Someone Confirm the Season 2 Premire of East Bound and Down.

When does season two start?
This is important.
Here are some "Kenny Powerisms."

these go up to eleven

and this one

Season Recap

This is going to be youtube and photoshop-less.

We'll start with the big picture:

Once again Commish was unable to rig the league well enough to have the Bulldogs win a championship.
Try as he might.
I love you, Joe.

The story of the season is the Owlz not winning the title, Cool and the gang lost to the Brookline Bullies in the Conference Semis.
Then the Hurricanes stepped in and beat Brookline.
Kenny Powers is still thinking about it I'm sure.
I know I would be.

Now more than ever teams win more based on who they can recruit than anything else.
The off season is a big deal.

I predicted there would be a bench clearing brawl this year, and we (as a league) were close a few times.
the umpires repeatedly lost control of games.
I think the only team that is satisfied with the umpires in the Hurricanes.

The Blues put our league on the map in AC (Scoscia is a beast), and then the four teams who played in Butler almost took it back off. see the bulldogs blog for the run-down.
.

I am one of few guys who can say they have played on a team with Rob Cool and on a team with Kenny Powers.
they are both honored i'm sure. quack.

me and alex warren and Rob Swanger and a couple other guys.
The Sox could have used Warren in the playoffs, he's a workhorse and a competitor.
he's also level-headed.

There is talk of radical realignment.
rookie, A, and AA.

I'm an anti-gambling baseball purist, and would rather have a just rookie league, then split up the rest of the teams into Wales and Campbell, and then have all but the 3 or 4 worst teams in the league make the playoffs.
However Joe proposes it, the new alignment will be voted on and we will make a decision collectively that we will all bitch about later.

He likes brackets and the tourney he has drafted will be great fun.
Come up with your own ideas to present to him at the winter meetings if you think you can do better.

The Ducks may split, we may not. We may play in the top division, we may stay down since we don't have any college players on our roster and are eligable as we are currently constructed to dominate the A division before we make the jump in 2011.

I stand behind whatever decision our coach makes.

This is a crucial off season, as Dr. Jones and I are old and have to find real jobs and all that other real life bullshit that hits when you get past 25 and still don't have a career or any real structure in your life.

We need two or three guys to do the uniform work, find a sponsor or two, and get us a field.
someone talk to the city about getting Mellon Park which is getting lights installed.

I am absolutely done doing extra shit. Sorry, I don't have time anymore. I am sad.
I won't be able to maintain the blog as consistently as i have and certainly don't have time to run around the city taking care of all the minutia i have for the past 7 seasons.
I put myself in this position because I'm too neurotic to trust others to do it, so I'm accountable, but whatever.
I'll still play next year if coach needs me.

The blog was absolutely ridiculous this season, and I took some liberties that maybe I shouldn't have, but mostly people need to lighten up.
If you don't want the Ducks to have the loudest voice in the league start your own blog, homos.
or at least leave nasty anonymous comments.
Overall it was great fun, and Larry is a crybaby who sucks.

***
Coby has been in touch with Al Gore about getting the internet and will have his thoughts sometime in October. Skip will post some individual awards in the next week or so, so I won't mention any individual accolades, of which there were many.
ok just one, and that was Squints' uniform heist.
#7 is a beast.

2009 South Oakland Ducks of the North Side (16-8, 3rd in Wales Conference, 4th overall) Season in Review.


Our season ended unceremoniously, with a crushing 10 inning defeat at the hands of the hated black sox. While I'm not one for moral victories, to call the season a failure is too simple.
This was the best Ducks team I've ever play on, and in any other season we would have probably been one of the last two teams standing.
We did it all without a true ace ( i think we were the only team in the top 3 or 4 in the league who could not boast a "Guy Who Throws 90"), or a natural center fielder or lead-off hitter.

It should be a point of pride among all of us that we were a tough team to play against this season. We never showed up at the park not having a chance to win (except the mother's day massacre).
No one saw South Oakland on the schedule and set their rotation so we'd get their third guy who only pitched once in little league.

We straight out-classed the Gray Bats on all levels.
We defeated the league champion Fightin's 2-0.
Only two teams posted better than a .500 record against us this year: The Owlz and Black Sox - the tow best teams in the regular season record wise.

My only team regrets are not giving the owlz a better game, even when we had our starters, and the Eagles game.
that shit will happen over a 24 game season.
shit like only beating the bulldogs by one run twice, our most unconvincing season sweep.
It also sucks a few guys bailed on us who had been contributing.
We won two of every three games we played.
We were five and oooooooh.
Then 12-3 before wrapping up the 3 seed and ducking around down the stretch.

