Charlie Beamon

When 21-year-old Charlie Beamon debuted for the Baltimore Orioles on September 26, 1956, he became the youngest of the majors’ 15 pitchers of color since Jackie Robinson integrated the sport in 1947.1 The righthander throttled the mighty Yankees, 1-0, with a complete game, but earned only two more victories in his three-year (1956-1958) big league career.

Charles Alonzo Beamon was born on December 25, 1934, in Oakland, California, the second of Robert and Justine (Lee) Beamon’s eight children, five sons and three daughters. His youngest brother, Glen, became a National Softball Hall of Fame inductee.2 Their father was a longshoreman until he was forced to retire because of chronic asthma in the 1940s.3

During Charlie’s formative years, he played for numerous teams coached by two men in particular, his father and George Powles. In 1950, for example, Charlie struck out 10 batters over five innings to win the season opener for his dad’s McClymonds High School junior varsity team.4 By season’s end, he’d shifted to Powles’s varsity squad and notched a victory in his only decision. Initially, Charlie also played football. After losing a tooth in a gridiron scrimmage, he took his mother’s advice and replaced it with a gold one featuring a gleaming, five-point star.5

Beamon’s pitching prowess earned him nearly year-round local newspaper coverage in the early 1950s. He spent the fall of 1950 with Foreman Supply and Local 31 in the semipro AA Alameda League.6 After posting a 3-2 mark for McClymonds the following spring, he joined his father’s Colonel Charles Young Post 269 American Legion club and tossed a one-hitter.7 Then it was back to the Alameda League with the Cooks Union team.8

McClymonds boasted more than its share of sporting talent. Two of Beamon’s classmates became Hall of Famers in their respective sports, slugger Frank Robinson and basketball great Bill Russell. It was Beamon, however, who batted .369 as an outfielder/first baseman and went 8-0 on the mound to lead Powles’s Warriors to a perfect 16-0 season in 1952.9 In the high school All-Star Game, he worked two innings for the East squad in front of 4,500 spectators, including Hall of Famer Ty Cobb.10 One week later at Bushrod Park, Beamon received a trophy as the top performer for the City-Parochial team in the American Legion classic.11 That summer, he went 5-2 for his father’s Legion club.12 Beamon also kept busy with the semipro East Oakland Optimist squad, including a one-hit shutout and a 17-strikeout, two-hitter in a 15-day span.1314 That fall, he pitched the season opener for the Powles-managed E. Bercovich and Son club in the semipro Rose Andersen City League, where Robinson was his teammate.15

Since his father couldn’t work, Charlie was the family’s primary breadwinner, employed by the supply department of the American Red Cross headquarters in San Francisco.16 Professional baseball had become a realistic option, in part because of the crucial contributions of two women. “My mother has helped me a whole lot in baseball,” Beamon said. “When I used to get peeved and want to quit when things were not going right, she would say, ‘There’s no place for ‘I don’t care’ in your life. Make up your mind that you do care if you want to get somewhere in this world’.”17 For years, one of Charlie’s aunts did housework at the residence of Brick Laws, owner of the Pacific Coast League’s Oakland Oaks franchise. Her raving about her nephew’s pitching prompted Laws to send scout Roosevelt V. Tyson to see Beamon in action.18 After Tyson described him as “one of the best prep players I’ve ever seen,” the Oaks signed Beamon on January 6, 1953.19

At training camp in Monterey, California, Oaks manager Augie Galan remarked, “You can quote me as saying that Beamon has everything, including youth.”20 The Oaks were a veteran team with an average age near 30. The 18-year old Beamon was sent to the Wenatchee (Washington) Chiefs in the Single-A Western International League. To entertain teammates, he sang duets with Rick Botelho, a southpaw whose vocal quartet had been offered a Decca Records recording contract back home.21 The highlight of Beamon’s season was driving to Reno on June 16 to marry his high school sweetheart, Florence Burgin.22 In 34 games (22 starts) in a hitter-friendly circuit with a 5.32 overall ERA, he posted a 6.27 mark, walked 151 in 158 innings, and logged a 10-14 record.

