Both boys joined the Fitzroy Cricket Club and Beitzel won the second grade batting averages.
[2] After an operation on his achilles tendon, Beitzel regained fitness and intended to continue umpiring, but instead took up a role in the media for the 1961 season.
He later joined 3AK and the ABC radio stations, as well as writing for the Herald Sun, The Truth, The Sunday Telegraph and The Australian.
His innovations included the introduction of statistics during broadcasts of matches, as well as comprehensive previews and reviews of games.
He followed this the next year with The Australian Football World Tour, a six-match series with games played against Irish teams in Ireland, the UK and the United States.
The 1968 Galahs also played exhibition matches of Australian rules throughout the tour, including a game in Bucharest, Romania.
[2] Beitzel's downfall was that he introduced lottery winners to a fraudulent financial advisor who took all their money.