We played inspired baseball in the post season beating the Gray Bats for the 4th time in 2009, before we came up 1 run short against the Sox in probably the most exciting game any team played during the 2009 season. Extras in the playoffs, can't beat that shit.
Fucking Black Sox.

We represented the league well in Erie, but not so much in Butler. What a shit show.
let's never talk about that again.
fuck that whole junkie infested town.
(note, the teams we played in the tourney were gracious in victory, and most likely don't live in Butler, except for that one guy in the dugout who kept nodding-out and itching himself and drooling all over the place.)

Going in to 2010 we have 10 roster spots open, half our pitching staff, and a bunch of guys are moving away or maybe won't be back. There is a lot up in the air.

Luckily, Ducks fly together.


Bad News since 2003.

Quack

Squints 4 life

prepare for an actually gameday post tomorrow.

quack.

Duel.

***

vs

Saturday Aug. 29th.
JOHN HERB FIELD 10AM.


Ducks vs. Bulldogs scrimmage on the 29th as well.

Anyone else who wants to get in some work before fall ball/labor day tourney is also welcome to attend to help fill out the teams, and to watch the highly anticipated Yoda vs. Guthrie showdown.


An additional thank you to Kirk Gibson for being the catalyst of the Erie trip, and for not taking that job in CT which will allow him to remain a Duck next season.





quack.

Tremel

This post marks the first time in the Ducks blog' s history I have spelled John Tremel's name correctly.

The All Star Game was called after 3 innings when the lights malfunctioned with The Monongahela leading 3-1.

Guthrie had the game winning rbi, with a 1 out 2-run bases loaded shot to deep second base the guy had to dive for and make a tough throw the firstbaseman couldn't hold onto.

the lights came back on after 15 minutes or so, but the Allegheny All Stars and the umpires left had left.

The Owlz boycotted the All Star Game, apparently.

BP Thursday at 6pm.

Kenny, get your team together for the labor day tourney.

quack.

Sunday.

A detailed recap of the Canes game 3 victory.

Nice work, Nate. - FightinRafalskis.com for next year.

All-Star Game Aug 11th 8:30pm, John Herb Field

League meeting preceding at 7pm.




fall ball registration asap.

Erie on the 22nd, and 23rd.

Steel City Classic Sept 5-7.

Depo will schedule BP for this week, Dr. Jones is busy updating the stats.

quack

shrubbery

duck hedge.

There is no joy in Brookline. Fightin' Rafalskis win Pittsburgh NABA title

The McKees Rocks Hurricanes,who finished dead last in the Allegheney Division a year ago, defeated the Brookline Black Sox 5-4 to earn their first League title.

For a much more thorough recap go to the best blog in the pgh naba

Rafalski pitched the last 3 innings for the Canes relieving possibly Chris Rekker but i'm not sure.
Chalfin did the same for Brookline, Slavicek pitched early and was pulled after allowing a few unearned runs. The Sox kicked it around a bit apparently.

I got there in the top of the sixth, it was 5-2 Canes.

In the top of the seventh, the Black Sox rallied.
The Sox nearly had a lead-off double but a shot down the line by their nine hitter was just foul, and he ended up striking out.
Florian reached on a 2 base error by the Canes then Klayko singled him in, then Goldie hit one to the wall in left center to score Klayko.

after a strike out of a pinch hitter, Kenny Powers stepped into the box.
He walked, and the next batter flew out to center.

Game over.

Only the Black Sox ('04, '06) have won two league titles.

Owlz ('08), Rebels (1861), Warriors ('05), Ducks ('03), and now the Hurricanes have won one apiece.
No team has won back to back titles.
Bad News for the Canes next season.

Rafalski is the hands down league MVP in my opinion.
No one player meant more to their team.


Good season, everyone, congrats to the Fightins on a great turnaround from '08.

Everyone get your money in for the Labor Day tourney by Friday the 14th.
Sorosky has RobCooled himself a team full of ringers and he thinks he is going to run over everyone - no way that could back fire... if his Pirates team wins the tourney he will have to eclipse the number of wins the Gray Bats had in 24 regular season games in one weekend.

Season recap soon.

See you at the all-star game on the 11th if I don't have to work.

quack.

Wednesday

Who won last night?
Someone post a recap in the comments.

Bulldogs blog recaps our comments, and has pics of awesome party.

Keg Stand City.



BP today and Thursday at 6:45

quack

Batting Practice.

Ducks.

BP Tuesday and Wednsday at 6:45pm at Pitt.

Bad News for the Eagles, from the Onion

Monday.

The League Finals start tomorrow.
Black Sox vs. Hurricanes.
8:30pm John Herb Field

The All Star Game will be Tuesday August 11th
8:30pm at John Herb.

