Month: August 2008

The Ducks Revival from a Rookie Perspective

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“The Ducks (3-6-1) season hangs precariously on the brink of irrelevance after a tough loss to their inter-division rival, The Warriors (6-2).” – Ben Gwin (June 9, 2008)

Straight Into (and then out of) Darkness


“I don’t believe the good times are over, I don’t believe the thrill is all gone… The weak ones fall, the strong (Ducks) carry on!”

Since it is now early August, it’s hard to believe Ben uttered those words as recently as June. I figured we had turned it around by then. Who would’ve known that Ducks would completely reverse that 3-6-1 record, but going 6-3-1 over their next ten? Sounds like something from a movie… a team that starts terribly, only to finish with a successful post-season run…


The tide didn’t turn easily, however, as the Ducks sunk four games under .500 after a short-handed loss to the Stars and Bars. Perhaps the Ducks loss to the talented Confederacy sparked some pride in the current Stars and Stripes as the Ducks really used the Fourth of July weekend to their season around (One would tend to favor the Eagles over this holiday weekend, but perhaps they were celebrating down at the Sunset Grill with the Boys of Summer, trying to get their Maserati up to 185, then deciding to Take it Easy by checking into the Hotel California).

The Ducks would go 2-0-1 over the holiday weekend, including a romping off the Oilers with only nine Ducks, a tie of the mighty Owlz, and an epic defeat of the Black Sox. Optimism was abound on the Ducks squad, signaling that finally the levee was broken, and a winning record was in sight.

When the Levee Breaks


Led Zeppelin & Neil Young crunch a few chords in epic fashion.

I don’t feel the need to recap the rest of the year, since Ben has done such a great job with his write-ups here, that nothing more on the matter really needs to be said. To his credit, this blog and his witty penmanship have given the Ducks many admirers and generated much buzz and excitement.

Random Thoughts:

-Ben suggested giving Mark Guthrie the “C” denoting him captain of the Ducks. While I agree, I also think Ben is being modest since he is a leader, perennial all-star, and founding member of the Ducks, thus also deserving of the “C”. My solution is to give both Ben and Guthrie the “C”, allowing them to alternate the letter nightly, much the way the Buffalo Sabres successfully did when they employed both Danny Briere and Chris Drury. Guthrie is the team’s Cal Ripken, always stoic, employs the same batting stance, and tells us when NOT to talk about certain subjects. Ben Gwin fits more of the Jason Varitek mold, a gritty catcher who may joke around with a certain dark sarcasm that makes one wonder if he’s just giving you a hard time or is actually serious.

-Eric Lee will still be the fastest Duck at the age of 50.

-The Black Sox probably contested our jerseys because they saw Novak playing short with his Oakland A’s hat and thought we had stuck Jason Kendall in there from his days with that squad.

-The Ducks should win the Goose Gossage Award for best team facial hair. This category was mostly won by Garret ‘Sonic’ Moore and James ‘Spags’ Spanolia as they truly brought the past back to life. We also can’t rule out Ben’s scruffy look, Novak’s cool and collected beard, as well as Eric Tans’ dabble in the Dennis Weaver mustache. In all seriousness, no other team in the league was even close in this category.

-One of my favorite moments of the year came against the Rakers as KT took offense to the previous hitter receiving a walk by slapping a shot between third and short before voicing his displeasure. Following KT, Spags also stood up for his character with his expletive which was slightly uncalled for, but also hilarious.

-Speaking of the Rakers, I can’t say enough about that team. They’re a fun team to play as well as a swell bunch of dudes. They read the blog, they either beat us or play us close, and then they wish us luck in the playoffs. I feel like we let them down as well ourselves by bowing out as early as we did. Larry and the Rakers, I salute you. If I ever need any yard work done, I will call Cyrilla thanks to your positive advertisement.

-Another shoutout goes out to the Owlz’ Fago and Dunn. Fago is possibly this years’ MVP and claims to check out Ducks’ games when they play at Spring Hill. For this alone he’s a darn good dude. As for Dunn (at least I think that’s his name), he could possibly be the best secret in the NABA this year. He throws extremely hard and sports a devastating curveball. And he also seemed to respect the game and the Ducks’, declaring in a 5-5 extra-inning stranglehold (with no umpires) with the Ducks, “I love games like this”. Me too, man.

