End of the line for ‘Pat The Bat’

The 2010 World Series champion Giants were a band of “misfits and castoffs,” picking up pieces off the side of the road.

One of those castoffs was Pat Burrell, who was kicked to the curb after just 24 uninspiring games with Tampa Bay in 2010. The Giants inked him to a minor-league deal and sent him to Fresno to find his swing.

After an injury-plagued 2011, Burrell finds himself face-to-face with the end of his career, telling the Associated Press: “I don’t think I can play anymore. It hurts me to say that.”

If this is the end, Pat ‘The Bat’ leaves with two World Series rings but unfulfilled expectations. Burrell played college baseball at powerhouse Miami, was the #1 overall pick in 1998 by the Phillies and was expected to lead the Phillies back to the playoffs. Even though Burrell was an offensive force in the middle of the Phillies lineup, they didn’t make the playoffs until his 8th season.

Burrell’s most memorable moment with the Giants came on July 31st against the hated Dodgers. With the Giants trailing 1-0 in the bottom of the eighth, Burrell sent a Jonathan Broxton fastball over the left field wall to give the Giants an eventual 2-1 win.