Jim Beezley Interview: Former Police Captain's Second Act with Major League Baseball
Diana Landau | July 14, 2026
Host Carl prides himself on finding people that have interesting and different kinds of careers. It took Episode #110 but he finally found his first ex-cop. It's a fun one to listen to and an extra bonus is you can enjoy the banter live from Carl's Tiki Bar. After decades in law enforcement, including high-stress work in narcotics investigation and hostage negotiations, Jim Beezley the former Police Captain is now realizing a childhood dream by working with Major League Baseball.
Jim grew up in Sacramento and sports were the main activity in his neighborhood. He says he was a stubborn and independent child. “I was self-sufficient fairly young.” He attended CSU, Sacramento and earned a master's degree in criminal justice. Jim also graduated from the FBI National Academy.
He joined the Sacramento police force and eventually worked his way up to Captain. He talks about the challenging transition from being “one of the guys” to management. There’s hiring, firing, big budgets and more. “90% of police work is communication,” Jim adds. “It’s also a great, rewarding job that you can be proud of after 35 years.”
Jim retired from the police force and went on to serve as Senior Director of Protective Services at Sutter Health, where he specialized in healthcare investigations, workplace violence prevention and systemwide security strategy. He retired from his second act in 2025.
For Jim’s third act, he has combined his investigative background with his lifelong passion for sports—and more specifically the Oakland A’s. “When I was a kid in the early 1980’s, the A’s were MY team. It took another 45 years for this opportunity to present itself. What a great job!" It turns out the A’s left Oakland and are playing in Sacramento for three years. When Jim heard the team was coming to town, he started making calls to the right people and landed the position as an authenticator for Major League Baseball.
Jim loves being an authenticator. “It’s multi-tasking and negotiating with lots of people," he says. He gets to interact with his sports heroes all season and he's even traveled to Japan for the World Baseball Classic. Working with the A's is a dream come true for him. When not in the dugout, Jim is totally obsessed with pickleball. He plays almost everyday!
Jim's (Un) retirement advice:
-
Financial planning: "I'm fairly frugal and (decades ago) I put together a big spreadsheet and tried to be as financially literate as possible. I look at all the trends, making sure it all pencils out and makes sense. I do it myself. I taught a class on financial planning for new recruits to set them up for success. I'm very proud of that."
-
Health and Routine: "For me, I want to live as long and healthy as possible. See a doctor. Find something you like to do that's healthy. I guarantee there are days you don't want to get up and do it. But I say, 'Just 5 minutes.' And then you do another 5, and another 5, and soon you've got a workout." 
Diana Landau is the Content Wrangler for Pickleball Media. After 15 years in corporate marketing, in 2012 she pivoted to write and wrangle content for Niche Media's weekly blog. She now manages the "I Used to be Somebody" blog.
Pat Belding Interview: The Dream! Operating a Sports Bar in Retirement
Diana Landau | May 19, 2026
It’s baseball season again so you can be sure Carl is interviewing someone connected to the sport. In this interview, Pat Belding, a former marketing agency owner is now running a Sports Bar at age 66. Sure, some people have always thought it would be fun to have their own restaurant or bar “some day” but Pat is actually doing it. After he passed on his agency to his employees in 2021, he came face-to-face with his first retirement. Pat shares with us experiments tried, lessons learned and he’s still knocking it out of the park.
Pat is a native San Franciscan, growing up in the West Portal, the oldest in a family of 5. He says that as a kid, he was always curious, always trying something new and different. He also pushed the boundaries with his parents. “I had a great group of friends to keep me on track,” he says.
After college, he trained and worked in the graphic arts and creative industry, founding his own marketing agency, Belding Associates in 1984. He worked with Fortune 100 companies like 3M, Cisco, Google and more. Pat adds, “1992 was an exciting time. The whole industry was changing so dramatically.”
By 2021, the marketing industry had been utterly transformed by technology and social media. Pat shares that something shifted for him and he realized it was time to step away. “The transition was surreal. "I quickly learned I wasn't quite as relevant as I thought was!” But he began to realize that in (un)retirement he had the chance to do all things he had never had time for while he’d been working.
After completing all the house projects, Pat says his wife gently hinted that maybe he could find other places to put his energy. “I wasn't necessarily frustrated or bored. I just left myself be open to things.” Like many of our podcast guests, this was a period of experimentation for him. He volunteered to help restore hiking paths, worked for the US Census where he hired people and learned what it’s like to work with the federal government. He also worked for the SF Giants for a while. He says he never really had an “Aha” moment. “I still don't know if I’m doing it (unretirement) right, but it drives me to succeed.”
