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Jim Beattie (baseball)

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Jim Beattie
Pitcher
Born:(1954-07-04)July 4, 1954(age 70)
Hampton, Virginia,U.S.
Batted:Right
Threw:Right
MLB debut
April 25, 1978, for the New York Yankees
Last MLB appearance
August 5, 1986, for the Seattle Mariners
MLB statistics
Win–loss record52–87
Earned run average4.17
Strikeouts660
Teams
Career highlights and awards

James Louis Beattie(born July 4, 1954) is an American former professional baseballpitcherwho played for theNew York YankeesandSeattle Marinersfrom 1978 to 1986. He also served as theMontreal Expos'general managerfrom1995to2001,[1]and was theBaltimore Orioles' general manager withMike Flanaganfrom2003to2005.As of2010,Beattie served as a professional scout in theToronto Blue Jaysorganization through the 2018 season.[2]Beattie retired from his decades-long career in MLB at the end of the 2018 season. Beattie starred in baseball and basketball atSouth Portland High SchoolinSouth Portland, Maine.[3]

Amateur career

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Beattie earned All New England honors playingbasketballatDartmouth Collegein1974,and was MVP of the Kodak Classic in1975.[4]In 1974, he playedcollegiate summer baseballwith theHarwich Marinersof theCape Cod Baseball Leagueand was named a league all-star.[5][6]

Professional career

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New York Yankees

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TheNew York Yankeesselected Beattie in the fourth round, with the 91st overall selection, of the1975 Major League Baseball draft.[7]He was soon tabbed one of the top pitching prospects in the Yankees' farm system, along withKen ClayandGil Patterson.Each vocalized frustration with the organization when they acquired pitchersGoose Gossage,Andy MessersmithandRawly Eastwickafter the1977season believing that it hindered their chances of making the major league roster.[8]

A rash of injuries opened the door for Beattie, and he made the club out ofspring trainingin1978.He pitched6+1⁄3innings and gave up just one run in his major league debut to beat Hall of FamerJim Palmerand theBaltimore Orioles.[9]After a second win against theChicago White Soxon May 15, Beattie lost his next seven decisions in a row.[10]He was, however, on the mound for two of the Yankees' most important games that September. With theYankeeshaving been as far back as fourteen games to theBoston Red Soxon July 19, they surged to just four games back by the time they headed toFenway Parkfor a four-game set from September 7–10. Beattie started the second game of the series, holding Boston to just three hits and no runs over his first eight innings of work. After the Red Sox scored two unearned runs in the ninth, he handed the ball over toRon Davisfor the final out.[11]The Yankees swept the series to move into a tie with Boston. They moved on toDetroitfor a three-game set next, and Beattie won the second game of that series to give the Yankees sole possession of first place.[12]He finished his rookie season with a 6–9 record and a 3.73earned run average(ERA) in 25 games (22 starts).[13]

Following aone-game playoffwith the Red Sox, the Yankees headed into the postseason. Beattie won Game 1 of the1978 American League Championship Seriesagainst theKansas City Royals,[14]and earned a complete game victory over theLos Angeles Dodgersin Game 5 of theWorld Series.[15]

Despite his late season and postseason heroics, Beattie failed to make the club the following spring.[16]He was, however, called up by the beginning of May. On June 20, a line drive off the bat of theToronto Blue Jays'John Mayberryshelved Beattie for two months.[17]On September 12,1979,Boston Red Sox legendCarl Yastrzemskisingled off Beattie for his 3,000th career hit.[18]After the season, he,Rick Anderson,Juan BeníquezandJerry Narronwere traded to theSeattle MarinersforRuppert JonesandJim Lewis.[19]

Seattle Mariners

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Despite posting a 5.01 ERA, Beattie's record stood at 3–3 on May 21,1980following a victory over theMilwaukee Brewers.[20]He only won two more games for the rest of the season, and finished at 5–15 with a 4.85 ERA in 33 games (29 starts).[13]Beattie started the1981season in thebullpen,but after getting rocked in three outings, he was reassigned to the Triple-APacific Coast LeagueSpokane Indians.He returned to the majors after the1981 Major League Baseball strike,and pitch an eight inning gem against theCalifornia Angelson August 11 for his first victory of the season.[21]Beattie went 3–2 with onesavewith a 2.02 ERA while holding batters to a.212batting averagein the second half, as opposed to the eightearned runshe gave up in4+1⁄3innings of work prior to his demotion to Spokane.[22]His one and only career save came during a wild 20-inning game on September 3, 1981. The Mariners defeated the Red Sox at Fenway Park 8–7 in a 20-inning game. Beattie recorded the final out of the game to nail down the victory.[23]His success carried over into the1982season. Despite an 8–12 record, his 3.34 ERA was seventh-best in theAmerican League,140strikeoutswas eighth-best, and the.233 batting average he held batters to was sixth-best.[13][24]

