Top Could-Have-Beens of Yankees History: Jim Beattie
12/21/2024 12:00 PM
Jim Beattie helped lead the Yankees to the 1978 World Series, but hit his stride as a Seattle Mariner.
The late 1970s are looked upon as a fond time by Yankees fans old enough to remember them: three straight American League pennants, two straight World Series titles, and three trips to the Fall Classic in five seasons are probably as close to a dynasty as you can be without being universally declared one. And yet, the height of George Steinbrenner's power in the Bronx was not without its dark side. Impatience ruled the day, and while this was most commonly seen with the on-again, off-again managerial relationship with Billy Martin, this attitude spread to roster construction as well. If a young player did not immediately become a star, then they quickly became trade bait.
Jim Beattie, the team's fourth round pick in the 1975 amateur draft, was one of those players.
Years in Yankees Organization: 1975-79
How They Left: Traded to Seattle Mariners in November 1979
Career MLB Yankee Statistics: 2 seasons, 40 games (35 starts), 204 IP, 9-15, 4.28 ERA (89 ERA+), 3.99 FIP, 97 strikeouts, 0.9 bWAR
Career MLB Statistics (with Yankees and Mariners): 9 seasons, 203 games (182 GS), 1148.2 IP, 52-87, 4.17 ERA ERA (98 ERA+), 3.84 FIP, 660 strikeouts, 14.8 bWAR
Born on the Fourth of July in 1954 in Hampton, VA, Beattie grew up in Portland, ME, where he excelled as a two-sport athlete at South Portland High School. Although it was through baseball that he got his big break, Beattie first made a name for himself in basketball: standing at 6-foot-6, the Dartmouth basketball captain earned All-New England honors in 1974 and was named MVP of the prestigious Kodak Classic in 1975.
A strong performance on the mound in the summer collegiate Cape Cod League in 1974, however, put him in the Yankees' sights, prompting them to draft him in the fourth round of the 1975 draft. Beattie quickly skyrocketed through the farm system, reaching Triple-A in his first full minor-league season (his second minor-league season overall). He spent just two weeks with short-season Oneonta before getting the bump to Syracuse, finishing the year with a 3.27 ERA and 30 strikeouts in 33 innings.
The next year, Beattie had an arm injury in winter instructional league and that set the tone for a bumpy campaign. He missed the start of spring training, looked awful when he returned to action, and had to go down to Double-A to get back on track — which he did with a 2.25 ERA in eight starts for New Haven. Beattie would shuttle around between three levels in '77, but the Yankees remained optimistic about his future.
Although the Yankees had a veteran pitching staff led by Catfish Hunter that they continued to add to in free agency, he entered spring training in 1978 with a chance at cracking the Opening Day roster — an outside chance, but a chance nonetheless. As Hunter and burgeoning ace Ron Guidry fell behind schedule, that chance grew. Fighting for a spot alongside the organization's other top pitching prospects, Beattie put together a strong spring, winning the James P. Dawson Award for the most outstanding rookie in camp. So after spinning a five-hitter for Triple-A Tacoma in his '78 debut, he quickly joined the big-league roster. Beattie won his MLB debut on April 25th with 6.1 innings of five-hit, one-run ball in Baltimore to beat Hall of Famer Jim Palmer.
Beattie's rookie season was a bit of a rollercoaster, which included seven straight dropped decisions and a summertime demotion to Triple-A. And yet, the Yankees would not have won the 1978 World Series without him. He was recalled after a seven-inning no-hitter for Tacoma. Shortly thereafter, a dominant outing on September 8th in which he allowed just two runs (both unearned) in 8.2 innings at Fenway helped the Yankees complete a four-game sweep against Boston on the road and completed the almost-impossible comeback from their 14-game deficit in July. Five days later, he earned the win in Detroit that gave the Yankees possession of first place.
Beattie's strong end to the campaign continued in October. Since the Cy Young-winning Guidry had started the one-game playoff in Boston, manager Bob Lemon needed someone to step up for Game 1 of the ALCS. The rookie got the call, and he provided 5.1 innings of two-run ball to help give the Yankees a 1-0 lead in the series over the Kansas City Royals. Then, with the World Series tied at two apiece, Beattie spun a complete game in the Bronx over the Los Angeles Dodgers to bring the Bombers within one win of their second consecutive championship — not a bad time for your first career complete game!
