I'd suggest that Beckett was an overall positive contributor to the hobby but less of a pioneer than a refiner. Card publications and card pricing publications preceded Beckett's work but he definitely took it into the modern age. To analogize, he didn't invent the game of baseball but he did organize the modern professional league.
Echoing Al's comments, as a child of the 1970s I too have a soft spot for TCMA. I even collect the cards today.
