Dark day for team again
With absolutely no sarcasm or dark humor intended, a Giants employee walked into the dugout Thursday at AT&T Park and said she was afraid to answer her phone.
A day after Giants Hall of Famer Orlando Cepeda’s wife, Mirian, died of pneumonia came the news that Brandon Crawford’s sister-in-law, Jennifer Pippin, had died. She was a sister of Crawford’s wife, Jalynne, and a mother of two.
The Giants provided no information, saying only that Crawford was not in Thursday’s lineup because of a family emergency. But Jalynne Crawford informed her Instagram and Twitter followers of the death, suggesting it was related to asthma.
Crawford informed the team of Pippin’s death Wednesday night through head athletic trainer Dave Groeschner, then accompanied Jalynne to Los Angeles, her family’s hometown.
Crawford flew back to the Bay Area on Thursday afternoon and was expected to be in uniform for the game. He did not start.
The deaths of Pippin and Mirian Cepeda followed by less than two weeks the passing of Katy Feeney, the former Major League Baseball executive who visited AT&T Park often and was the daughter of the late Giants executive and National League President Chub Feeney.
Posey progressing: Manager Bruce Bochy had good news on catcher Buster Posey, who is on the seven-day concussion list and eligible to return in Kansas City on Tuesday. Posey, beaned Monday, stepped up his activity Thursday with cardio and strength work.
“I talked to Buster today. He’s doing well,” Bochy said. “He’s going to ramp it up and we’ll see what happens. It’s good to see him doing well. You never know with these things, but I’m going to be optimistic.”
Ring bearers: The Cubs held their World Series ring ceremony Wednesday night. Two ring winners were not at Wrigley Field, but in the Giants’ clubhouse preparing to face the Diamondbacks.
Reliever Neil Ramirez pitched in eight games last year for the Cubs, his original big-league team, for whom he also played in 2014 and 2015. Catcher Tim Federowicz played 17 games for Chicago last year. Neither was on the postseason roster.
Ramirez said he was pleasantly surprised when the Cubs called over the winter asking for his ring size.
“I’m happy because I was there for most of the turnaround,” Ramirez said. “I’m super happy for those guys. My focus now is getting a ring here. It was great that I could see the atmosphere there knowing those people were starved for a championship.”