Charlie Dressen took over as the Oaks’ manager in 1954. He left the Brooklyn Dodgers after winning consecutive National League pennants because they refused to give him a multi-year contract.23 In spring training, Dressen compared Beamon to Johnny Podres –who’d gone 9-4 as a Brooklyn rookie the previous season– and said his sinking fastball was reminiscent of Dodgers’ righty Clem Labine. “It takes enough of a downdip to make the batters top it,” Dressen observed. “They hit on the ground and you’ve got a chance for a double play.”24 Beamon confessed, “I used to know the ball moved but I didn’t know it was a sinker until Dressen told me. He asked me to stay with it and it would get even better.”25

Beamon shut out Sacramento, 1-0, in his PCL debut. He walked 10 but surrendered only a third-inning single by Tommy Glaviano.26 “Give him two more years to grow and get more heft behind his pitches and he’ll be even better,” Dressen said. “Besides his fast one, he’s got a good slow curve and I’ve been trying to teach him a screwball.” Sacramento’s Joe Brovia remarked, “We don’t play the Oaks again for six weeks and by that time that kid is sure to be pitching in the majors.”27

Six weeks later, Beamon’s ERA was 2.14, but he had walked 27 batters in 21 innings, and he was optioned back to Wenatchee on May 23 for more seasoning. For a Chiefs club that finished last in the 10-team circuit, he pitched in 21 of his 32 appearances (7-10; 3.44 ERA), and homered twice and threw out a runner at home plate to complete a double play during a right field start on August 14.28 After one defeat, Beamon shared some advice he’d received from the opponent who’d stroked the game-winning hit. “[Roy Partee] told me after the game that if I had stuck to the sinker and laid off the curve ball, he probably wouldn’t have hit me.”29

The Western International League folded after the ’54 season, so Beamon wound up in the Class C California League in 1955. “Going to the Cal League was like a good horse dropping down in class,” he said.30 With the Stockton Ports, his manager and catcher was Partee. “Mr. Partee taught me how to use the fastball –that’s my sinker– more than I used to,” Beamon described. “It’s my best pitch. I’d been monkeying with other stuff, and it didn’t help my control.”31 In June, Beamon surpassed Don Belton’s circuit record of 12 straight victories.32 “We had a great infield behind me,” he recalled. “Pumpsie Green was the shortstop. We had a great second baseman and a great centerfielder, too, so we were strong up the middle…Anything hit on the ground was usually an out.”33

After winning on the Fourth of July, Beamon was 16-0 with a 1.36 ERA.34 He’d completed all 15 of his starts and won once in relief. In 139 innings, he’d permitted 80 hits and only one home run.35 “Beamon has such a good sinker he causes rival hitters to break at least a couple bats a game,” Partee said.36 “He used to get himself in the hole after one strike by fooling around with the next few pitches. Then, with the count 3 and 1, he would try to aim the ball and not get it in at all. I just talked to him to keep throwing naturally and he has improved.”37

“Beamon the Demon” was promoted to the Oaks and shut out Portland in his return to the PCL on July 10. Dating back to September 1954, it was his 19th consecutive victory. “I was elected pitcher of the week and I won a watch, a TV set, a portable radio and purchase orders for two more radios,” he recalled. “I also got a $100 war bond for my oldest son, Charles, Jr.”38 Oaks’ manager Lefty O’Doul insisted, “If there was ever a prospect, this kid is one…Any pitcher who can win 19 in a row, in any league, should be able to go nine innings in any league…He has all the poise in the world out there on the rubber and has learned to get the ball over the plate.”39

Now only one step away from the majors, Beamon said, “I’d like it to be with Brooklyn, the Giants or Milwaukee. They’re my favorite clubs, but of course I’d like to go any place, just so it’s up.”40 However, he lasted only one inning in his second start for the Oaks before exiting with a sore shoulder.41 The Reds lost interest in him, but other teams continued to watch closely.42 On August 14, for example, The Sporting News reported that scouts from the Tigers (Bernie DiViveiros), Phillies (Babe Herman), Cubs (Pants Rowland), Red Sox (Charlie Wallgren) and Indians (Hank Greenberg and Bill Veeck) attended Beamon’s start.43 In 17 appearances for the Oaks, he went 2-8 with a 4.79 ERA.

