Griffin's Beckham could be top pick in MLB draft

GRIFFIN - While playing catch at the end of baseball practice, Tim Beckham tosses the ball around his back, flips it between his legs and then, revealing his love for another sport, shows off his jump shot.

Another basketball giveaway: Even while practicing for the Georgia High School Association state championship series with his Griffin High teammates, Beckham wears a Minnesota Timberwolves cap.

Bend it like Beckham? At one time, Beckham's goal was to jam it like Jordan.

``I dreamed of being picked in the NBA draft,'' Beckham said.

At the age of 11, Beckham cast aside his baseball glove as he ignored the sport for three years while focusing on basketball. He played guard and small forward and was pretty good.

Then his older brother, Jeremy, advised Tim to come back to baseball, where he was more than just pretty good. That advice could pay off big on Thursday when the kid who once dreamed of the NBA draft could be the No. 1 overall pick in baseball's amateur draft.

Beckham, a 6-foot-2 shortstop with power, speed and strong defense, is projected by Baseball America to be the first pick by Tampa Bay in the draft. Beckham, who has signed with Southern Cal, is almost certain to be a top-five selection.

``Obviously I'm excited,'' Beckham said. ``I'm 18 and I have the chance to possibly be the No. 1 pick in the baseball draft. I don't let it get to me, really. I'm still playing high school ball and I'm really concentrating on that.''

Older brother Jeremy, who just completed his senior season as a second baseman at Georgia Southern, also hopes to be picked, though he may have to wait for Friday's second day of the draft.

``He was a big inspiration in my life,'' said Tim of Jeremy. ``He got me back in the game when I stopped playing from 11 to 14. He brought me back to the game, and everything he did I did in practice.''

At Griffin High, the home of former track and NFL star Willie Gault, many of the best athletes, especially black athletes, focus on football and basketball. Young Tim Beckham, who is black, loved football and basketball, but even at 11 he had shown he could be a special talent in baseball.

``I just didn't want him to get caught up in basketball and football because everyone around here plays basketball and football,'' said Jeremy Beckham. ``His tools in baseball were much sharper than the kids his age.

``He excelled in basketball as well, but in baseball he was so much better and you could see that. It was obvious. It was apparent. We did have to kind of pry him away from basketball, but ultimately it was his choice. We just tried to influence that decision.''

Tim made up for lost time quickly.

``With kids like that, you kind of see them and immediately you know,'' said Griffin coach Jamie Cassady. ``As an eighth grader, he probably could play varsity for us.

``The question with those kind of kids, what is going to be their commitment to the game? A lot of kids come through with potential and talent, but they're not doing anything in offseason to better themselves. Tim worked at it.''

Cassady calls Jeremy the hardest worker he has coached, providing an excellent role model for Tim.

``A lot of people look at him and think it was easy,'' said Jeremy of Tim. ``He does have God-given ability, but there's no question about his work ethic. He made up those years. He worked harder than anybody his age. That's what is paying off. This just didn't come out of nowhere. He's truly been a hard worker.''

Beckham may be the first of an impressive line of Georgia prospects taken in the draft. Florida State catcher and closer Buster Posey, another probable top five pick, is a former Georgia Gatorade player of the year at Lee County High.

Another Beckham, University of Georgia shortstop Gordon Beckham, who is not related to Tim, is projected as a top 10 pick.

Georgia teammate Joshua Fields, one of the nation's top closers who was drafted in the second round by the Atlanta Braves last year before returning for his senior season, and right-handed pitcher and third baseman Ethan Martin of Stephens County High also are probable first-round picks.

Braves director of scouting Roy Clark says it's just another strong year for Georgia, which in 2007 trailed only California, Florida and Texas in the number of player s drafted.

Clark says his pleasant dilemma is picking which state final to scout. Griffin High's Class AAAA final against Loganville isn't the only attractive matchup.

``It's great scouting,'' Clark said. ``I get our scouts all the time who say I don't know why I ever leave Georgia and the Southeast. It's been great and it just gets better and better.''

The Braves drafted outfielder Jason Heyward from Henry County High in the first round last year and have two former Georgia high school players, outfielder Jeff Francoeur and catcher Brian McCann, as starters.

The state no doubt loses other possible draft picks to football and basketball.
Tim Beckham says he never regretted his return to baseball.

``Once I started back playing, I realized my love for the game came back,'' he said. ``I loved baseball again and I had an opportunity to be a good player.''