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What looks like the season finale of “Forever Giants” went up last month and I didn’t get a post up on it sooner because it was Marvin Benard. Now, look, Marvin Benard played as hard as he could and did his best. He was a 50th round pick out of an NAIA school and played so well in the late nineties that Brian Sabean gave him a 3-year, $11.1 million extension. He did... not really provide much value. A 91 OPS+ over his last four seasons (ages 29-32) and, from what I recall, a lot of swing-throughs on head-high fastballs up and in.
Still, he’s been given the #ForeverGiant label... which might not have many requirements come to think of it.
Austin Jackson, who signed with the #SFGiants as a free agent this past offseason, hit .242 with 8 doubles and 13 RBI in 59 games this season.
— San Francisco Giants (@SFGiants) July 8, 2018
Thank you, Austin. #ForeverGiant pic.twitter.com/jTiUyfdpy9
And, of course, Benard purchased PEDs from Barry Bonds’ trainer, Greg Anderson. I wouldn’t say that Benard has a complicated legacy — though I’m genuinely curious to know if most fans think of him more fondly than I do — but I suspect not many people ever though they’d be shown a lengthy one-on-one interview with him 15 years after his playing days had ended.