by #6

Beat Sneak by with a 14-13 Win Over  Monsters!

As game 2 of the 3 game absence of Manager Pete Wenner drew to a close, the team breathed a sigh of relief in what one fan called "an embarrassing win." The Van Ness Monsters are a team struggling in its promotion to city 'C' league. Following an early season tie, the team hit a skid that peaked with a 33-5 loss to Joey J's on April 28. Last week's loss to the previously winless Finnegan's left the Monsters looking shell shocked as they fell to last place. 

The Monsters are a team of great pride and history and The Beat was a big part of that history. The Beat's first manager and co-founder Jim Harvey is the brother of then Monster second baseman Dennis. Add to that the veteran leadership of Monster castaway Dennis O'Brien and the defection of Monster catcher Dave Hamner who helped stabilize The Beat in its fledgling year, and you have the making of a great rivalry and a great story.

The Beat played the Monsters a few times back in the late 80's but could never seem to get by them. That was until the summer of 1990. Both teams were on a roll when the 5-1 Beat faced the undefeated Monsters in the next to last game of the season. The Beat fought out an 8-6 win forcing a playoff between the two 7-1 rivals at the season's end. It was a classic playoff in which the Monsters eeked out a 5-4 victory when Dennis Harvey crossed the plate with the winning run to beat his brother's team. The Beat may have lost the division title, but they gained confidence and self-respect that carried them to their first division title one year later. 

Cut to May 2001. Gone are Jim and Dennis Harvey, and Dave Hamner as well. In fact, the only Monster players remaining from those rivalry days are manager and pitcher Ellery Brown and first baseman Darryl Rucker. In the absence of manager Wenner (another old-timer) The Beat brought veteran hurler Denny O'Brien, third baseman Mark St.Georges, and yours truly as interim manager.

It was a classic day at Jackson 2, ripe for disaster. The wind galed into the pitchers' faces and hence out toward center, broken only by the frequent unpredictable swirls. The Beat took the field with O.B. on the mound. The Monsters countered with leadoff man Rucker. The Beat outfield shifted the lefty to pull and Darryl smacked a liner into the left-center gap for a leadoff homerun. Not a grand opening for our heroes, but the Beat felt confident in their ability to match this struggling team. The Monsters tacked on a couple more runs before the end of the inning taking advantage of an infield error after two hits. 

The Beat entered the bottom of the first knowing the top of their order was a force to be reckoned with. Jacque Wilson led off in typical fashion, magically turning a single into two bases on an infield bobble. Wilson advanced to third on an outfield fly then score the Beat's first run on D. Moody's fielders choice. Slugger Jim Colletto strolled up with two outs and pounded a ball into the jet stream for a 2-run homer. Just that quick, the Beat had tied the game at 3-3.

The second inning began in bizarre fashion as the Monster's first hitter was called out for using an illegal bat. O.B., battling the strong wind all day, then gave up of the first of six walks. Denny made up for it though, by turning a comebacker into the third out of the inning. 

The Beat broke the game open as the bottom half of the order put together a quick rally. Greg Lukoski, Brian Arcuri, Mike Weiss, and  BJ Bateman came through with 4 consecutive singles, scoring 2 runs. With one out, Jacque drove in the other two on a single. Gunnar Rosenquist lined a ball through the legs of the outfield for a single, but the speed of G and Jacque made the Monsters pay for their error by touching them all to score two more. After 2, the beat led 9-3.

The Monsters took advantage of a leadoff walk in the third with a 2-run homer by Arguello that was murdered, wind or no wind. Following the homer, O.B. settled down and set down the next 7 Monster batters in order. Meanwhile, the Beat hit parade continued. 

Colletto led off the Beat 3rd with the 2nd of 3 hits; Austin followed with a 4-pitch walk. Two fielder's choices advanced Austin to third and he tacked on the Beat's 10th run as Mike Weiss broke a 3-gameskid with his second hit and second RBI. 

Brian Heinz led the Beat 4th pinch hitting for O.B. with a solid single but was forced at second on Wilson's grounder. Gunnar drilled another single that was erred into extra bases scoring Wilson. G then scored on St.Georges' double. D. Moody stepped up and sent a ball to the skin of the neighboring Jackson 1 infield, but the Monsters had a man stationed deep for the big guy and they pulled the ball in which MSG moved to third. Colletto picked up his third RBI with a single giving the Beat a 13-5 lead. 

Just when it looked like the Beat had the game in hand, the Monsters struck back quick and hard. With 2 walks and 2 hits, the Monsters had one run in and the bases loaded when Guitierrez lined a 2-out, 2-run double. Aquilar followed with a single to left driving in the Monster's 4th run of the inning. But as Guitierrz rounded third, Greg Lukoski came up throwing. In the play of the day, Greg rifled the ball into the teeth of the wind. Gunnar sealed off the plate and tagged Guitierrez for the third out ending the Monster rally.

Up now 13-9, The Beat fizzled in the fifth following a leadoff single with 2 more fielder's choices and an infield popup. The Monsters opened the 6th where they'd left off as Evans drilled a leadoff double. Two singles, a walk, and a sacrifice fly gave the Monsters 2 more runs. The Beat's third infield error scored two more and when the dust settled, the Beat had let an 8-run lead get away. The game was tied at 13 and the Beat had one last at bat to save face. 

The Beat opened the inning with two quick outs and it looked like they were about to let another game slip away. But Gunnar would have none of that as he lined a 2-out single. MSG followed with another single. D.Moody then came up with the 3rd clutch hit with Gunnar motoring all the way from second to score the winning run. 

The Beat was ecstatic about the clutch win, but dumbfounded by the inability to put a game away with a solid lead. Next week we face the powerhouse Joey J's, the team that put the 33-run hurt on the Monsters two weeks ago. Jackson 1 bodes well for a low scoring game, but the team needs to dig deep to exorcise its recent late inning demons. See you Saturday!

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