“He was a great man who wanted to help people … I am so proud, you have no idea.”
– Jean Cognato, 81-year-old granddaughter of the late Ginger Beaumont
Granddaughter, great-granddaughter flying to town for baseball icon’s ceremony July 19
By Mike Ramczyk
Sports Editor
He was the first player to come to bat in the first World Series, in 1903.
“And he struck out,” joked Jean Cognato Tuesday evening, the granddaughter of that first batter.
Rochester and Honey Creek native Clarence H. “Ginger” Beaumont may have struck out in that historic at-bat, but it was to the incomparable Cy Young, the man whose name is on today’s most coveted pitching award in Major League Baseball.
“Bo,” as Cognato, 81, affectionately called him, has been honored by the city of Burlington with the Ginger Beaumont division in Little League and Ginger Beaumont Field downtown, but perhaps his most prestigious accolade should be arriving in town the week of July 12.
A 2-foot high, roughly 30-inch wide monument will be erected near the third-base dugout at Beaumont Field to kick off the annual Burlington Baseball Hall of Fame festivities July 19.
The landmark, which has been in the works for two years, will act as a welcome symbol for the city’s baseball spectators.
“Anybody that’s a baseball person, it will be nice to do this,” said Burlington Baseball Hall of Fame Chairman Bill Milatz.
“We really only have his name on the sign, so it will be good to have a monument.”
Nicknamed “Ginger” for his thick, red hair, Beaumont was simply “Bo” to Cognato, 81, of Sarasota, Fla. She recalls her grandfather as a modest, talented man that had a strong singing voice and once embroidered a tablecloth in the dugout during a game.
A man who always looked to help others, Beaumont (1876-1956) and his family lived in a house in Walworth County on a 177-acre farm he bought in 1904. He lived there for about three years until he built a new house in Honey Creek, just across the line in Racine County.
Beaumont called his farm Centerfield Farm. It was a mile and a half west of Honey Creek on County Road D in Walworth County.
“The farm was his pride and joy,” Cognato said. “But the barn burned down years ago.”
Cognato, her daughter, Julie, who is Beaumont’s great-granddaughter will be in attendance at the Hall of Fame ceremony.
Cognato, along with HOF committee member Dennis Busch, who obtained directions to find the farm, will be on a quest upon Cognato’s arrival.
“I am so proud, you have no idea,” she said. “I want people to know about these old players. They were better than a lot of these current players.”
After his playing days, Beaumont returned to home and moved to Honey Creek where he owned a store, did some farming and auctioneering and conducted the church choir.
According to Cognato, there isn’t anything “Bo” wouldn’t do for his fellow man.
“He was a great man who wanted to help people,” she said. “He would start the furnace and shovel in the winter at the school across the street (which has since become a home). He didn’t want money. He wanted to be helpful.”
In the 1980s, the late Rollie Baumann, an instrumental figure in Burlington baseball, petitioned the Parks Committee to change the name of the city’s largest baseball field to Ginger Beaumont Field instead of Echo Lake Athletic Park.
A few years ago, Beaumont was inducted into the Burlington Baseball HOF, and Cognato flew up for the ceremony, which included hundreds of guests.
When HOF Chairman Bill Milatz contacted Cognato with the idea of a monument, she didn’t hesitate to mark it on her calendar.
Back in 1944, when Cognato was 10, Beaumont was being interviewed by a reporter. It was the first she knew of her grandfather’s fame.
“He taught me how to throw a baseball, and not like a girl,” she joked. “I had to wind up and really throw it hard.”
The tablecloth that Beaumont embroidered is in the Racine Museum, along with many cherished archives and memorabilia Cognato collected over the years.
She said she still has plenty of priceless artifacts of her grandpa, who built a three-hole golf course on his farm. Grandma raised horses.
The golf course has since become an orchard.
Though only a blip on the map and an area with literally one intersection, Honey Creek was once home to one of the greatest baseball players you’ve never heard of.
Forget Pete Rose, Beaumont belongs in Hall
The Major League Baseball Hall of Fame is in Cooperstown, N.Y. and has its share of equipment, apparel and memories that have shaped the baseball vernacular of America over the past two centuries.
But many don’t stop to consider the “live ball” era, or modern baseball as we know it, didn’t begin until 1920, when offensive statistics increased dramatically and rules changed to favor the batter.
Beaumont played in a time known as the “dead-ball” era, where home runs were scarce and getting on base was the goal.
Beaumont, who possessed elite speed and hit for average, once beat out six infield singles in one game.
He led the National League in hitting three straight seasons (only five other people have done that).
Also, he was the 1902 batting champion of baseball with a .357 average.
With a .311 career batting average, the argument could be made that Beaumont, who was a part of three pennant-winning teams with the Pittsburgh Pirates, should be in the Hall of Fame.
He had started his career just five years earlier with the old minor league Milwaukee Brewers. The Brewers traded him to Pittsburgh in 1900, and he played for the Pirates for eight seasons.
He also played for the Boston Braves.
“Bo” was eligible after his career ended, but his name was never called. Cognato said Beaumont’s wife lobbied for her husband. Back in those days, wives traveled on the road with players, and Beaumont’s wife joined him on the road.
Cognato’s mother, Marion, was one of Beaumont’s three kids, along with Chuck and Janet. Cognato said Chuck and Janet inherited Ginger’s “wonderful” singing voice, but her mom couldn’t sing a lick. Instead, she played piano.
In 1951, five years before his death, Beaumont was inducted into the Wisconsin Athletic Hall of Fame.
Now, with another Hall of Fame dedication on the horizon, Cognato gets another chance to show her deep love in remembering her artistic, helpful, modest and supremely talented grandfather.
“I will do anything for my grandfather,” she said. “I hope they don’t come up with any more awards. I don’t want to fly any more.”
Donations still needed
More than $2,500 has been raised for the Ginger Beaumont monument, honoring the Rochester and Honey Creek native who played Major League Baseball at the turn of the 20th century.
Burlington Baseball Hall of Fame Chairman Bill Milatz said Tuesday donations would still be accepted to honor the Burlington area’s most famous baseball player.
The 2-foot high, 30-inch monument will be featured at the July 19 Burlington Baseball Hall of Fame induction ceremony, a tradition that started in 2010.
Milatz said the monument will have a picture of Beaumont on both sides, one a live shot and the other an etching.
A baseball will be erected on the top of the monument.
Donations are still needed to honor the late, great local legend who built a 177-acre farm in Honey Creek and also owned a home there.
Please send donations to:
Baseball 2000
P.O. Box 587
Burlington, WI 53105
Attn: Beaumont Donation
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My favorite place in Burlington.