Rather than rest, Beamon pitched for E. Bercovich and Son after the minor league season concluded.44 He also worked 93 innings in the Dominican Winter League. Although his ERA was 3.39, Beamon tied for the circuit’s lead in losses with a 3-8 record for a dismal Estrellas Orientales club that finished 11-42.45

Meanwhile, after losing money for six straight seasons, the Oaks signed a working agreement with the Orioles and moved to Canada to become the Vancouver Mounties in 1956.46 Limited by arm woes, Beamon’s record was only 1-2 before June 14.47 That night, however, he beat Sacramento with a five-hitter and knocked in four runs.48 By the end of July, he’d improved to 6-4.49 With Beamon winning again, Laws hoped that a major league team would pay $40,000 for the righthander.50 Two years earlier, he’d reportedly rejected a $70,000 offer from the Indians.51 The owner’s hopes for improved attendance in Vancouver were hamstrung by the city’s ongoing ban on Sunday baseball.

Suddenly, Beamon was doing it all. On August 1, he stole home on the front end of a triple steal against the Hollywood Stars.52 Ten days later, in a 3-2 victory over Seattle, he blasted a two-run homer.53 In one game, he went 5-for-5 at the plate.54 When Vancouver finally allowed Sunday baseball to commence, Beamon defeated Portland on August 26 in an action-packed affair. After being hit in the side of the head by a Bill Werle pitch, he retaliated by brushing back the ex-Pirates’ southpaw before drilling him in the thigh. Enraged, Werle charged the mound with his bat still in hand before he was stopped.55 Neither man was ejected, and Beamon hurled 10 innings before driving the decisive hit over the left-fielder’s head to secure his seventh straight victory.56 Less than two weeks later, the Orioles paid a reported $50,000 to acquire him.57 Before departing, Beamon won his final outing with the Mounties to finish 13-6 with a 3.55 ERA.58

Beamon spent the last two weeks of the season with the sixth-place Orioles, explaining, “They gave me an airplane ticket. I met the team in Detroit.”59 On September 26, 1956, he debuted in Baltimore’s final home game, starting against the pennant-winning Yankees in front of 7,000 fans on a windy Wednesday afternoon. Beamon struck out the first batter he faced, Hall of Famer Enos Slaughter, and whiffed three and walked three over the first two frames. By the time he settled down to retire seven batters in a row, his sinker was breaking in on righties and his curve was breaking away. The Orioles led 1-0 on a run-scoring wild pitch by Whitey Ford. The majors’ ERA leader was seeking to become a 20-game winner for the first time.60

Between innings, Beamon received tips from Baltimore’s ERA leader that season, 33-year-old ex-Negro Leaguer Connie Johnson, on setting up the Yankees’ hitters. “He looks like a smart boy, and he seems to learn real fast,” Johnson observed.61 After Beamon walked the bases loaded in the sixth, he escaped by striking out Billy Martin for the third time. The Yankees put runners at the corners with one out in the seventh, but Beamon retired pinch-hitter Mickey Mantle and Bob Cerv without the ball leaving the infield. With the potential tying runner on base, he finished the eighth with another strikeout, and Beamon danced in the dugout after completing a 1-0 shutout with a perfect ninth. “That was the happiest I’ve ever been,” he said.62 He struck out nine, walked seven and allowed only four singles — two by Ford.

“What I liked most about [Beamon] was his heart,” said Baltimore first baseman Bob Boyd. “It isn’t often you see a kid get behind like he did several times and keep his nerve –especially if he’s playing the Yankees.”63 Beamon said that he never shook off a signal from catcher Gus Triandos, who added, “But that’s not why he pitched a great game.”64 Four days later in Washington, Beamon tossed the last four innings of the Orioles’ season finale in relief. Baltimore scored six times in the final two frames to rally to victory before he allowed his first two runs in the majors. Beamon finished his first taste of the big leagues 2-0 with a 1.38 ERA in 13 innings.

