SF Giants announce the passing of longtime reliever Randy Moffitt

On Friday, the SF Giants announced that longtime reliever Randy Moffitt passed away. He was 76.

SF Giants announce the passing of longtime reliever Randy Moffitt

Moffitt was born in Long Beach, California, on October 13, 1948, and he was less than two months away from his 77th birthday.

The right-handed pitcher was selected in the first round of the 1970 draft by the Giants out of Long Beach State University. That began a decade-long run with the organization.

Moffitt orginally came up as a starter, but transitioned to the bullpen in 1971 while he was throwing for the Giants' Triple-A affiliate in Fresno. That proved to be an excellent career change, as he debuted with San Francisco in the following year and never looked back.

In his rookie season, Moffitt pitched to a 3.69 ERA with 37 strikeouts and 30 walks in 70.2 innings. In 1974, left-handed reliever Gary Lavelle debuted with the Giants and he, along with Moffitt, formed a strong duo in the bullpen for the next several years.

Moffitt's tenure with San Francisco came to an end in 1981. He caught on with the Houston Astros in 1982, followed by the Toronto Blue Jays in 1983. In total, Moffitt pitched to a 3.65 ERA with 96 saves in 534 career appearances across 12 seasons. Interestingly, he did make one start for the Giants in 1974 and completed 4.1 scoreless frames against the Chicago Cubs.

With the Giants, the righty reliever posted a 3.68 ERA while making 459 appearances. He is 6th in franchise history in appearances. Lavelle (647 games), Christy Mathewson (634 games), Greg Minton (552 games), Carl Hubbell (535 games), and Sergio Romo (515 games) are the only Giants pitchers ahead of him in that category.

Moffitt was added to Long Beach State University's Hall of Fame in 1986, and was added to the Giants' Wall of Fame in 2008.

The longtime reliever was survived by his two daughters and four grandchildren. He was the younger brother of tennis icon Billie Jean King. King is a minority owner of the Los Angeles Dodgers. We at Around the Foghorn would like to extend our condolences to the Moffitt family.

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