Beauchamp’s destiny was in dugout

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 04/11/2019 (2397 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

When the Toronto Blue Jays selected Kash Beauchamp first overall in the January phase of the 1982 MLB amateur draft, it was a swing and a miss.

Beauchamp went on to have a respectable 14-year playing career in the minors — where he reached the triple-A level in six different seasons — but injuries kept him from reaching his full potential and he never made it to the big leagues.

The Minnesota Twins had the third pick in that draft and they chose an outfielder who didn’t just make it to the big leagues, he was dominant. Kirby Puckett had a Hall of Fame career for the Twinkies — a 10-time all-star who led the team to two World Series titles.

“Whenever I do public speaking, I always say I’m the only guy to get a whole scouting staff fired when I was selected ahead of Kirby Puckett,” Beauchamp said with a laugh.

Beauchamp can chuckle about it now, because he believes his experiences in the minors have made him the coach he is today. The Winnipeg Goldeyes are hoping Beauchamp can share his wisdom with their players as the club announced on Monday Beauchamp had signed a contract to become the team’s new hitting coach. Beauchamp replaces longtime Fish hitting coach Tom Vaeth, who stepped down at the end of the 2019 season after being on staff since 2003.

“It was the good Lord’s way of putting me where I’m supposed to be and learn what I needed to learn to do what I’m doing now,” said Beauchamp, a 56-year-old native of Bartlesville, Okla. “Looking back on it, everything I learned as a player was setting me up for being a coach or a scout, you know, my future when my playing days were over. So yes, I did have some success in the minor leagues. Boy, when I was healthy, I felt like I was a big-league player. I really did… But it was all set up for me to do what I’m doing now.”

Beauchamp, a career .285 hitter, comes to Winnipeg with more than 30 years of professional baseball experience as a player, coach, manager and scout.

Beauchamp saw his career in the dugout take off when he served as a hitting coach in the Montreal Expos’ farm system from 1995-97. In 1998, Beauchamp became a manager for the first time and led the New Jersey Jackals to a Northeast League championship in their inaugural season. Beauchamp has also been a manager in the American Association with the Pensacola Pelicans (2006) and Wichita Wingnuts (2008). Most recently, Beauchamp was a hitting coach for the Atlantic League’s Southern Maryland Blue Crabs in 2018. He’s also been the Independent League scout for the Arizona Diamondbacks since 2017 and will remain in that role while with the Goldeyes.

Beauchamp said he was honest with the Fish and told them there could be times where Arizona calls him to go on a short scouting trip to watch some independent talent they have their eye on, but for the most part, the two positions won’t interfere with one another. He’s fully committed to the Goldeyes and looking forward to being a hitting coach again.

“I like to be challenged,” Beauchamp said.

“Scouting is definitely a challenge for me, so I love that. But then, the scouting part never really quiets my competitive fire, because I love to be a part of competition. Now that I can’t play anymore, the only way I can do it is to either manage or coach and be involved in that way. I just love to be involved in competition. This way, it’s able to fulfil all my needs I need from baseball. I’m just very, very fortunate and lucky, and honoured, more than anything, to be a part of such a great game and also with two great organizations. I couldn’t ask for anything better.”

Beauchamp knows a thing or two about finding success at the independent level. In 1993, he became the first player in independent baseball history to have their contract purchased by a Major League Baseball organization.

After hitting .367 over 47 games for the Northern League’s Rochester Aces (the franchise that became the Winnipeg Goldeyes), Beauchamp signed a contract with the Cincinnati Reds. Beauchamp may have been the first, but he wants to make sure other players make the jump back to the big leagues.

“To me, that’s one of the greatest days of a manager’s life is telling an independent league player he’s going back to a major league organization,” Beauchamp said. “So, in my opinion, that should be everybody’s goal. When I coach hitting with an independent league club, I’m coaching these guys to be the best they can be so they can get to the big leagues.”

Beauchamp doesn’t feel like he’s joining a new organization. Instead, it’s more of a reunion. He attended Goldeyes spring training in 1995 as a player, right before he began his coaching career. Although he wasn’t in town for long, he was impressed with how he was treated by owner Sam Katz and it stuck with him ever since.

“I thought for many years after that that I’d love to come back to Winnipeg. It took longer than I think we both thought it would’ve happened, but hey, here we are,” he said.

 

taylor.allen@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @TaylorAllen31