Giants gear up hoping to make another playoff run

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - Aubrey Huff walked away from AT&T Park after a thrilling victory parade last fall on a championship high. He was a World Series winner in his first postseason after an 11-year wait to finally get there.

The first baseman made it clear entering the winter that he wanted to come back to the Giants - and his wish was for the San Francisco brass to bring back as many of his teammates as possible for the chance at another playoff run in 2011.

A self-described bunch of castoffs and misfits somehow pulled off the improbable and won a long-awaited title for the Giants, the franchise's first since moving West in 1958 and first overall since the New York Giants won in '54.

Now, just as Huff had hoped, this club looks nearly identical to how it ended that remarkable run in five games over the AL champion Texas Rangers.