SUMMER 1991 CHAMPIONS!

	vs. MJ Players, July 27, 1991			vs. The Gamecocks, September 7, 1991
	vs. Holden Chinn, UPS, August 3, 1991			vs. Rubble's, September 14, 1991
	vs. LVPS, August 10, 1991			vs. The Fringe Players, September 21, 1991
	vs. Hammertime, August 17, 1991			vs. Laughing Hyenas, September 28, 1991
	vs. Harvey's Ballbangers, August 24, 1991			1991 Team Photo

by Jim

In the summer of '91, The Beat won its first-ever Division Championship. We did it with great pitching, tight defense, clutch hitting and a bit of luck--all the cliches of "what it takes" that I've heard for years. We went 8-0-2, forcing a tie-breaker with the Fringe Players and winning the Division with a dramatic 4-run rally in the bottom of the sixth to come from behind for the victory.

A million thoughts raced through my mind after OB struck out Bob McDonough for the final out. I thought about how it felt to go 0-6 in the summer of '87. I remembered the incredible joy I felt when we beat Rockin' Robins in April of '88. In my mind's eye, I saw my brother Dennis scoring the winning run for The Monsters in the tie-breaker of 1990. Any adversity The Beat has faced in its five years was instantly erased as my teammates raced to the infield for the mob scene at the mound. Never in my wildest dreams...

The Summer of '91 would never have happened if it weren't for the spring season before it. We played like mediocre Beer-Leaguers, with a 4-3 season and a humiliating loss to the Cobras to end the season. Somehow, the frustration and dissatisfaction brought us together and made for a summer we will never forget.

I feel one of the great things about the summer was the parity in the division. The Gamecocks, Hammertime, and the Fringe Players are all excellent teams with the capability to run away with the Division title. Fortunately, we were better than all of them.

It's funny in a way, because after the 1990 season ended in a loss to the Monsters, all I could see was Dennis crossing the plate with his arms reaching up to the sky. But when the Summer of '91 ended, I thought about what the Monsters told me the year before, "You're next!"

Dreams do come true, you know.

Game One

MJ Players, July 27, 1991

Opening day at Kimball Field. The MJ Players and The Beat battled for 5 full innings in a game where neither team could hold a lead. The Beat prevailed, albeit modestly, with a score of 17-15. The Beat blew an 11-5 lead when the MJ Players rallied and took advantage of mistakes to take a 13-11 lead after three innings. The Beat came back with 2 in the 4th and 3 in the 5th to take the lead 17-13, but almost gave the game away in the bottom of the 5th.

After a lead-off single, OB walked the next two batters to lead the bases with nobody out. A base-hit followed to drive in one, and OB walked in a run to make the score 17-15. However, heads-up defense wins games, and OB handled a sharp comebacker and threw to the plate for the force.

Catcher Frank Green snapped a dart down to first baseman Peter Wenner to double up the batter. With the wind taken out of their sails, the next MJ Player flied to left to end the game and The Beat dodges a bullet.

Beat heroes for this game were Danny Carroll (4-4, 3 runs, 3 rbi, HR), Eric Meyer (3-4, 3 runs, 2 rbi, HR), John Palmer (2-4, 3 runs, 3 rbi, HR). Beat rookies making their debut included Robert Bingham (2-4, 3 runs) and Mark Lancaster (1-3, 1 run). Rookie Lancaster had a defensive gem in right field, throwing out an MJ Player at the plate with a rocket.

Game Two

Holden Chinn, UPS, August 3, 1991

Trailing 7-2 after 3 innings, The Beat rallied in the 4th, 5th, and 6th innings to stun Holden Chinn, UPS, 14-8. The Beat scored 3 in the 4th and 3 in the 5th to tie the game at 8-8, and then nailed the game down by scoring 6 in the 6th, a dramatic inning that included back-to-back home runs. Mark St.Georges went 4-4 with 3 RBIs and Dan Carroll was 3-4 with an RBI triple. Holden Chinn (previously Vincent Chinn, CPA) drubbed The Beat in the spring season and The Beat enjoyed the payback, to wit, "This was big because we came back against a really good team that spanked us last year."

The late-inning rallies took the wind from UPS and The Beat was confident in the 6th and final inning. Mark Lancaster beat out an infield hit and OB walked. John Palmer forced OB at second base and St.Georges singles to score both Lancaster and Palmer. Robert "Tequila Bob" Bingham then homered to deep right, the first of 3 Beat homers. Doug "Brett" Butler followed with a solo shot deep in the left-center field gap. Eric Meyer made it a threesome with a long homerun to straight-away left, directly in the teeth of Balboa's wind. The victory brought the summer record to 2-0.

