A Unique College Pedigree Within a Brilliant Bullpen

SAN FRANCISCO - Talk to enough major league baseball players and you realize that most of them do not see the game as die-hard fans do. Generally, they have spent too much of their lives playing baseball to study the game's past. There is no benefit, on the field, to being awed by their place in history, or to buy into their hype.

So it was no surprise recently that Brandon Finnegan, the rookie left-hander for the Kansas City Royals, had no reaction to a comparison that would have floored most baseball historians. Art Stewart, a Royals scout since 1970, had characterized Finnegan's out pitch as a 'Steve Carlton slider,' paying him the ultimate compliment - or, viewed another way, saddling him with an impossibly high standard.

Finnegan said, politely, that he had never heard of the name. When told that Carlton was a Hall of Famer with more than 300 victories, all before he was born, Finnegan smiled and said he would be just fine with a career like that.

On Friday night at AT&T Park, Finnegan, 21, entered Game 3 of the World Series with a one-run lead and a runner on base in the seventh inning. He got a flyout and a strikeout while becoming the first player to appear in the College World Series and the M.L.B. World Series in the same year.

'There's not big names like there are here; this is the real deal,' Finnegan said, comparing the two events. 'But I took the experience with the fans and the atmosphere to help me out with all the yelling and everything. Really, I just try to block it out as much as I can.'

Finnegan pitched for Texas Christian, as evidenced by his T.C.U. necklace, which also includes a small 29, his number for the Horned Frogs. Now he pitches for a different team, wears No. 27 and chases a different piece of jewelry.

The Royals, of course, have not earned a championship ring since the 1985 World Series, a seven-game thriller in which Manager Dick Howser called on his bullpen just once before the eighth inning. This postseason, the Royals, heading into Saturday's Game 4, had gone to their bullpen before the eighth inning in 10 of their first 11 games.

In Game 3 on Friday, Manager Ned Yost inserted Finnegan into his usual late-game parade to the finish. The Royals have no qualms about his inexperience, because they know what makes him effective.

'His stuff,' said the closer, Greg Holland. 'That's as simple as I can put it. I'm not trying to be smart, but he's got really good stuff and he doesn't let situations get the best of him. That's kind of a rare find for a guy as young as him. We've got complete confidence in him.'

The Royals selected the left-handed Finnegan, who is considered a future starter, in the first round (17th over all) of the June draft. Holland, a right-hander, was chosen in the 10th round (306th over all) in 2007. Holland was a better shortstop than pitcher in high school, attended a small college - Western Carolina - and is generously listed at 5 feet 1o. But his fastball and moxie enticed the Royals.

'You get to a point in the draft where it's, O.K., who are the big leaguers left on the board?' said Dayton Moore, the Royals' general manager. 'Junior Vizcaino, our national cross-checker, came up to me and said, 'Greg Holland is a big leaguer.' And he was still on the board and we selected him.'

One of Holland's college teammates was Drew Saberhagen, who was born during the 1985 World Series as his father, Bret, pitched the Royals to their title. Holland, whose wife also delivered a son this month, said earlier in the postseason that he did not know the story of his ex-teammate's birth.

'I've never asked anyone how they entered the world, really,' Holland said. 'I'm sure it's interesting.'

It is not Holland's job to make historical connections, or to be swept up in quirks of fate. As a reliever, especially, he must ignore any possible distractions. If he felt any pressure facing the Giants' 3-4-5 hitters in the ninth inning of Game 3, Holland did not show it. He retired the side on eight pitches, completing a four-man bullpen relay of no-hit, no-run pitching.

'They're just nasty, man,' said Jarrod Dyson, the Royals' center fielder. 'Sometimes I really don't need to take a glove out there. Them guys go out there and attack the zone. That's why they're so good: They're going to be around the plate a lot and they don't give in. You've just got to hit their best stuff.'

The task has been all but impossible this postseason. Through the Royals' 3-2 victory in Game 3, which gave them a two games to one lead, Kelvin Herrera, Wade Davis and Holland had combined for an 0.83 earned run average. They had allowed just three earned runs and 15 hits in 322/3 innings, with 39 strikeouts.

Herrera even came to the plate, for the first time in his professional career, in Game 3. He wore Billy Butler's helmet and Alex Gordon's batting gloves and said he was proud to at least hit a foul ball, with Alcides Escobar's bat, before striking out.

'I was up in the tunnel - I don't think I wanted to look at it,' Davis said, smiling. 'I heard it wasn't the best-looking at-bat.'

For the relievers, that sideshow seemed to command more attention than anything they did on the mound. Out there, they were simply doing their jobs. There was nothing to be gained by soaking it in or sounding too impressed. The Giants could do that for them.

'Well, it's a pretty good bullpen,' Giants Manager Bruce Bochy said. 'It's the reason why they're here.'

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