Minor League Memories: The Joe Panik interview (May 2012)
“Baseball is so mental”
Originally published May 2, 2012
For background and context into what this is, read this explainer
2012 is a special year for the San Jose Giants. The club is celebrating 25 seasons of affiliation with their parent team, the San Francisco Giants. Early in April San Jose hosted a season preview event and put two of San Francisco’s best prospects on display, generating excitement among the longtime Giants fans in attendance.
One of those prospects was shortstop Joe Panik, San Francisco’s first round draft choice from 2011. Panik has immersed himself in the history and tradition of the Giants, both major and minor league. He says he’s pleased with his experience as a member of the Giants family so far.
Panik has a connection to San Francisco aside from the pipeline up the peninsula. The last great Giants shortstop was Rich Aurilia, who broke out as a power hitter in the late 1990s and early 2000s and helped propel San Francisco’s offense through the team’s playoff races. Like Panik, Aurilia attended St. John’s University in Queens, New York.
Panik aims to follow Aurilia’s lead but refuses to succumb to the pressures of being compared to anyone. “As a player you want to succeed no matter what,” he said. “[It doesn’t matter] where you’re drafted or if you sign as a free agent.”
He turned heads last year by winning the Northwest League Most Valuable Player and by hitting .323 in 27 games in the Arizona Fall League. He was the NWL batting champ with a .341 average and he also took home the RBI crown with 54. Panik chalks his performance up to confidence and seeks that monument to carry through to his 2012 year.
“I [played well] against high caliber players in the Arizona Fall League,” he said. “Baseball is so mental. You prepare in the off-season with your strength and conditioning, but [for me] the last few seasons have been about confidence.”
Panik shouldered a full load last season, amassing 589 at-bats between his junior season at St. John’s, his time with Salem-Keizer in the NWL, and the month he played for Scottsdale in the AFL. He expects to be an everyday player in San Jose this season and has a handle on how to deal with the grind of a full season in one place.
“You don’t want to look at the big picture in terms of 140 games and 500 at-bats,” he said. “I stay focused on what’s at hand.”
Where are they now?
As the top second base prospect in the Giants system, Panik moved on to Double-A Richmond in 2013 and Triple-A Fresno in 2014, the final season of the Giants affiliation in Fresno, before making his Major League debut with the Giants on June 21, 2014. The actual date is nebulous due to MLB record keeping buffoonery — I don’t want the “well actually” crowd to come after me for a technicality, so you can read about the weirdness on Panik’s Wikipedia page.
He became a fixture at second base quickly and cemented himself as a Giants postseason legend when he hit a two-run home run in Game 5 of the 2014 National League Championship Series. He also made a brilliant play in Game 7 of the World Series, diving for a ball up the middle and flipping the ball with his glove to shortstop Brandon Crawford to turn a double play. It was a close call and had to be reviewed; initially, Kansas City batter Eric Hosmer was called safe at first but the call was overturned and ruled as a double play. Panik earned his place in history as part of the first ever overturned call in the World Series and got his flowers in the media as a defensive superstar.
That 2014 postseason was full of wild moments and heroics so it’s easy to lose Panik’s contribution in the shuffle, but never forget how impactful his bat and glove were for the Giants.
From 2015 to 2018 Panik was the everyday second baseman for the Giants, someone you could count on to hit and field well. He formed an iconic double play duo with Crawford in those years, and was named a National League All Star in 2015 and Gold Glove winner in 2016. Unfortunately, a back injury and a concussion stole playing time from him over the years and in late 2019 the Giants designated Panik for assignment. Panik signed with the New York Mets in August 2019 and then was released after the season.
The following January Panik signed a minor league deal with the Toronto Blue Jays and caught on quickly in the American League. He re-signed with the Blue Jays in 2021 and appeared in 42 games before being traded to Miami. In October 2021 he was designated for assignment and eventually announced his retirement in May of 2022.
Currently Panik works as a special assistant with the Giants, a role he stepped into in early 2023. He was 31 when he retired, which seems young, but he has an entire universe’s worth of knowledge to share with the next generation of players coming up.
It’s October and the postseason is here. To match the mood, I’m putting together a four-part series featuring players I interviewed who were also playoff heroes and World Series champions. Most of the featured names are from the Giants even year bullshit era (or Torture, if you don’t like cussing) but you’ll also see a familiar name from an earlier time show up here too.
Stupid joke of the week
Flawless victories, in reference to Rancho Cucamonga’s closer Logan Bawcom’s spotless ERA in his first eight appearances in 2012. He earned five saves and 16 strikeouts in 10.1 innings, and allowed only one hit through the first week of May.
This is of course a reference to Mortal Kombat, which has some spooky elements like an undead ninja with a flaming skull, a lizard person, and busty female ninjas with scary faces under their masks. So it’s all on brand for Halloween.
Bawcom finished his 10-year career in baseball in early 2020, pitching in the Seattle, Oakland, San Diego, and Los Angeles Dodgers organizations and appearing in every level of minor league ball. He represented the Dodgers in 2012 Arizona Fall League and also played in the Venezuelan and Dominican winter leagues plus a stop in the Atlantic League. The Dodgers 17th round pick in the 2010 Draft never made it to the Majors but he racked up 89 saves over his 10 year career.
These days Bawcom is focused on entrepreneurship. He owns a furniture and home remodeling company and a wedding venue in the Dallas-Ft. Worth area.
Next week
We continue this October to remember by taking it back to a 1970s legend — someone who may not even be the best player in his own family. Who could it be?
Related entries in this series:
Paul Goldschmidt: Good at baseball
