Rod Beck, an all-star reliever 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 San Francisco 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.”
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).
Beck set the Giants’ single-season record with 48 saves in 1993. He 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 and 286 saves.
Braves: Manager Bobby Cox arranged and attended a meeting between John Smoltz and Chipper Jones, a day after Jones accused the pitcher of questioning his integrity.
“Obviously there was a misunderstanding,” Jones said. “I apologized to him for my comments in yesterday’s interviews. He assured me he wasn’t singling me out.”
Smoltz called the incident a “total misunderstanding. “It’s over with and there won’t be a problem the rest of the time we’re teammates.”
Twins: Minnesota slugger Justin Morneau remained in a hospital 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 Florida Marlins.
Rangers: The team is expected to put right-hander Vicente Padilla on the 15-day disabled list before his scheduled start Tuesday at Detroit.
