Lights Out On 2005

The team broke its single season scoring record of 120 runs set in the summer of 2003 by scoring 122 in just 7 games. Had it not been for a forfeit of game 7, the Beat likely would have set another season record for least runs allowed in an 8 game season. The record set in the summer of 1993 was 54 runs, and through 7 games the Beat allowed only 47. Add in a 1-0 score for the forfeit and the Beat outscored opponents 123-47 this summer.

Then came the playoffs
In their 18-year history, The Beat has typically struggled in the post season, but that can happen in a league where it takes a division championship just to get there. The competition is always substantially better in the playoffs and there was some concern when the summer schedule came out in July that the team’s division might be too soft.

Indeed C-7 was the weaker of the 2 Saturday divisions as only 2 teams—The Beat and the 2003 C-league champion SF Ballers—finished above .500. C-7 included the newly promoted Old Clamhouse and Renegades from DD. Meanwhile Division C-6 hosted Spring C-league runners-up Flor de Cana and former C-league title winners Il Pirata and Ronin. Ronin ended up tied with Flor for 1st place with a 5-3 record, which prompted a tight, well-played 8-5 divisional playoff game on October 12. The run-off contest was scoreless through the first 4 innings before the division rivals opened it up and pulled away.

It certainly didn’t help The Beat to have entered the playoffs after extended downtime. Following game 6 on September 17th, the Beat had a September 24 bye followed by a game 7 postponement on October 1 due to a broken water main in left field at Jackson #2.

The Beatniks came out flat against the Ballers in game 8 on October 8, committing 4 errors for 6 unearned runs in the first 2 innings as the Beat spotted the Ballers a 10-2 lead. They scratched back gamely in the late innings, but eventually lost the tough season finale 13-10. The Renegades bailed on the makeup game giving the Beat its pennant-clinching 7th win. But this cost the Beat valuable game time going into the post season.

By the time the Beat took the field at Moscone 1 on Thursday October 13th, the team had played only one game in nearly a month, and that was their only loss of the summer. To compensate, 8 Beatniks trekked out to Crocker Amazon on Tuesday night October 11 for a much-needed tune-up under the lights. The Beat tried hard to get ready, but their tough playoff opponent, Flor de Cana which came into the game with a 2-0-1 lifetime edge over our heroes since they entered the league in Summer ’04, had played a division championship game the night before.

2005 Summer Standings Team W L T PCT Pts GB x The BEAT 7 1 0 .875 14 – SF Ballers 6 2 0 .750 12 1 Loose Cannons 3 5 0 .375 6 4 Renegades 3 5 0 .375 6 4 Old Clamhouse 1 7 0 .125 0 7

Indian Summer in full swing
By Thursday night, when some members of the Beat started arriving in the soft mid-October twilight, the sky was glowing red over the Golden Gate bridge beyond the cypress trees behind diamond #4 in deep center field. The expansive Moscone Playground looked lime green with plenty of room to run and the infield was uncharacteristically well manicured for that late in the year.

The Beat won the ceremonial pre-game coin toss, but Flor made the most of having the first at bat as they hit the ground running, quickly disarming the Beat and making it tough to match their effort. Austin’s first pitch of the game was drilled down the third base line kicking up chalk in left field for a leadoff triple. Flor pushed the run across and moved runners to second and third with 2 outs. The Beat had a chance to stop the threat at 1 run when a liner to the infield was missed for an error scoring two more runs. When the Beat came to bat, they were down 3-0.

The Beat battled back scoring a run and loading the bases with two outs on clutch hits by Donnell Moody and Armando Lopez, but a called third strike on the #6 hitter ended the inning with the Beat down 3-1 on its second wasted opportunity.

Flor continued to hit the ball hard in the second scoring 3 more runs. The Beat headed into the bottom of the inning down 6-1, but gamely started clawing back again with the first 2 batters reaching base. The team scored 1 more, but this time with 2 outs, it was the base running that broke down ending the inning on a botched rundown play. The inning ended Flor 6, the Beat 2 and observers could almost feel the air coming out of the balloon at that low point. The Beat was continuing to shoot themselves in their collective foot and they were running out of feet to shoot.

The top of the third is the last most Beat players remember of this game.

On this warm SF night at Moscone (one of the maybe 10-15 T-shirt nights a year in San Francisco that Eric Burdon and The Animals once sung about) with not even a light breeze, the signature movement on Austin’s pitches was gone and the softball must have looked like a beach ball to Flor de Cana’s hitters. Three long home runs were driven into and over the gap in center field as Flor posted a 7-spot giving them a 13-2 lead by the middle of the third. The Beatniks shook their heads in wonder that this was the same Flor de Cana which was principally known for its low-scoring defensive contests. The Beat had entered the game expecting Flor to offer its usual array of singles-hitters, but instead came out as Murderers’ Row on this night.

