All time greatest San Franciso Giants relieve pitcher. This is an autographed photo mounted on a marble type wood plaque with a bronze name plate. Photo has two holograms from MLB and we guarantee it to be authentic. Like many relievers, Rod Beck is a high-wire act. With his Al Hrabosky-ish Fu Man Chu mustache, Mickey Lolich waistline, and long stringy hair sticking out the back of his cap, the rubber-armed Beck compiled 260 saves in the 1990s and is the Giants all-time leader in that category. Indeed, Beck's first major-league appearance was auspicious -- not for his arm, but for his bat. His first hit came in his first at-bat, a single off John Smoltz in 1991. The following year, he replaced Dave Righetti and Jeff Brantley as the Giants' closer. He did not allow a run in 17 innings over eight outings during April, yielded just one earned run in just one of his first 17 appearances, and was successful in his first eight save opportunities through July 8. He then finished the year by allowing just one earned run in 28.1 innings pitched over his last 22 appearances. Beck had his best season in 1993 when he recorded 48 saves, including a record 24 straight. The total established a new Giants club single-season record, and ranked second in the majors to the Cubs' Randy Myers, who recorded a National League-record 53. In 1994, he broke his own consecutive-saves record by converting all 28 of his opportunties (stopped only by the strike) and won the Rolaids Relief award. In 1995, he converted his first 13 for a total of 41, a multiple-season streak that hadn't even been kept as a record previously. In 1996, Beck's appearances started to get hairier in more ways than one. Despite his 35 saves, he blew seven and went 0-9. But even though Beck was no longer automatic, he was still reliable, saving another 37 games for the Giants in 1997.
© 1992-2009 Lee Payne
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