I guess I didn’t know the power of a camera until just a few minutes ago. I knew KSN Channel 3 had video of the Kash Beauchamp tirade last night, but until I got to the press box a little bit ago, I didn’t know that the meltdown had been replayed on Good Morning America and two ESPN shows — Around The Horn and Pardon The Interruption.
Great. Now the Wingnuts are a joke and Beauchamp is the punchline. Everybody who saw it has been telling me how funny they thought it was, but I just don’t see it that way. Maybe I’m taking the entire situation a little too seriously, but I’ve gotten to know Kash pretty well and I like the guy. Seeing him cross the line the way he did last night is like seeing a friend do the same thing. You want to bury your head in your hands and hope everybody forgets about it.
Well, now that Kash is national news, it doesn’t look like it’ll be forgotten anytime soon.
In case you missed it, last night Beauchamp argued a check-swing strike call and was ejected after yelling a curse word from his third-base coaching box. He proceeded to take off his shoes and hold them near home plate umpire Blake Felix’s face. Then Beauchamp pulled down his shirt and put his armpit in the same place the shoes had been. …..Then he used two batting weights as binoculars or glasses or whatever.
Sure, on the surface that sounds like pretty funny stuff. It discouraged me a little bit, though. And last night after the game I saw a side of Beauchamp that I hadn’t really seen before, at least in terms of his relationship with umpires. He was humble. I don’t know if he really doesn’t remember how he ended up in his socks, but I think he wanted to say all the right things to make sure people knew he was sorry for doing what he did.
For the story I wrote on Beauchamp Sunday, I interviewed him for about an hour and a half. During that interview, he referenced his history with umpires several times. He makes light of it quite a bit, but I don’t think he’s proud of it at all. For whatever reason, when Beauchamp steps on the field, something takes over him. He’s competitive almost to a fault and I think he may be starting to realize a need to tone it down and control himself better.
Apparently quotes from my article were referenced on Around The Horn. I didn’t watch the show, but I really hope it wasn’t Jay Mariotti. Don’t like him. I really would prefer it not to be Bill Plaschke, either. Woody Paige is iffy. In fact, Tim Cowlishaw and J.A. Adande are really the only people on that show I’d be comfortable referencing my work.
Kash is dealing with the apparent impending death of his grandmother. That isn’t an excuse for last night’s actions, but he’s a pretty emotional guy right now from what I’ve seen. I remember last year, when that Double-A Braves manager had his historical meltdown and a lot of people were saying how bad they felt because he’s such a good guy and they don’t want him to be known for one incredibly weak moment. That’s how I feel about Kash. I hope the whole thing is forgotten soon. I’m sure he’ll laugh about it for now, though. Maybe I’m just taking it too seriously.
Anyway, just found out that he was suspended four games. That’s the rest of this homestand. So we won’t see him back in uniform at Lawrence-Dumont Stadium until July 18.