Pat Burrell retires with two World Series rings, 292 homers

Pat Burrell returned home with a battered reputation when he joined the San Francisco Giants in early June 2010.

Once a feared slugger and one of the top run producers in the National League, Burrell had been summarily dumped by the Tampa Bay Rays, who got a tiny return (a .218 batting average) on their $16 million investment in him and didn't care for his sour attitude.

A change of scenery clearly did wonders for Burrell, who attended high school in San Jose and was reunited on the Giants with old buddies Aubrey Huff and Aaron Rowand.

Burrell, who announced Monday he was retiring at 35 because of a chronic foot injury, teamed up with then-rookie Buster Posey to energize the Giants' sluggish offense, helping them clinch the NL West title and win their first World Series since moving to the West Coast in 1958.

"Pat the Bat'' delivered 20 homers and 64 RBI in two-thirds of a season for the power-starved Giants, repeatedly coming through in the clutch. Just as significantly, he became a clubhouse leader and a unifying presence, a prime example of the "castoffs and misfits'' manager Bruce Bochy said formed his tightly knit club.

Burrell also gained cult status of sorts as the suspected man behind the mask worn by the character Brian Wilson identified as "the Machine,'' a big fellow clad in a bondage outfit who appeared on the background as the Giants closer was doing a national TV interview. Burrell has never publicly acknowledged playing the role.

He certainly played a bigger role in the Giants reaching the World Series than winning it, as he went 0-for-13 with 11 strikeouts against the Texas Rangers, making him 1-for-27 in his two trips to the Fall Classic.

But his one hit was a seventh-inning double that turned into the winning run of Game 5 of the 2008 World Series, the clincher for the Philadelphia Phillies as they defeated the Tampa Bay Rays.

Burrell hit 251 of his 292 career home runs with Philadelphia to rank fourth in the history of the club, which drafted him No. 1 overall in 1998. He played nine of his 12 seasons with the Phillies, and though he never was an All-Star, Burrell was a key figure in turning what was a last-place team when he arrived in 2000 into a perennial power.

"Congrats Pat B for a great career!'' Phillies outfielder Shane Victorino tweeted. "It was amazing being your teammate for all those years in (Philadelphia).''


(usatoday.com)