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Friday July 11, 2008

‘The Rabbi’ gets demoted to Triple-A

by andy altman-ohr
staff writer

The San Francisco Giants returned Jewish outfielder Brian Horwitz to their Triple-A team in Fresno this week. The 25-year-old, nicknamed the Rabbi by his teammates, hit .429 with two homers and four RBIs in his first 14 at-bats after making his major league debut May 30.

However, the right-handed batter had only two hits and no RBIs in his final 22 at-bats with the Giants, dropping his batting average to .222.

“He’s not getting a lot of playing time here,” Giants manager Bruce Bochy told MLB.com after the move was made July 6. “We think [optioning Horwitz is] the best thing for us and we’ll bring somebody up who has been getting consistent time and can help us.”

The Giants recalled reserve infielder Eugenio Velez to take Horwitz’s spot.

Horwitz made quite a splash right after the Giants called him up from Fresno in May. In only his sixth at-bat, he launched a home run against the New York Mets in a game at AT&T Park in San Francisco.

After that game, it took him just six more at-bats to hit his second homer.

However, he never became a regular starter for the Giants, and in his final 15 at-bats with the team, he had only one hit.

Horwitz was born in Santa Monica and raised in the San Fernando Valley, where he attended religious school and had his bar mitzvah at Temple Judea in Tarzana.

He attended U.C. Berkeley and played for the Cal baseball team, but was not drafted after his senior season in 2004. The Giants signed him as a free agent, and he quickly worked his way up through their minor-league system.

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