On September 27,1983,Beattie hurled the first one-hitter inSeattle Marinershistory against the Kansas City Royals. Outside of aU.L. Washingtonsingle in the third inning, Beattie was perfect.[25]Perhaps the second-best pitching performance of his career came in a losing effort. On July 25,1984,he and theCalifornia Angels'Ron Romanicklocked up in a pitchers' duel. Beattie pitched nine innings of one-hit ball while striking out nine. With the game still scoreless heading intoextra innings,Beattie took the mound again in the tenth inning, whereGary Pettisended it with a two-outwalk-offsingle. After the game, Beattie smashed a water cooler and refused to talk to reporters.[26]

Beattie began dealing with shouldertendinitislate in his career.[27]He missed six weeks of the1985season with tendinitis,[28]then tore hisrotator cuffupon his return.[29]

Beattie returned from surgery midway through the1986season. He pitched effectively in his first start against the Chicago White Sox on June 12, and was in line for the victory until the bullpen imploded.[30]From there, Beattie himself imploded as he went 0–6 with a 6.02 ERA in nine games (seven starts) through August 7, when he was placed back on thedisabled list.[13]

Post-playing career

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Rather than trying to catch on with another big league club after being released by the Mariners, Beattie opted to go back to school. He received his M.B.A. from theUniversity of Washingtonin1989(he also has a bachelor's degree from Dartmouth), then returned to the Mariners as their player development director in1990.Beattie remained in that position through the 1995 season, when he was named general manager and vice president of the Montreal Expos.[31]He quit at the end of the2001season; after a year away from the game, he joined the Baltimore Orioles as executive vice president of baseball operations.[32]He served as co-GM of the Orioles with former Orioles pitcher Mike Flanagan through the2005season, when Flanagan was given the job solely.[33]When Boston Red Sox GMTheo Epsteinthreatened to leave the Red Sox shortly afterwards, Beattie interviewed for the job.[34]He also interviewed for the vacantHouston AstrosGM job in2007.[35]

In something of an unexpected career turn, Beattie finished the 2007 season as theFlorida Marlins' bullpencoach.After former bullpen coachSteve Fosterbecame Florida's pitching coach followingRick Kranitz's departure, Beattie jokingly offered his services to Marlins GMLarry Beinfest,and Beinfest took him up on his offer.[36]Beattie was also rumored to be a candidate for the Marlins' pitching coach position in 2008, but the job instead went toMark Wiley.[36][37]

