Rod Beck Rest in Peace for Suave

[mr.miracle]

Beck found dead at age 38

Associated Press






Updated: June 24, 2007, 5:52 PM ET

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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.

http://assets.espn.go.com/photo/2007/0624/mlb_g_beck_195.jpg Otto Greule Jr./Getty Images
Rod Beck was second all-time on the Giants' career saves list.



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 who twice led the NL in saves. He spent the first seven of his 13 major league seasons with the San Francisco Giants (http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/clubhouse?team=sfo).
Beck was popular with teammates, reporters and fans, 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 major league 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 (http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/clubhouse?team=chn) (1998-99) and the Boston Red Sox (http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/clubhouse?team=bos) (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 led the majors in saves in 1993, when he set the Giants' single-season record with 48. 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 (http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/players/profile?statsId=4955) passed him in 2002.

http://assets.espn.go.com/i/story/design07/dropQuote.gif Shooter was a hard nosed, blue-collar kind of guy that wore his heart on his sleeve, and that is what made him so endearing to baseball fans everywhere. http://assets.espn.go.com/i/story/design07/dropQuoteEnd.gif

Rick Thurman, Beck's agent


Beck led the majors again in 1998 with 51 saves for Chicago, helping the Cubs win the NL wild card. He had a career record of 38-45 in 704 games, with a 3.30 ERA.
"He was a great teammate and a great competitor," said Giants shortstop Rich Aurilia (http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/players/profile?statsId=5523), who played his first three major league seasons with Beck in San Francisco. "He left an impression on everybody he played with. You talk to everybody, they'll have nothing but good things to say. He's somebody that Giants fans will always remember."
Aurilia recalled being wary of Beck's mustache and mullet when he came up as a rookie in 1995 -- but Beck was among the first to congratulate Aurilia on making the team.
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. He saved 51 games in his first season in Chicago, but managed just 46 saves in his final five seasons combined.
"Everyone in the Giants organization is deeply saddened by the loss of a dear friend," Giants owner Peter Magowan said. "Rod Beck was a true Giant in every sense of the word, from his dedication on the field to his selflessness away from the park."
Beck was involved in charity work with the Pediatric AIDS Foundation and other worthy causes during his time in San Francisco.
"Shooter was a hard nosed, blue-collar kind of guy that wore his heart on his sleeve, and that is what made him so endearing to baseball fans everywhere," said Rick Thurman, Beck's longtime agent.
"He was the utmost professional whose love for the game was only overshadowed by his passion for his family. Rod was the guy who you wanted in the foxhole with you, a warrior on the field and a teddy bear at home."
At a Giants-Cubs game at Wrigley Field last Sept. 2, Beck threw out the ceremonial first pitch and sang "Take Me Out To The Ballgame" during the seventh-inning stretch.
Beck is survived by his wife, Stacey, and two children.

[possum]

Rod was fun to watch. May he rest in peace.

[jon_8_us]

This is a guy that towards the end of his career i saw a story that either took place during spring training or in the minors in which Rod actually had a trailer that he lived in right outside the ballpark and would invite fans there every night to share a beer or 6....anyhow a class act!RIP
jon

[Carlevv]

I worked in an american league visiting clubhouse and we had the Giants in for interleague one year. From watching him on T.V. i thought he was a bitter, angry guy but i was wrong. He introduced himself to all of the clubhouse staff and was the nicest guy. He was totally opposite of what i thought he would be. So sad to see him go like this. Its been documented that he had a substance abuse problem and im not sure if its drugs or alchohol. However, its sad that once guys retire they get bored and get into trouble. People think baseball players or athletes in gerneral are invinsible but when stuff like this happens its obvious they are normal human beings with problems like everyone else. I feel bad for his wife and two daughters. Rest in peace Shooter.

[possum]

This is a guy that towards the end of his career i saw a story that either took place during spring training or in the minors in which Rod actually had a trailer that he lived in right outside the ballpark and would invite fans there every night to share a beer or 6....anyhow a class act!RIP
jon
It was when he was with the AAA Iowa Cubs. He lived in his RV outside the park. There's a bit about it in the ESPN article on his passing.

[suave1477]

Mr Miracle thanks for catching this and posting it.

What a shame so young. I hope they are able to diagnose a reason.

