August 19, 2006: The Beat took the field on a cold and overcast morning for an early 10am game at Jackson 1 against the 0-3 Blacksox. At 1-1 and back in the pack, this game was a must-win and it would have to be done without the absent Gunnar and Mark B. and injured Greg Lukoski. To plug the holes, Manager Pete Wenner and Jim Colletto split time behind the dish and Jonathan Firestein from the Beat's sparring partner the Misfit Toys sat in at left field. 

The Beat hit the board in the top of the first when Kevin Austin (2-4, 2 runs, RBI, 3B) drove a 1-out triple to right center. Mark St. Georges (1-3, SF, 2RBI) hit a deep sac fly to right center that Austin could have walked in on even if the fielder hadn't booted the catch. The Sox went down scoreless in the bottom of the first and both teams went down quickly and quietly in the second with the Beat holding a precarious 1-0 lead.

Fill-in Firestein (3-4, 2B, 3 runs, RBI) and Wenner (2-3, run, RBI) started the top of the third with back to back singles with Jonathan going first to third on Pete's single to right center. Jacq Wilson (2-4, run, 3 RBI) drove in Jonathan with a fielders choice upping the score to 2-0.

The Beat tacked on 2 more in the fourth. After Mondo Lopez's (3-4, run, RBI) 2-out single, Jacque Wilson (2-4, HR, run, 2RBI) scorched a liner to straight away center. The center-fielder froze as the ball passed just a few feet over his head on a rope. Mondo and Q scored easily and the ball didn't stop until it hit the dirt mounds behind the third base backstop on Jackson #2. Beat 4, Sox 0.

Brother Jacq turned in the play of the day in the bottom of the 4th as the top of the Sox order started to muscle up their second time through. With two on and none out, an outside knuckler was driven deep to right field. Jacq ran back and made an incredible full-extension, over-the-shoulder catch (that I personally think was better than the Mays catch in the '54 Series) for the first out of the inning. The runners, thinking the ball was gone, had to go back and never made it as far as third before the side was retired. 

The Beat kept pecking away adding another run in the 5th on a leadoff double by Firestein and an RBI single by Jacq. Beat 5, Sox 0.

By this time Special K was on a roll mixing backspin and knucklers and averaging roughly 4 batters and 10 pitches per inning. Replacement catcher Colletto stepped behind the dish in the 5th and Kev retired the side on 4 pitches.

All this time Pete kept reminding the team "These guys held Il Pirata to a 1-1 tie through 4 before Il Pirata came up big." The Beat finally took the hint.

Donnell Moody (2-4, run, RBI), Colletto (1-4, run, RBI), and Lopez all singled to lead off the 6th. Big Daddy scored on a 2-base error after Jim's single, and Colletto scored on Mondo's single. Jacque then scorched a liner over 2nd, but the second baseman made an incredible leaping grab and doubled Lopez off at first. What looked like the start of a big rally was suddenly only 2 runs and 2 outs with no runners on. Undaunted, the Beat pounded out 8 consecutive 2-out hits led off by Brian Greenblatt's (3-4, run) single and Derek Rey's (1-4, 2B, run) double. The inning was capped off by one of the strangest plays you'll ever see. Big Daddy (in his second AB of the inning) hit an 80' blooper behind short; 4 players converged on the ball but no one could get to it. During the commotion, D hustled toward second; a good throw would have him nailed but it pulled the second baseman off the bag and D was in safe. At this point, the third baseman...well, I don't know what the third baseman was doing; picking his nose or staring off into space he never returned to the infield anyway. The Beat bench roared that third was uncovered and D hesitated then went for it. It was now a footrace to third between the Sox catcher and a Mack Truck we know as Big Daddy while the Sox third baseman was still nowhere in sight. The catcher made it to the bag first as the throw sailed over his head and D walked in to score on a single with multiple errors.

At this point a female Sox fan shouted "Another typical day of Blacksox baseball!" and the pitcher openly replied "But you married us!!!" Hey, at least they have fans.

The Beat finished the inning with a sweet 8-spot and now had a comfortable 13-0 lead entering the bottom of the sixth. The Sox were held quiet again in the bottom of the 6th and on only a handful of hits had not managed to advance a runner to third in the game.

The Beat mustered a couple singles in the 7th but no runs; with a 13-0 lead, victory seemed in the bag. The only thing that stood between the Beat and that ever-elusive shutout was to get through the top of the Sox order; but even the struggling teams in C have too much pride to make a shutout easy. The first three Sox hitters lined singles scoring the Sox first run of the game. A 1-out single scored the second before the Sox finally fell on a pop-up to short. Final score: Beat 13, Sox 2.

The game ball went to Special K for his second near-shutout this year. In the last 3 Beat victories, Kev's era is an impressive 1.84. Honorable mention goes to Jacq who had 3 ribbies and turned in the defensive play of the day. Kudos also to Mondo, Brian, and Jonathan who all went 3-4. And, of course, the Beer Be-otch honor goes to our friend MSG on a fly out to left to end the 5th.

Streaks
Well, I've been sitting on this since the spring but the time has come to let out with it. In today's game, Jacq and Special K have both tied Jim Colletto's team record 33 game hit streak (for those working out the math, that's about 2 years without a collar). This should make for an interesting summer as both players show no sign of slowing down anytime soon. 

Coming Up
This was a game the team can be proud of. They convincingly beat a team they should have beaten. They scored in 5 of 7 innings on 22 hits and a team average of .524 while holding their opponent to only 2 runs. That momentum will be very important facing Sledgehammers next week. Sledgehammers entered this week as an 0-2-1 underdog, but came from a 14-2 deficit to defeat 2-0 Il Pirata 16-15. A team with that sort of comeback power is pretty scary and the Beat had best be on their 'A' game next week.