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Joseph Matthew Panik (born October 30, 1990) is an American former professional baseball second baseman. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the San Francisco Giants, New York Mets, Toronto Blue Jays, and Miami Marlins. Panik was an All-Star in 2015 and won a Gold Glove Award in 2016.
During his junior season, Panik compiled a .398 batting average with 19 doubles, 10 , and 57 runs batted in (RBI), ranking tenth among college baseball players with a .509 on-base percentage (OBP). Panik played the first-ever game at Citi Field in a pre-season game between St. John's University and Georgetown on March 29, 2009.
Panik earned All-America honors from the American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA), Baseball America and Louisville Slugger. Panik was also a finalist for the Brooks Wallace Award, an honor given to the nation's top shortstop. He was also a first team ABCA All-Northeast Region honoree, a first team All-Big East selection, and the Red Storm Most Valuable Player.
Panik spent the 2012 season with the San Jose Giants of the Class A-Advanced California League, batting .297 with 27 doubles, seven home runs, and 76 RBI in 130 games. In 2013, Panik was promoted to the Richmond Flying Squirrels of the Class AA Eastern League, where he was moved to second base and recorded a .333 on-base percentage and 27 doubles, four triples, four homers. In 2014, Panik started the season with the Fresno Grizzlies of the Class AAA Pacific Coast League, where he hit .321, with five home runs, 45 RBIs, and 50 runs scored in 74 games.
Panik's five hits in his first two career postseason games are the most in Giants franchise history. On October 16, in the 2014 National League Championship Series, Panik hit a two-run home run in Game 5 to help lead the Giants to an eventual 6–3 victory over the Cardinals to advance to the 2014 World Series against the Royals. On October 29, in Game 7 of the World Series, the Giants beat the Kansas City Royals 3–2 to win the series. In the bottom of the third inning with a runner on first, Panik made a diving stop on a ball up the middle and flipped the ball with his glove to shortstop Brandon Crawford to get the lead runner out. Crawford then threw to first to try to get a sliding Eric Hosmer out. Initially, Hosmer was called safe on the play, but after a three-minute replay review, the call was overturned for the 4–6–3 double play. It was the first-ever overturned call in the World Series since the replay review system was implemented, and the double play was regarded by multiple sportswriters as one of the most spectacular plays in World Series history.
In the 2014 regular season, Panik played in 73 games and recorded 269 at bats. He scored 31 runs and 82 hits. He had 10 doubles and two triples along with one home run. Panik also recorded 18 runs batted. He was walked 16 times and struck out 33 times. He did not steal any bases. He finished with a .305 average and an on base percentage of .343.
Panik was named to the Giants' 2015 Opening Day 25-man roster. On April 22, 2015, Panik hit a walk-off sacrifice fly in the bottom of the ninth inning to defeat the Los Angeles Dodgers 3–2. Panik hit another walk-off nine days later on May 1, a pinch-hit, bases-loaded single against the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. On May 3, in a 5–0 win over the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, Panik batted second and homered off Jered Weaver right after Nori Aoki homered to start the game. It was the first time the Giants started off a game with consecutive home runs since . On July 6, Panik was selected as a reserve player for the 2015 All Star Game.
On August 3, Panik was placed on the 15-day disabled list with lower back inflammation. He returned for three games in September before he was shut down for the season. For the 2015 season, Panik batted .312, with 8 home runs, 37 RBIs, and 59 runs scored. After the season, Panik revealed his "back inflammation" was actually a stress fracture of the L5 vertebra, which had fully healed by December.
In 2017, Panik set a Giants franchise record, and tied the MLB record, with 12 hits in a three-game series against the Colorado Rockies from September 4–6. He was the first major leaguer to accomplish the feat since Jerry Remy in 1981. For the season, he batted .288/.347/.421.
On Opening Day against the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2018, Panik hit a solo home run off Clayton Kershaw, with the Giants winning the game 1–0. The next evening, Panik hit a solo home run off Kenley Jansen in the top of the ninth inning, again lifting the Giants to a 1–0 victory, and becoming the first player in MLB history to homer for his team in back-to-back 1–0 victories. He also hit a solo shot in the Giants' home opener against the Seattle Mariners, making him the first MLB player to score his team's first 3 runs in a season off solo home runs. On July 7, he was placed on the disabled list. He was reactivated on July 30, 2018. For the season he batted .254/.307/.332 with 4 home runs in 358 at bats.
On August 6, 2019, Panik was designated for assignment. He had been hitting .235/.310/.317, with an OPS of .627 and 3 home runs. He was placed on release waivers on August 7.
On February 12, 2021, Panik re-signed with the Blue Jays organization on a minor league contract that included an invitation to Spring Training. On April 1, 2021, Panik was selected to the 40-man roster. In 42 games for Toronto, Panik batted .246/.293/.351 with 2 home runs and 11 RBI.
Panik announced his retirement from professional baseball on May 19, 2022.
He has participated in a baseball clinic hosted by Matt Barnes at a Newtown, Connecticut, Youth Academy for elementary school students in the aftermath of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting. His brother, Paul Panik, is a college baseball coach.
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