I was sorry to hear yesterday about the death of former major league closer Rod "Shooter" Beck, one of the great characters of the game who is gone way too soon at 38. I have two lasting memories of Beck: the first came in '98 (the Sosa/McGwire season), when I went to my first-ever game at Wrigley Field and saw Beck notch one of his 51 saves that year, I believe of a Kerry Wood victory. The second is this:
In 2003, when Beck was trying to make a comeback with the Cubs and was assigned to their Triple-A Iowa team, he lived in a motor home beyond the center-field fence and invited fans to have a postgame beer.How awesome is that? He really did live in a van down by the river. Beck will be missed. Posted by Stephen Silver at June 25, 2007 05:29 PM