Panik, member of Giants’ 2014 champs, retires
Joe Panik, whose acrobatic defensive work helped the San Francisco Giants win the 2014 World Series, their third in five years, said Thursday he’s retiring after playing eight seasons in the major leagues.
“I just knew it was time for me to retire,” Panik said in an interview with The Chronicle. “I just felt in my heart and my head, I was ready for the next chapter of my life.”
Panik, 31, and his wife, Brittany, added a family member, a daughter named Mikayla, who was born last year, and Panik said, “I want to be home with my family.”
Drafted as a shortstop with the 29th overall pick in 2011, Panik converted to second base and teamed with shortstop Brandon Crawford as one of the slickest double-play combinations in the game.
Panik finished sixth in the 2014 Rookie of the Year voting, played in the 2015 All-Star Game and won a Gold Glove in 2016. Perhaps his defining moment in a Giants uniform was a defensive gem in Game 7 of the 2014 World Series.
With the score 2-2 in the third inning, Kansas City’s Eric Hosmer hit a grounder up the middle that, if it went through, would have sent Lorenzo Cain to third. Panik made a backhanded diving snag and flipped the ball from his glove to Crawford at second base for the force, and Crawford’s throw to first doubled up Hosmer.
At first, Hosmer was ruled safe. Giants manager Bruce Bochy challenged the call, and replays showed Brandon Belt had the ball before Hosmer reached first. The next halfinning, Michael Morse hit a tie-breaking single, then Madison Bumgarner came out of the bullpen in the fifth for five scoreless innings, preserving a 3-2 Giants win in the clincher.
“Now that I’m done, I’ve been able to reflect. I’m so proud of that moment,” Panik said. “Making a play like that in the biggest of stages is what you live for and dream about. Just happy to have the two Brandons helping me out on the backside of the double play.”
Slowed by injuries, Panik was released near the end of his sixth season, in 2019, shortly after the Giants traded for Mauricio Dubón, who was deemed a possible second baseman of the future, and Scooter Gennett. Another second baseman, Donovan Solano, was in his first year with the Giants.
Panik had stops with the Mets, Blue Jays and Marlins. He hit .271 with 36 home runs and 221 RBIs in his 643 games with the Giants. Overall, he retires having hit .264 with 42 homers and 258 RBIs.
“I’m very proud of what I was able to accomplish in my baseball career with the Giants,” said Panik, who qualified to be honored with a plaque on the Wall of Fame outside Oracle Park.
Asked for the best part of playing for the Giants, Panik said, “Got to be the relationships I made and people I’ve met. The entire Bay Area took Brittany and me in and made us feel at home. The fans are the best in the game. Truly felt loved, and the Giants’ organization is first class.”
Panik also mentioned Bochy and his teammates and said he and Crawford have “helped me a ton, especially early in my career getting settled. I loved playing with him up the middle and just had that connection with him.”
Crawford, who said he knew the news was coming, called Panik a “great teammate and locker neighbor for a lot of our careers who became a really good friend that we’ve been on vacation with and saw plenty off the field as well.”
Panik said he isn’t sure what’s next or whether he’ll try to remain in baseball. For now, it’s about “taking this year to enjoy being home and spending time with family and friends.”