Beat News!

Vol.XXI. No. 20

October 11, 2007

Beat Falls Flat Against Flor
The Beat rewrite the record books in ’07; A-Lo wins second Brass Beat

Well, no one can say that the Beat padded their record stats with this extra game to end the season. The Beat had all of 10 hits, 5 runs, and 4 RBI in a 22-5 drubbing by nemesis Flor de Whoever at the park from hell, Moscone #2. The Beat is now 1-7-1 against Flor de Cana with two blowout losses in playoff games at Moscone.

Flor continued its dominance over Beat starter “Not so special K” having scored 15 or more runs in each of the last seven meetings. It was a situation difficult for the Beat to take lightly having held all other opponents this summer to an average of just 6 runs per game. But there is a reason Flor is the team to beat in Saturday ball and went undefeated for their first two seasons in City ‘C.’ They play fundamental ball, hit lights out, and step it up a notch when it counts.

This was not the Beat on Thursday night. The offense that scored a franchise record 148 runs in 8 games coming in (that’s an 18.5 run per game average) was held to under 10 runs for the first time all season. The defense was unfocused and sloppy.

But here’s the good news... in the grand scheme, this was really nothing more than a glorified practice game. And this was a perfect game to learn from entering the playoffs.

Unlike other leagues around the Bay Area where the playoffs remain within the division and a .500 record is often enough to qualify; SF City league is a special breed and that’s what we love about it. Only the top two teams from each division qualify; games are played against high-quality and unfamiliar teams, often in unfamiliar circumstances. It takes the very best of teams at the top of their game to make it to the City Championship.

So the Beat lost the chance for their 10^th division title. They still made the playoffs as the C5 wildcard and that elusive City Championship is still up for grabs.

Thursday’s game was a reminder that you cannot rest on your laurels in the post-season. The playoffs require total focus and 110% effort. You need to come in with the killer instinct and a never-say-die attitude that says “no matter what happens we will not allow ourselves to lose this game.”

2007 is by no means over for the Beat. Beginning Monday at 8:30 pm, the Beat starts the post-season with a clean slate. If we bring our game, the only team that can beat the Beat IS the Beat.

	1	2	3	4	5	R	H	E
Flor de Cana	3	4	7	5	3	22	25	2
The Beat	0	2	2	1	0	5	10	3

Brass Beat
Though this was a divisional playoff and had the playoff atmosphere of the weeknight under the lights at a foreign park, this was officially the last regular season game of the year and with that comes the annual presentation of the Brass Beat award.

Last year’s winner, Brian “White Lightning” Greenblatt, was at the park for the game and presentation though unable to play due to injuries sustained playing basketball (which will incur a steep fine and render his contract null and void to be renegotiated at the end of the season with strict no-basketball clauses). This was a tough year to pick a winner; maybe the toughest ever with team records falling like flies. A number of veterans turned in career years, and rookie Tim Smith garnered “oohs” and “ahs” not heard since the days of Hall of Famer John Palmer. At one point Brian said he had it down to 5 choices… no 7… no 5. But ultimately the choice was an outstanding one; one that drew cheers from the crowd when the 20^th presentation of this cherished award was given back to Mondo Lopez, the winner just two years ago.

Mondo (aka “A-Lo” or “Slopez”) dealt through spousal complaints, gave up playing with the Toys on weeknights, and posted a career year not only becoming the first Beat player since John Palmer to drive in 30 runs in a season, he blew past John’s 1994 record 34 to finish with 40 on the year. He hit over .500 with 5 home runs and another Beat record 7 triples. Mondo solidified the left side of the infield taking over the hot corner and backing up at short, but he has the temperament and skill to play wherever you ask and injured if necessary.

Mondo, when complimented on raising the bar this year responded “I did not set the bar this year, you guys set the bar. The team set the bar.” The guy is a gamer and a deserving repeat winner. Congrats Mondo!

Stat Attack
I don’t even know where to begin this year. Usually we just walk through our leader board, but this year they are just off the chart. So we’ll start with records. The following records were set by the 20^th Anniversary Beat:

	Season		Year
	Team	Individual	Team	Individual
Hits	178	Tim 24	322	Tim 42
Runs	153	Jacq 23	278	Jacq 39
RBI	127	Mondo 26	233	Mondo 40
Average			.513
Slugging	.742		.717
Doubles	21
Triples				Mondo 7
Homers	12		22

Breaking records was contagious this year. Example: The previous record for hits in a season was 20 by Jim Colletto and in a year, 35 by John Palmer. This summer Jim’s record was matched by Jacq and broken by Tim with 24 who also broke John’s record with 42. Runs in a season was 18 by Jacq and 32 in a year by John Palmer and MSG. This summer Tim matched the record with 18, Jacque 20, and Jacq set a new mark of 23. The overall mark of 32 was matched by Q and bettered by Tim with 35 and Jacq with 39. RBI in a season was 20 by D and John. This summer Q rolled off 23 and Mondo 26 while John’s full year record of 34 was matched by Tim and the bar raised by Mondo to 40.

This was not about a single player having an awesome year as Palmer did in 1994; it was across the board as displayed by the team setting a new team mark for runs scored in a season with 125 this spring then blowing that record out of the water with 153 in the summer. It was the same for runs and RBI. As you could expect the team also set records for team average (.513) and slugging (.717). The 2007 Beat out-hit and out-scored those other Beat teams like handing a smack down; undeniably the best offensive performance of any Beat team in 20 years.

So now it’s money time; time to put that offense to work. Playoff teams will not be held to under 10 runs; you have to flat out out-score them. The Beat has a clean slate and a challenge to grab the gold ring. The playoffs start Monday October 15, 8:30 pm at Jackson #2.

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