For the remainder of the game, Flor added to their lead and the Beat did all they could to stay just under the 15-run mercy rule limit. It wasn’t until Flor lost their concentration leading 19-3 with 2 outs in the 7th that the Beat could take advantage of Flor mistakes for 5 runs that were much-too-little and much-too-late.

In 15 regular season games this year, the Beat allowed just 2 home runs; more than 10 runs were given up only twice, both times by the SF Ballers, and no team had scored more than 13 against the Beat all year. In the playoff game against Flor de Cana, 5 home runs and nearly 30 hits proved to be more than the Beat could keep up with. The final tally was 19-8 but it never felt that close.

Date Visitors Home July 30 The Beat 17 Old Clamhouse 6 August 6 The Beat 32 Loose Cannons 4 August 20 The Beat 17 Renegades 8 August 27 SF  Ballers 4 The Beat 8 September 10 Old Clamhouse 4 The Beat 20 September 17 Loose Cannons 8 The Beat 18 October 8 The Beat 10 SF Ballers 13 October 8 Renegades 0 The Beat (fft) 1

Armando Lopez Becomes the 18th Winner of the Annual Brass Beat Award
Following the game came the annual passing of the Brass Beat award. After seven years lost in boxes in the basement of Wilfred Spoon’s South Carolina home, the original Brass Beat was finally returned last year. It was decided that winners during that time span would have a chance to share the award, and the award is now lost again amongst moving boxes. So assuming that the actual, original Brass Beat is recovered for a second time, the first and only Brass Beat ‘rule’ will be laid down…

1. Thou shalt not move!

The Brass Beat award is bestowed by the current holder of the award and this year it was passed down by Jim Colletto, a man that has become a backbone of this team for 8 years now. Jim chose, for the 2005 Brass Beat winner, third-year Beatnik Armando ‘Mondo’ Lopez.

Mondo came to the Beat in 2003 following a winter league in which he played for the Beat’s ugly sister, the SF Park Ratts. Greg Lukoski and Javy Urdiales picked him up for the Ratts where Pete got a good look and invited him to try out for the Beat. In his first 3 years with the team, Mondo averaged .489 and just under 19 RBI per year while working his way into the starting shortstop position.

In 2005, he lead the team in slugging at .900 and almost took the RBI title until he went on IR for the last game while Big Daddy Moody turned in an awe-inspiring 5 RBI game to pass Mondo by 2. Had it not been for his being hurt for the last game plus the forfeit, Lopez was on pace to be the first Beat 30-RBI man since John “The Bomber” Palmer drove home 34 in DD back in 1994.

What we found most impressive about Mondo this year was his ability to step up in the clutch. In a very tough spring division, Mondo had a 1.529 slugging percentage and .706 batting average with runners in scoring position and he turned in 18 ribbies in just 8 games.

Stat Wrap
Starting with the leadoff guy...Jacq Wilson turned in an incredible summer hitting a team high .731 while also leading the team in hits (19), runs (15), and on base percentage (.767). For the year, Jacq lead the team with hits (32) and walks (8) and finished second in batting average and on base percentage behind the Thrill, Jim Colletto. Colletto won his third Beat batting title with a .633 average, second best in team history. He also led the team in on base percentage (.727) and tied for runs scored (26).

Donnell Moody made a huge run in the summer hitting .680 and driving in an incredible 20 runs. 'D' also slugged 4 doubles, a triple, and 2 homers for a 1.160 slugging percentage. For the year, Moody lead the team in RBI with 28 passing Colletto and Mondo Lopez with a 5 ribbie game in the season finale. Mondo turned in a hell of a year leading the team in slugging (.900) and placing second in extra base hits (8) and RBI (26).

Jacque Wilson had another typically excellent year. While he didn't top the leader board in any one statistic, he was the only Beat player to place in the top 5 in all 8 categories.

On the mound, Austin continued to improve on the knuckler/curve combo and set a team strikeout record with 9 K's against only 7 walks in 7 games this summer. The Beat offense drew 25 walks giving the team a +18 in walks for/against. Austin turned in a 4.95 era for the summer and 5.59 for the year. Kev's bat work in the off-season improved on last year's career worst average by 237 points and he went on to post the second best offensive season in his 18 year career.

Packing Up
And now we pack away our balls and bats for another winter. The Beat trophy case on the seldom-used workbench in the Wenner garage is now adorned with the 2005 C league Summer Division trophy standing tall at the forefront of 5 others. Despite the disappointment of losing in the playoffs, the fact remains that the Boys in Gray once again finished 2005 as one of the top teams in the league. After a brief stumble below .500 in Summer 2004, The Beat stormed back to tie for 2nd place at 6-2 in the spring and virtually cruised to a 6th C League title (9th division flag for the Beat franchise overall) in the second half.

As the Beatniks repaired to the watering holes of Chestnut Street to drown its sorrows following the crushing playoff loss, there was a quiet sense of solidarity and determination for 2006.
 

On The BEAT News Archive

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