by D	Mars Down Beat 15-14

Without two of their veteran players, The Beat waged war against two adversaries--Mars and the wind. Playing at Jackson 2 was like playing at Candlestick with a brutal wind blowing every which way. Both pitchers figured to have a tough time mastering the winds and each outfield had to protect against a sudden shift and balls getting behind them. The pitcher from Mars had a terrible time with the wind and looked to be rattled as he issued 7 free passes while the Beat's old warrier, Dennis O'Brien, seemed to have the beast tamed.

The Beat hitters were able to pound out 13 hits--dropping most in front of Mars' deep outfield--and were able to jump out to an early 8-run lead. In an awesome effort to protect their lead, the Beat turned in a defensive display worthy of SportsCenter. Spectacular lunging and diving catches by Mark St. Georges and Donnell Moody and a Willie Mays type over the shoulder catch by Mike Weiss in the swirling winds put a stop to an early threat by Mars. The defense didn't stop there--BJ Bateman, Weiss and Gunner Rosenquist hooked-up to choke off a run with a beautiful relay, cut and tag at the plate. Weiss, St. Georges and Jim Colletto turned a perfect double-play that also killed a rally. The Beat's battery also chipped in with some key defensive plays as OB sacrificed his body to knock down two screaming liners and he also chased down a short pop-up that the wind was pushing into foul territory. Catcher Gunner Rosenquist showed cat-like reflexes as he pounced on a "swinging bunt" rolling up the firstbase line and threw a strike to first for the out.

Mars, to their credit, kept hitting the ball hard, started to find holes and ultimately chipped away at the Beat's lead. With the horrible and unpredictable winds, Mars made a risky adjustment in the fourth to try and stop the Beat's hot bats. They moved their outfield in and this turned out to be the most important move of the day. The Beat did not make the same adjustment as they got to the sixth inning with a six run lead. Mars managed to drop a volley of loopers in front of the Beat outfield as they protected against the long ball. Before we knew it, the winning run was on third. O'Brien intentionally loaded the bases with one out and then pulled the entire outfield in to try and come up with one more defensive gem. Mars' hitter hit a high line-drive just to the right of Weiss at short. It seemed as if he had no chance at all but Mike leaped into the air, turned his body and stretched it to its limits just to have the line-shot glance off the tip of his glove. Game over.

Following the game, The Beat to a man agreed that it was an awesome game. It was a game in which they had just lost after a 7-run rally but it was a game that they didn't beat themselves. The team was upbeat and proud that it wasn't a bunch of errors or lack of offense that did them in. This was truly a game in which you have to tip your hat to the other guys.

Among the Beat players missing was Kevin Austin who was with his wife giving birth to their second child. Kev, I just want to say congratulations and the best of luck.

Austin, along with Brian Arcuri and Pete Wenner, are expected to be back in the lineup in two weeks when the Beat take on The Other Guys on 8/14.

View The BEAT's 1999 Final Batting Statistics

On The BEAT News Archive