by Pete

This is not a movie...The Beat Romps On Opening Day! Palmer comes back with a bang, leads 23-9 rout over The Other Guys

After a long winter rainy season, the Sun defied the weather report, came out and shone brightly on Jackson Playground for opening day. Despite the absence of fearsome slugger Donnell "Big Daddy" Moody, The Beat defied some odds themselves, taking advantage of several costly errors by the grizzled Other Guys to score 10 unearned 1st inning runs before coasting to a decisive two touchdown win.

The returning John "The Bomber" Palmer, owner of most Beat all-time offensive records despite nearly 4 years on hiatus, paced the gray & black offense with a 4 for 4 day, and you guessed it, 4 RBIs. Greg "Lucky Lukie" Lukoski, chipped in with a 2 for 4, 3 RBI day, including a clutch 2-run single to break open the 1st inning hit parade. Speedy leadoff man BJ Bateman went 3 for 4 with a walk and 2 RBI. Brian "The Rifleman" Arcuri went 4 for 4 with an RBI. Overall, it was a balanced attack with every starter posting at least one hit.

The Beat took advantage of team speed and some shaky OG's defense to pad the score. Strong pitching performances by Captain Kevin Austin over 3 innings and Dennis "OB" O'Brien for the final two, combined with an efficient defense, helped seal the deal.

The visiting Beatniks jumped on top early and never looked back. With one out, Kevin singled sharply to left. Mark "The Cottonmouth King" St. Georges walked before cleanup man Jim "The Thrill" Colletto blooped a routine-looking pop to short left-center. It popped out of the errant shortstop's glove and Kevin scored, with MSG advancing to 3rd. After a line out by Mike "Pizza Man" Weiss for the 2nd out, Palmer followed with an aggressive double, the 1st of his 4 hits to score St. Jorge, and put runners on 2nd and 3rd. Enter Lukoski, who lined a 2-strike pitch to right-center to make it 4-0. After that, the floodgates opened. Successive clean singles by Gunnar "The Splendid Stump" Rosenquist, Brian, Mark "Eminem" Melin, Rookie Dave Marks, BJ, Kevin and MSG blew it out to 10-0.

"That game was over before the Other Guys ever picked up a bat," remarked Kevin in a postgame interview. "I love that."

Sitting on a fat lead, "Special K" retired the OG side in order in the bottom of the first. The Beatniks picked up 2 more runs in the 2nd on an RBI single by Gunnar and a Mark Melin sacrifice fly.

The Other Guys reached Austin for 3 runs in the home half of the 2nd highlighted by a booming 2-run homer to left by the number-5 hitter McCord to make it 12-3. With one out, Synes singled and Hamilton grounded sharply to Pizza Man at short for what looked like the start of a double play. However, the ball bounced out of Brian's glove and trickled away. With his foot planted firmly on the bag, a prostrate Arcuri lunged forward and picked up the ball a split second before Synes reached. It was a big out. Creary then flied to Lukie in left for the final out.

The Beat kept coming, scoring 3 more in the top of the third to increase the lead to 15-3. The key blow in that frame was a 2-run single by Palmer. Kevin again set down the Other Guys in order in the bottom of the 3rd before The Beat piled on with another 3 runs to up the tally to 18-3.

A rusty OB entered with rookie battery mate Javier Urdiales and quickly encountered trouble as 4 successive singles cut the margin to 18-6. The wily veteran then settled down to retire the side thanks to a nice force play by the shortstop Pizza Man.

The Beatniks iced the cake in the visitor's half of the 5th with another hit parade. Successive singles by Colletto, Weiss, Palmer and Lukoski got the rally going. A 2-run single by me, your humble narrator and Beat manager, capped off the final surge as I pinch-hit for OB.

The Other Guys scratched out 3 harmless runs in the bottom of the 5th before McCord scorched a comebacker to the mound, which was taken on the hop by OB and flipped to John for the final out.

The postgame party was ebullient as Palmer, the returning hero, was feted with the game ball, his first in almost 5 years. As beer and other refreshments flowed, several Beatniks gathered along the newly constructed 3rd-base-line fence to take in a well-played seesaw battle between our next-game competitor Mars and the Rasta-influenced Mad Dog in the Fog. 13-13 was the final as the Martians rallied for 3 runs in the final frame to tie it.

In view of the tie and the idle Cool Dudes, The Beat took sole possession of 1st place, a fitting way to end the opening day fireworks.

On The BEAT News Archive