Ducks batting practice today at 6:30pm

We will probably hit twice more this week.

The Steel City Classic is still accepting teams.
Pittsburgh NABA teams receive a discount on their entry fee.

The will play a 3 game series against TESCO of the Erie Adult Baseball League.



We will play at Ainsworth Field where they have been filming Signs of the Time a documentary about, William Klem, the umpire who invented the arm signals for "out", "safe", "foul", "fair", etc..

without Klem's arm signals we wouldn't have this...

Quack

Playoff Update: No Bunting - Black Sox Sweep Owlz, Advance to Finals

Ducks Batting Practice Monday 6:30pm - Pitt IM field.

About the time the Owlz were 11-0 they became the black cloud looming over the season.
How could any other team beat them in a three game series?
Realistically, it would take a miracle.



But Kenny f-ing Powers and the Brookline Black Sox, who, after being swept during the regular season (almost as badly as the Ducks were) by the Owlz, who found their Achilles heal.
Unbelievable.

Rumor has it Rafalski tore his hamstring.
The Fightin's may be without their captain or the rest of the post-season.

The Canes won a 17-11 barn burner against the Warriors to force a game 3 in the Western Conference Final.

***

The Brookline Bullies eliminated the Imperial Owlz with a 5-2, series-clinching victory in Moore Park.
It was everything you could hope for in an Owlz Black Sox game, player ejections, a near brawl in the stands, and amongst the madness some good baseball.

The Owlz were flat.
Top to bottom they have more talent than any team in the league.
I heard they have a kid on their team who pitches for LaRoche College, who didn't even see the mound this season.

That's the kind of guy who could be the Ducks ace, and he doesn't even play on that team.

The game was tied 2-2 going into the bottom of the sixth.
two consecutive walks to start the inning put runners on first and second for Kenny Powers.



Powers laid a bunt down the third-base line, the bunt was fielded and thrown into the outfield, and then the throw in went out of play.

A 3-run bunt to go ahead 5-2.

Slavicek retired the side in order in the top of the 7th.
An Owl got tossed for arguing balls and strikes.


The Owlz had a chance to break it open early when the led 2-1 in the 4th but hit into a 1-2-3 double play.

BSox40 pitched 4 scoreless innings in relief for the win.

The Owlz fanz were complaining about having to play the game at Moore Park, there was some controversy over this.

It's too bad we didn't re-seed for the playoffs so the Ducks could have been a 4 seed in an 11 (matador-less) team race instead of a 3 seed in a six team conference playoff.

Broccolo is thrilled to no longer be a Phantom.

The future of the Owlz is in doubt.


"The Ducks were the toughest team we played all season, you guys play with heart..."
- Kenny Powers

All this writing about the Sox and Owlz makes me want to vomit, but nothing else is going on.


August 22-23

Bad News for Erie.


Quack.

All Star Game Scheduled for August 11th

Campbell vs. Wales


Teusday 8/11/09
8:30pm John Herb Field.

League Meeting at 7pm open to anyone with ideas on how to improve our league.

League semi's tonight Sox/Owlz at Moore Park, and Warriors/Canes at John Herb Field.




Who is He?

The Steel City Classic will take place over Labor Day Weekend.
the cost has decreased to $750 for outside teams.
PGH NABA teams will receive a discount.

Email the Commish if you want to enter your team, or combination of teams for the chance to beat Yoda's team f it actually exists.

Rumor has it the Black Sox might not enter because they are scared to face South Oakland again, with Swanger back in center field.

Quack.

Bulldogs Blog Updated After Week long Bender.

Solid work as always by Dr. Radical & Co. - Calling out Yoda for his indiscretions and giving a grim recap of the Warriors Bulldogs wild card game.

Click on the above link.

If you want the circle jerk of the century check out the Gray Bats Team Awards post on their now fully functional blog.


Sox-Owlz at Moore Park tomorrow night.
winning coach can post a recap if they want, same with the series winning coach.
Canes Warriors play tomorrow as well don't know when or where but its not Moore apparently.

Quack.

Playoff Update [UPDATED 7-31-09] Warriors 10 - Canes 6

The Warriors have defeated the Fightin's 10-6 in Game 1 of the Campbell Conference Finals.

The reigning intercontinental champs (who are in the unfamiliar role of underdog this series) can wrap up a second consecutive trip to the Finals with a win Saturday, 9pm at More Park.
They want Hulk Hogan.

The Warriors O Doyle out-dueled former Black Sock Chris Recker for the win, Brent Heintzleman (sp.)had a 2-inning save, Rafalski and Joyner each pitched one inning in relief.

The Craig Boley went 2 for 3 with 2BB, and scored 3 times.

