Dec 31 2007 12:12 AM
The Way I See It...
By Bill Hartman, Channel 2 Action News Sports
The news that Braves coach Jim Beauchamp died last week hit me hard. I had talked with him at his charity golf tournament in October and it was clear the leukemia had taken its toll.
Jim worked quietly in the background and helped build the Braves into champions. He was the bench coach from 1991 to '98 and meant so much to scores of young Braves players. Jim was a father figure to those guys when they needed it.
Beauchamp, ex-Braves player and coach, dies
By CHRIS VIVLAMORE
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 12/28/07
acute myelogenous leukemia. He was 68.
Beauchamp was the bench coach for the Braves from 1991 to '98, a part of the team's World Series championship in 1995. He most recently served as supervisor of minor-league field operations for the organization.
Beauchamp spent 22 years with the Braves as part of a 50-year career in baseball, in both the major and minor leagues. He had to leave spring training with the Braves in mid-March and was diagnosed with leukemia soon after."He was always on me and riding me, but always wanting the best for me because he knew what I had. He was always trying to get the best out of me," Braves player Jeff Francoeur said in April after a hospital visit with Beauchamp.
Beauchamp, who was born Aug. 21, 1939 in Vinita, Okla., is believed to be the only player to wear an Atlanta uniform in Ponce de Leon Park (with the Atlanta Crackers), Atlanta Fulton-County Stadium and Turner Field (as a Braves player and coach).
"As a son, my fondest memory of him was how much he told us he loved us," son Kash Beauchamp said Thursday. "As tough as he was as a competitor and a baseball man, he had a very soft side when it came to being a father."
Beauchamp had a 10-year major league career, with several teams, and hit .231. He played for the Braves in 1965 and 1967, appearing in eight games.
He is survived by his wife, Pam, and five children: Kash, Tim, Ann Rene, Shanna and Lauren. He is also survived by six grandchildren; a sister, Patti Crockett; a sister-in-law, Kay Beauchamp; a stepmother, Lee Jean Beauchamp; and several nieces and nephews.
"My dad's motto was to put God first, family second and your job third. If you did that, everything would fall into place and good things would happen," Kash Beauchamp said. "And he lived that."
A memorial service will be held Jan. 5 at Southwest Christian Church, 4330 Washington Road, East Point, Ga., at 2 p.m. There will also be services held in Phenix City, Ala., and his hometown of Grove, Okla., where the high school baseball field is named in his honor, in the spring.
Staff writer Carroll Rogers contributed to this article.
Jim Beauchamp: 1939 - 2007
By jhamrahi Section: News
I neglected to mention a sad story from the other day.
On Christmas day, the Braves and the baseball world lost one of its good people when Jim Beauchamp died of leukemia.
Beauchamp served as Bobby Cox's bench coach from 1991-98. He later took on the role of roving Minor League instructor from 1999-2006 before giving way to the deadly illness that eventually took his life.
Our thoughts and prayers go out to the Beauchamp family.
Jim Beauchamp was just 68 years-old.
Coach's death saddens Braves
Jim Beauchamp, 68, performed locally as player and manager
Friday, Dec 28, 2007 - 12:10 AM
By JOHN O'CONNOR
TIMES-DISPATCH STAFF WRITER
Jim Beauchamp, a former Richmond Braves star first baseman and manager, died Tuesday. The cause was leukemia, with which Mr. Beauchamp, 68, was diagnosed earlier this year.
The Oklahoma native spent a decade in the major leagues with five clubs, but was known in Richmond mostly for his play as the R-Braves' first baseman in the '60s and his tenure as Richmond manager 1988-90. He played a central role in the R-Braves' drive to their first International League pennant in 1967.
Mr. Beauchamp, who died in a hospice facility outside of Atlanta, was an International League all-star in 1967, when he hit 25 homers for the R-Braves. He managed the club to the Governors' Cup championship in 1989, with Leo Mazzone as pitching coach. Mr. Beauchamp went on to become an Atlanta Braves coach (1991-98), then worked on the organization's player-development staff, primarily as an instructor.
As such, he was involved in the transformation of the A-Braves from a last-place club to winners of the 1995 World Series.
Mr. Beauchamp reported to 2007 spring training with the Braves for his 50th year in pro ball, but left camp in mid-February after experiencing shortness of breath and general discomfort, according to his son, Kash Beauchamp. Mr. Beauchamp soon after was diagnosed with leukemia and pneumonia, Kash Beauchamp said.
In 16 seasons as a minor-league manager, Mr. Beauchamp was a fans' and players' favorite. He occasionally showed a feisty side to umpires with whom he disagreed, and to players whose effort he viewed as unsatisfactory.
During one Richmond Braves' spring training in West Palm Beach, Fla., a young David Justice made a half-hearted throw to a base from the outfield during fielding practice. Mr. Beauchamp tossed his fungo bat 15 feet in the air, stomped into right field, and went nose-to-nose with Justice, who did not repeat the mistake while playing for Mr. Beauchamp.
Called "Beach" by friends, players and fans, Mr. Beauchamp was known as an old-school manager who got the most out of his personnel. He directed disciplined clubs, but Mr. Beauchamp also helped develop dozens of future big-leaguers with fatherly guidance.
Mr. Beauchamp, who played for the St. Louis Cardinals, Houston Astros, Atlanta Braves, Cincinnati Braves and New York Mets, is survived by his wife, Pam, five children, and six grandchildren.
Contact John O'Connor at (804) 649-6233 or joconnor@timesdispatch.com.