"The Shooter" passes on...

With a beer belly and the Fu Manchu, Rod Beck had the look of an old-time ballplayer and the fortitude to be a closer, although he did not possess the brute force of a Goose Gossage. Although he threw hard early in his career, his fastball rarely hit 90 mph during his later years with the Giants. But his splitter was unhittable. He stood on the mound, staring at the batter, bent at the waist with his right arm dangling before he delivered the ball.
Beck looked like a gunslinger, which made his nickname of "Shooter" so appropriate.
"When I was playing for the Indians and we would go to Milwaukee, when they brought in a reliever, they'd be brought in on a Harley-Davidson,"
Giants broadcaster Duane Kuiper said. "I always thought Rod would be the perfect guy to ride in on a Harley every time he came in, because that's how he looked and that's how he pitched.
"I broadcast a lot of games when he got the final out. Half of those times, he did it on guts."
He was known as a great teammate and an even better person. In an era when players distance themselves from fans, Beck embraced them. He often held court in the Giants' hotel bar buying round after round for ordinary people who would chat with him about baseball.
In 2003, when Beck was trying to make a comeback with the Cubs and was assigned to their Triple-A Iowa team, he lived in a motor home beyond the center-field fence and invited fans to have a postgame beer.
"He was just a regular person," Giants general manager Brian Sabean said.
"He loved cowboy boots, he loved country music, he loved kids, he smoked cigarettes. He was an offbeat personality, but he loved the game, respected the game and loved the Giants."