R.I.P., Shooter

Rod Beck died over the weekend, causes undisclosed. He was 38.

I'll always remember him for getting the win in one of the greatest Giants games ever, the Brian Johnson HR game against the Dodgers in 1997. Beck entered in the 10th and gave up three straight hits to load the bases with no one out. It had been a sketchy few weeks for Beck, and the Candlestick crowd started to grumble. Manager Dusty Baker stuck with Beck, and Shooter struck out Todd Zeile then got an excuse-me double play ball out of Eddie Murray to escape the inning. The highlights you always see of that game show Baker pumping his fist at the crowd; I've always thought half of that was excitement, the other half some in-your-face. Beck pitched two more scoreless innings before Johnson ended it in the 12th. Pure Shooter.

Comments

[mariannb]

Wow.
Sad.
The day after the Giants were swept by the Marlins to end their 1997 post-season, I was standing in line at the Southwest Airlines gate at SFO to get the coveted plastic-card boarding pass, and who came up in line behind me but Rod Beck, on his way back to Phoenix with his wife and two daughters. I turned around and congratulated him on the season, and he was totally gracious. Said he could hardly wait to get out to Firebird Raceway and take the car for a spin. Then I saw him a couple months later, driving a covertable into a McDonald's drive-thru in Scottsdale. hahaha!
Like Aurilia said, the guy looked like he was 38 years old 10 years ago. He was the perfect fit for The 'Stick.
R.I.P.

[Justin]

What a sad sad story :(. Hate to see people got out like that... By the way, when you write new blog posts, go over to BeTheRef.com and post a link to your story, and hopefully get a little extra traffic for your blog.