Unfortunately for Beattie, his Yankees career peaked in his rookie season. He failed to make the team out of spring training the following year, and when he did finally make it back to The Show, a line drive sidelined him for two months. Even when he was healthy, he wasn't particularly good, posting a 5.21 ERA and allowing more than a hit per inning in just 15 games (13 starts). And so, as part of a series of moves meant to inject new energy into the team after an 89-win campaign and a fourth-place finish in the AL East, the Yankees flipped a package centered around Beattie to the Mariners for Ruppert Jones, in what were some of the first moves made by new general manager Gene Michael.
Beattie would go on to spend the rest of his playing career with the Mariners. While he never quite turned into the ace that many hoped he would become, he developed into a solid No. 2 starter in Seattle and one of their few bright spots. After a lackluster first year on the West Coast, he turned in four seasons of increasing quality from 1981 through 1984; over this stretch, he posted a 3.48 ERA (119 ERA+) in 103 games (96 starts) that included five complete game shutouts and even one save.
Although the Mariners never gave him the opportunity for big playoff moments, he nonetheless flirted with history on multiple occasions. He came one hit away from perfection on September 27, 1983, with a mere single in the third being the only damage. The following season, he wound up on the losing side of a pitchers' duel on July 25th, as the California Angels walked it off against him in the bottom of the tenth, giving Beattie the rare 9.2-inning complete game.
Just when it looked like Beattie was entering the prime of his career, a series of arm injuries cut it short. Shoulder tendinitis and a torn rotator cuff cut short his 1985 campaign, and when he returned in 1986, he just wasn't the same pitcher. But although Jim Beattie's career as a baseball player ended after the '86 campaign, his career in baseball was still just beginning. Immediately after retiring, he decided to pursue an MBA, enrolling at the University of Washington School of Business.
Upon earning his degree in 1989, Beattie returned to the M's to serve as Director of Minor League Operations, under whose watch Seattle developed a number of future All-Stars and Hall of Famers, including future Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriguez. From there, he was hired in October 1995 to serve as General Manager and Vice President of the Montreal Expos, where ownership gave him the unsavory assignment of continuing the post-strike dismantling of the organization. More talent still bubbled up, like Vladimir Guerrero, but Beattie would depart Montreal years before the move to DC.
Beattie then worked as an executive vice president and co-GM in the Orioles' front office, but owner Peter Angelos proved to have more confidence in the other co-GM, former Baltimore standout Mike Flanagan. In October 2005, Flanagan was named EVP and Beattie stepped away from the O's, who were in a losing rut when he started and remained in a losing rut until 2012 (by which time Angelos had changed GMs twice more).
For the next three seasons, Beattie interviewed with a number of organizations for front office positions, randomly served as the interim bullpen coach of the Florida Marlins in 2007, and interviewed to become the Marlins pitching coach, but nothing long-term came of them. Starting in 2008, he spent two years away from the game, putting his MBA to use as a Financial Advisor for Bernstein Global Wealth Management, before returning to baseball as a scout for the Toronto Blue Jays in 2010. After retiring at the conclusion of the 2019 campaign, he returned home to New England, where he has served as Director of the Upper Valley Special Olympics Winter Games.
Sending Beattie to the M's didn't quite cause the kind of fury felt by the likes of Frank Costanza years later in response to another transaction with Seattle. That being said, there were several seasons in the early '80s though where they could have used a steady arm like Beattie's in the rotation.
Sources
Baseball Reference
Durso, Joseph. "Yanks Trade Chambliss, Beattie; 12 Players Exchanged In 2 Deals." New York Times. November 2, 1979.
Frisaro, Joe. "Notes: Beattie in pitching coach mix." Marlins.com. September 26, 2007.
Goodell, Matthew. "Q&A WITH JIM BEATTIE." Ciofreddi & Associates. 2018.
"Jim Beattie." University of Washington Alumni Magazine. June 1999.
"Jim Beattie comes home to Maine to large welcome." Bangor Daily News. December 8, 1978.
"Yanks' Beattie hurling himself to job." Ocala Star Banner. March 27, 1978.
"Yankees' buying sprees destroying morale among minor leaguers. The Miami News. December 20, 1977.
"Yanks edge Jays for Billy's first." Star-News. June 21, 1979.