Beamon appeared at the Baltimore branch of the NAACP and became a lifetime member. The city’s Afro-American newspaper reported that he owned six suits, 25 pairs of shoes and enjoyed eating sirloin steak, barbeque and egg foo young. He liked the Elvis Presley song, “Don’t Be Cruel,” and rated Harry Belafonte, Dinah Washington, Fats Domino and Al Hibbler his favorite singers. Beamon named Don Newcombe, Jackie Robinson, Ted Williams and Mantle as ballplayers that he admired, but said Satchel Paige –whom he hadn’t met– was his favorite. “I have never wanted anything else in my life but to play baseball and get to the big leagues,” Beamon said. “I am sure I can make it. If it gets tough, I’ll just do like I always do. Just turn to any of the Psalms and read.”65 Back in Oakland, Beamon was honored at an American Legion dinner alongside Frank Robinson, who was coming off a 38-homer Rookie of the Year season with the Reds.66 Beamon kept his arm in shape by pitching winter ball for the Puebla Parrots in the Mexican League, and the Oakland-based Lucky Lager semipro outfit.67

In spring training 1957, Beamon said, “If I can win 10 games for the Orioles this year, I’ll be mighty happy.”68 He was voted Baltimore’s “Best Young Pitcher” in a poll of correspondents for The Sporting News.69 Manager Paul Richards, a former catcher, taught him the “slip pitch” (change up) and encouraged him to focus on throwing strikes more than trying to hit the corners. “Beamon is not a rugged kid who can take a regular four-day start,” said Richards about the 5-foot-11, 195-pound righthander. “He bears down so hard on every pitch that he’ll need an extra day’s rest. But he’s got it.”70 Pitching coach Harry Brecheen observed, “All Beamon needs is polish. He has all the tools to be a winner this year –fast arm, smooth motion, good control and a stable temperament.”71

Beamon appeared in three of Baltimore’s first seven games –one start and two relief appearances– but his only action over the next two weeks came in the final inning of a blowout loss in Chicago. On May 7 he was optioned to Vancouver. Richards explained, “to gain more confidence and a better curve ball.”72 Beamon won his first four decisions for the Mounties, including a relief victory in Seattle on May 26 in which he pitched the last 11 innings of an 18-inning marathon.73 Earlier that week in Washington, his brother had been let go by the Yakima Bears of the Class B Northwest League. Billy Beamon, a 20-year-old outfielder, then joined the Plainview Ponies of the Class B Southwestern League briefly, but his 41-game professional career ended when he was released on June 15. Charlie, meanwhile, finished 12-10 with a 3.59 ERA for Vancouver, but did not return to the majors in 1957.

That winter, Beamon went 9-6 for the Leones del Caracas to tie Ramón Monzant (9-5) for the Venezuelan League lead in victories. Despite walking more batters (57) than he struck out (55), Beamon topped the circuit with a 2.49 ERA and 14 complete games in 16 starts.74 At bat, he bashed a game-winning, three-run homer in the 10th inning on November 8, followed by a pinch-hit grand slam the next day.75 On November 20, Beamon beat the league champion Industriales de Valencia with a one-hitter.76

Other than a brief option to Vancouver for 11 days in June, Beamon spent the entire 1958 season with the Orioles. However, in Baltimore’s first 71 games, he pitched only seven times, all in relief, without any explanation from Richards. “He didn’t respect me enough to talk to me. He had his coaches come over and talk to me when I was sitting right next to him,” Beamon reflected four decades later. “There were black pitchers in baseball then, but they were older –Connie Johnson, Don Newcombe, Joe Black. I think it was like the black quarterback thing later in pro football. Teams didn’t trust young black pitchers.”77 Despite his frustration over his lack of game action, Beamon cherished the friendships he formed with African American Orioles Johnson, Boyd and Joe Durham, and NFL great Lenny Moore of the Baltimore Colts. “He was a superstar, but he talked to me and helped me, and he was so down-to-earth. He made you understand that we were all in the same boat.”78

