I'm a closer baby

The announcement of Rod Beck's death this weekend at the too young age of 38 reminded me of the time I ran into him at a gas station by the San Mateo bridge, 14 years ago.

I stopped by an Arco station in Foster City on my way home from work. My tank was running close to empty and the regular commute traffic was even worse after a late season Giants game at the ballpark formerly known as Candlestick. Traffic was crawling, and I wanted to add a few gallons so I wouldn't worry about running out of gas on the San Mateo bridge.

The Giants were in a tight pennant race with Atlanta, and this was their last home game of the season. They’d lost a close one that day to the expansion Colorado Rockies, because rookie manager Dusty Baker had chosen to start a young rookie pitcher named Solomon Torres, who had given up five runs in the first three innings. Because of the loss, the Giants were now tied with the Braves, both teams with 100 wins and 58 losses. This was before baseball had the wildcard, so one of the two teams would not make the playoffs with 100 wins.

The Giants final four games were against the Dodgers in L.A. and the Braves had four at home against those same expansion Colorado Rockies. The Braves probably weren’t going to lose to the Rockies (they hadn't all year), so the Giants' hopes hinged on sweeping L.A. at Dodger Stadium, and then beating the Braves in a one day playoff. They were up against the wall.

When I got out of my car and headed to the pump, I noticed this strange character on the opposite pump, filling up his van and silently muttering to himself..“I can’t believe we f—ing lost..I can’t believe we f—ing lost..” I thought it was a Giants’ fan taking their latest loss to heart. He was big guy with a fu manchu moustache and a mullet hairdo, wearing a huge leather cowboy hat. He looked like someone I knew from somewhere, and kept muttering “I can’t belive we f—ing lost..”, loud enough where other people at the station were looking at him.

I suddenly realized that the weird dude across from me was none other than Giants' All Star closer Rod Beck, the workhorse who had been singlehandedly keeping them in the pennant race. He was on his way to 48 saves and a 2.16 ERA, and was pitching in nearly every game. It looked like he was filling up his van for the long drive to LA, because it was full of personal belongings. I’d finished adding my three gallons, and wanted to give him some encouragement, so I shouted “sweep L.A. Rod” as I got in my car and drove away. He looked over and gave me a thumbs up.

The Giants did not end up sweeping L.A. They won the first three games, but lost the final game of the season because their rookie manager Dusty Baker gave the ball to the same rookie pitcher Solomon Torres, who gave up a bunch of runs early and lost the game. Meanwhile, the Braves easily swept the Rockies and ended up winning the NL West by one game. The Giants ended up winning 103 games, but missing the playoffs by one game. Baseball introduced the wildcard system the next year.

And now Rod Beck is gone. Sometimes life just isn't fair.