NewsBeckett recognized for charitable work
Ace honored by Children's Hospital Boston for efforts
By Ian Browne / MLB.com
11/03/09 8:51 PM EST
BOSTON -- When he takes the mound for the Red Sox, Josh Beckett does so with a perpetual look of coldness on his face. He treats each opposing hitter with disdain, annoyed when there is even the slightest bit of success against him.That fierce competitiveness overshadows something which has been going on off the field for the past several seasons -- Beckett spending time to make a difference for children with troubled health.
Though he never seeks individual credit, Beckett got plenty of it on Tuesday night, when he was presented with the 2009 Champion Award by Children's Hospital Boston at a dinner banquet at the Seaport World Trade Center.
"It definitely puts things in perspective and life in general," said Beckett. "Not just on the baseball field, but if something else goes wrong at the house -- for instance, a broken water pipe -- and you think it's the end of the world, then you see stuff that real people have to deal with."
Beckett hasn't just taken out his checkbook or held charitable bowling tournaments. He has taken time to go over to Children's Hospital and form relationships with kids who are battling serious ailments. Take, for example, 10-year-old Isabella Shaw of Cape Cod, who endured nearly two years of chemotherapy recovering from Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia. Fully aware of what she was going through, Beckett made it a point to befriend Shaw, who stood by him on Tuesday as he met with the media.
"Take Isabella, for instance. We've bonded as friends," Beckett said. "At first, she was shy to me, I was shy to her. A lot of them that I just meet, they're very shy, they're timid. I'm the same way with them. Then you get to know them and know their personalities. It's the relationships that you build."
Beckett's role in the community is something that has built over time since he first joined the Red Sox in 2006.
"I just think as you get older, you become a part of other people's events and start realizing how much of a difference you can make just with basically being the face of something," Beckett said. "I think it was probably when I got to Boston, probably about halfway through my first year in Boston is when I really realized that, 'Hey man, I can make a difference, I can help make a difference."'
It means enough to the people at Children's Hospital for Beckett to show an interest and donate money toward such a good cause. But what has taken it a step further is his personal involvement.
"Josh has really been there," James Mandel, MD, who is the CEO of Children's Hospital, said as he stood next to Beckett. "He's walked the walk with all the kids and really made a great difference. It's not the check, Josh. It's you and all the stuff you bring to the table. He's a different creature in general. When it comes to generosity and the spirit and the time and the effort on the part of the kids, he is just amazing. I've never seen anything like it. And the kids really think so."
Ultimately, the Red Sox pay Beckett money to win them baseball games and help shoulder the burden for a championship-caliber team. But it hasn't gone unnoticed to his employers what the righty has done away from the playing field.
"Josh has done a phenomenal job with his commitment to Children's Hospital and the Beckett Bowl and all he's done for the community," said Red Sox general manager Theo Epstein. "It's been really fun for us to watch him mature on and off the field during his time in Boston and become quite a meaningful figure in the community. We're very proud of him."
In much the same fashion as between the lines, Beckett prefers to spread the credit around.
"I don't think you set out for that stuff, but when we started up the Josh Beckett Foundation, we had big dreams for it," Beckett said. "A lot of those have come true because of people [behind the scenes], like I was saying. That's what this award is going to. It's going to me because I'm the face of the organization, but the Josh Beckett Foundation is much, much bigger than me.
"There's 30 or 40 people that do a lot more work than I do. I just get to stand here and speak about it, so I get a lot more recognition than probably I deserve. There's a lot of people. I couldn't even start to name them because I don't want to miss someone."
Ian Browne is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.
