BEAT 4-PEAT!

The Beat wins its 4th consecutive division title in 19-8 rout of last spring's city champs, S.F. Ballers; Loses finale with Ronin 14-12; 1st round playoff game pits Beat against Saturday foe Il Pirata on June 14.

That old cliche “be careful what you wish for” stared The Beat in the face when the 2004 spring season schedule was delivered. After years of lobbying the league for the challenge of being placed in the tougher of the two Saturday divisions, the boys in gray got their wish and more as they were included with the SF Ballers (aka Joey Js) and Ronin, both C-league champions in 2003.

They were up to the challenge. By logging a combined 3-1 record against last years’ champs along with sweeping Finnegans and The Other Guys in 4 games (7-1 overall), the Beat won its 5th C-league division crown in 6 eight-game seasons. It was the team’s 4th straight title, which according to unofficial records matched the most recent streak of the old Cool Dudes (Summer 1997-Spring 1999). The Beat is an astonishing 29-4 in regular season games dating back to May 18, 2002.

The keys to the Beat’s latest title season were as follows.

As it turned out, it was important for the undefeated Beat (6-0) to take care of business in the May 15 tilt against the 4-1 Ballers. That’s because they would be missing 3 star regulars against Ronin in the season finale on May 22. Last year’s summer champion had suffered a disappointing losing spring, but were poised to play spoilers so it all came down to the Beat vs. Ballers. The manager knew about the upcoming absences, but said nothing to his players before the Ballers arrived at the windblown bandbox known as Jackson #2.

The 2nd key was the 1st Ronin game on April 17. In a seesaw battle, The Beat overcame shaky defense and a 14-12 deficit in the final frame with clutch hits to win in sudden death fashion by a 15-14 score. That sent the Beat comfortably into the 1st half break at 4-0. The Beatniks roared out of the gate in May with a 23-14 win over Finnegans and an 18-3 annihilation of the Other Guys to set up the Beat/Ballers showdown.

The division clincher revisited

After Kevin (Special K) Austin stranded runners at 1st and 2nd with a run in, the Beatniks jumped out to a 5-1 lead with 2 out in the bottom of the 1st inning and never looked back. The game turned largely on the strength of 2 mammoth home runs in the 1st and 3rd innings. Rookie-of-the-year candidate Jason Pendergast crushed a 3-run homer in the 1st to set the tone of the game and went 3 for 4 with 4 RBIs. Jacque (The Jet) Wilson, who had endured a puzzling spring slump and entered the game with a .143 batting average, busted out with a perfect 4 for 4 game, a home run in the 3rd and 3 RBIs. When the dust cleared following Jacque’s shot, it was 9-2 Beat.

The Beatniks piled on with another 5 runs in the 4th to make it 14-3. Boiling over with frustration, the proud Ballers exchanged angry words with The Beat in the later innings, but exuded class in coming over to congratulate the boys following the game.

Austin gave up just 3 earned runs on 11 hits to complete his dominance over the Ballers this Spring. He allowed no earned runs in the previous Ballers matchup on April 10 in one of the best pitching performances of his career. The Ballers mounted a last ditch threat in the 7th scoring 2 quick runs with 1 out and had a runner on 2nd before Kevin retired the last 2 batters including the dangerous #3-hitter Lido Diaz.

The postgame celebration was lighthearted if not businesslike. The Beat is getting used to winning division pennants. Only a city championship will satisfy them now.

2004 Spring Standings

Team W L PCT Pts GB

x The BEAT 7 1 .875 14 –

SF Ballers 4 3 .571 8 2.5

Ronin 3 4 .428 6 3.5

The Other Guys 2 5 .285 4 4.5

Finnegan's 2 5 .285 4 4.5

Hard fought finale

The Beat finished the spring 2004 season with a disappointing 2-run loss to Ronin in which they squandered a 12-3 fourth inning lead. Even with stalwarts Jacque Wilson, Jason Pendergast and Mark Briscoe all out due to previous engagements and extended teammates Paul Sanders and Terrence Hempleman unavailable, the Beat looked well on its way to running the tables to a perfect 8-0 record midway through the game.

But the game unraveled quickly in the late innings. This shouldn’t have been a complete surprise because an undermanned Ronin team had played a full Beat squad extremely tough in April. After all, they were the reigning champion. Ronin is also known around the league for quick strike comebacks.

The Beat got on top early with a 3-1 lead on Armando Lopez’s 2-run triple. They made it 9-3 in the top of the 3rd courtesy of a 6-run inning that featured a 2-RBI single by Donnell (Big daddy) Moody batting left-handed (2 for 3, 2 runs, 2 RBI on the day). Special K shut down Ronin in the bottom of the 3rd and the Beat appeared to be cruising when it scored 3 more in the 4th mostly on errors and a triple by the cottonmouth king Mark St. Georges.

At that point, manager Pete Wenner turned to the wily Dennis (OB) O’Brien who had missed the entire spring but has always been known for his ability to fall out of bed and pitch 3 low-scoring relief innings. It started out innocently enough.

