Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, August 13, 1995 TAG: 9508150004
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B5 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: RAY COX
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Fortunate, that. The one he has faced since signing on the dotted line with the Florida Marlins' organization is as tall as left-handed skyscraper Randy Johnson.
What, Beagle worry? This guy is unflappable. Has to be or he wouldn't have been able to take all the ribbing his teammates have dished out.
``I've heard it all,'' said Beagle, Cave Spring High School Class of 1989. ```Pops,' `Old Man,' all of them.''
And that was when he still was in college.
That's the way it goes when you start your college athletic career at age 21. Or sign your first pro contract at 24.
You won't see many 24-year-olds in the lowest rungs of the minor leagues, such as the short-season New York-Penn League, his new business address.
Beagle is pitching for the Elmira (N.Y.) Pioneers, and most of his teammates are in the 18- to 21-year-old age bracket. ``I can learn from them even if they are young,'' Beagle said.
Which brings to mind the adage about trying to to educate aging canines. This Beagle is putting that one to rest.
The 6-foot-5 right-hander's first pro start came during the past week, when he gave up five runs in 4 2/3 innings.
``He did well,'' said Bill Long, Elmira's pitching coach. ``He did get a little fatigued and he gave up some hits, but he looked fine. He made one of the better debuts of any of the pitchers we've had here.''
The last time Beagle had pitched before that start was in June, when he was in the Cape Cod League.
``I'd only pitched there for about a month,'' he said.
That Beagle was pitching at all is an achievement. After helping lead Cave Spring to the 1989 Group AAA championship game, he didn't play baseball for almost two years.
In the meantime, he was going to Virginia Western Community College and playing for the Blue Stars' basketball team.
He would have preferred to have been playing college baseball, but that option was not available to him after high school. His grades weren't sufficient to get him into school.
Yet, he didn't give up.
``It had always been my dream,'' he said.
In time, he started attending tryout camps. It was at one of those auditions that he caught the eye of Ty Brown, a Florida Marlins scout. Brown urged him to give college baseball a try. When Beagle seemed agreeable, the scout pulled some strings and got him enrolled at Dundalk (Md.) Community College.
``Not playing for two years made it tough,'' Beagle said.
Actually, that wasn't entirely true. While in Roanoke, he was working out with the likes of former Cave Spring teammates Chris Ellis and Dee Dalton and former Patrick Henry High School standout Barry Shelton.
``I know I was a long shot, but I had to try,'' Beagle said.
The two years at Dundalk went well. In addition to playing baseball, Beagle was playing basketball. He did a stint in the Valley League the summer after his second year there, then transferred to NCAA Division II power South Carolina-Aiken, where he also ran cross country.
Beagle led Division II with 12.5 strikeouts per nine innings during the 1995 baseball season.
Brown kept up with Beagle throughout his sojourn. This summer, the Marlins made him a free-agent offer. He didn't have to think before signing.
The odds continue to be long. Naturally, that doesn't bother Beagle.
``I've had bigger problems to overcome and I've done it,'' he said. ``It's been a long road back.''
Maybe too long for most players.
``You've got to love the game, man,'' he said.
LOCAL HERO: With all the talk about Cal Ripken's consecutive games streak, it brings to mind Roanoke's Steve Brodie, who played for Boston, St.Louis, Pittsburgh and New York from 1890-1902. Brodie once was credited with a then-National League-record 727 consecutive games played. That was revised to 574 in 1961.
Brodie's name has been accepted for consideration by the veterans' committee of the Baseball Hall of Fame.
LETTERS HOME: Roanoke's George Canale of the Class AA Carolina Mudcats had raised his average to .269 with a 12-game hitting streak through Thursday and was leading the Southern league with 80 runs batted in. Canale hammered two home runs in a 7-1 victory over Jacksonville on July 31 and had 21 homers, second in the league to 24 by Jacksonville's Ivan Cruz.
``If Canale played in that bandbox in Jacksonville, he'd have 50,'' said Carolina broadcaster Bob Licht.
by CNB