Eight years after debuting with the Giants and providing a spark amid their run to a third World Series title in five seasons, second baseman Joe Panik has retired.
The NY Post reported Panik has “quietly retired” and is enjoying family life after an eight-season career that began in San Francisco in 2014. Panik finished sixth in National League Rookie of the Year voting, made the All-Star team the next season and earned a Gold Glove at second base in 2016.
One of Panik’s finest moments with the Giants came in Game 7 of the 2014 World Series when he started a 4-6-3 double play with a diving stop and a glove flip to shortstop Brandon Crawford. The full extension stop from Panik led to a flawless exchange with Crawford who fired to first base in time to double up then-Royals first baseman Eric Hosmer.
Hosmer was initially ruled out on the play, but a replay review overturned the call as it showed Crawford’s throw hit the outstretched glove of first baseman Brandon Belt before Hosmer touched first base. Aside from Panik, the three other players heavily involved on the play will all be on the field at Oracle Park on Friday as Crawford and Belt will face Hosmer’s San Diego Padres.
Panik joined the Giants’ organization as a first round draft choice in 2011 after a successful career as a shortstop at St. John’s University. He was promoted in June, 2014 after Dan Uggla went 0-for-11 in a brief tenure in San Francisco that helped convince former general manager Brian Sabean to turn to the farm system for production at second base.
Panik hit .305 as a rookie and joined a homegrown infield that included Crawford at short, Belt at first, Pablo Sandoval at third base and Buster Posey behind the plate.
Panik’s best season came in 2015 when he batted .312 with an .833 OPS, but his tenure in San Francisco came to an end four years later when Farhan Zaidi designated the fan favorite for assignment in August, 2019. The transaction was incredibly unpopular with fans as Panik’s initial replacement, Scooter Gennett, also struggled at the plate and was cut less than a month after being acquired at the trade deadline.
Panik finished the 2019 season with the Mets, spent the 2020 season with the Blue Jays and split time last year between the Blue Jays and Marlins.
Source: www.mercurynews.com