Mitchell Page: 1951-2011

ESPN analyst and former big leaguer Eduardo Perez passes along the sad news of Mitchell Page’s sudden passing.

Born Mitchell Otis Page, he played eight years in the majors — seven for the A’s and one for the Pirates, serving mostly as a designated hitter and outfielder. He retired after the 1984 season with a .266/.346/.429 career batting line, 560 career hits and 72 career home runs in 2,104 total at-bats.

Page served as a hitting coach for the Cardinals from 2002-2004 under manager Tony La Russa and had been operating as a roving minor league hitting instructor for the Nationals.

He went to the World Series with St. Louis in 2004 and played a small part in the development of modern baseball’s best hitter: Albert Pujols.

Doctors say Page died in his sleep Saturday night. He was 59 years old.

Giants reliever Hunter Strickland has been activated from the 60-day disabled list, the club announced Saturday. In a corresponding move, third baseman Pablo Sandoval was shifted to the 60-day disabled list, where he’ll remain for the rest of the season after undergoing surgery on his right hamstring. Right-handed reliever Dereck Rodriguez has also been placed on the 10-day disabled list after suffering a hamstring strain during Tuesday’s brawl against the Dodgers.

Strickland, 29, had been shelved with a fractured right hand since mid-June. The right-hander sustained the injury after punching a door and underwent surgery to repair the fifth metacarpal in his pitching hand. He only missed the minimum after making a speedy recovery, however, and finished his recent rehab stint with 5 2/3 innings of two-run, 10-strikeout ball for the Giants’ rookie, High-A and Triple-A affiliates.

Prior to the incident, Strickland logged 13 saves in 28 opportunities with a 2.84 ERA, 3.7 BB/9 and 8.2 SO/9 in 34 appearances. According to comments from club skipper Bruce Bochy, the Giants don’t plan on wasting any time before deploying their former closer, but will make him available in high-leverage situations as soon as possible. It’s worth noting, too, that the team still has a viable closer in lefty reliever Will Smith, who picked up 10 saves and engineered a 3.10 ERA, 1.8 BB/9 and 12.8 SO/9 in 20 1/3 innings since Strickland landed on the DL this summer.