that anything can happen in one game.Anything.

He did not throw 200 pitches. And now he gets to go home.

http://pandawhale.com/post/52811/the-hometown-of-madison-bumgarner