After a single and a flyout, Ronin jumped on OB for 10 runs in the bottom of the 4th. Looking a tad rusty due to the long layoff, the crafty veteran had a difficult time with the umpire’s strike zone and had to groove strikes. A mix up in communications between O’Brien and Claude (TC) Wright, filling in at catcher, resulted in a dropped throw at the plate that would’ve been the 2nd out and prevented a run from scoring. The middle of the order proceeded to tee off as Jon James hit a seeing-eye grand slam to make it 12-11. The mighty Joe Tang followed with a monstrous bomb onto 17th Street to tie the score. A single and sacrifice fly later, it Ronin was in the lead 13-12. Was another Beat comeback in store?

Not this time. Tang came on in relief to shut down the Beat in the final 2 innings. Encouragingly, OB settled down in Ronin’s final at bat to show that he could be called upon in case the Beat needs relief during the playoffs.

Spring Stat Attack!

Where to begin? For starters, the team finished one run shy of the franchise record 120 total runs set last summer while nearly doubling our opponents’ scores again to the tune of 119 to 61. Leading the hit parade was our old pal Jim (the Thrill) Colletto with a team high 16 hits and an amazing .696 batting average (140 points higher than anyone else). JC also posted a team high .714 on base percentage, was second on the team with a .826 slugging percentage, and third in RBI with 11. This season’s surprise money man was Mike (Butz) Buttafuso. We all know the lefty has the talent and he made it count this season placing second on the team in hits with 15, runs with 14, and RBI with 13. In 31 at bats, Mike’s total run production (runs + RBI) was a team high 27 and he currently boasts a 14 game hit streak.

Last year’s Brass Beat winner, Jacq Wilson, also had a banner spring. Jacq tied with Mike in hits (15) and was second on the team with a .556 batting average. Jacq and Mike were the only Beat batters to hit safely in all 8 games this spring and Jacq holds the longest current hit streak at 17 games dating back to last May. After years of looking for the right leadoff hitter, the team finally hit the Jacq-pot and he has taken to the leadoff role like he was born to it leading the team in runs scored with 18 and walks with 7, and finishing just points behind JC in on base percentage at .706. Jacq has shown how patience can be a virtue and the team has followed suit by drawing 19 more walks than were allowed by Beat pitchers this spring and 60 more than allowed over the last 3 seasons (and that doesn’t even count the 10 walks against Joey J’s in last spring’s championship game).

Big Daddy did what he does best this spring, leading the team in RBI with 16 and placing just behind Mike in total runs with 25. D also made the leaderboard for hits (14), average (.538), and OBP (.571). Surprisingly enough, he did not lead the team in slugging. This year that honor goes to rookie Jason Pendergast who has been a standout this spring. Jason led the team with an awesome 1.188 slugging percentage including a double, two triples, and two homers, plus 15 total runs in just 16 at bats. Jason also displays blazing speed in the field and with him sandwiched between the Wilson twins, this 2004 outfield has no gaps. Also having an excellent season is Mondo Lopez who stepped admirably into the shortstop position vacated by Brian Arcuri this spring. In addition to anchoring the infield, Mondo finished the spring with 19 total runs, tied MSG with a .545 batting average, and finished third in slugging at .773.

MSG is having his typical good time at the plate tied for third in average (.545), tied for second in runs scored with 14, and solidly in third for OBP with .654. Mark Briscoe missed a few games this spring but still posted a .467 average with 12 total runs in just 15 at bats. Meanwhile, the emergency squad of Terry Hempelman and Paul Sanders came in on fire. With only 13 at bats between them, the twosome hit .692 (Terry is hitting .600 and Paul .750), and they combined for 11 total runs.

Pete, Q, and Greg had a rougher time this spring seeing their averages dip below the .400 mark. But we know they’ll turn it on in the summer. Greg and Jacque both struggled last spring but turned it on in the summer (Q hit nearly 250 points higher last summer). For Pete, this marks the first time he’s finished a season below .500 since spring 2001, and he’s been one of the team’s most consistent hitters since then.

Talk about dipping averages; none dipped more than Special K who still managed to turn his paltry 5 hits and 4 walks into 16 total runs. But when he wasn’t picking himself up off the first base line, he was staring down opposing batters. Kev’s knuckleball, “the Nasty,” came of age this spring as he tore through the first 3 games with an unheard-of 1.40 era allowing just 4 earned runs over 20 innings. Kev finished the season 7-0 with a new team record 3.94 era while allowing 3 earned runs or less in 6 of the 8 games. “I tend to set outrageous goals for myself to stay focused and motivated,” said Spesh. “Finishing under 4.00 was a goal I never thought was possible.” Of course, what made it possible was the incredible defense that Pete has built over the last few years. These guys turn in web gems on a weekly basis and, without a doubt, boast the fastest outfield in town leaving little room for hits to drop in. Averaging less than 8 runs against per game, The ’04 Beat has one of the stingiest defenses in the city.

Next steps

Now it’s on to the C-league playoffs for the boys in gray against old foes Il Pirata (formerly 23rd Hour/Altered States/Connecticut Yankee) on June 14. Il Pirata dominated C-7, the other Saturday division, and was undefeated at 7-0 going into the final weekend. The Beat defeated the same team when they were called 23rd Hour in a 14-13 thriller in the 1st round of the summer 2002 playoffs to advance to the semi-final where they eventually lost 15-14 to the Mishaps. The burning question is whether the prolonged 3-1/2 week break following the end of the Beat spring season on May 22 (The Beat had a bye on June 5) will take the edge off the team.

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