The Wichita Wingnuts are a professional baseball team based in Wichita, Kansas, in the United States. The Wingnuts are a member of the Central Division of the American Association of Independent Professional Baseball, which is not affiliated with Major League Baseball.

An expansion franchise in the 2008 season, the Wingnuts play their home games at Lawrence-Dumont Stadium. The Wingnuts replaced the Wichita Wranglers, the former AA affiliate of the Kansas City Royals. The first Wichita Wingnuts manager was Kash Beauchamp, who gained notoriety for his tirade during a game on July 9. Beauchamp's contract was not renewed at the end of the 2008 season. Kevin Hooper replaced Beauchamp as the manager for the 2009 season. The Wingnuts finished the first half of 2008 in second place, but a slide in the second half left them with an overall record of 45-50 in their inaugural season.

In 2009, the Wingnuts won the North Division title for the first half of the season, and in 2010 hosted the American Association All-Star Game, to be played at Lawrence-Dumont Stadium. The Wingnuts were named the 2010 American Association Organization of the Year. The current manager is former major leaguer Kevin Hooper, an alum of Wichita State University and native Kansan.

Current roster[link]

External links[link]

• Wichita Wingnuts

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James Kash Beauchamp (born January 8, 1963 in Bartlesville, Oklahoma) is the son of Jim Beauchamp, and a former minor league baseball outfielder and manager. Beauchamp originally attended Grove High School in Oklahoma and then Bacone College. He was drafted first overall by the Toronto Blue Jays in the 1982 January amateur draft, ahead of names such as Kirby Puckett and Randy Myers.

Beauchamp played 12 seasons in the minors, seeing moderate success but never reaching the Majors, although he did get as high as Triple-A. He displayed good speed at the beginning of his professional career, stealing as many as 25 bases in a season, although as his career went on he stole less and less each year.

In 1984, he was the MVP of the Carolina League All-Star Game, going 5-for-6 with a home run, two triples and five RBI. He was voted Best Defensive Outfielder and Outfielder With the Best Arm that year by Baseball America.

Interestingly, Beauchamp was the first player to be signed to a professional (major league affiliated) contract out of the independent leagues when, after hitting .367 with the Rochester Aces of the Northern League in 1993, he was signed by the Cincinnati Reds.

He ended his playing career in 1995, and afterward he began managing and coaching various teams in different independent leagues. From 1995 to 1997, he was a hitting coach in the Montreal Expos farm system. From 1998 to 2000, he managed the New Jersey Jackals of the Northeast League. He managed the Lincoln Saltdogs in 2001 and then the Adirondack Lumberjacks for the next three seasons. He didn't manage in 2005, instead serving as the scouting director for the Golden Baseball League. During his time with the Golden League he was picked up as hitting coach for the Samurai Bears. He also had a role in the movie Season of the Samurai. He managed the Pensacola Pelicans of the American Association in 2006. In 2007, he served as Vice President/Director of Baseball Operations for the South Coast League. He also served as manager of the league's Anderson Joes franchise for the final 37 games of the 2007 season. Beauchamp left both positions in November 2007^[1] to become manager of the Wichita Wingnuts of the American Association.

On July 9, 2008, Beauchamp had a major tirade, taking off his shoe and trying to make the umpire smell his shoe along with his armpit; he received a four-game suspension for his actions. His extreme emotional blowup, arguing the controversial call on behalf of his players, received national attention via major television networks and has become something of an internet sensation.^[2] At the end of the 2008 season, the Wingnuts decided not to retain Beauchamp as their manager.

Beauchamp is now a private instructor and coaches academy teams for Perfect Practice Athletic Center in Tulsa, OK.

Notes[link]

References[link]

• Career statistics and player information from Baseball-Reference (Minors)