Years later, Beamon recalled sitting in the dugout with Johnson. “I asked him, ‘Do you think I could have pitched in the Negro Leagues?’ And he said, ‘Oh yes, you could have done well.’ That meant more to me than beating the Yankees, knowing he thought I could do well. I almost started crying right there.”79 After returning from Vancouver, Beamon started at Fenway Park on July 3. He surrendered two quick runs, but nothing else in a six-inning, three-hit no-decision. Ten days later, he overpowered the Tigers for five innings before losing his effectiveness and the game in the sixth. After Richards yanked him in the fourth inning against the Indians next time out, Beamon never started another game in the majors. He relieved 10 more times, all when the Orioles were losing, although he notched a relief win on August 21 following a Baltimore comeback. Overall, Beamon finished 1958 with a 1-3 record and 4.35 ERA in 49 ⅔ innings over 21 games (three starts) for Baltimore. “I’m not the kind who can sit around and stay sharp,” he said.80

That winter in Venezuela, Beamon split eight decisions for the Leones del Caracas before he was released.81 He caught on with the Marlboro Smokers in the Panamanian Professional Baseball League but was pounded for five runs in less than two innings in his debut.82 The Smokers soon released him as well.83

In spring training 1959, Richards tried Beamon at third base in the initial intrasquad games. “He has a lot of ability. It may be that, if given a chance, he could develop into an everyday player. He has good coordination and there are times when he hits a ball as far as anybody,” Richards explained.84 Beamon, who still wanted to pitch, objected, “[Richards] didn’t have no reason to think I was that good a hitter.”85 The experiment ended shortly after Beamon made four errors one day at the hot corner. On March 9, he was shipped to Vancouver’s minor league camp to become an outfielder. As for pitching, the Baltimore Sun’s Lou Hatter wrote that Beamon lacked “the necessary speed and control consistency in the majors. Beamon must improve in both if he ever is to be regarded seriously as a big-time prospect.”86

“I still have a 3-3 record [in the majors], and I can’t understand it,” Beamon said. “I can say truthfully from my heart that I didn’t get a fair chance to pitch up there. I feel I had as good a stuff as anyone on that pitching staff.” He returned to the mound after Mounties manager Charlie Metro spoke to Richards. Beamon understood that the Orioles might not have room for him but said, “I feel I’ve pitched good enough ball against some of those teams up there that they’ll be willing to pay the waiver price… I’ve always been a winning pitcher.”87

On Opening Day 1959, Beamon hurled the Mounties to victory in Salt Lake City.88 By May 19, however, his record was 1-5 with a 5.06 ERA in eight games (four starts) when he was sold to the Amarillo Gold Sox in the Double-A Texas League.89 For Amarillo, Beamon lost both ends of a June 14 doubleheader against Austin; the first game as a starter, the second in relief.90 Overall for the Gold Sox, he went 9-8 with a 3.48 ERA. After the season, the Orioles sent him to the Florida Winter League to play the outfield.91 Baltimore GM Lee MacPhail indicated that Beamon might throw some innings too, but said if the righthander insisted on pitching fulltime, “I guess we’ll let him go home and bring in somebody else.”92 On October 15, Beamon was sold to the PCL’s Seattle Rainiers, a Cincinnati Reds affiliate. He spent the winter pitching for the Puebla Sweet Potatoes in Mexico’s Veracruz League.93

In 1960, Beamon started 18 of his 34 appearances for Seattle and went 8-7 with a 3.50 ERA. In December, he was sold to the Texas League’s Victoria Rosebuds, who’d just formed a limited working agreement with the Orioles. Beamon had arm problems in spring training 1961 and didn’t join the Rosebuds’ active roster until May 5. The Victoria Advocate said he was interested in playing the outfield in addition to pitching, but he didn’t do much of either. After appearing in only a few games, he was released, ending his professional career.

Nearly 40 years later, Beamon said, “When I left baseball, my self-esteem was destroyed… It took me years to get back up. As I got older, I understood what had happened, and I got myself together and into a career. But I couldn’t for a long time. To be honest, I’d rather forget about my time in baseball.”94 In 1975, he received an award for more than five years of continuous service at the Opportunities Industrialization Center West, providing job training and placement to the unemployed and underemployed.95

Information about Beamon’s post-baseball life is scarce. He divorced Florence in 1968. The 1974 Orioles yearbook says he fathered six children. Charlie, Jr., Leon, Carl and Zoeann were the four he named on a 1959 questionnaire.96 Shortly after Beamon’s major league debut, he told the Afro-American, “My oldest kid shows signs of being a baseball player.”97 Indeed, between 1978 and 1981, Charlie Beamon Jr., a first baseman/outfielder, appeared in 45 games for the Mariners and Blue Jays.

