Bernie Beckman

Bernard Heinrich Beckman

• Bats Left, Throws Left
• Height 6' 4", Weight 190 lb.

• Born November 4, 1950

Bernie Beckman has spent four decades in baseball.

A pitcher, Beckman spent 1968-1976 pitching in the minor leagues, peaking at AAA (1974, part of 1975). He was 71-81 in the minors. In 1979, he went to play in the Netherlands, appearing in Hoofdklasse before moving to Eerste Klasse in 1980.

He was signed by the Detroit Tigers at age 16. Beckman was playing in Toronto's Birchmount league but was in need of qualified instruction. He developed his own style from what he read in books and saw big leaguers do on television. Tigers' scout Bobby Prentice convinced Beckman that he could only receive this guidance by turning pro.

Beckman made it to major league spring training twice: once with the Tigers, and once with the Dodgers (1973).

Beckman went into coaching after his playing career ended, holding positions on three different continents. He was a minor league coach for the Toronto Blue Jays chain for five seasons. He was a coach for Team Canada in the 1988 Olympics and managed Canada in the 1988 Baseball World Cup, 1990 Goodwill Games and 1990 Baseball World Cup.

Beckman coached in Australia as well, including a role with the national team in the 1998 Haarlem Baseball Week. He joined his third national team in 2000, when he was pitching coach for the Dutch national team during the 1999 Intercontinental Cup and 2000 Olympics.

Bernie then went to coach in the Netherlands and was head coach of Kinheim from 1999-2002. In 2009, he became head coach of RCH. The next year, he moved on to be head coach of the Pioniers. The team had been fresh off a second-place finish in '09 but went just 12-15 after 27 games and Beckman was canned in favor of a committee of assistant coaches Peter Barentsen, Theo Geerman and Dè Flanegin.

Sources

• SABR minor league database
• Honkbalsite
• The Toronto Star, Wednesday March 14, 1973, page 28, Milt Dunnell column.