Giants’ Willie Mac Award surprise: Reliever Will Smith

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Will Smith, who returned from Tommy John surgery in May and made the most of his chance to be a major-league closer for the first time, was the surprise winner of the 2018 Willie Mac Award, chosen by his peers as the most inspirational Giant.

Smith won the annual award over favorites Hunter Pence and Derek Holland, just the third full-time reliever to win after Steve Bedrosian in 1990 and Javier Lopez, who shared the honor with Brandon Crawford in 2016.

Giants players, coaches, trainers and fans vote on the Willie Mac, which has been awarded every year since 1980 (Jack Clark) except for the 1994 strike year.…