Beck R. I. P. .........

[E.Banks#14]

Nice tribute to the Shooter in Monday's Tribune by Mark Gonzales:


Rod Beck: 1968 - 2007

The license plates on one of the several cars Rod Beck owned read "9 IS MINE."

The former Cubs closer owned more than just the ninth inning. He amused and engaged those who covered him, earned the respect of his teammates and won the hearts of fans who admired him for more than his Fu Manchu mustache and long, wavy hair.

Beck, 38, was found dead Saturday at his home in Scottsdale, Ariz., and police are investigating the cause. He is survived by two daughters and a lifetime worth of memories.

Beck collected 286 saves for the Giants, Cubs, Red Sox and Padres, but life went fast for him shortly after his 13-year major-league career ended with San Diego during the 2004 season.

He drove a 1980s-style van during his early playing days in San Francisco, but gained more fame for the motor home he parked next to Sec Taylor Stadium and lived in during his brief stint with the Iowa Cubs as he attempted to revive his career following reconstructive shoulder surgery in 2003.

"Tragic," Cubs President John McDonough said. "Colorful character. Great for baseball. It's sad. I don't know all the details, but he was a big part of the '98 team. He was at the Cubs Convention [in January]. ... Baseball needs more people like Rod Beck. It's tragic and all of us are saddened.

"It's almost a contradiction where you call a guy who throws 86 or 87 (m.p.h.) 'the Shooter.' You always remember him coming in, his arm dangling. It's a very sad day."

With the Giants, Beck drank his beer out of a boot-shaped mug and was revered in the clubhouse for his willingness to take the ball -- despite an aching hip that required painkilling shots, he pitched in nine of the Giants' final 11 games in 1993 until they were eliminated from the division race on the final day of the season.

He was just as quick to grab a dinner check, once picking up a $700 tab for a group of writers sitting near his family at a Scottsdale restaurant during spring training.

Beck got by on guile when his split-finger fastball wasn't dipping or his arm was tired. He heeded the advice of his former manager Dusty Baker when the Cubs faced Baker's Giants in a one-game playoff to determine the National League wild-card entrant in 1998, when Beck saved a career-high 51 games.

Remembering what Baker told him about hitters tending to lean over at pitches, Beck jammed Joe Carter with an 81-m.p.h. fastball for the final out, igniting one of the craziest parties in Wrigleyville in nearly a decade.

Beck could have torn into the Giants for letting him go after the 1997 season, when they signed Robb Nen as their closer, but instead he tossed a champagne bottle in the direction of the visitors' dugout during the celebration.

Several of his former Giants teammates, including Shawn Estes, Steve Scarsone, Mike Benjamin and Russ Ortiz, were frequent guests at Beck's annual holiday party, at which his family collected toys to be donated as gifts for needy kids.

Beck became an instant favorite during my first season covering the San Francisco Giants in 1992 for the San Jose Mercury News. His weight was always an issue early in his career, but he treated it with typical candor.

"I've never heard of anyone going on the disabled list because of pulled fat," was one of his many memorable quotes.

And he couldn't wait to take the ball in the ninth inning, or sooner if needed.

Beck lived in a spacious Scottsdale home for most of his career, but he was as casual as your average neighbor.

He had a passion for fixing up cars or camping with some of his ex-teammates and looked totally comfortable with a can of beer and pinch of dip. He was the only player invited to my wedding in 2004, and he fit in nicely at a table that included a doctor, an accountant and ESPN reporter Pedro Gomez.

"In '03 when I was down in Triple A with him, it was my first time in the bullpen, and just being able to talk to him about baseball and certain things, he was a great human being," Cubs reliever Michael Wuertz said.

"When I heard it [Sunday] morning, I was in shock. He was quite the character. He went about his business and he pitched hard and pitched well."

Wuertz was invited to Beck's RV after Iowa Cubs games.

"It was amazing how many people went back there behind the wall in center field," Wuertz said. "He'd have his cooler underneath, and grounds crew people and fans would come back. That's how he was. It was unbelievable how many fans would go back there and how he'd treat the fans. That's how he was.

"Just being able to take bits and pieces from him was a great thing. It's so sad. What he's done will leave a lasting impression on me. He treated fans like friends, no matter who they are. He always said it like it was. Watching him do that was an incredible thing."