Fletcher, Beckham eye family bragging rights

JOLIET – The timing was perfect.

Former major league shortstop Scott Fletcher, who came up with the Cubs and played several season with the White Sox, arrived in Joliet on Wednesday in preparation for Thursday night’s 66th annual Old Timers Baseball Association of Will County banquet at the Clarion.

A matter of hours before Fletcher met and socialized with members of the Old Timers board of directors, the news broke. The Sox had re-acquired infielder Gordon Beckham, signing him to a one-year deal worth $2 million, and designated outfielder Dayan Viciedo for assignment.

Almost 600 baseball enthusiasts attended Thursday’s banquet, and many, as Sox fans, are interested in this move and the many others Sox general manager Rick Hahn has made this offseason.

Fletcher, meanwhile, is the minor league infield coordinator for the Detroit Tigers after spending the past three seasons as assistant hitting coach for the Atlanta Braves. Normally, a transaction such as Beckham signing with the Sox would carry minor significance in his life.

This is different, however. Beckham, who was traded to the Angels in August, is Fletcher’s son-in-law. He is married to Fletcher’s daughter, Brittany, his longtime girlfriend.

“Gordon is excited about this,” Fletcher said. “I know he really likes Robin [Ventura, the Sox manager] a lot. He is looking forward to having a good year. He had other prospects out there, but was pretty excited about getting a chance to return to the Sox.”

The Sox have two rookies, Micah Johnson and Carlos Sanchez, ready to battle for the second base job. Beckham also will have his chance to win that job, but he also may fit in as a valuable utility infielder who can play multiple positions well.

If he does have a season where he contributes and the Sox are in contention – perhaps with the Tigers in the American League Central – what then?

“You always have to look to win,” Fletcher said. “[The Tigers] have to go out there to beat my son-in-law, and he’s going to be trying to beat us. Whichever way it goes, there will be some bragging rights that will be talked about in the winter time.”

Brittany Fletcher, however, is very competitive in her own right.

“She has been on ‘The Amazing Race’ on television,” Fletcher said. “She and her friend left the airport and the cameraman who was assigned to them left his bag, and they had to go back and get it.

“Then they got to the finish line and they said they missed a check point coming back, so they had to go back there. When they came to a fork in the road, their Indonesian driver took the wrong road – they tried to make him understand English – and they got eliminated.”

Brittany, who grew up in Atlanta and works in Chicago, also won a Showcase Showdown on “The Price is Right” on her 18th birthday, after predicting as a child that she would be there on her 18th birthday.

“She tracks all the products on that show,” Fletcher said. “She was in the car with Gordon once, and I was watching the show. She was texting me, asking what the price is and what the person bid. She said $800, the person bid $600 and it was $799. She just knows that stuff.”

She is a competitor, not unlike her dad, who was not a perennial All-Star, yet made himself into a productive major leaguer who enjoyed a 15-year career.

Keeping things in the family, Fletcher also has a son, Brian, who is an outfielder hoping to stick this season with the Kansas City Royals. Scott said his son is “a very good player.”

While Fletcher was the featured speaker at the Old Timers banquet, 2014 speaker Denny McLain, the major leagues’ last 30-game winner, and longtime American League umpire Bill Haller, Lockport’s own, also were in attendance. Local baseball fans were the big winners.