In Memoriam: Dick Beverage
By Peter Warren
When Richard E. “Dick” Beverage looked back on his childhood, his favorite baseball moment didn’t involve him hitting a home run or watching a complete-game shutout. It was the thrill and anticipation of attending his first professional game: a contest between the Hollywood Stars and Oakland Oaks at Oaks Park when he was 10 years old.
That day marked the beginning of a passion for the Pacific Coast League that would stretch decades and reach people all across the world.
Beverage, who served as President of SABR’s Board of Directors from 2003-09 and was the 2013 recipient of the Bob Davids Award, died at the age of 87 on Sunday, September 24, 2023.
Starting in college and continuing the rest of his life, Beverage researched and wrote about the storied Pacific Coast League. In 1987, he founded the Pacific Coast League Historical Society. He served as president of the society for about three decades.
Beverage wrote four books on the Pacific Coast League, including The Los Angeles Angels of the Pacific Coast League: A History, 1903-1957 and Hollywood Stars Baseball in Movieland, 1926-1957. He was also the editor and publisher of the bimonthly newsletter, Pacific Coast League Potpourri.
In 2017, the Pacific Coast League elected Beverage to its Hall of Fame alongside two-time PCL MVP Les Scarcella. Of the 110 members in the Hall of Fame, Beverage is one of only three people who never played, coached, or served as an executive to be inducted.
Beverage first heard of SABR when he saw an advertisement for the organization in a 1974 edition of Sports Illustrated. But he misplaced the magazine and forgot about it, only to see another advertisement several years later. This time, he didn’t waste any time. He wrote down the address and sent the a check in the mail the next day, officially joining in 1980.
“It has been one of the joys of my life,” Beverage wrote in 2007. “My knowledge of baseball, which was reasonably good at the beginning, has increased twenty-fold over the years. I have met so many fine people that it would be difficult to count them. I have made many, many lifelong friends.”
From the moment he became a SABR member, Beverage was an active participant in the community. He was a member of at least 10 different committees, including the Minor Leagues committee. He served as vice president from 1995-1998 and secretary from 1999-2002 before winning three terms as SABR president from 2003-2009.
For his dedication to SABR, Beverage was honored with the 2013 Bob Davids Award.
In addition to his work with SABR, Beverage worked as the secretary-treasurer of the Association of Professional Ballplayers of America — a non-profit designed to help former major league ballplayers in need — for many years.
Beverage was born on November 21, 1935 in Omaha, Nebraska. His family moved to Oakland in 1946, when he fell in love with the Oaks and Pacific Coast League.
He graduated from Colgate University with a degree in history and Golden Gate University with an MBA. Beverage also took classes at the University of California-Berkeley in hopes of achieving a Ph.D., but it wasn’t in the cards.
“I spent more time looking at microfilm of old box scores than I did working on the doctorate,” Beverage said in a 1988 story in Orange County Life. “I should have done my dissertation project on the history of the PCL.”
He was married to his wife, Rae, from 1958 until his death. They had two children, Stephanie and Jerald, who preceded his father in 2011. The family is planning to hold a memorial service at a later date.
Originally published: September 28, 2023. Last Updated: September 27, 2023.