Regarding his own career, Charlie Sr. said, “I saw enough to know that ability-wise, I had no problems…Something bigger was in control. There wasn’t anything I could do. But to not even be considered or even respected, that hurt more than anything. In the long run, I would have respected myself more if I’d spoken up, said my piece, and gone on home.”98 Beamon was 81 when he died on May 3, 2016, in San Leandro, California. His remains were cremated.99

Acknowledgments

This biography was reviewed by Gregory H. Wolf and Bruce Harris and fact-checked by Evan Katz.

Sources

In addition to sources cited in the Notes, the author consulted www.ancestry.com, www.baseball-reference.com, and www.retrosheet.org.

Notes

1 Beamon’s age was 21 years and 10 months. The pitchers of color who preceded him were Dan Bankhead (27), Satchel Paige (42), Don Newcombe (22), Sam Jones (25), Joe Black (28), Rubén Gómez (25), Connie Johnson (30), José Santiago (25), Jay Heard (34), Bill Greason (29), Brooks Lawrence (29), Roberto Vargas (25), Humberto Robinson (24), and Pat Scantlebury (38). On May 4, 1957, eight months after Beamon’s debut, Juan Pizarro (20 years and almost three months) pitched for the Braves.

2 “Glen Beamon Goes into Hall of Fame,” Oakland Post, December 27, 1997: 5.

3 “Oaks Sign Top Prep Player,” Oakland Tribune, January 7, 1953: 30.

4 Jane Grey, “Play and Recreation,” Oakland Tribune, May 14, 1950: 60.

5 Jim Ellis, “Birds Could Add Mound Depth with Rookie Beamon on Beam,” The Sporting News, March 20, 1957: 17.

6 “El Cerrito Wins,” Oakland Tribune, October 17, 1950: 35.

7 “Erwins Start Play Saturday,” Oakland Tribune, May 22, 1951: 26.

8 Art Macy, “Auto Workers Win,” Oakland Tribune, November 6, 1951: 33.

9 “Oaks Sign Top Prep Player.”

10 Ben Giuliano, “Southpaw Fans 17 in Annual Prep Contest,” Oakland Tribune, June 7, 1952: 10.

11 Ben Giuliano, “Musto, Beamon Nab Top Honors in 8-6 Thriller,” Oakland Tribune, June 15, 1952: 43.

12 “Oaks Sign Top Prep Player.”

13 Art Macy, “Espees Register 12-4 Triumph; Teamsters Lose,” Oakland Tribune, June 24, 1952: 30.

14 Art Macy, “Ransome Scores Double Victory,” Oakland Tribune, July 8, 1952: 32.

15 Art Macy, “Bercovich in 8-4 Victory Over Red Sox,” Oakland Tribune, October 7, 1952: 30.

16 “Oaks Sign Top Prep Player.”

17 Elizabeth Murphy Oliver, “‘Sinker Kid’ Cost $40,000,” Afro-American (Baltimore, Maryland), October 13, 1956: 16.

18 Jack McDonald, “Dressen Beamin’ Over Beamon, Hurler of One-Hitter in Opener,” The Sporting News, April 21, 1954: 25.

19 “Oaks Sign Top Prep Player.”

20 Emmons Byrne, “Galan High on Beamon, Syd Thrift,” Oakland Tribune, March 10, 1953: 30.

21 John Richardson, “Chiefs Cut Costs by Training in City this Year,” Lindsay (California) Gazette, April 10, 1953: 6.

22 Oliver, “‘Sinker Kid’ Cost $40,000.”

23 Roscoe McGowan, “Dressen Cut Down Trying to Stretch a Single Into Three,” The Sporting News, October 21, 1953: 9.

24 McDonald, “Dressen Beamin’ Over Beamon, Hurler of One-Hitter in Opener.”

25 Scott Baillie, “Caloop Hill Star Goes Up to PCL,” Bakersfield Californian, July 8, 1955: 32.

26 Emmon Byrne, “Acorns Win, 1-0, Take Series Edge,” Oakland Tribune, April 9, 1954: 57.

27 McDonald, “Dressen Beamin’ Over Beamon, Hurler of One-Hitter in Opener.”

28 “Western Int. League,” The Sporting News, August 25, 1954: 36.