Pat is still pushing way beyond his comfort zone, this time with his current venture. Three years ago he started helping out at Frankie’s, a cool sports bar on the South Beach marina and just a short walk from Oracle Park, where the SF Giants play. Frankie's, originally named the Java Hut, has a special history--it's the oldest operating eatery on the San Francisco waterfront. It's been around for over a century.
One year into it, and with no prior experience in the food service industry, Pat started managing Frankie's and he's a part-owner as well. He says that daily he deals with customers, employees, food and beverage vendors, and everything in between. He’s building a solid team and hopes to be able to step back sometime in the future. “Right now I’m in the trenches! Be careful what you say ‘yes’ to.” In the off-season, Pat travels with his wife and spends time with family and friends, but Franke’s still keeps him pretty busy. And of course, he’s always cheering for the SF Giants to win.
Pat’s tips on (un)retirement:
-
“Don’t be afraid to take chances. Stay curious!”
-
“I think it’s really easy to stay in your comfort zone, especially as we get older. Now is the time to adopt a ‘Why Not? "mentality!”
-
“Get engaged as much as possible, (with all ages) because there’s so much more you can add value to in your community and our world.”
Diana Landau is the Content Wrangler for Pickleball Media. After 15 years in corporate marketing, in 2012 she pivoted to write and wrangle content for Niche Media's weekly blog. She now manages the "I Used to be Somebody" blog.
Henry Schulman Interview: It’s Really Not Just About Baseball
Diana Landau | April 06, 2021
.png)
Carl interviews renowned sports journalist Henry Schulman this week. Schulman has covered major league baseball in the San Francisco Bay Area for over three decades. He was the San Francisco Giants beat writer since 1998 for the San Francisco Chronicle. Schulman has been a must-read (and listen!) for many Giants fans over his decades-long career. Prior to the SF Chronicle, Henry worked for the Oakland Tribune and San Francisco Examiner.
Regarded as one of the consistently best journalists in the industry, Henry recently stepped away from the Chronicle into (un)retirement. A natural on the air and in writing, plus his sense of humor combined with deep knowledge of baseball makes Carl an ardent fan. Henry shares his next steps with us as he begins his Second Act.
Henry grew in Los Angeles to Jewish immigrant parents who were also Holocaust survivors. Both parents spoke multiple languages and were a little protective of Henry and his sister. A key moment for Henry was when his father took him to see his first baseball game, the LA Dodgers in 1969. “I was hooked from a young age,” Henry says.
As a teen, he told his parents he wanted to play the trombone professionally and they suggested a fall back position. He then became passionate about journalism. Henry said his parents couldn’t believe he would want to devote his life and education to a career that didn’t pay very well! But over time and through the course of his career, they became very proud of him. After college, Henry began working for small-town newspapers throughout California, which wasn’t so easy. “I think it made me a better journalist in the end.”
Now an admired sports celebrity on radio and TV, Henry talks about how different sports journalism is now. It used to be writing one article at a time for one newspaper. The digital age has changed so much of that, often demanding 4-5 pieces of content to be distributed daily. In 2015, Henry was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, took a year off and is now cancer-free. His illness weighed heavily on his decision to step back from the grueling schedule. Of course, Carl gets Henry to share some intel on the best coaches and players he’s dealt with, sending Carl into total fan nirvana.
Carl couldn't help but ask Hank who his least favorite person to work with. It was the Giants former star Barry Bonds who had a reputation for treating the media poorly. Schulman holds nothing back about his feelings about Bonds and the games he would play with writers in the day. It's an interesting segment in the interview for sure.
Finally, Henry shares how his whole life isn’t just about baseball anymore. He is looking forward to an (un)retirement that includes freelancing (maybe a book, we hope), extensive travel with his girlfriend, learning to cook Italian food and taking salsa lessons. “It [future endeavors] wouldn’t have to be limited to sports. That would intrigue me a little bit.”
Henry Schulman’s insights into a successful (un)retirement:
• “It really does behoove you to set up a financial plan. Do Quicken or ibank for a year, categorize every expense over $20 and then give that information to a financial planner. They will know what you need.”
• Start thinking about a part-time job (maybe a wine-pourer in Napa!) to supplement your income.”