Game Three

LVPS, August 10, 1991

To say that walks come back to haunt you is truly an understatement of this game, where The Beat was the beneficiary of 8 first inning walks that led to 6 runs enroute to a 14-5 whipping of LVPS. Led by an offensive attack involving John Palmer (2-3, 3 runs), Mark St.Georges (2-4, 3 runs, 2 rbi), and Jim Harvey (3-3, 2 runs, 3 rbi), The Beat score din every inning but the 4th to record their 3rd straight victory and retain their share of first place. Dennis O'Brien, who shut out LVPS in the spring season, scattered 10 hits and struck out two cruising to his 3rd win of the summer.

Game Four

Hammertime, August 17, 1991

The Beat rallied for four runs in the final inning to tie Hammertime 11-11 in what may have been the most exciting game in Beat history. More of a boxing match than a ballgame, both teams came out smoking, scoring 4 times each in the first inning. Hammertime scored one in the second and The Beat came back with 3 more of their own to take a 7-5 lead after 2. Hammertime, however, tied it in the 3rd, held The Beat scoreless and rallied for 4 in the 4th to take an 11-7 lead.

Told by the umpires that the bottom of the 4th would be their last at bat, The Beat showered their hair and went to work. John Palmer and Jim Harvey hit back-to-back singles and Palmer scored on Robert Bingham's double. With one out, Mike Laffey hit a rope off the first baseman, which rolled far enough to allow Harvey and Bingham to score, making it 11-10 Hammertime. With 2 out, Peter Wenner singled to right and special guest Larry Avery walked to load the bases. Dennis O'Brien worked the count full before taking a 3-2 pitch outside for ball four to force in the tying run. A force-out ended the game and gave The Beat their first tie since a 2-2 game against the Over The Hill Game in 1989.

Game Five

Harvey's Ballbangers, August 24, 1991

Confusion ruled as The Beat hung tough and defeated Harvey's Ballbangers 7-6 at Jackson Field. The game was originally schedule to be played at Kimball Field; both teams were notified by the league office only 3 hours before gametime. Eric Meyer, Anne Spoon, and Darcy McGaffic scrambles like madmen to notify ballplayers of the change in plans.

The action started at 3:30 and The Beat took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the 1st on rookie Robert Bingham's two-out homerun. The Ballbangers countered with 3 runs of their own, but their lead was short-lived as Dennis O'Brien delivered a 2-RBI single in the bottom of the second to tie the game at 3. Mark St.Georges walked to lead off the bottom of the 3rd, advanced to 2nd and 3rd on back-to-back comebackers and scored on Meyer's RBI single. Danny Carroll then roped a ball to deep left which held up in the wind and was almost caught by left-fielder Brohan. He couldn't hold onto it, however, and Carroll was credited with an RBI double and The Beat took a 5-3 lead.

The Ballbangers scored one in the fifth to close the gap, but Peter Wenner's 2 RBI single in the sixth provided the sixth and seventh run for The Beat and the breathing room they needed for victory. The Ballbangers scored 2 in the seventh, but it proved to be too little, too late.

Pitching and defense were big keys in this game; OB walked two and struck out one and the defense turned two nifty double plays to squash potential Ballbanger rallies. The victory improved The Beat's record to 4-0-1, the best start in the Beat's history.

Game Six

Gamecocks, September 7, 1991

The Beat survived a late-inning comeback and held on to defeat the Gamecocks 6-5 at Rolph Park. Second inning singles by Doug Butler, Eric Meyer, and Dan Carroll produced the first run for The Beat. Mike Laffey's single scored Meyer and Jim Harvey's base-hit drove in Carroll for the inning's third run. Dennis O'Brien cruised through the first five innings, giving up only four singles and was ahead of virtually every Gamecock hitter. The defense turned two early double plays and Robert Bingham made a sliding catch to rob the Gamecocks of a base-hit.

The Beat padded their lead in the sixth with a lead-off single by John Palmer and a bit of good luck. Mark St.Georges hit a double-play ground ball to short but the second baseman couldn't handle the throw and everyone was safe. After a walk to Bingham, Butler crushed a single to left to drive in two and Meyer's sacrifice fly to center made it 6-0.

