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Winn honored with jersey retirement at Pekin
San Francisco Giants’ pitcher and former Pekin star given distinction Tuesday night
PEKIN — Tuesday night was a monumental moment for former Pekin baseball star and now San Francisco Giants pitcher Keaton Winn.
The big leaguer was honored Tuesday night between the Pekin girls and boys’ basketball games. In front of a packed house of fans, family, former teammates and coaches, Winn was given a distinction not many others have received: having his jersey retired.
“It’s really cool,” Winn said. “I’m really grateful, not only for the school and the community, but also all the coaches that have helped me along the way.”
Winn, a 2016 Pekin graduate, was a fifth-round draft pick by the Giants in 2018 after playing college baseball at Iowa Western Community College.
Winn was called up to pitch for the Giants this past summer, making his debut at Busch Stadium against the St. Louis Cardinals during a three-game series in June.
During that series, Winn made some history.
The 6’4 right-hander became the first Giants pitcher to earn a save in his major league debut, allowing just one run on one hit, three walks and one hit batter while striking out four on 55 pitches.
Winn became just the third pitcher in the last 60 years to pitch four or more innings and earn a save in their major league debut.
Through his first major league season, Winn played in nine games, tallying an ERA of 4.68, giving up 36 hits, 22 runs, eight walks with 35 strikeouts and one save.
For Winn, the support has been overwhelming since his debut.
“It was a little harder to keep up with how I was doing in the minors because it’s not as glamorous and you can’t get access to videos and stuff,” Winn said. “But once I debuted, my parents got it out that I was going to debut and it was in St. Louis. I thought that would be perfect for anyone that wants to come. I said ‘How many tickets do I need?’ They’re like ‘You’re going to need like 100 or 150.’ I was like, ‘oh my goodness,’ but it was cool looking up in the stands and every other person I saw I was like ‘I know him,’ ‘oh I know her.’ It was really cool to see how well people traveled for that.”
