Fred Beene

{{Infobox baseball biography

|name=Fred Beene

|image=1975 Cleveland Indians Postcards Fred Beene.jpg

|position=Pitcher

|birth_date={{Birth date and age|1942|11|24}}

|birth_place=Angleton, Texas, U.S.

|bats=Right

|throws=Right

|debutleague = MLB

|debutdate=September 18

|debutyear=1968

|debutteam=Baltimore Orioles

|finalleague = MLB

|finaldate=September 28

|finalyear=1975

|finalteam=Cleveland Indians

|statleague = MLB

|stat1label=Win–loss record

|stat1value=12–7

|stat2label=Earned run average

|stat2value=3.63

|stat4label=Strikeouts

|stat4value=156

|teams=

Baltimore Orioles ({{mlby|1968}}–{{mlby|1970}})
New York Yankees ({{mlby|1972}}–{{mlby|1974}})
Cleveland Indians ({{mlby|1974}}–{{mlby|1975}})

}}

Freddy Ray Beene (born November 24, 1942) is an American former professional baseball player. Beene was a right-handed pitcher who played in the Major Leagues between {{baseball year|1968}} and {{baseball year|1975}}. He was listed at {{convert|5|ft|9|in}} tall and {{convert|155|lb}}.

Beene attended Brazosport High School in Freeport, Texas then played college baseball at Sam Houston State University. In performance in the small college World Series convinced Orioles scout Dee Phillips to sign him for $6,000 in 1964.{{cite news|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1891&dat=19700318&id=CRIpAAAAIBAJ&sjid=mNYEAAAAIBAJ&pg=1095,1542549|title=Baltimore's Fred Beene|work=Gadsden Times|date=March 18, 1970|page=17}} Beene played with Baltimore's minor league system until 1968 and made his major league debut in September 18 of that year. He played in eight games over three seasons with the Orioles who traded him along with Enzo Hernández, Tom Phoebus and Al Severinsen to the San Diego Padres for Pat Dobson and Tom Dukes on December 1, 1970.[https://www.nytimes.com/1970/12/02/archives/bob-aspromonte-joins-new-york-bostons-andrews-alvarado-sent-to.html "Bob Aspromonte Joins New York," The New York Times, Wednesday, December 2, 1970.] Retrieved March 5, 2020 Beene was returned to the Orioles {{frac|5|1|2}} months later on May 16, 1971.[https://sabr.org/bioproj/person/5ed36693 Newville, Todd & Armour, Mark. "Fred Beene" (biography), Society for American Baseball Research (SABR).] Retrieved March 5, 2020 In 1972, he was traded to the New York Yankees for a player to be named later, which turned out to be Dale Spier. Beene pitched very well for the Yankees, having earned run averages under 2.50. He was dealt along with Fritz Peterson, Steve Kline and Tom Buskey from the Yankees to the Indians for Chris Chambliss, Dick Tidrow and Cecil Upshaw on April 26, 1974.[https://www.nytimes.com/1974/04/28/archives/yankeeindian-trade-brings-confusion-anger-and-leaves-2dbase.html Chass, Murray. "Yankee‐Indian Trade Brings Confusion, Anger and Leaves 2d‐Base Question," The New York Times, Sunday, April 28, 1974.] Retrieved April 20, 2020

Beene appeared in 112 MLB games played, all but six as a relief pitcher. In 288 innings, he allowed 274 hits and 111 bases on balls, with 156 strikeouts. Primarily a middle reliever, Beene notched eight career saves, and compiled a career earned run average of 3.63.

After his playing career, Beene spent 20 seasons (1981–2000) as a scout for the Milwaukee Brewers. One of the players he talked the Brewers into drafting was Jim Morris in 1983, who would make his major league debut 16 years later.{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0stW_gJMqV0C&pg=PT37|title=The Rookie: The Incredible True Story of a Man Who Never Gave Up on His Dream|first=Jim|last=Morris|year=2008|page=37|publisher=Grand Central |isbn=9780446549875}}