Michael Richard Beard is an American former professional baseball player, a left-handed pitcher who appeared in 74 games — 72 in relief — in the Major Leagues between 1974 and 1977 for the Atlanta Braves. Beard was drafted by the Braves in the first round of the secondary phase of the 1971 Major League Baseball Draft after pitching for the University of Texas at Austin. He stood 6 feet 1 inch tall and weighed 185 pounds. Beard’s finest MLB season came in 1975. Recalled from the Triple-A Richmond Braves in May, Beard appeared in 34 games and compiled a perfect 4–0 win–loss record as a relief pitcher. He also made his only two Major League starts that September against the San Diego Padres and San Francisco Giants. He allowed seven hits and five earned runs in an even nine innings pitched as a starter, but did not earn a decision. His professional career ended after the 1977 season, his seventh in the game. During his Major League career, he allowed 128 hits and 45 bases on balls, with 43 strikeouts, in 118 innings pitched.

 George Machock

God bless he, his family and, friends. He is in His Hands now.

Six weeks ago, when TLSN was raising money to replenish a $6500 grant to Pat Brown for health complications,  Mike Beard was one of the first persons to contact me, asking what he could do to help Pat. Over the next 6 weeks, Mike and I had a couple more phone conversations. Then, ten days ago, I contacted Mike and asked him for an interview for the TLSN newsletter. He declined the offer, but I could tell by his voice that something was wrong, so I called one of his teammates to share my concerns.   

 Very sorry to learn this. We played on the same Merrill Lynch softball team. We were better hardball players. Charles Kaufman

The following resume comes directly from Mike Beard.   

Mike says “ “I’ve had a great life and lived the American Dream. I met my wife of 42 years at IBM.” 

He did not mention much about his Longhorn days but chose to pick up his life journey in 1971. He emailed me the following in bullet form. 

  Longhorn Brand Builder Mike Beard’s Journey 

• 1971 signed with the Braves his junior year;

• 1973 returned to school;

• Transferred to U of Ark @ Little Rock;

• After baseball – I worked for IBM, Merrill Lynch

• 1985 I moved to Northwest Arkansas and went into banking;

• His last job was as President of a bank in Springdale, Arkansas;

• Developed an office park – tenants included IBM, HP, Microsoft, AT & T, EMC, and Cisco;

• Sold the office park in 2004 and sold his bank stock retiring at 54 years of age;

• He took up competitive skeet shooting traveling to events in his Airstream;

• In 2003 he had successful back surgery

UT Media shares Mike’s years as a Longhorn 

  It is sad to hear this! Our thoughts and prayers are with his family and friends! Stan Mauldin

UT says   

Sport: Baseball (1969-71)
Position: Pitcher
Inducted into the Hall of Honor in 2014
Hometown: Little Rock, Ark. 

• Mike helped lead Texas to Southwest Conference titles in all three of his seasons, as well as District 6 titles in 1969 and 1970.

• As a sophomore in 1970, he helped Texas advance to the College World Series and finished third nationally by recording a 7-0 record with a 3.16 ERA. He tossed four complete games and struck out 76 in 62-2/3 innings.

• In his three seasons, opponents batted just .213 against him.

• Mike was selected by the Atlanta Braves in the first round of the 1971 MLB Draft and went on to play four seasons (1974-77) at the major-league level with the team.

A great Longhorn. Bert Engel