The Wingnuts on Tuesday announced that the one-year contract of manager Kash Beauchamp will not be renewed and the team will be looking for a new manager for the 2009 season.
Wichita just wrapped up its inaugural season, in which Beauchamp guided the team to a 45-50 record. The Wingnuts finished the first half of 26-21, good for second place in the American Association North Division.
“My experience in Wichita was nothing but a pleasurable one for both me and my wife (Jennifer) and I look forward to remaining a part of the community,” Beauchamp said in a team-issued press release.
Wichita was the seventh independent league managerial stop for Beauchamp, 45, who was drafted No. 1 overall by the Toronto Blue Jays in January 1982. He won the Northeast League championship with the New Jersey Jackals in 1998, his first season as a manager.
Wichita closer Byron Embry said there were rumors that Beauchamp could be on his way out but was still surprised he was let go after one season.
“I know Kash really, really well and that’s why I went to play there,” Embry said. “It takes a special type of player to play for Kash. I guess they kind of thought they wanted to go in a different direction.”
Beauchamp drew national attention for a tirade on July 9 in the second game of a doubleheader against Sioux Falls. Beauchamp removed his shoe and stuck it near the face of home plate umpire Blake Felix then did the same with his armpit. The incident was captured by local television cameras and later displayed on YouTube, and several ESPN shows.
Beauchamp was criticized for being slow to apologize for the incident, though he did send a lengthy letter of apology to the American Association office about a week after it occurred.
” “In retrospect, I don’t think I’d do anything different,” Beauchamp said during a radio interview shortly after the incident. “I’ve had three or four confrontations with umpires that were better than that. People see a clip all over the country of me getting in an umpire’s grill and they don’t know what led up to it. It was simply another way to motivate your ballclub.”
Beauchamp had a fiery managing style that rubbed some players the wrong way and could have created division in the clubhouse. His biggest challenge was balancing his charming, outgoing off-field personality with the intensity he brought to each game.
It went both ways. First of all, everybody loved him as a guy, as a person,” center fielder Chris Colton said. “But as a coach, with his body language and stuff like that, people didn’t like that. I think Kash was a great coach, but sometimes his body language was a little bad at times.”
General manager Josh Robertson said pitching coach Luke Robertson (Josh’s brother) and hitting coach Chris Mileham would return and that letting Beauchamp go was “one of the most difficult things I’ve ever had to do.”
“Kash is a friend of mine and will be a friend of mine for the rest of my life,” Josh Robertson said. “He’s a guy you want to go out to dinner with, a guy you want to go golfing with, a guy you want to have a beer with. He’s a friend. He’s a very well-spoken person and I would definitely say his passion for the game of baseball and his will and want to win are right in line with mine.”
6 Comments
Many of those fans (3,400) came out to see a show and they got it with Beauchamp’s team.
Well that sucks…he seemed like a great guy and wish he would have stayed….people/fans needs a way to identify with this team and with how players come and go, they only way that is going to happen is with the manager.
That’s a shame. The point of this level of ball isn’t really to win games – it is to provide entertainment that people will drive downtown and pay for. Looked to me like they accomplished that.
There you go give a guy a year expect a miracle. You know it takes awhile to build a great program. Kash appears to be a great coach if he was given some time. But if he was family, he would get to stay on the team. If I recall the pitching wasn’t that great and neither was the hitting or we would have won more games, correct. If one goes, they all should go. Plus that guy that is the General Manager, I think he should go also and the announcer, he didn’t cheer loud enough it is his fault I think. Or I have a better idea, let’s give ol coach Kash another couple of years and see what kind of program he can build. Right Gene
You call losing baseball a show? Their was far too much turnover on the roster, which the manager had a HUGE hand in selecting to begin with, then had ability to make the changes that didn’t work out either.
Promotion are to be done as an aside to the game, not by the manager during the game. His “show” had its final act, and the curtain closed. You simply CAN NOT be a hard a$$ 24/7 for 90-100 games. Period. it’s not “soft players” of the new generation… the players 40 years ago didn’t appreciate it and didn’t win in spite of it back then either. Too many have this bubble thinking that old school players got reemed day in and day out, played/won in spite of it, and were better for it… not the case. Talented teams won then as they win today. Very few players/teams will go over the top in spite of circumstance. I don’t think players need coddled at every turn, but the rough stuff doesn’t play around the clock. how can ANYONE have a positive outlook wiht so much brow-beating. Even Gene Stephenson has back off (ONLY SLIGHTLY) some and it’s made a difference. His players love him more than ever, and have acheived more in the past 2 seasons than in the past 10-12. He’s treating them more like poeple now.
I fail to see where the shame is in Kash not being back. He’s had SEVEN diffent Independent (pro??) stops in his career. he’s only 45… that’s a terrible track record. It’s obvious, his attitude is holding him back, almost as much as his temper, err.. “fiery” style of coaching. Perhaps some personality would have bettered these players, since by all accounts he’s such a great guy off the field. I can’t imagine someone like Kevin Hooper could really appreciate playing for someone like that. Of course Hoop has far too much class and smarts to comment on it in a negative way.
Keep up the promotions and free or low cost tickets, put a winner on the field, and you’ll see sold out crowds on a near nightly basis.
Great post JD5555. I believe Wichita will respond to this move in a positive manner. I wish the best for Kash and his future. I believe a change of this proportion was needed to up hold the integrity of the team. The absence of Kash will not hurt the fan turn out for next year, we suffered the loss of many talented players through out the season and still posted a great attendance average. The teams next move will be to find a manager that the majority of the players will respect on and off the field to create unity.
Great job Wingnuts!
P.S.
Jeff, thank you for your time and passion compiling stories for this Blog through out the year. It’s been a pleasure to read your material.