Former Major League Baseball player Glenn Beckert passed away on Easter Sunday (April 12, 2020), at the age of 79. Beckert was born on October 12, 1940 in Pittsburgh Pennsylvania.
He went on to star at Allegheny College, and is pictured here in the July 3, 1960 edition of the Pittsburgh Press.
Beckert was a two-sport star in college also playing basketball, but after one game during the 1961 season he was ruled ineligible, and would not play college sports again. The violation occurred over the summer of 1961 in New York. According to published reports, Beckert’s father accepted travel expenses from the New York Yankees during a tryout. Glenn was offered a bonus contract by the Yankees, but did not sign.
The Boston Red Sox came calling in the spring of 1962, and Beckert signed with the club in May of that year. Since the Red Sox did not promote Beckert to the big league club he was left open for a November draft that MLB implemented to curb excessive bonus spending by teams. The Cubs came calling and drafted Beckert. It turned out to be a wise move for the Cubs as Beckert would get the call to Chicago in April 1965 making his big league debut on April 12. He would go on to play 11 seasons including the first nine with the Cubs. Beckert was traded to San Diego in November 1973 for Jerry Morales.
Let’s take a look back at Glenn Beckert baseball cards throughout his career. His first baseball card was a Cubs Rookie Stars from 1965 Topps sharing the limelight with Roberto Pena.
1966 Topps was his first standalone card.
1967 Topps.
1968 Topps.
1969 Topps.
1970 Topps.
1971 Topps.
1972 Topps.
Beckert was on three cards in the 1972 Topps set including the base card above and an in-action card pictured below.
The third card was a batting leaders card. Beckert hit .342 during the 1971 season, ranking third in the National League.
1973 Topps.
Beckert was traded to the Padres, but since it happened in November there wasn’t a Padres photo for Topps to use. Beckert appeared on the 1974 Topps card as a Cub, but the team name was fixed to read San Diego Padres.
Beckert’s final Topps card was in 1975.
In 2013, Beckert had a couple Topps Archives cards as part of Wrigley Field giveaways.
The second Archives, showing Beckert on a 1987 Topps design, was a stadium giveaway for season ticket holders.
Rest In Peace, Glenn Beckert.