There seem to be fewer and fewer Major Leaguers who are truly thankful for their talents and their situation in life. Rod “Shooter” Beck was one of those guys. He died today of unknown causes at the age of 38.
Beck, who was the Cubs’ closer during the 1998 season, was one of the most entertaining relievers the Cubs have ever had. With his arm swaying furiously back and forth, his mullet flowing out behind him, and his handlebar mustache hearkening back to the Old West, #47 racked up 51 saves for the Cubs that season, even if he did it in nail-biting fashion.
I remember the stories when Beck was in AAA Iowa for the Cubs, trying to make a Major League comeback. Beck parked his RV outside the center field wall, and would sit out after the games, sharing beers and swapping stories with any fans who so chose to swing by and sit a spell with Shooter.
Beck was one of the truly nice, talented, old-school pitchers. He’ll be missed.
*Thanks to raymon322 for the tip, and BananaHands for the ESPN (I know, I know) article.
Possibly the most shocking thing about this is that Beck was only 38. He had a kind of mid-30s aura about him during that 1998 season, a former standout on his last legs rising for one more big season. I nicknamed him “Zantac Beck” that year for the creative ways in which he got saves, giving fans heartburn (I probably cribbed the name from somewhere else, but I don’t remember where now), but he got the job done, and the fact that he was a key component of the first Cubs playoff team in my lifetime that I was old enough to actually follow (having only been 7 in 1989) means he’ll always have a place in my memory. RIP.
He was a physical specimen.
After the Cubs released Beck, I believe he caught on with the Padres, but then took a long leave of abscense to deal with “personal issues”. I got a bad feeling The Shooter might have closed this one out himself.
Indeed, that year was my first Cubs playoff as I was only 12. 51 saves was incredible. I wish he was on the team in ’03 because he did really well with the Iowa Cubs but for some reason, the Cubs organazation was stupid not to bring him up when they needed help. Anyway, I am sure we are all going to miss “Shooter” as he was one of the bright spots of ’98.
If I remember correctly, the Cubs were actually pretty classy when they let him go to SD, knowing that he would have a chance to get back into the Bigs there when he wouldn’t here.
We’ll miss you Shooter, one of the good guys.
RIP.
Yeah, remember that in ’03 the Cubs had Borowski closing and he was doing just fine. They could certainly have required Beck to stay at Iowa but instead let him go to San Diego since the Padres indicated they would bring him up.
If only they had DFAed Veres and brought up Shooter…
One of my all time favorite Cubs. He made every game an adventure, but he did it with style. Sort of took the sweet out of the sweep for me this weekend. 98 was a special year for me, in that I survived a variety of family and other issues to graduate from college. Seeing the Cubs hit the postseason was an awesome thing in a not so awesome year. RIP, Shooter.
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