Your 2010 World Series Champions: Part VI

Credit: Jake Roth-USA TODAY Sports

The 2010 World Series Championship team was an odd one, patched together by washed-up players, late-comers, astounding young talent, and a good dose of luck from the baseball gods. Here are the final five players on the roster who, in their own small and significant ways, made 2010 a season to remember.

Jose Guillen

Guillen arrived to San Francisco in August 2010, packing a .255 average, history of explosive run-ins with previous managers, players, and fans, and a steroid scandal from 2003.

During his time with the Giants, he lasted 42 games, batting .266 with three home runs, and a .692 OPS before packing his bags when MLB placed him on a restricted list for suspected PED usage.

Since his last at-bat against the Padres on October 3rd, 2010, Guillen has not returned to Major League Baseball.

Cody Ross

Ross the Boss. NLCS MVP. Expert bat-flipper and home-run skipper. Like Jose (a comparison I promise not to make again), Ross began his time in San Francisco in August 2010 and picked up a utility outfield role as the Giants made their push for an NL West title.

His shining moments came in the NLCS. In Game 1, he shot two home runs off Philadelphia’s Roy Halladay. In Game 2, he nabbed the Giants’ single run with a home run off of Roy Oswalt. In Games 3-6, he collected 3 doubles, 2 RBI, and an MVP award.

Following his run with the Giants in 2010 and 2011, Cody accepted a one-year deal with the Boston Red Sox. Despite a few health problems, he played 130 games and batted .267/.326/.481 with 22 home runs in 528 PA. This offseason, he signed a three-year deal with the Giants’ division rival Arizona Diamondbacks.

Aaron Rowand

The name Aaron Rowand may leave a bad taste in the mouths of Giants fans after putting up some of his worst career numbers in 2010. His most impressive mark on the World Series run was a triple off Texas’ Michael Kirkman in Game 2 of the Series, scoring Juan Uribe and Edgar Renteria for San Francisco’s seventh and eighth runs of a 9-0 blowout.

After a long-awaited midseason release by the Giants in 2011, Rowand grabbed a minor league deal with the Miami Marlins, but did not make it past spring training cuts. He is currently a free agent.

Nate Schierholtz

A San Francisco Giant since his major-league call-up in 2007, Schierholtz also managed his lowest career offensive production in 2010. In 137 games, he contributed a .242 average and .676 OPS with 16 extra bases and 17 RBI. As the Giants climbed towards a World Series title, Nate saw just 13 PA as Pat Burrell‘s late-inning replacement, with an RBI single in Game 1’s 11-4 drubbing.

His role as a fourth outfielder lasted just one and a half more seasons in San Francisco, before the forced Brian Sabean to deal him at the 2012 trade deadline in a multi-player package for Hunter Pence. In Philadelphia, Schierholtz earned a .273 average and .698 OPS over 37 games and 73 PA with the Phillies. This offseason, he agreed to a one-year deal with the Chicago Cubs.

Eugenio Velez

Unlucky in hitting, timing, and choice of dugout seat, Velez managed just 19 games before Pat Burrell arrived in San Francisco. From July to October, he went hitless in his remaining 10 appearances as a pinch-hitter and occasional left fielder. Unsurprisingly, Velez was left off the Giants’ postseason roster.

By a stroke of even worse luck, things have only gone downhill for Velez since 2010. In 2011, he played 34 games for the Los Angeles Dodgers, and became one of the only players in MLB history to go hitless for 40 consecutive plate appearances. Last month, he signed a minor league contract with the Toronto Blue Jays.

Your turn, Giants fans. Who made the strongest impression on you during the Giants’ magical World Series run in 2010?