The 50 Greatest Players in Pittsburgh Pirates History by Finoli David;

Author:Finoli, David; [Finoli, David]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield Unlimited Model
Published: 2016-02-16T18:02:05+00:00

26

Clarence Beaumont

While sluggers and 100-mile-per-hour pitchers make most of the headlines in baseball, it’s the leadoff hitters that can be the most important part of a baseball team. In the first decade of the 20th century, the Pittsburgh Pirates had a championship squad with a prolific offense that included such Hall of Fame talents as Honus Wagner and Fred Clarke. In addition to Wagner and Clarke giving the offense its effectiveness, the team had a player many experts consider the best leadoff hitter in the Deadball Era: Clarence Howeth “Ginger” Beaumont.

Nicknamed Ginger by Bucs president Barney Dreyfuss for his red hair, Beaumont was a speedy contact hitter who was the second Pirate to lead the league in hitting, with a .357 average in 1902. Famed Pittsburgh sportswriter John Gruber once said of the center fielder,

He was an excellent base runner, being very fast on his feet, but nobody who saw him for the first time ambling his way to the batter’s box would admit this. A lazier or more indifferent-appearing player, emphasized by a burly body, could not be conceived. But when he hit the ball he was off like a streak, which astonished the uninitiated and made him one of the wonders of the century.1

Other than the fact that he won a batting title, Ginger etched his name in baseball history for two separate things: He was the first player in major league history to go 6-for-6 with six runs, a feat he achieved on July 22, 1899, against Philadelphia, and the first player to come to bat in a World Series, facing the great Cy Young in the first game of the 1903 Fall Classic and flying out to center fielder Chick Stahl of the Boston Americans.

Born in Rochester, Wisconsin, Beaumont attended nearby Beloit College before signing with the Milwaukee Brewers of the Western League in 1898, as a catcher. After suffering several injuries he was moved to center field and became a star, hitting .354. Ginger attracted much interest in the National League, but Milwaukee’s manager, Hall of Famer Connie Mack, arranged a sale of his slugger to Louisville in an attempt to avoid losing him in the minor league draft. Colonel owner Barney Dreyfuss agreed to return Beaumont to the Brewers, and Mack was then able to trade him to the Pirates for Bill Gray and Bill Hart. It was a fortuitous trade for not only the Bucs, but also Dreyfuss, who would eventually become president of Pittsburgh when Louisville was contracted by the National League following the 1899 campaign.

The Wisconsin native enjoyed a phenomenal rookie season once Patsy Donovan took over as manager for William Watkins, who was only using the young redhead in a reserve role. Much to the chagrin of Tom McCreery, who was the starting center fielder at the beginning of the season, Donovan inserted Beaumont into the spot, and he rewarded the new manager with a .352 average, finishing sixth in the Senior Circuit. His initial season included the aforementioned rare feat on July 22, when he had a perfect 6-for-6 game, scoring six times.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.