Former Flames baseball player Tony Beasley named Texas Rangers’ interim manager

The Texas Rangers have announced that former Liberty University infielder Tony Beasley (’89) has been named the team’s interim manager for the rest of the 2022 season. He will make his Major League Baseball (MLB) managerial debut when the Rangers host the Oakland A’s in the opener of a three-game series today, Monday at 8:05 EST, becoming the first Liberty alumnus to manage at the major league level.

A leadoff hitter and starting second baseman for the Flames during his two seasons in Lynchburg, Va., in 1988 and 1989, Beasley was coached by former major league second baseman Bobby Richardson. He was a catalyst for Liberty’s offense, especially in 1989 when he was named the team MVP after hitting .345 and stealing 24 bases. He was selected in the 19th round of that year’s Major League Baseball Draft by the Baltimore Orioles and went on to bat .260 in eight minor league seasons as a middle infielder with the Orioles and the Pittsburgh Pirates organizations. He was named a Carolina League All-Star in the 1990 and 1991 seasons with the Lynchburg Hillcats and earned Southern League all-star honors in 1996. After ending his playing career in 1998, when he was a player/coach with the Pirates’ Class AA affiliate, the Carolina Mudcats, and its Class A club, the Lynchburg Hillcats, Beasley spent a season as the Hillcats’ full-time hitting coach in 2000.

The Fredericksburg, Va., native is now in his 22nd year of coaching at the major league and minor league levels. He spent five seasons as a manager in the Pirates’ farm system, guiding his club to the post-season in all five years and a combined regular-season record of 372-258. He was named Baseball America’s Double-A Manager of the Year in 2004 after guiding Altoona (Pa.) to the Eastern League championship series.

In 2011, Beasley returned to the Nationals as manager of the Double-A Harrisburg (Pa.) Senators. Then, in 2012-13, he managed Washington’s AAA affiliate, the Syracuse Chiefs of the International League. In 2014, Beasley was the co-field-coordinator of instruction in the Washington Nationals minor-league system before he joined the Texas Rangers’ staff in 2015, mainly serving as their third base coach.

In early 2016, Beasley was diagnosed with cancer forcing him to miss all of the season. After being deemed cancer-free, he returned to the Rangers in 2017. Now, with 48 games remaining in the the MLB regular season, Beasley replaces fourth-year manager Chris Woodward at the helm. The Rangers are currently 51-63, a full 23 games behind the American League West Division-leading Houston Astros and 9.5 games out of the Wild Card playoffs race.