2 Joshes, 2 losses for Rays?

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It was the right move. Remind yourself of that.

As Josh Beckett stands on the mound, the fate of the World Series in his right hand, do not rant about mistakes or rave about missed opportunities.

It was the right move. Keep telling yourself that.

As Josh Hamilton sits at home, the fate of his career hidden deep within his heart, do not look back with regret or look ahead with dread.

It was the right move.

Even if it hasn't worked out that way.

Four years ago, they were teenagers. The pitcher from Spring, Texas, and the rightfielder from Raleigh, N.C. The two best amateur baseball players in the land. And one was going to be playing for Tampa Bay.

The Devil Rays had the No. 1 pick in the 1999 draft and were sure they could not go wrong. Beckett, their scouts believed, was one of the two best prep pitching prospects of the 1990s. Hamilton, their scouts believed, one day would be a .300 hitter with 30-homer potential.

"Either way," general manager Chuck LaMar said, "we were getting a future all-star."

Watch Beckett throw and you know it is true. His fastball pops. His curveball bows. He was Florida's best pitcher in the final month of the wild-card race and he literally saved the season with his two-hit shutout in Game 5 of the National League Championship Series.

He is 23 and already dancing with lore: The way he walked toward the plate while Sammy Sosa threatened to whack him. The four overpowering innings he threw in relief three days after Game 5. The arrogance and the dominance.

Growing up 20 or so miles, and about the same number of years, from Roger Clemens, it is logical to link one with the other. Scouts will tell you Beckett compares favorably to a younger Curt Schilling.

He can be rude. He is often disrespectful and always full of himself. And, at this moment, Beckett is talented enough to get away with it.

"He may talk a lot," Marlins manager Jack McKeon said. "But he also walks the walk."

The Rays knew this. All of this. LaMar and Larry Rothschild flew to Houston on an off day to watch Beckett pitch, an unusual move for a GM and his manager. But LaMar was so impressed, he came back to watch Beckett again.

LaMar also visited the teenager's home with managing general partner Vince Naimoli and got a dose of Beckett's arrogance up close. Others in the Rays organization say Naimoli was turned off by Beckett's personality.

LaMar swears this is not true. Beckett's confidence, he says, was part of the pitcher's appeal.

So why was he still around when the Marlins picked No. 2?

Because Hamilton was the safer pick.

That was the near-unanimous thought in the Rays draft room. Both players were thought to have impact-type talent, so other factors were considered.

Never, in the 38-year history of the draft, has a right-handed prep pitcher been selected No. 1. Prep pitchers are simply too risky. There is too great a chance they will not develop or wind up injured.

Remember how the Rays thought Beckett was one of two of the best prep pitchers to have come along in the '90s? The other was Brien Taylor, who was drafted No. 1 by the Yankees and never pitched a day in the majors.

If the Rays needed additional proof, they need only look at their own minor league system. Tampa Bay had paid $10.2-million to prep pitcher Matt White when he escaped the draft because of a technicality. In '99, White was just beginning to suffer the arm woes that have derailed his career.

Along with the risk, Beckett was also talking about an outrageous salary. It was rumored he wanted $8-million and a major league contract. (He eventually signed with the Marlins for a $7-million major league deal and Hamilton signed a $3.95-million minor league contract.)

The more the Rays considered it, the more Hamilton made sense.

He was an everyday player. Signing him was not going to be difficult. There was less risk of his career being threatened by a single arm injury.

So Hamilton went No. 1.

And Beckett went No. 2.

A couple of years later, the move seemed sound. Baseball America called Hamilton the best prospect in the minor leagues. At the same time, a shoulder injury had limited Beckett to 59 innings in the minors.

You know, by now, the story has changed.

Hamilton was slowed by injuries. Then, this spring, he vanished for a month. He returned briefly, but left again. Hamilton did not play a single regular-season game and has not explained his problems. He is expected at spring training in 2004, but his future remains cloudy.

Beckett made it to the majors by the end of 2001 and has been a part of Florida's rotation the past two years.

"We thought Josh Beckett could be a tremendous major league pitcher and he is certainly proving that right now," LaMar said. "But we thought Josh Hamilton was one of the finest prospects many of us had seen. If I had to make the same decision today, with the same facts in front of me, I'd do it again.

"If Josh Hamilton never uses the talent he has been given and if Josh Beckett goes on to have a phenomenal, All-Star-type career, which is very possible, then it's going to be looked at as a mistake. I know that."

It is Saturday night, minutes before Game 6 of the World Series. The choice to start Beckett tonight will likely decide which team is the 2003 champion.

It is Saturday night, minutes before Game 6 of the World Series. Hamilton is 1,000 miles away, literally and figuratively.

It was the right move.

Difficult as it seems, try to convince yourself of that.