Sources

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  1. ^"Jim Beattie".Columns: TheUniversity of WashingtonAlumni Magazine.June 1999.
  2. ^"Toronto Blue Jays Front Office Directory".Toronto Blue Jays.MLB.com.Archived fromthe originalon February 3, 2007.RetrievedAugust 26,2012.
  3. ^"Jim Beattie comes home to Maine to large welcome".Bangor Daily News.Associated Press.December 8, 1978. p. 26.RetrievedJuly 20,2014– viaGoogle News.
  4. ^"Yanks Beattie Hurling Himself to Job".Ocala Star-Banner.Associated Press.March 27, 1978 – viaGoogle News.
  5. ^"Major League Baseball Players From the Cape Cod League"(PDF).Cape Cod Baseball League.RetrievedSeptember 25,2019.
  6. ^"Local Players Stand Out on All-Star Squad".The Cape Codder.Orleans, MA. July 25, 1974. p. 31.
  7. ^"4th Round of the 1975 MLB June Amateur Draft".Baseball-Reference.com.RetrievedMarch 19,2023.
  8. ^"Yankee Buying Sprees Destroying Morale Among Minor Leaguers".The Miami News.December 20, 1977. Archived fromthe originalon January 24, 2013 – viaGoogle News.
  9. ^"New York Yankees 4, Baltimore Orioles 3".Baseball-Reference.com.Sports Reference.April 25, 1978.
  10. ^"Jim Beattie 1978 Pitching Game Logs".Baseball-Reference.com.RetrievedMarch 19,2023.
  11. ^"New York Yankees 13, Boston Red Sox 2".Baseball-Reference.com.Sports Reference.September 8, 1978.
  12. ^"New York Yankees 7, Detroit Tigers 3".Baseball-Reference.com.Sports Reference.September 13, 1978.
  13. ^abcd"Jim Beattie Stats, Height, Weight, Position, Rookie Status & More".Baseball-Reference.com.RetrievedMarch 19,2023.
  14. ^"1978 American League Championship Series, Game One".Baseball-Reference.com.Sports Reference.October 3, 1978.
  15. ^"1978 World Series, Game Five".Baseball-Reference.com.Sports Reference.October 15, 1978.
  16. ^"Jim Beattie Shipped Out by Yankees".The Spokesman-Review.April 3, 1979 – viaGoogle News.
  17. ^"Yanks Edge Jays for Billy's First".Wilmington Morning Star.Associated Press.June 21, 1979 – viaGoogle News.
  18. ^"Yastrzemski Collects 3,000th Hit".The Morning Record and Journal.UPI.September 13, 1979 – viaGoogle News.
  19. ^Durso, Joseph (November 2, 1979)."Yanks Trade Chambliss, Beattie; 12 Players Exchanged In 2 Deals".The New York Times.ISSN0362-4331.RetrievedMarch 19,2023.
  20. ^"Milwaukee Brewers vs Seattle Mariners Box Score: May 21, 1980".Baseball-Reference.com.May 21, 1980.RetrievedMarch 19,2023.
  21. ^"Seattle Mariners 4, California Angels 1".Baseball-Reference.com.Sports Reference.August 11, 1981.
  22. ^"Jim Beattie 1981 Pitching Splits".Baseball-Reference.com.RetrievedMarch 19,2023.
  23. ^"Seattle Mariners at Boston Red Sox Box Score, September 3, 1981".Baseball-Reference.com.September 3, 1981.
  24. ^"1982 American League Pitching Leaders".Baseball-Reference.com.RetrievedMarch 19,2023.
  25. ^"Jim Beattie One-Hitter Beats KC".Portsmouth Daily Times.Associated Press.September 28, 1983 – viaGoogle News.
  26. ^"Crushed Beattie Smashes Cooler".Spokane Chronicle.Associated Press.July 26, 1984 – viaGoogle News.
  27. ^"Mariners' Beattie Back on Track".Albany Sunday Herald.Associated Press.July 1, 1984 – viaGoogle News.
  28. ^"Tommy John Returns with Win".Madison Courier.Associated Press.July 27, 1985 – viaGoogle News.
  29. ^"Pact Approved".Spartanburg Herald-Journal.August 29, 1985 – viaGoogle News.
  30. ^"Chicago White Sox 8, Seattle Mariners 4".Baseball-Reference.com.Sports Reference.August 11, 1981.
  31. ^Finnigan, Bob (October 27, 1995)."Expos Name Mariners' Jim Beattie As New GM".The Seattle Times.
  32. ^Ginsburg, Dave (December 5, 2002)."Orioles appoint two for front-office duty".USA Today.Associated Press.
  33. ^"O's promote Flanagan, reportedly to keep Perlozzo".ESPN.October 11, 2005.
  34. ^"Bowden, Beattie to interview for Red Sox GM post".ESPN.November 9, 2005.
  35. ^"Astros' GM search: 3 interviews down, 4 to go".ESPN.Associated Press.September 5, 2007.RetrievedMarch 19,2023.
  36. ^abFrisaro, Joe (September 26, 2007)."Notes: Beattie in pitching coach mix".Florida Marlins.MLB.com.Archived fromthe originalon December 21, 2007.
  37. ^"Wiley hired for 2nd stint as Marlins' pitching coach".ESPN.Associated Press.November 2, 2007.RetrievedMarch 19,2023.
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Preceded by Montreal Expos General Manager
1995–2001 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Baltimore Orioles General Manager(withMike Flanagan)
2003–2005 		Succeeded by
Mike Flanagan
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