World Series MVP Madison Bumgarner Named 'Sports Illustrated's' Sportsman of the Year

San Francisco Giants ace Madison Bumgarner earned World Series MVP honors after allowing one earned run in 21 Fall Classic innings, an accomplishment that sparked another prestigious honor Monday, Dec. 8.

On Monday, Bumgarner was named Sports Illustrated's Sportsman of the Year for his efforts, beating out a crowded field of candidates that included Michael Sam and Kansas City Royals fans.

Sam came out as the first publicly gay football player in February. And Bumgarner was the only thing standing between Royals fans enjoying a World Series title they had been waiting 29 years for.

He clinched Game 7 of the World Series with five innings of shutdown relief, pitching on just three days's rest.

The Giants have won three of the past five World Series, giving Bumgarner three championship rings over his first six seasons. Bumgarner debuted as a 19-year-old in 2009, according to Baseball Reference. Overall, he owns a 3.06 career ERA and 67-49 record in 151 career appearances. Bumgarner placed fourth in National League Cy Young voting in 2014 after posting an 18-10 record and 2.98 ERA in the regular season.

He spent most of the year in the shadow of Los Angeles's Clayton Kershaw, who won the Cy Young and MVP awards. But Bumgarner outperformed Kershaw in the postseason, posting a crazy 1.03 ERA in 52 2/3 innings.

Bumgarner becomes the seventh MLB pitcher to win the award, according to Sports Illustrated.

Here's how Sports Illustrated managing editor Chris Stone explained the selection:

It's easy to mythologize the small-town sports hero. Baseball, especially, is full of them. Madison Bumgarner isn't the Sportsman of the Year because he's from a tiny town, but that town goes a long way toward defining who he is and it gives his story a different texture from past Sportsmen. And while he's been an outstanding pitcher for the last five years, his Sportsman candidacy was so sudden and seemingly out of nowhere that it makes him the most unique Sportsman in recent memory.