Brett will head to USC to add to family’s baseball history

Beau Brett does not deny that he’s a baseball legacy. That fact especially hit home when at age 10 he was in Cooperstown, N.Y., witnessing the induction of his uncle George Brett into the Major League Baseball Hall of Fame.

His late uncle Ken was considered the best by the family – a legend in his hometown of El Segundo, Calif., and the fourth player taken in the pro draft. He had a 14-year career as a good-hitting major league pitcher.

“It’s nice to know the legacy and carry on the tradition,” said Beau. “You set higher expectations for yourself.”

His knowledge of the accomplishments of his famous family is mainly secondhand, although he would like to follow the footsteps. As his father Bobby said, most of his peers are likely unaware of whom the older Bretts are.

Beau has signed to continue his career at the University of Southern California and is, among others in Spokane, on this year’s pro draft radar. But the athletic career of the Ferris Saxons first baseman and pitcher has traveled a different path, having lived out his life entirely in the colder climes of Spokane rather than on the beaches of sunny California.

His entrepreneurial dad moved here nearly two decades ago when Beau was an infant to oversee business concerns – the Spokane Chiefs hockey and Indians baseball franchises.

“When I bought the hockey team it was losing a bunch of money, and I don’t like things that lose money,” Bobby said.

As a Dodgers fan growing up he had known about Spokane the farm club, if not its location. He said he thought it might be a better place to raise his only child.

“Too many things happen on the beach,” Bobby said. “We decided we’d see how we liked it here and maybe end up staying.”

Beau benefited with a memorable three-sport career as a member of two unbeaten state basketball title teams and a football semifinalist, while indulging his baseball passion.

“I’m perfectly happy here,” Beau said. “I’m glad we came here for all four seasons and a more family lifestyle. Dad made the right decision moving away from the beach.”

Beau was a late bloomer, who today stands 6-foot-3, 180 pounds.

“I was always skinny and scrawny,” Beau said. “I’ve never been the best player. Even now I’m not the best player on my baseball team.”

The lanky lefty did have the advantage of off-season tutelage by his father, who had played professionally and begun as a high school teacher and coach. Father and son initially projected him to become a pitcher. As Beau matured, so did his hitting stroke.

During his first two All-GSL seasons, Beau hit eight doubles and had 16 runs batted in as a sophomore, and last year hit nine home runs, drove in 38 runs and batted .433.

“He has an excellent work ethic, one of the hardest-working kids I’ve had,” said Ferris coach John Thacker. “I think his future is bright because he’s still filling out and I don’t think he’s quite reached his potential.”

Hoping to play college ball in a warmer environment, Beau made sure he marketed himself to USC among others, Bobby said. Last year he attended a workout and was offered a scholarship on the spot.

“He was hitting the ball over the center-field wall and pulling them out,” said USC coach Chad Kreuter. “We recruit predominantly left-handed hitters because it’s conducive to our ball field.”

Kreuter said that Beau will play either first or the two corner outfield positions and doesn’t expect him to redshirt. That he is a three-sport athlete was attractive, Kreuter added.

“Those guys have a higher ceiling because they haven’t put all their time into baseball,” he said. “Beau is a kid who’s physically gifted and obviously comes from a great baseball lineage.”

This summer Beau will have his college baptism by playing for the Spokane RiverHawks. It will be a big jump, but will provide the opportunity to adjust to Division I pitching as he pursues a long-term goal of playing professionally.

“When he was in elementary school, you hope he can play high school sports,” Bobby said. “When that happened, you hope he can play college baseball.”

In Beau Brett’s case it is coming to pass.