was just 22 years old. The Giants would ride Madison Bumgarner’s clutch pitching to their third World Series in five seasons, in what was considered one of the best individual pitching performances in postseason history. Bumgarner would be the seventh player to win a LCS and World Series MVP in the same postseason, and just the fourth pitcher, joining the Orel Hershiser in 1988, Livan Hernandez in 1997, and Cole Hamels in 2008. The 2014 National League Championship Series was an end of an era of sorts for the Cardinals and Giants. The Giants had won NL pennants in 2010, 2012, and 2014 (and the World Series in each of these years), while the Cardinals won pennants in 2011 and 2013 (St. Louis would win the World Series in 2011). The Cardinals dedicated the 2015 season to Taveras after his tragic death and they posted the best record in the National League. However, they were upset by the rival Cubs in the National League Division Series. The Cardinals did not make the postseason again until 2019. In 2016, the Giants made the playoffs again as a wildcard, but lost to the eventual World Champion Cubs in the National League Division Series. The Giants did not return to the postseason until 2021. By then, they had a new president of baseball operations (Farhan Zaidi) and a new manager (Gabe Kapler). In the NHL in 2016, the San Jose Sharks defeated the St. Louis Blues in NHL's Western Conference Finals in six games to earn its first ever birth in the Stanley Cup Finals. In the NHL in 2019, and in the equivalent to a NLCS (the NHL's Western Conference Finals), the St. Louis Blues beat the San Jose Sharks in six games, on the way to winning their first Stanley Cup in franchise history. It was the first time the city of St. Louis beat a Bay Area based team in the postseason since the 1987 NL Championship Series between the Cardinals and Giants. References External links 2014 Postseason Schedule at MLB.com 2014 MLB postseason schedule at ESPN 2014 National League Championship Series at Baseball Reference National League Championship Series National League Championship Series St. Louis Cardinals postseason San Francisco Giants postseason National League Championship Series National League Championship Series 2010s in St. Louis National League Championship Series National League Championship Series Baseball competitions in San Francisco Baseball competitions in St.