Aw, damn.

Former All-Star Beck dead at 38

Rod Beck, a former reliever for the Giants, Padres, Cubs and Red Sox, has passed away, a Giants official said on Sunday. Beck was 38 years old.

The Giants were informed of Beck's death on Saturday night and informed the players, announcers and front-office staff, who were openly speaking about the death prior to Sunday's game against the Yankees at AT&T Park. An official statement was being held pending notification of Beck's family.

Beck's career stats

Closers have always been my favorites, and Beck was one of the great ones. He never looked like an athlete - drooping mustache, beer gut, double chin, but when he would climb on the mound for the ninth inning he would dazzle batters with an amazing combination of breaking balls and screamers at the corners.

Possibly the greatest story about shooter comes from his comeback in 2003. Playing for the Triple-A Iowa Cubs, Beck lived in a motor home. After games, he'd welcome anyone in for beer and baseball stories. Anyone. Imagine A-Rod having a bunch of fans over to his place.

Baseball has lost a character, and humanity has been diminished.

Get 'em out, Shooter.



EDIT: The SFGate's Betting Fool has a great tribute to Beck.

Yes, I still exist.

First full week back at work was good. The usual headaches and long days, but getting back in shape wasn't as difficult as I feared. Some minor drama, and a few good laughs. About what I expect.

After finishing Pushing Ice I plunged into Reynolds' collection of shorts Zima Blue. Eh. Some very good, some so-so, and a couple that I just couldn't get into (the Merlin stories, if you are familiar with his work.) The title story was by far the most interesting in concept and execution. After that, I read Vernor Vinge's Rainbow's End. Very interesting, although like all Vinge's work it took me a few chapters to get into the characters and setting. Since I loved Pushing Ice we picked up the Revelation Space trilogy. About 2/3rds of the way through the first book, and loving it.

Had lunch today with redc1c4 and his lovely wife. I know Red from a couple of military fora, and he is legendary as the Specialist of the Army. The man was an E-4 for most of his military career, refusing to become a sergeant for very good reasons. As such, he had decades of seniority at his grade. Neat guy, and the conversation was quite enjoyable.

I haven't been posting much about my Giants. Mainly because they are killing me with a recent 8 game losing streak. That ended last night with a 13-inning victory over the Yankees. Today, we're in the 9th with 2 outs and 2 strikes on the Yankees with a 7-2 lead. Before the game, both teams celebrated the 45th anniversary of the 1962 World Series. Really nice ceremony, and it always amazes me to see these grandfathers and know that they were once the best athletes of their day.

It's a final. Giants 7, Yankees 2. We stole five bases. Barry Bonds got one of them. :)

My disability check finally showed, which is a relief. Tuesday I have a couple of medical things to take care off, including a dermatology appointment (suspicious mole on my back) and lab work. While I'm over there, I'm going into the optical center to see if they take walk ins for basic vision tests and glasses. My current pair are very old, are falling apart, and the photosensitive elements of the lenses is dying. Need new Transitions glasses! I can't remember what glasses cost me on my plan, but I know its very cheap; especially given my lack of taste in frames. I don't need designer frames. Simple wire frames are fine for me.

(Bit of a break there.. I went down to get my laundry, and ended up chatting with a neighbor for a while.)

Doing a lot of laundry. Including the summer-weight sheets. It's time.

Yesterday we had a fun bit of serendipity. A few days ago we were at Safeway and noticed a new line of pre-packed meals under their house brand. One of the offerings was spaghetti with meatballs in a single-serving size. This is one of those things I will eat without reservation, so we grabbed one to try. Yesterday I decided to have the new 'ghetti for dinner - but what to drink? Beer and soda don't really go with Italian. Ideally, a good red wine would be required. However, I'm the only wine drinker in the house. We remembered seeing a selection of smaller bottles, 187ml in size, sold in four packs. Perfect! Just the size of a good-sized glass.

We went off in search of the vino I desired. Outside the store they were doing a BBQ with tri-tip sandwiches. Kirsten hadn't eaten yet, so she got one. As we sat there, her eating and me nursing a Sprite, one of the workers came up to us. He had a six-pack of Beck's and a package of tuna that someone had left in a cart. Did we want it? Hell yes! Free beer and material for Kiri-food.

Ended up getting Black Swan Shiraz. Very nice, and went well with the spaghetti. Alas, I couldn't find any single-serving garlic bread...

So, how's your weekend going?

Another b-day note

If anyone is getting me anything, contact kshandra. It's much easier to have things shipped to her office. We're never home for UPS/FedEx/DHL. Or use USPS as the local office is open Saturdays.

Thanks.