Injury Forces Beck to Quit Olympic Team

A sore shoulder has caused Cal State Fullerton’s Mark Beck to quit the U.S. Olympic baseball team.

Beck, who will be a junior at Fullerton in the fall, returned home to Lakewood Aug. 6 unable to pitch because of tendinitis in his right shoulder.

Until then, Beck’s chances of making the team seemed good. He was one of 22 players on the roster, with one cut remaining. Coach Mark Marquess of Stanford will take 20 players to Seoul for the Olympics.

“I’ve had this condition for four years, but it was getting worse,” said Beck, who was 1-0 with a 1.73 earned-run average for the Olympic team. “I couldn’t even play catch.”

Beck said he made his decision with his future in mind. He will be eligible to be drafted by professional teams in June, after completing his junior season.

“This is the most important year of my career,” he said. “I don’t want to get hurt. They (the Olympic coaches) wanted me to stay a couple more weeks and see if it got better. But I had already taken time off and thought it would be better to see a doctor.”

Beck consulted a doctor last week and said he was told to rest the arm and begin rehabilitation to strengthen his shoulder.

Although he has pitched with tendinitis before, Beck said it became worse last spring when he was playing for Fullerton in the College World Series.

“It’s a tough thing to turn down the Olympics, but Mark said he wanted to be very cautious,” Fullerton Coach Larry Cochell said. “It’s been a little tender.”

Beck was 10-7 with a 3.80 ERA last season at Fullerton.