UGA’s Beckham makes the Bigs

This will come as no surprise to those of us who followed his career at UGA, but it took fan favorite “Gordo” Beckham, star of last year’s College World Series finalist Diamond Dogs, less than a year to make it to Major League Baseball.

Beckham, 2008 Southeastern Conference Player of the Year, has been brought up from the minors by the Chicago White Sox and makes his major league debut today, just 364 days after being drafted out of UGA, the Chicago Tribune reports. Beckham, selected No. 8 last year in the MLB draft, had recently been promoted to the AAA Charlotte franchise.

Since Beckham, 22, already was moving around from his natural position at shortstop, he shouldn’t be too overwhelmed should manager Ozzie Guillen play him at third and second base, in addition to spelling Alexei Ramirez at shortstop, the Tribune said. Said veteran Sox catcher A.J. Pierzynski, who took Beckham under his wing during spring training, “He’s got a chance to be a really good player. He can definitely hit.”

Beckham batted .322 in 59 minor league games, including a combined .326 with 23 doubles, four home runs and 25 RBIs in 45 games this season with Charlotte and AA Birmingham. He will be the fastest Sox No. 1 pick to reach the majors since 1990, when Alex Fernandez reached the majors 58 days after he was drafted. 

At UGA, Beckham became only the 10th player in school history and first since 1982 to bat over .400 in a season, hitting .411, the highest average since Rick Fuentes (.411) and Buck Belue (.447) in 1982. Beckham became the first Bulldog since Jeff Keppinger in 2001 to notch the team’s “Triple Crown” (Batting Average-Home Runs-RBI) after hitting .411-28-77.

It’ll be fun to watch his progress in MLB.

More Bulldog superlatives: A total of 258 UGA student-athletes earned a GPA of 3.0 or higher for spring semester, and Georgia’s 508 student-athletes posted the school’s highest ever cumulative GPA with a 3.01, according to figures released Wednesday by the Athletic Association. Tops among the athlete scholars were Drew Butler (football), Courtney Cripps (soccer) and Bridget Lyons (track & field), who were named Presidential Scholars for earning a 4.0 average. A total of 32 were named to the Dean’s List for having an average between 3.50 and 3.99. The women’s golf team earned the highest team GPA with a 3.41, and the men’s golf team had the highest GPA among men’s sports with a 3.28. … Current Diamond Dog Colby May was named to the Louisville Slugger Freshman All-America team, Collegiate Baseball announced. May started all 62 of Georgia’s games at third base, ranking second on the team with a .339 batting average. He totaled 11 home runs and 42 RBIs. May, who was also named Freshman All-SEC, is Georgia’s 21st Freshman All-American and first since Gordon Beckham and Nathan Moreau in 2006. … And from UGA’s softball team, Alisa Goler and Taylor Schlopy were named to the All-Tournament Team at the Women’s College World Series after media balloting concluded following Tuesday night’s championship game, in which the Washington Huskies beat the Florida Gators 3-2. Goler went 4-for-12 with a home run and four RBI at the WCWS. In Georgia’s win over Washington, Goler went 2-for-4 including a two-run home run. Schlopy also had four hits at the WCWS, including two home runs to produce six RBI while also scoring five runs. She also pitched some in Georgia’s win over Washington.