But the Gamecocks came back with a vengeance in the sixth with the help of two wind-blown home runs to close the gap to 6-5. The Beat went quietly in the seventh and the tension choked those in attendance. The Gamecocks first batter of the inning stroked a single to right-center and made the grave mistake of rounding first. Palmer, fielding the ball with fire in his eyes, threw a strike to Peter Wenner at first and Pete applied the tag for out number one. The next batter followed with a drive to left-center destined for the alley. But again, Palmer was there to haul it in for the second out. After a single to center, Choy flied out to Palmer (of course) for the game's final out.

The victory kept The Beat a half-game out of first place and virtually eliminated the Gamecocks, who lost for only the second time this season.

Game Seven

Rubble's, September 14, 1991

It was a battle of nerves at Lang Field as The Beat and Rubble's slugged it out for eight full innings ending in a 5-5 tie. Both teams scored three runs in the first before great pitching and timely defense took control of the game.

The Beat struck first as John Palmer singled to start the game. Following a force out and a Robert Bingham base-hit, Doug Butler tripled to deep right-center and scored on an errant throw from the outfield.

Rubble's, however, was up to the tast as first baseman Rory Eisenstalt belted a two-out, three-run homer will onto Turk Street beyond the right field wall.

The Beat chipped away with a run in the third and one in the fourth, but was unable to get the big clutch hit to break it open. Rubble's loaded the bases in the bottom of the fourth with nobody out and tied the game with back-to-back sacrifice flies.

Rubble's threatened in the fifth with runners at first and second and nobody out until John Martin flied out to deep right-center. Catcher Kevin Moran tagged on the play but was thrown out at third by a strong throw from former Princeton quarterback Butler and a great tag by leathery Jim Harvey. Both teams went quietly until the bottom of the eighth. A lead-off single to Martin looked harmless as the next two batters flied out, but Palmer dropped and easy fly off the bat of Michael Lynch and Rubble's had runners at first and third with Eisenstalt (already 2 for 2 with a double and a homerun) coming up to the plate. A meeting at the mound ensued and Eisenstalt was intentionally walked, loading the bases for left fielder Doyle. The strategy paid off as Doyle hit a 2-2 pitch on the ground to third that was smothered by Harvey and taken to the bag to force Lynch.

Dennis O'Brien did his usual great job, despite a season high four walks. He gave up only two earned runs and nine hits, striking out one. Alan Whiteside of Rubble's kept the Beat hitters off-balance, walking none and striking out one. It was the Beat's second tie of the summer season, after having only one other in the past four years.

Game Eight

Fringe Players, September 21, 1991

The Fringe Players needed just one win to wrap up the D-8 division title but were deprived by a hungry and aggressive Beat team. Scoring 2 runs in each of the first four innings an displaying immaculate defense, The Beat lead the undefeated Fringe Players 8-0 after 4 full innings on on way to a 19-2 romp. Eric Meyer had an unassisted double play in the 5th and Mike Laffey sparkled at first base, fielding hot smashes all day and throwing out runners at 1st, 2nd, and home plate.

The offense sizzled, led by the usual cast of characters: Mark St.Georges and Eric Meyer were both 4 for 5 with 2 RBIs; John Palmer (3-4, 3 runs); Doug Butler (3-5, 3 RBIs); and a rejuvenated Dennis O'Brien (3-4, 2 runs, 3 RBIs). Laffey, Frank Green, and Robert Bingham all drove in 2 runs.

The Fringe Players managed only 2 runs on 12 hits, and didn't score until the bottom of the sixth when The Beat had a 12 run lead. The Beat erased any doubt in the top of the 7th, scoring 7 more times to put the game away.

The victory not only prevented a clinching, it tied The Beat for 1st place with the Fringe Players. The Beat is the only remaining undefeated team in D-8, but are tied for first because of the two tie games.

Game Nine

Laughing Hyenas, September 28, 1991

Led by 4 homeruns, The Beat crushed the Laughing Hyenas 23-5 to clinch a tie for the division title and force a tie-breaker with the Fringe Players. The Hyenas, however, got the first laugh as they scored five runs on a combination of dinks, dunks, and uncharacteristic bad Beat defense.

But he who laughs last laughs loudest, and The Beat scored 11 times in the bottom of the 1st, capped off by Frank Green's grand slam. John Palmer hit 3 homeruns and drove in a team record 8 runs; Green drove in 6 runs and every player in the starting line-up score at least one run.

The Summer 1991 Division Champions!

View The BEAT's 1991 Batting Statistics

See the original On The Beat newsletter in pdf (779k) or
On The BEAT News Archive