rico43
01-21-2015, 11:48 PM
#28 JIM BEAUCHAMP
First base-outfield
What came before: His power, before an ill-timed shoulder injury, was unquestioned. The former OSU Cowboy already had two minor league 30-homer seasons under his belt, as well as cups of coffee with the Cardinals and Astros, before the Braves acquired him during the 1965 season along with valuable right-hander Ken Johnson in exchange for popular outfielder Lee Maye.
http://i1260.photobucket.com/albums/ii562/ricocarty25/66BEAUCHAMP001_zps380e631a.jpg
He played 88 games for the Atlanta Crackers but saw his homer total fall from 34 to 13, including zero in 62 MLB at-bats.
That 1966 season: Many fans hoped of having him jump from the Crackers to the Braves, the updates trickling out all season until he finally wound up home for the winter with a .318-25-77 season – but those were his numbers with a month left to play in the IL season. A broken wrist from an errant fastball ended his season abruptly and denied him a September callup.
What happened next: The wrist was supposedly healed, but he lost 80 points off his average as he returned Richmond for 1967 to ostensibly play his way into shape. He still had 25 homers in 88 games and he finally earned a callup to the Braves – four games, three at-bats, no hits, one RBI. He was traded to the Reds along with Mack Jones and Jay Ritchie for Deron Johnson in a disastrous deal for Atlanta, but Beauchamp took advantage.
He spent the next two seasons for Cincinnati, then two years for the Cardinals (minus a month with Houston) and then two years with the Mets being one of baseball's best pinch-hitters. Over his final six major league seasons, he averaged 29 pinch hit at-bats and seven hits. He even got to enjoy a playoff run with the '73 Mets, but his playing career was over following that postseason.
In 1975, the Astros tabbed him to be the rookie manager of Columbus in the Southern League. A winning record meant a promotion to Triple-A, but after four years of piloting the Astros' highest club, the Reds called him back again to skipper their Triple-A Indianapolis club for two seasons and Toronto followed suit by tabbing him for their Triple-A team for three seasons.
He finally rejoined the Braves' organization in 1985, managing Class AA Greenville for three seasons, then Triple-A Richmond for three more. Then his old friend Bobby Cox called, and Beauchamp joined the Braves big league coaching staff as Cox's trusted bench coach, allowing Beauchamp to finally earn a World Series ring in 1995. Failing eyesight led to his stepping down as a coach following the 1998 season.
Beauchamp passed away from leukemia on Christmas Day, 2007, at his Union City, Ga., home at the age of 68.
His son, Kash Beauchamp, was a first-round pick of the Blue Jays in 1982, played 14 seasons in the minors and managed independent league clubs from 2000-2008.
First base-outfield
What came before: His power, before an ill-timed shoulder injury, was unquestioned. The former OSU Cowboy already had two minor league 30-homer seasons under his belt, as well as cups of coffee with the Cardinals and Astros, before the Braves acquired him during the 1965 season along with valuable right-hander Ken Johnson in exchange for popular outfielder Lee Maye.
http://i1260.photobucket.com/albums/ii562/ricocarty25/66BEAUCHAMP001_zps380e631a.jpg
He played 88 games for the Atlanta Crackers but saw his homer total fall from 34 to 13, including zero in 62 MLB at-bats.
That 1966 season: Many fans hoped of having him jump from the Crackers to the Braves, the updates trickling out all season until he finally wound up home for the winter with a .318-25-77 season – but those were his numbers with a month left to play in the IL season. A broken wrist from an errant fastball ended his season abruptly and denied him a September callup.
What happened next: The wrist was supposedly healed, but he lost 80 points off his average as he returned Richmond for 1967 to ostensibly play his way into shape. He still had 25 homers in 88 games and he finally earned a callup to the Braves – four games, three at-bats, no hits, one RBI. He was traded to the Reds along with Mack Jones and Jay Ritchie for Deron Johnson in a disastrous deal for Atlanta, but Beauchamp took advantage.
He spent the next two seasons for Cincinnati, then two years for the Cardinals (minus a month with Houston) and then two years with the Mets being one of baseball's best pinch-hitters. Over his final six major league seasons, he averaged 29 pinch hit at-bats and seven hits. He even got to enjoy a playoff run with the '73 Mets, but his playing career was over following that postseason.
In 1975, the Astros tabbed him to be the rookie manager of Columbus in the Southern League. A winning record meant a promotion to Triple-A, but after four years of piloting the Astros' highest club, the Reds called him back again to skipper their Triple-A Indianapolis club for two seasons and Toronto followed suit by tabbing him for their Triple-A team for three seasons.
He finally rejoined the Braves' organization in 1985, managing Class AA Greenville for three seasons, then Triple-A Richmond for three more. Then his old friend Bobby Cox called, and Beauchamp joined the Braves big league coaching staff as Cox's trusted bench coach, allowing Beauchamp to finally earn a World Series ring in 1995. Failing eyesight led to his stepping down as a coach following the 1998 season.
Beauchamp passed away from leukemia on Christmas Day, 2007, at his Union City, Ga., home at the age of 68.
His son, Kash Beauchamp, was a first-round pick of the Blue Jays in 1982, played 14 seasons in the minors and managed independent league clubs from 2000-2008.