The Decade’s Best: No. 23 Eric Beattie

Eric Beattie
Bourne 2003
Pitcher
University of Tampa

A year after Brian Rogers came from Georgia Southern and dominated the Cape League, another righty from an even smaller school did the same thing.

He even did it a little bit better.

Eric Beattie came to Bourne from the University of Tampa, which plays in Division II. The step-up in competition didn’t seem to have much of an impact. Beattie soon became the Cape’s best pitcher.

He made his first start in Bourne’s third game of the season and served early notice that he was about to deliver a special season. In that first start, Beattie went six shutout innings, striking out eight and walking just one.

As with most of the guys on this list, a great first start was a sign of things to come. Beattie struck out eight more in his second start, this time going seven shutout innings. He continued to shine every time out, earning pitcher of the week honors in late July for his complete-game shutout of Falmouth.

Beattie finished the season with a 0.39 ERA, which still stands as the second-best mark ever to Eric Milton’s 0.21 ERA in 1996. Beattie also had a 4-0 record and 51 strikeouts in 46 innings pitched. He allowed two earned runs the whole summer.

Beattie also gave Bourne a 1-0 lead in its West Division championship series against Hyannis when he tossed eight shutout innings, with 12 strikeouts. That still stands as one of the best playoff pitching performances of the decade.

Beattie was named the league’s Pitcher of the Year.

After the Cape

Beattie was drafted by the Tigers in the second round of the 2004 draft. Though he was thought of as a close-to-the-majors prospect, he struggled with his control early on and had trouble recovering. He pitched two seasons of Rookie ball in the Tigers’ organization then hooked on with the Red Sox organization and pitched in A ball. He was released in 2007.

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