Former MLB Pitcher Doug Creek Dead At 55

Former Major League Baseball pitcher Doug Creek has died at the age of 55 following a battle with colon cancer, according to the Journal News in his hometown of Martinsburg, West Virginia.

Creek pitched for the St. Louis Cardinals, San Francisco Giants, Chicago Cubs, Tampa Bay Devil Rays, Seattle Mariners, Toronto Blue Jays and Detroit Tigers during nine MLB seasons between 1995 and 2005, having spent the 1998 season with the Hanshin Tigers of the Japanese Central League. The Virginia native had a decorated amateur career, which included being named as the 1987 state baseball player of the year by the West Virginia Sports Writers Association and becoming the all-time winningest left-handed pitcher in Georgia Tech program history during his collegiate career, entering Georgia Tech's Hall of Fame in 2000.

Creek was selected by the Cardinals in the seventh-round of the 1991 MLB Draft and made his MLB debut in 1995 before being traded to the Giants the following offseason. The left-hander started three games for San Francisco in 1997, which included striking out then-Oakland A's slugger Mark McGwire twice during his first career win, but spent the majority of his career as a reliever.

“He pitched a good game, it wasn’t just one batter,” McGwire told the San Francisco Chronicle after the game. “Give the pitcher some credit. He did his job.”