June 24, 2007

Rod Beck Dead At 38

Damn, that's young.

MLB.com:
... no cause of death was released. Beck had a history of substance abuse and went into drug rehab only months before his career ended with the Padres in 2004 ... Beck was found dead in bed in his Northeast Phoenix residence.
Beck was traded from the Cubs to the Red Sox at the end of August 1999 for Cole Liniak. He was in the Boston pen for the 2000 and 2001 seasons.

5 comments:

laura k said...

Is that Trailer Park?

Very young. Much younger than both of us, I might add. How sad.

allan said...

Trailer Park. Yes.

That's what fans at Yankee Stadium were chanting as he and his mullet warmed up during Game 2 of the 1999 ALCS. We were behind the Sox pen in the left field bleachers. Man, those fans were loud.

That was the game at which a bunch of MFY fans grabbed a Red Sox fan's cap and set it on fire. Classy. While it was burning, the security guards were laughing.

Also: I remember one game in which Beck lost his gum on the mound. It fell out of his mouth and rolled around in the dirt. He bent down, scooped it up and put it back in his mouth.

allan said...

Red Sox reaction:

Wakefield: "I was absolutely floored when I heard the news. I've had a hard time dealing with it all day. He was one of my closest friends when he was here. He was one of the all-time, stand-up guys."

Varitek: "A great teammate, a great guy to be around and compete with. … I just can't say enough about him."

Mirabelli: "If you played with him, you couldn't help but like him. He was the ultimate teammate, the ultimate professional. He did everything right from a baseball standpoint."

Alex said...

I remember enjoying his entry from the Red Sox Players' Wives cookbook. It was for deep-fried hamburgers. It began "First, take half a can of shortening..."

Jim said...

I read a great quote from Beck upon being criticised for his dietary and conditioning habits:

" I never heard of anyone going on the DL with pulled fat".