All-Star Pitcher Beck Dies At 38
Published: Jun 25, 2007
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Rod Beck, an All-Star relief pitcher who wore a bushy mustache while earning 286 career saves, has died. He was 38.
Beck was found Saturday by police officers responding to a call to his home in suburban Phoenix, police department spokesman Andy Hill said Sunday. Foul play is not suspected, though the cause of death might not be known for several days.
With unruly hair framing a menacing stare and an aggressive arm swing before delivering a pitch, the outgoing right-hander was a colorful baseball personality and a three-time All-Star. He spent the first seven of his 13 major-league seasons with the Giants.
Beck was popular with teammates, fans and reporters, but battled personal demons late in his life. He abruptly left the San Diego Padres for a two-month stint in drug rehabilitation during his final season in 2004.
"He was having some problems, and I just knew he went into rehab and joined us later that year," said Giants manager Bruce Bochy, the Padres' manager at the time. "It's so sad when you see healthy players go at such a young age. This is a bad day in baseball to lose a guy who did so much for the game."
Nicknamed "Shooter," Beck pitched for the Giants (1991-97), the Chicago Cubs (1998-99) and the Boston Red Sox (1999-2001) before finishing his career with the Padres (2003-04).
While working his way back to the majors in 2003, Beck pitched for the Triple-A Iowa Cubs and lived in his Winnebago parked just beyond the outfield fence. Fans would drop by for autographs and stay for a beer, and Beck became a folk hero. Then the Padres called.
Beck set the Giants' single-season record with 48 saves in 1993. He was on the mound when San Francisco clinched the NL West title in 1997, and was the Giants' career saves leader with 199 until Robb Nen passed him in 2002.
Beck saved 51 games for Chicago in 1998, helping the Cubs win the NL wild card. He had a career record of 38-45 in 704 games, with a 3.30 ERA.
Beck was a favorite at Candlestick Park through most of the 1990s, but left to sign with the Cubs as a free agent in 1998.
TWINS: Slugger Justin Morneau remained in a hospital Sunday awaiting test results on his bruised right lung, and he didn't accompany the team on its flight home following a weekend series against the Marlins.
The 2006 American League MVP was hurt Friday in a collision with Marlins catcher Miguel Olivo.
WHITE SOX: General Manager Ken Williams has seen enough poor play and decided it's time to make changes with his lethargic team.
After watching the White Sox score only two runs in a three-game sweep by the Cubs, Williams is ready to shake things up.
"Something's got to happen. I'm tired of watching this," he said Sunday. "Change needs to happen and change is going to happen. When that happens, I don't know."
A Chicago Sun-Times story Sunday said the White Sox could be on the verge of trading left-hander Mark Buehrle, who can become a free agent after this season. According to the report, the Red Sox are the most serious suitors right now.
YANKEES: Coming to a theater near, well, Yankee Stadium: Darryl Strawberry and Jim Leyritz in "The Boy of Steel," a one-act play set at the stadium.
Strawberry and Leyritz, who were teammates on the Yankees' 1996 World Series championship team, will make their acting debuts in the play that is based on the book of the same name by Ray Negron, a special assistant for the Yankees. The play will be part of a fundraising show at Utopia's Paradise Theater in the Bronx scheduled for Aug. 18.
Another former major-leaguer, Bernie Williams, now known as a guitarist and music composer, will participate in another part of the show, the "Peace, Unity and Hope Concert with Jose Feliciano, Bernie Williams and Friends."
