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Good morning and happy Wednesday.
On Tuesday, the San Francisco Giants lost a special player. Mike McCormick died on June 16 at the age of 81, after a battle with Parkinson’s Disease.
#ForeverGiant Mike McCormick passed away peacefully on Saturday, at his home in North Carolina after a long battle with Parkinson’s Disease. He was 81 years old. May he rest in peace. pic.twitter.com/LM2mIoQ9tt
— SFGiants (@SFGiants) June 16, 2020
I won’t pretend to have any memories of McCormick, who played his final game nearly two decades before I was born. But he did have a special career, largely with the Giants.
He debuted in 1956 for the New York Giants at just 17 years old. Two years later, he joined the organization as they moved to San Francisco. He spent five years in San Francisco, and made the All-Star team two different years (for a total of four appearances, since there were two All-Star Games a year then, and he made both of them).
In 1963 he left the only organization he had known, only to return in 1967 for nearly four more years. In his first season back in San Francisco he won the Cy Young Award, after finishing the year with a 22-10 record and a 2.85 ERA.
But he was much more than that, and I highly recommend reading one or both of the obituaries in the links.
Did Barry Bonds hit a home run today?
Seriously, what kind of a silly question is that? Duh.
June 17, 1996: Against the Florida Marlins, Bonds hit a solo home run in the 4th inning off of Al Leiter. It was the only run of the game, which the Giants won 1-0. It was his 19th homer of the year.
June 17, 2007: Against the Boston Red Sox, Bonds hit a solo home run in the 6th inning off of Tim Wakefield. It cut the Giants deficit to 8-4, and they would lose 9-5. It was his 14th homer of the year.
Giants links
- Grant Brisbee eulogizes Mike McCormick (The Athletic, subscription required)
- John Shea and Henry Schulman do the same (SF Chronicle)
- Podcast: Grant Brisbee and Andrew Baggarly discuss the Giants draft (The Athletic, free)
- Alex Pavlovic on a fan getting Baseball-Reference to change Tim Lincecum’s picture back to the Giants (NBC Sports Bay Area)
- Maria Guardado ranks the top five managers in franchise history (MLB)
- Jessica Kleinschmidt on the Giants home white uniforms being their best jerseys (NBC Sports Bay Area)
- Alex Pavlovic on how Rob Manfred’s comments bring bad news for players and team employees (NBC Sports Bay Area)
- Steve Berman on how the Giants draft may tell us something about the team’s plan for trades (The Athletic, subscription required)
Have a great Wednesday, everyone.