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Baseball notebook: Part-owner of Giants dies

Barry Bonds lifts Giants part-owner Sue Burns off her feet before a 2007 game. Burns died Sunday at age 58. (Associated Press / The Spokesman-Review)
Associated Press
Barry Bonds lifts Giants part-owner Sue Burns off her feet before a 2007 game. Burns died Sunday at age 58. (Associated Press / The Spokesman-Review)

Sue Burns, a part owner of the San Francisco Giants and devoted philanthropist, has died. She was 58.

Burns died early Sunday of complications from cancer, the team said. She was diagnosed with the disease July 10 and missed Jonathan Sanchez’s no-hitter for the Giants that night – a rare absence from the ballpark.

Giants players and coaches had their annual picnic with Burns at her suburban Atherton home July 8. Always dressed in orange, she was a fixture at the ballpark in the lower-box seats near San Francisco’s dugout.

“She was there every day,” manager Bruce Bochy said in Pittsburgh, where the Giants played the Pirates. “She loved her boys. She was proud of them.”

The Giants didn’t detail Burns’ stake in the team but said she was the club’s largest shareholder. However, she was never the controlling owner of the franchise.

Burns’ husband, Harmon, died of heart failure in 2006 at age 61. The Burns family was largely responsible for keeping the Giants in the Bay Area in 1992 rather than relocating to Florida.

Gonzalez hospitalized

Padres second baseman Edgar Gonzalez remained hospitalized Sunday with dizziness after he was hit in the head by a 93 mph pitch Saturday night.

Gonzalez did not have a skull fracture or a concussion but complained of dizziness and ringing in his ears, San Diego manager Bud Black said.

Black said Gonzalez still does not have 100 percent of his hearing back. Gonzalez’s return is uncertain.

Clearing the bases

Second baseman Mark Grudzielanek signed a minor league deal with the Twins. Grudzielanek played 14 major league seasons for five teams. He ended last season on the disabled list for Kansas City after hurting his ankle Aug. 1. … The Brewers acquired second baseman Felipe Lopez from the Diamondbacks for two minor leaguers, giving Milwaukee a much-needed top-of-the-order threat. Milwaukee has been without starting second baseman Rickie Weeks after he had season-ending surgery on his wrist in May. Since then, Craig Counsell, 38, and rookie Casey McGehee have filled in. The Diamondbacks get outfielder Cole Gillespie and right-hander Roque Mercedes in the deal. … The Padres acquired infielder Oscar Salazar from the Orioles for right-handed pitcher Cla Meredith.