Pittsburgh native, 4-time MLB All-Star second baseman Glenn Beckert dies at 79

CHICAGO — Glenn Beckert, a Pittsburgh native and four-time All-Star second baseman for the Chicago Cubs in the 1960s and ’70s, died Sunday. He was 79.

Citing his family, the Cubs said he died of natural causes in Florida.

Beckert attended Perry High School in Pittsburgh’s North Side, where he was an all-City baseball and basketball player. He graduated Perry in 1958 and went to Allegheny College, where he is a member of the school’s athletic Hall of Fame. Originally signed by the Boston Red Sox, Beckert went to the Cubs in a minor league draft in 1962.

Playing alongside Hall of Famers Ernie Banks, Billy Williams, Ron Santo and Ferguson Jenkins, Beckert won a Gold Glove in 1968 — breaking Pirates second baseman Bill Mazeroski’s streak of five in a row — and made four straight All-Star teams for Chicago starting in 1969.

Beckert had the best strikeout-to-at-bat ratio in the National League five times and finished third in average when he hit a career-high .342 in 1971.

Beckert batted .283 in 11 seasons with Chicago (1965-73) and the San Diego Padres (1974-75).

He is survived by daughters Tracy Seaman and Dana Starck and longtime partner Marybruce Standley.