MVP Candidate: Terry Beatty, New Orleans
Every ten games, we here at BNNSE would like to feature a player that has been doing an outstanding job on the season. Our first feature player is Terry Beatty, player-coach for the New Orleans Buzz. He is the player we have as the MVP leader through the first fifth of the season.
The 37-year-old from Wilmington, North Carolina, wasn’t always a ball player.
“Yeah, in high school, I actually quit playing sports to be in the marching band,” Beatty said. “They needed some guys that could carry a tuba.”
His road to professional softball actually began after he had been working for five years (1994-1999) as an airplane mechanic at Albert J. Ellis Airport in Jacksonville, North Carolina. While there, he was invited to play on a co-worker’s team as an alternate player. In his first game, he hit a home run.
“It was a solid blast right over the center field fence. I think they asked the guy that missed not to come back.”
Beatty played for the next eight years in and around Jacksonville before he joined a competitive traveling team in 2007. Joining for that team allowed Beatty to make a career advancement and get a job at Charlotte Douglas International Airport. On weekends and some vacation time, he traveled with the Bank of America (Charlotte) Millionaires. There he earned the North Carolina Softball Association Tournament MVP in 2008.
In 2009, the Carolinas Adult Softball League was formed. Beatty tried out and was awarded a position with the Union County Gamecocks. He played there from 2009-2011, winning Team MVP one year and finishing second in the league in home runs in 2010.
When the Professional Association of Southern Softball was formed to begin the 2012 season, Beatty was one of the first players chosen to be a player-coach. As a player-coach, a player is guaranteed a roster spot for that year. Player-coaches are under one-year contracts.
Beatty was expected to be a leader for New Orleans for his veteran presence and ability to hit the long ball, but he is a surprise for how well he has started in the 2012 season. Beatty currently leads the PASS in batting average (.548), on-base percentage (.587), on-base + slugging percentage (1.539), weighted on-base average (.626), wins above replacement (1.6), and tied for home runs (5). He is also second in slugging percentage (.952) and total bases (40) and tied for third in walks (4). He’s fifth in isolated power (.405).
“I don’t even know what some of them stats mean,” Beatty laughs. “I’m surprised, though, that I’m so high on the list for offense. The season’s still early, though, and there’s a lot of time for people to catch up to me.”
And how does Beatty feel about the New Orleans’ Buzz performance?
“I like winning just as much as anyone. It doesn’t do me any good to have great stats if my team is losing games. We have a tough decision, and every loss is going to weigh on us, so we all need to step up and play better.”
In the mean time, Beatty is carrying his team and deserves to be in talks for league MVP.