Beasley, Junior

As a young lad in 1970, Junior Beasley and his Lawrenceburg Jaycees tasted victory, winning two Kentucky State titles, and that sweet taste never left Junior's mouth as he grew from a boy to a massive man. It only took three short years before Lawrenceburg and Alton's local hero made it to the national scene playing in the "A" Nationals at York, Pennsylvania.

Beasley, a shortstop, was unlike any middle infielder to ever grace the diamonds. Yes, he possessed great hands and a rifle like accurate arm, but what set him apart from other shortstops was not only his glove but his bat. If that old "Bombat" that Junior used in the decade of the mid 70's to the mid 80's could tell stories, it would start off with a warning label of sorts saying, "Get out of the way!"

Junior's missiles up the middle were something from folklore and his home runs were as well, and he was doing his damage well before aluminum alloy and composite bats were invented. If he were able to use today's bats and balls, some of yesterday's pitchers and infielders could have suffered shortened careers due to shin shattering scuds and other damaging directives hit their way.

It used to take 34 ounces of steel and muscle to do what 26 ounces of swing speed and composite alloys can do today. In his legendary local years, Mr. Beasley routinely smashed home run after home run each weekend at such places as Lawrenceburg's fairgrounds, Georgetown's Marshall Field, Shelbyville's Clear Creek Park, Cynthiana's River Park, Bourbon County's Garrard Park, and the list goes on, where he was either MVP, Home Run King, or both. There were 33 times in a 10-year span Junior was either named Home Run Champ or MVP, and of course, his teams like Kentucky Sporting Goods, T&K, Lawrenceburg Merchants, and Batter's Box were the beneficiaries of his power and talent.

T&K won him a Major Kentucky State Championship in 1980, one of several Kentucky titles, and 1980 provides a microcosm of what each summer was like for Beasley. He was two-time MVP and three-time Home Run Champion that season including the most home runs hit at the prestigious Stroh's Classic in Springfield, Ohio. Other regional softball circuit championships included two Lake Cumberland titles in 1984 and 1988, a couple of Bowling Green Spring Classic wins, a 1984 Thoroughbred Classic championship with Kentucky Sporting Goods and two L.I.T. rings, just to name a few.

One remarkable weekend, his T&K squad finished 3rd place, but Junior was so dominant that the tournament director named him MVP--an award usually saved for the first place victors.

A couple of attributes that make Junior Beasley such a joy to be around is his humbleness and his willingness and desire to play with his hometown buddies. He never thought he was too good to play with his friends and one could watch him virtually every night somewhere in Central Kentucky on a pickup team blasting bombs and giving high fives and pointers to those closest to him.