Glenn A. Beckert, Class of 1962
Glenn A. Beckert was a baseball and basketball standout at Allegheny from 1958 through 1962.
A 1962 graduate of Allegheny with a Bachelor of Arts degree in political science, Beckert was a three-year member of both the basketball and baseball squads and earned three letters in both sports. Beckert did not compete his senior year due to his professional baseball contract.
In basketball under Coach Robert M.Garbark, (Allegheny, ’32) Beckert lead the team in his junior season with 278 points scored.
Beckert also played under Garbark on the baseball field, earning All-Presidents’ Athletic Conference honors as the First Team shortstop in 1959, 1960, and 1961. Beckert guided Allegheny to its first PAC title in 1960 (6-1) and to its second in 1961 (8-0). It started a tradition in which the Gators won 14 of 20 PAC titles in 20 years (1959-1978) under Garbark.
Originally signed with the Boston Red Sox, Beckert was drafted by the Chicago Cubs and started his major league career in 1965. As the Cubs’ premier second baseman for nine years, Beckert held a life-time batting average of .283 with the Cubs.
In 1968 Becker tallied a 27-game hitting streak and in 1937 he also strung out hits in 26 straight games. In 1970 Beckert was named to three different All-Star Teams, including the selections of the National League, The Sporting News, and the Associated Press.
After recording batting averages of .287, .280, .294, .291, and. 288, respectively, from 1966 through 1970, Beckert reached a pinnacle in his career by drilling 181 hits in 530 trips to the plate for an average of .342 in 1971. Beckert collected his 1,000th hit in 1969, a year after he was named Chicago Player of the Year. (In 1968 Beckert ripped a personal high of 189 hits in a single season.) Beckert has also won the coveted Golden Glove award and the Toughest to Strike Out award.
Following his career with Chicago, Beckert played for two years with the San Diego Padres.
In the off-season, Beckert was employed as a life insurance and real estate salesman and served as vice-president of the Compass Industries, Inc. Since 1975 Beckert has been a member of the Chicago Board of Trade as a commodity broker.
A member of Phi Kappa Psi Fraternity, Beckert was originally from Pittsburgh, Pa. where he attended Perry High School.