Don Stetzer had two hits, and dedicated them to Chris Wojton.

Heintzleman (sp.) hit a ball off the fence in the seventh against Rafalski that cleared the bases plating 3 runs.
Updates in the comment section are welcome.
Where will the Owlz and Sox play if not Moore Park?

The Ducks are still planning our invasion of Erie, and setting our roster for the Steel City Classic.



Robot Duck is looking forward to South Oakland of the North Side's trip to Erie.

• The Warriors will play the Fightin' Rafalski's in Game 2 Saturday, 9pm at Moore Park.
• Game 2 of the Owlz Sox series has been pushed back to the weekend.

Our number one priority this off season will be to acquire more fields.





hilarious.

YODA has made an appearance in this comment thread.

Quack.

Wales Conference Final Update: Black Sox 3, Owlz 1

In the series dubbed "The Battle of the Air Horn vs. The Loud Lady Owlz Fan,"
The Black Sox took game 1, 3-1, over the Owlz.

Since 2004 the team that has won game one of the 3 game series has gone on to win 78.3% of the time, according to Pete Chalfin.

The '04 Ducks lost in the Conference finals to the Sox after taking game 1.

Game 2 will pit pitcher of the year candidate Scott Dunn against potentially J.T. Slavicek or whomever else the Sox have.
The Sox have got to be thin on pitching, mayeb we'll get an appearance from the greatest pitcher in the history of organized baseball.

The Sox's lefty pitched well.

neither of these team names can be made into possessive plurals.

the conclusion to this game was not forgone, apparently.

Words were exchanged after the game between two of the best players in the series.

Feel the hatred.

Winner of tomorrow's game and of the series can email me a recap for posting if they want.
Updates from the western conference are welcome also.

***

I'm still sick to my stomach about Sunday's loss.
Just fucking gut-wrenching.

Ill have a season recap after the finals.

Jones will have some team awards.

My picks for Ducks Awards:
MVP: Castle
Offensive player of the year: Captain America
Co-Pitchers of the year: Fletch/Invisible Hand
Defensive Player of the Year: Jesse Smith

Coby is probably hard at work right now on his recap.

The Ducks are in the process of getting our roster set for our trip to Erie for 3 free baseball games at the former home of the Erie Sailors, who when I saw them as a kid were the minor league affiliate of the Marlins, and seeking sponsors for our labor day tournament team.

Expect a call from the good Dr.


Quack.

Playoff Game 2 Recap. Black Sox 6, Ducks 5 final 10innings

Matt Slavonic hit a game winning RBI single in the bottom of the tenth, scoring Jason Goldie from second, and ending the Ducks season.

South Oakland led 3-2 going into the bottom of the 5th, the Sox scored two to take a 4-3 lead.
the Sox would add another run in the bottom of the sixth.

South Oakland tied the game at 5-5 with 2 runs in the top of the seventh.
Dutch drove in the tying run with an RBI fielder's choice.
We needed to take the lead there and we didn't.
Wojton drilled a ball to the gap, and the Sox left fielder was shaded that way, and was able to make the catch.

The Ducks didn't really threaten in extra frames.

We almost turned a triple play.

There's no shame in losing a 10 inning game.
Much better than last year's playoff loss.
It is a whole different kind of pain.

Good season, everyone.

This game will go down in the annals of the Ducks Sox rivalry as by far the best baseball game of the storied series.

I can't believe its over.

Good luck to the Sox and whomever they face in the Conference Finals.

Kenny played so well he was offered a contract with Tampa.





Note: the foul ball call was correct. we looked it up.

here's the rule:


the highlighted part says, "is touched by a player "on" foul territory, it is a foul ball."

there was some uproar over that.

the call was correct.

Its a footnote in the story of a great game, and a bitter sweet season.

If someone wants to go into more detail on this recap that would be great, but I don't have the mental capacity right now.

The Ducks will field a team in the Labor Day Tournament, and will travel to Erie to play a 3 game series against the Erie Adult Baseball League team or team(s) McCray knows the weekend of August 22nd.

I'm looking forward to another solid season recap from Coby.

Quack.

Playoff Gameday [2]:Ducks vs. Black Sox IV.

Ducks vs. Black Sox

3pm

Avonworth High School

The winner will play whomever wins the 5:30 game between the Owlz and Confederacy in the conference finals.

We have a chance to eliminate the Black Sox.

We will face Chalfin again.
The Ducks will start Guthrie or Smith.

We have another great opportunity this afternoon.

we will be a bit short-handed, we need to be better than the sum of our parts today.

Bad News for the Black Sox

BP Sunday 12-1:30pm

Ducks vs. Black Sox

3pm

Avonworth High School