When Apple co-founder Steve Jobs passed away in 2011, a biography was released and several biopics were put into production. One of the films, penned by wordsmith Aaron Sorkin, is set to unfold in three acts, focusing on the launch of the original Macintosh, NeXT, and the reveal of the iPod. Sorkin’s belief is that rather than telling an origin story following Jobs’ life and career, these three moments can be isolated to highlight his peaks. Likewise, Josh Beckett, who announced his retirement in October, had a career with three standout moments that will help to make his case for induction into the Baseball Hall of Fame and history.
Bursting onto the Scene
Beckett made his debut for the then-Florida Marlins in 2001, and made 21 starts the following year. But his name reached the baseball public during the 2003 postseason, when he took home World Series MVP honors as he led the Marlins to victory over the New York Yankees. Just 23 years old, Beckett stopped a strong Yankees team with a complete-game shutout in Game 6 and instantly became the face of the franchise.
And it wasn’t just the postseason—2003 was one of Beckett’s best overall season. He posted the fourth best ERA of his career that year—3.04—and wouldn’t beat that until 2011. His FIP was the best he ever had at 2.94, and his 3.8 WAR—fourth best of his career—came in just 142 innings of work.
Justifying a Trade
During Theo Epstein’s brief respite from the Boston Red Sox during the 2005 offseason, Beckett was traded from the Marlins for a package including Hanley Ramirez and Anibal Sanchez. His first season in the American League was a rough one, but the next one, 2007, was another for the record books.
With modern bullpen usage, 20 wins is no longer a sign of an ace, but Beckett hit that mark for the only time in his career that season while leading the league in ERA with a 3.08 mark. His WAR was 6.5 and he finished second in AL Cy Young voting. And that was just the regular season.
In the playoffs, Beckett made four starts, and he won all of them. Over his 30 postseason innings that year Beckett allowed four runs, struck out 35, and walked two. He mowed down the Los Angeles Angels, a surprising Cleveland Indians team, and the scorching hot Colorado Rockies, who were a “team of destiny” until they reached the World Series. World Series MVP honors went to Mike Lowell that year, but the star was Beckett, who dominated every time he stepped onto the mound.
No-No
In what turned out to be his final year, Beckett pitched just 115.2 innings after a hip injury forced him onto the disabled list in August and prevented him from returning before the season ended. Not one to go quietly, Beckett had a little bit of magic left in him before calling it a career.
On May 25, against the Philadelphia Phillies, Beckett joined an elite club while tossing his first no-hitter. It wasn’t his most dominating performance—six strikeouts and three walks while retiring 30 batters using 128 pitches—but it was enough to get the job done and claim a small part of history.
At the time, no one knew he had just 11 starts remaining in his career. But it was one last hurrah for a star pitcher, collecting that notch that has eluded some of the best—Pedro Martinez and Roger Clemens to name two—and requires no small amount of luck in addition to skill. Without one more go in the postseason, the no-hitter was an appropriate enough sendoff for a very good career.
His Case
Beckett had 1,901 strikeouts during his 14-year career and 2,051 major league innings. He’s short of 300 wins with 138. Using another method, he finishes his career with 35.3 WAR according to Baseball Reference. Using Jay Jaffe’s JAWS formula, this is well below average for a starting pitcher.
At the end of the day, Beckett was a pitcher who battled injuries, racked up a career ERA of 3.88, and threw at least 200 innings just three times, not meeting the “ace” or “workhorse” definitions although he often seemed to be that guy in the moment.
Not every player needs to be inducted into the Hall for his career to be recognized as successful, and Beckett is no exception. He had three great moments: one at the start of his career, one near the middle, and one just before the end. He brought a World Series to the Marlins and Red Sox, and helped the Dodgers reach the playoffs, even if he couldn’t join them himself.
Stats courtesy of Baseball Reference.
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