Rays/MLB

Oh, what might have been

By MARC TOPKIN
Published May 26, 2006

BOSTON - The Devil Rays have had plenty of reminders over the years of the mistake it turned out they made in selecting Josh Hamilton over Josh Beckett with the first pick of the 1999 draft.

But Thursday, for the first time, they got to see for themselves.

Beckett pitched six shutout innings in his first career start against the Rays, leading the Red Sox to a 4-1 victory.

Beckett, who just turned 26, has been a World Series MVP, has had a 15-win season and, despite some injuries, has been the front-of-the-rotation type of starter the Rays have sorely lacked.

Hamilton, who Sunday turned 25, remains suspended for multiple drug policy violations, has not played since minor-league games in 2002 and seems uncertain to ever make it back on the field, much less fulfill his promise as a major-league All-Star outfielder.

"I'd definitely take Beckett over what we've got now," Rays DH Jonny Gomes said. "(Hamilton's) a great guy, but in between the lines that's what you want."

Beckett, who was drafted by the Marlins and traded this past offseason to the Red Sox, shut the Rays down with a blazing 95 mph fastball and pinpoint control. He won his fourth straight game and major league-high matching seventh overall, retiring 11 straight in one stretch and getting the key outs when he needed them.

"Who wouldn't want a guy like that on your team?" Aubrey Huff said. "He's got great stuff and he's a great competitor."

Carl Crawford, who was the Rays' second-round pick in 1999, followed his dazzling five-hit, five-run, four-steal performance on Wednesday with three more hits and two more stolen bases, giving him an AL-high 19. Doug Waechter, who was the Rays' third-round pick that year, did a salvageable job on the mound, holding the Sox to three runs while working into the sixth, though he allowed 11 hits and threw 95 pitches. And Seth McClung, who was the Rays' fifth-round pick, starts here Saturday.

But no matter how convinced former Rays officials were that they made the right choice at the time with the first pick, the fact that Beckett was pitching Thursday and Hamilton was, well, who knows where, made it clear that in retrospect they didn't.

"I wouldn't mind having (Beckett) on our team," Crawford said. "I don't think anybody would mind having him on our staff with that stuff."

As well as Beckett pitched, the Rays had some chances. They stranded Crawford at second in the first, and when they finally got another baserunner in the fifth they did the same to Toby Hall after he doubled. They had another shot in the sixth, but Julio Lugo got too aggressive after a double and ran into an out trying to take advantage of an errant throw.

Another baserunning mistake and an unfortunate carom cost the Rays in the eighth, when Gomes followed Lugo and Crawford singles with a drive high off the centerfield wall. He got only a single as Crawford held up and the Rays got only one run.

Waechter, who debuted his "splange," a combination split-finger changeup that he came up with on the mound, thought he did his job in holding the Sox to three runs.

"It wasn't my best outing, but I can walk away knowing I battled against a tough lineup," he said.

Manager Joe Maddon agreed: "We got good enough pitching to win that game."

But it was hard not to think how much better their pitching could be.

[Last modified May 26, 2006, 00:52:02]