29 Baillie, “Caloop Hill Star Goes Up to PCL.”

30 Kevin T. Czerwinski, “Beamon Near Flawless in Stint with Stockton,” July 6, 2007, https://www.milb.com/news/gcs-266484 (last accessed April 7, 2021).

31 John J. Peri, “Beamon on Beam With 16-0 Mark –Tops in Minors,” The Sporting News, October 26, 1955: 19.

32 Ed Schoenfeld, “Stockton Youngster Wins 14 in Row for Loop Mark,” The Sporting News, July 6, 1955: 35.

33 Czerwinski, “Beamon Near Flawless in Stint with Stockton.”

34 In 1956, Al Spearman also won 16 straight California League games, but he’d already lost twice. As of 2021, Beamon’s 16-0 mark remains a circuit record for victories without a defeat. Czerwinski, “Beamon Near Flawless in Stint with Stockton.”

35 Emmons Byrne, “‘New’ Beamon Hurls for Acorns Today,” Oakland Tribune, July 10, 1955: 53.

36 Schoenfeld, “Stockton Youngster Wins 14 in Row for Loop Mark.”

37 Baillie, “Caloop Hill Star Goes Up to PCL.”

38 Oliver, “‘Sinker Kid’ Cost $40,000.”

39 Jack McDonald, “Oaks Beamon Posts 19th Straight O.B. Win with Shutout of Beavers,” The Sporting News, July 20, 1955: 31.

40 McDonald, “Oaks Beamon Posts 19th Straight O.B. Win with Shutout of Beavers.”

41 “Beamon’s 19 Straight Wins Halted by Seattle, Sore Arm,” The Sporting News, July 27, 1955: 28.

42 “Vancouver,” The Sporting News, August 1, 1956: 32.

43 “Briggs Gives Major Scouts Eyeful, Oak Duo Muffs Test,” The Sporting News, August 24, 1955: 27.

44 Art Macy, “San Leandro Nine Clipped by Bercovich,” Oakland Tribune, October 18, 1955: 40.

45 Charlie Beamon’s Dominican League statistics from https://stats.winterballdata.com/players?key=315 (Subscription service. Last accessed April 7, 2021).

46 “Reaching for the Blue Ink,” Long Beach (California) Press-Telegram, August 22, 1956: 22.

47 “Thursday Night Pitchers,” Petaluma (California) Argus-Courier, June 14, 1956: 6.

48 “Hollywood and San Francisco in Coast League Winning Streaks,” Port Angeles (Washington) Evening News, June 15, 1956: 16.

49 “Garber Set to Hurl for Hollywood,” Mirror News (Los Angeles), August 3, 1956: 30.

50 “Reaching for the Blue Ink.”

51 “Vancouver,” The Sporting News, August 15, 1956: 32.

52 “Vancouver,” The Sporting News, August 15, 1956: 32.

53 “Angels Clinch Flag; Bilko Hits 47th Homer,” Evening Vanguard (Venice, California), August 13, 1956: 12.

54 Bob Maisel, “Orioles Buy Farm Hurler,” Baltimore Sun, September 9, 1956: 1D.

55 “Bilko’s 50th, Duster Duel Highlight PCL,” News-Pilot (San Pedro, California), August 27, 1956: 7.

56 “Row Features Mounties Game,” Oakland Tribune, August 27, 1956: 27.

57 Various sources report the price paid for Beamon as either $40,000 or $50,000. Oliver, “‘Sinker Kid’ Cost $40,000.”

58 Jesse A. Linthicum, “Orioles Land Prize Coast Hill Prospect,” The Sporting News, September 19, 1956: 17.

59 Oliver, “‘Sinker Kid’ Cost $40,000.”

60 Ford didn’t win 20 until 1961 when he won 25 games.

61 “Unanimous Nod Given to Beamon,” Afro-American, October 6, 1956: 15.

