The Beat stared into the abyss after being shocked in Game 3 by the last place Other Guys 12-10 on August 19 in front of co-founder and original manager Jim Harvey, who hadn't seen his progeny in action since 1994. The Beat had expected to give the "leathery one" a taste of what his brainchild had become in C-league with yet another shellacking of the OGs. There was a full squad that day, but the team may have been punished for hubris or looking ahead.

The stakes were high the next game on August 26 as The Beat met the Renegades in a battle to get out of the basement and back into the C-7 race. However, the boyz in gray rested easier as they went into the Labor Day break at 2-2 and tied with Cafe Mars for 2nd place, one game behind 1st place Nicoya (3-1). The Beat and longtime nemesis Nicoya (5-1 lifetime against The Beat since 1998) will meet again in a feature matchup at Jackson #2 on September 9 at 1.45pm.

Kevin Austin and Denny O'Brien teamed to hold off a late Renegades rally in the latter innings as Mark St. Georges (2 RBIs) and Gunnar Rosenquist (triple) led another meager 9-hit attack. Game ball-winning Gunnar contributed a game-saving over the shoulder catch in left that started a double play and choked off a Renegades rally in the 3rd. Sparkplug MSG started a 2-out Beat rally in the first by scorching a home run ball down the left field line.

Despite flashes of hot-hitting at the top of the lineup (Austin, MSG, Dave Maxion) the Beat followed a 2nd half trend in the Renegades game. It has struggled on offense through the first 4 games of the second half, compiling a lethargic .368 average after a robust-hitting Spring. The team was once again forced to adjust to life without Palmer and a more competitive division. Defense has been the key to keeping the team in contention as the unsoftball-like team average could have made it a lot worse. All of the games with the exception of the Nicoya opener have been taut, closely-contested affairs.

Having lost to Nicoya 15-10 in Week 1 without absent Donnell "Big Daddy" Moody and John "Bomber on the voluntarily retired list again" Palmer, The Beat came back heroically from a 9-3 second inning deficit to scratch away and vanquish Mars 13-9 on only 9 hits. They looked forward to an easy win against the Other Guys, a journeyman team populated by several white-haired oldtimers who had grown up with the venerable Van Ness Monsters and once played the early Beat in 1990. After all, The Beat was 4-0 over two seasons against the OGs. Jim Harvey was back in town and OB had flown back unexpectedly for the game so Beat history was in the air.

It was not to be as The Beat left 11 runners on base, made a pitching change too late and squandered opportunities galore in a 12-10 heartbreaker to The Other Guys in a game in which the OGs "imported" a locktight middle infield and a couple younger sluggers from DD-league.

Bolstered by the appearance of Harvey, The Beat had had great expectations going into the Other Guys game as slugging free agent Dan Romero made his Summer debut as the replacement for Palmer in the lineup. But the offense was inopportunistic and starting pitcher Kevin "Special K" Austin struggled with his control in the loss.

The Renegades, a.k.a the Hit Men had won both matchups against The Beat in Summer 1999. They had beaten the Beatniks in the final game of the 20th century in a controversial game in which the Beat got a Mars player tossed for playing illegally for the ever-shorthanded HM/Renegades. There were weird vibes. The Beatniks could have been effectively eliminated on August 26 with a loss to the renamed squad.

Indeed, The Beat offense was quiet again as slugger Big Daddy roamed Lake Tahoe with an Ad League team and Greg "Lukie" Lukoski paid homage to Ozzie Ozborne at Oz Fest. Nevertheless, the offense parlayed 9-hits, speed, and some shaky Renegades fielding into a come-from-behind 8-7 victory to remain alive in the pennant chase. Pitching and defense carried the day as OB started and gave the team 4 strong innings and Kevin shut it down over the final 3. The defense committed just 1 error. It was one of the better, most fundamentally-sound performances the team had put on in the last 3 years.

The Beat went into this game with a better plan than it had against the OGs. OB was given the start due to his record at #1 in the wind. Kevin would take over after the 2nd time round the Renegades lineup. The Beat started strong with a 4-1 lead after 2. However, they were shut down in the 3rd and 4th as the Renegades exploded for 4 runs off OB to take the lead 6-4 in the top of the 4th courtesy of back to back home runs over the head of rover Mike "Pizza Man" Weiss playing shallow right center.

After Kevin shut down the Renegades in order in the 5th, Rosenquist singled and Weiss walked before BJ hit a hard ground ball at the second baseman Parker, which got past him scoring Gunnar-man to make it 6-5. BJ cruised into 2nd and Pizza scooted into 3rd. Pizza scored on Javier Urdiales' single and BJ followed him when the relay throw got past the catcher to put The Beat ahead 7-6. Hitting for OB, walk-on Mark Russell reached on a 4-6 fielders choice and advanced to second on another Renegades error on 1st baseman Lee. Russell scored what turned out to be the winning run on the Cottonmouth King's single.

Special K shut down a brief Renegades rally in the 7th to seal the win and a shot at a share of 1st place when play resumes after the Labor Day holiday on September 9.

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