by Pete

The Beat Clinches 1st C-League Title!! Losing the battle, but winning the war, The Beat clinches 1st playoff berth since ‘95 despite 11-5 loss to Nicoya; Rhinos eliminate the Other Guys.

The champagne finally flowed for The Beat as the boys in gray watched the Rhinos finish off the Other Guys 9-5. While we didn’t clinch it on the field, the bubbly still tasted sweet because we knew we had done what we had to do to win it all.

After suffering a bitter 11-5 loss at the hands of Nicoya, which broke our 8-game summer winning streak, the Beatniks repaired to the Jackson #1 sidelines last Saturday to lick our wounds and root for the Rhinos. Theories abounded as to why we lost, but it eventually wouldn’t matter much. 

C7 Summer 2001 Standings through September 29, 2001 Team W L T PCT Pts GB x - The BEAT 5 1 1 .785 11 – Nicoya 4 4 0 .500 8 2 The Other Guys 3 3 1 .500 7 2 Rhinos 3 4 0 .428  6 2.5 H.G.A 2 5 0 .286  4 3.5

Curtains for the OGs
Heading into their 2nd matchup with the Rhinos, the Other Guys suddenly felt new life as they trailed the division leaders by just a single game in the all-important loss column with 2 games left to play. Ace Ron Hamilton was back on the mound following a week off. Unfortunately for manager Ken Sommer’s troops, the OGs couldn’t get the offense going to overcome the Rhinos adequate offensive attack and were in danger of falling below .500 for the summer after starting out 3-0-1 and tied with The Beat for 1st just 2 short weeks ago.

Breaking the Nicoya/Cool Dudes lock
Although the title celebration was slightly subdued for The Beat because of our loss, Beatnik teammates felt satisfaction in winning the games they had to earlier in the season such as the hard-fought 15-11 victory in the 1st Nicoya match-up and the 5-2 OGs nail-biter. Remarkably, The Beat became the first Saturday C-league team other than Nicoya or the Cool Dudes to win a division in more than 2 years since spring 1999. This is an honor and testament to a lot of hard work by the team this summer. All the Thursday night batting practices paid off. We swept our first C-league tournament and 3 summer exhibitions before tearing through C-7 where we now stand at 5-1-1 and in first place by 2 games.

“If anything,” said losing pitcher Kevin (Special K) Austin, “we got this loss out of our system at a good time,” referring to the fact that The Beat has a regular season game left and the prospect of 3 playoff games for the first time in 6 years.

About that pesky battle
Coming off the clutch victory over The Other Guys on September 15, The Beat came out a tad flat against Nicoya following a bye. 3-time division winner Nicoya finished their season by completing a 4-game winning streak after dropping to an astonishing 0-4 record at the Labor Day break. No pre-season oddsmaker would have prophesied that, despite the eyebrows raised by The Beat’s surprising pre-season showing. The proud Nicaraguans came out swinging in the top of the first off Austin and capitalized on 8 hits sandwiched around an error to take a 6-0 lead before the Beatniks took a swing. Crafty Nicoya ace Carlos Guerrero Sr. returned after missing most of the season with an injury and got The Beat to fly out 3 times in the first. Just like that, Nicoya tacked on another 4 runs to lead 10-0.

The venerable Guerrero held the Beatniks hitless for 2-2/3 innings until Pete Wenner broke up the no-no with a line drive up the middle past the diving shortstop Ernesto Rodriguez. Eight out of the first 9 Beat batters had previously flied out. 

But The Beat, soon to become champions themselves, weren’t about to go down without a fight. 

Austin settled down to hold Nicoya scoreless over the next 2 frames before the Beat bats finally stirred in the bottom of the 4th. Jacque Wilson led off with a tailing fly ball to left center, but outfielder Carlos Seveira dropped the rock as the fleet outfielder cruised into 2nd base. RBI singles by Mark (The Cottonmouth King) St. Georges and Jim (The Thrill) Colletto and an RBI fielders choice by Brian Arcuri made it 10-3. 

In the 6th, Nicoya scored a run off veteran reliever Denny (OB) O’Brien, who pitched well in his 1st appearance since coming off the DL to extend the lead to 11-3 before the Beatniks rallied in the 6th to cut the deficit to 11-5. That would be all both teams would score.

“They were really ready for us and hungry to even their record after an embarrassing start,” said OB. “You’ve got to take your hat off to them. They’re proud champions. They wanted to make a statement and they did. We didn’t have to win this game and they felt they did.” 

Now OB can has a crowning twist when he eventually writes the chapter “The Old Man and the C” in his epic history of The Beat “Best Seat in the House.”

On to the postseason
The Beat championship is a crowning achievement in the organization’s 15th year. Remarkably, the 2001 title marks the 10th anniversary of The Beat’s first D league title under legendary co-founder Jim (Leather) Harvey in the summer of 1991 (current stars Kevin Austin and Dennis O’Brien were Harvey’s co-visionaries.) The Beat also won another D-league title in spring 1994 and a DD championship in summer 1995 under Harvey’s able successor C. Wilfred Spoon. 

The 1st C-league trophy is the culmination of a rebuilding process that was started by yours sincerely after the Spoons and several key veterans departed for the Eastern Seaboard following the 1997 season. It all started with the return of prodigal son Greg (Luki) Lukoski in 1999. A great clubhouse presence, partier and prankster, Greg provided another vital link to the glory years that had been missing during the woeful 1998 season. He helped loosen us up and kept hitting star Mark St. Georges in the fold.

Additionally, the team’s 1st cyber-rookies sparkplug catcher Gunnar Rosenquist and slugger Jim Colletto joined veteran holdovers like Donnell (Big Daddy) Moody to help restore the winning tradition in 1999. Javier Urdiales was added in 2000 for pitching and utility depth. We’ve missed professional hitter Dave Maxion, who was also added in 2000 and has been out this summer with a shoulder injury. 

Key acquisitions this year have been rookies Jacque and Jacq Wilson and Steve Hinkebein who were referred to the team by sparkplug catcher Gunnar Rosenquist. Indeed, The Beat scuffled for offense against Nicoya without Jacq and Steve, who are 2 of our leading summertime hitters. 

“We need to make sure Jacq is healthy for the playoffs,” said brother Jacque referring to a sprained ankle suffered by Jacq prior to the 2nd Other Guys game. “I’ll whup his ass if he tries to come back too soon.” Another meaningful development has been the solidification of the middle infield around steady shortstop Mike (Pizza Man) Weiss and 2nd baseman Brian (The rifleman) Arcuri, as well as the outfield around speedsters Jacq and Jacque. 

Veteran outfielder BJ Bateman, who has been with the team since 1997 remarked during the celebration that “This has really been fun again.”

After the summer season finale with the Rhinos next week, the C-7 Champion Beat squad gets 10 days off before facing C-2 winners Mindless Ones in Round 1 of the 7-team C-league playoff at old stomping ground Moscone 1 at 8.30 on October 16. We’re looking to win our 1st post-season game and, like we did in winning our 1st tournament, are confident we have the guns to do it!!

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