62 Lou Hatter, “Beamon Gains First Shutout,” Baltimore Sun, September 27, 1956: S17.

63 “Unanimous Nod Given to Beamon.”

64 Hatter, “Beamon Gains First Shutout.”

65 Oliver, “‘Sinker Kid’ Cost $40,000.”

66 “Players Honored,” Oakland Tribune, October 16, 1956: 40.

67 “Lagers Face San Leandro,” Oakland Tribune, December 2, 1956: 56.

68 Jim Ellis, “Birds Could Add Mound Depth with Rookie Beamon on Beam,” The Sporting News, March 20, 1957: 17.

69 Oscar Kahan, “Comebackers, Kids Share Spotlight,” The Sporting News, April 17, 1957: 15.

70 “Rookie Charlie Beamon Viewed as Baltimore Orioles Starter,” Atlanta Daily World, March 20, 1957: 5.

71 “Charlie Beamon Brightens Baltimore Orioles Hopes,” Alabama Tribune, April 12, 1957: 6.

72 Jim Ellis, “Richards Juggles Roster,” The Sporting News, May 15, 1957: 15.

73 Lenny Anderson, “Vancouver Wins Marathon on Jorgensen’s HR in 18th,” The Sporting News, June 5, 1957: 36.

74 Charlie Beamon’s Venezuelan League Statistics from, http://www.pelotabinaria.com.ve/beisbol/mostrar.php?ID=beamcha001 (last accessed April 8, 2021).

75M.J. Gorman, Jr., “Monzant ‘Top Kick’ With Five in a Row,” The Sporting News, November 20, 1957: 24.

76 Bill Smith, “Beamon Tosses 1-Hitter to Nip Valencia Streak,” The Sporting News, November 27, 1957: 50.

77 John Eisenberg, From 33rd Street to Camden Yards (New York: Contemporary Books, 2001), 61.

78 Eisenberg, From 33rd Street to Camden Yards.

79 Eisenberg, From 33rd Street to Camden Yards.

80 Joe Heiling, “He’s Not Complaining, Just Confused,” Corpus Christi (Texas) Caller-Times, June 7, 1959: 60.

81 M.J. Gorman, Jr., “Venezuelan Vitamins,” The Sporting News, December 24, 1958: 26.

82 Leo J. Eberenz, “Umbricht Sheds Reliever’s Tag — Pitches Shutout,” The Sporting News, January 7, 1959: 25.

83 Leo J. Eberenz, “Panama Puffs,” The Sporting News, January 28, 1959: 25.

84 Bob Maisel, “O’Dell,” Baltimore Sun, March 5, 1959, S21.

85 Heiling, “He’s Not Complaining, Just Confused.”

86 Lou Hatter, “Birds Send 2 to Vancouver,” Baltimore Sun, March 10, 1959: S21.

87 Heiling, “He’s Not Complaining, Just Confused.”

88 “Metro Calls Turn, Beamon Winner After Rough Start,” The Sporting News, April 29, 1959: 31.

89 “Solons Boost Coast Lead,” Progress-Bulletin (Pomona, California), May 20, 1959: 30.

90 “Beamon Drops Twin Bill,” The Sporting News, June 24, 1959: 33.

91 Frederick G. Lieb, “Indians Eighth Team to Enter Winter League,” The Sporting News, October 7, 1959: 33.

92 Doug Brown, “Grand Payoff on Nicholson in ’62 or ’63,” The Sporting News, November 18, 1959: 16.

93 Roberto Hernandez, “Red Hot Chilis Boot Parrots Off Top Perch,” The Sporting News, December 23, 1959: 23.

94 Eisenberg, From 33rd Street to Camden Yards.

95 “OICW Aides Honored,” Times (San Mateo, California), July 1, 1975: 21.

96 Charlie Beamon, Publicity Questionnaire for William J. Weiss, June 23, 1959.

97 Oliver, “‘Sinker Kid’ Cost $40,000.”

98 Eisenberg, From 33rd Street to Camden Yards.

99 Charles Alfonso “Charlie” Beamon, https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/170789033/charles-alfonso-beamon (last accessed June 5, 2021).