• “It’s really just math. Don’t be afraid. You can even “Google” what your break-even is with Social Security.”
• Don’t procrastinate on a Living Trust! Do it tomorrow before you do anything else.”
Diana Landau is the Content Wrangler for Pickleball Media. After 15 years in corporate marketing, in 2012 she pivoted to write and wrangle content for Niche Media's weekly blog. She now manages the “I Used to Be Somebody” weekly blog.
Dr. James Beckett Interview: Sports + Math = Amazing Success!
Diana Landau | January 26, 2021
Carl interviews the one and only Dr. Jim Beckett. Dr. Beckett has lived quite a life—and as he says, “I had a childhood hobby that grew into a successful business and now I'm turning back into a hobby!”
He is currently the CEO of Beckett Interests Inc. of Dallas, Texas. He is the founder of Beckett Publications Inc., the world's largest sports and entertainment collectibles publisher, and served as its CEO from 1984 until selling the company for a reported $20 million in January 2005.
Beckett Publications' titles included Beckett Baseball, Beckett Basketball, Beckett Football, Beckett Hockey, Beckett Racing, Beckett Fantasy Sports Powered by Rotoworld.com, Neopets (The Official Magazine), Beckett Pokemon, Beckett Dragonball Z, Beckett Anime & Manga, Beckett Yu-Gi-Oh Unofficial Collector and a number of other titles. Jim has also authored more than 50 sports-related books, including numerous annual price guides in several collectible fields.
As a child, Jim lived in 18 houses in 18 years. His father was in the military and then a corporate CEO and it kept the family moving. He said of those years, “Moving a lot with new schools means you've got to be a quick study.” Jim also discovered that his hobby of collecting baseball cards was a great “socializer.”
After earning his Ph.D. in statistics from Southern Methodist University in 1975, he was a tenured associate professor of statistics at Bowling Green State University until 1980. Surrounded by so many baseball entities in the region, he said it was an immersive experience. Combining his great love of sports and math, he decided to publish a free price survey to the collector market in 1975. In 1979, he published a full-length book.
Living in Dallas in 1984, Jim then published Baseball Monthly magazine. It was such a success he left his other jobs to fully devote his time to Beckett Publications, Inc. Carl noted that he also launched his first magazine in 1984, Computer Language. Their paths and exit strategies were entirely different—Carl sold his magazine three years later, while Jim grew his company over 20 years into an empire. “I’m not really a serial entrepreneur”, he said. “I’m an opportunistic entrepreneur, I had many great ideas, but that one idea seemed to have legs on it and it sure seemed that I should be the guy to carry it forward.”
The company eventually expanded way beyond baseball cards, selling 2 million magazines a month. “I think I have the record for the greatest direct mail return, I had a 1,000%! I would send out 1,000 pieces of mail and get 10,000 orders,” Jim told us. Then while actively leading the company, Jim suffered a heart attack. It forced him into concentrating on his schedule and his health. He went into a more executive role with the company, which he didn't enjoy. “I’m a hands-on guy!” Soon he started thinking of selling.
In addition to running a successful company, Jim had started a pro-bono consulting business to help leaders and future leaders solve problems. He started having 200 meetings a year with different entities, often bringing in peers to help too. Jim’s love of problem solving has led to more than 5,000 meetings over the years. “It has been so fulfilling,” he added.
Now in (un)retirement, Jim is going strong with a daily (yes, daily!) podcast for the sports collector world. Turns out that in the pandemic, card collecting has had a dramatic resurgence. 2020 was the biggest year ever. “I get to have an impact on my industry and influence the influencers. I'm having a blast!”
Dr. James Beckett’s (un)retirement advice:
“I think people need to find some connection to a passion. It’s not I have to do this, it’s I get to do this. How great is that?”
“I was always a person to bring order out of the chaos……as I've grown older, I've realized you don't want to eliminate all the chaos. A little bit of chaos is the joie de vivre.”
“Leave the world a better place. Make a positive impact!”
Check out the Dr. James Beckett: Sports Card Insights podcast.
This week we're sponsored by 032 Outsourcing: Call 214.403.3755 or visit: https://032outsourcing.com/
Diana Landau is the Content Wrangler for Pickleball Media. After 15 years in corporate marketing, in 2012 she pivoted to write and wrangle content for Niche Media's weekly blog. She now manages the “I Used to Be Somebody” weekly blog.