-So much more could be said positive about this year’s squad (Teddy’s coaching, Jesse behind the dish, the comparisons of McCray to both Jake Taylor and Kirk Gibson, the suave demeanor of Les Gies) but I feel I’m beginning to ramble. I would just like to thank the Ducks for a great, fun season and I hope Ben doesn’t mind me posting.

Also, make sure you support Ben’s Ghostbusters if you are able. Rumor has it that he’ll keep blogging about your treks of investigating symmetrical book stacking while still leaving time to enjoy his other hobbies: collecting spores, molds, and fungus. And always remember, when someone asks you if you’re a god, you say yes!!!

blah

pittsburgh NABA, South Oakland Ducks Baseball
Except it’d be “South” Oakland

The Owlz are up 1-0 in the Championship series. here’s the recap from the Warriors website. The Game

I’ll link the Owlz recap when it is posted. It should be interesting to contrast and compare.
I’m going to try to catch some of the game tomorrow night at John Herb Field, 9pm.

This is the type of stuff I think about
There has been talk of adding a second, yellow “South Oakland” Jersey. I think this would be sweet, especially for day games late in the season. I’m in favor of having home and away jerseys. We need to start fund raising early

I also think we should come up with special red white and blue Ducks T-shirts for when we play the Rebels, we might only use our hypothetical, patriotic 3rd jerseys three or four times a season, but it’d be worth it. They would be simple; “Ducks” on the front, number on the back. We could probably get them for ten bucks apiece. Just something to consider.

Party at Coby’s?

Quack.

Ducks Propaganda

pittsburgh NABA, South Oakland Ducks Baseball

TC Jones for Manager of the Year
This award doesn’t exist yet, but it should, and it ought to go to Jones. Last season under Ben Gwin’s Nixon-esque leadership, the Ducks were 8-16 with an abysmal .333 winning percentage, the war escalated. In Jones’ first season as manager the Ducks rebounded to make the playoffs for the first time in three years on the strength of an 11-9-2 record and a .545 wining percentage. The Ducks are once again a competitive, winning organization and a fun team to play for, encompassing all that is good about the Pittsburgh NABA.

Nick Homa for Pitcher of the Year
No single player was more responsible for the Ducks (11-9-2) turnaround than Homa; with a 4-3-1 record and 3 saves he factored into all but four of South Oakland’s eleven victories, two of the Ducks’ wins were awarded via forfeit, so Homa either won or saved 77% of his team’s victories which were settled on the field. He also set the single season Ducks strikeout record with 76, the second highest single season strikeout total in Pittsburgh NABA history.
The record is held by former Blue Jays farmhand, Matt Dalton (83) .

Quack line: 59 IP, 2.73 ERA, 76 K, 24 BB. 1 league dominated.

If not pitcher of the year than MVP.

Team of Destiny ’09

The Once and Future Duck has this to pass along…Former Raker, Jeremy Barchie is seeking the 2009 NABA Pitcher of the Year Award with his new team the Ducks. He will return to South Oakland, where he played six games his rookie season, when his contract with Cyrilla Landscaping expires in January.

Barchie holds the Ducks single game strikeout record (17), and Nick Homa holds the single season record(76).

Sign up for fall baseball here I’m coaching the Ghostbusters. We will dominate all supernatural beings and the three other teams.

Buy Ducks stuff all proceeds go to next season’s league dues. So far we’ve made 21 dollars. Buy gifts for your friends and family, even if you don’t play for the Ducks, I think they’d appreciate the gesture.

Manager of the Year Jones will have to come up with team awards this season. He should email me his arbitrary, biased, decisions sometime this week, and I will create my own awards for the rest of the Ducks, whom Jones spitefully decides don’t deserve recognition.

Quack, quack.

insomnia….

Game 23, Exhibition: Spag-tastic Voyage. Ducks 74, Bulldogs -2

pittsburgh NABA, South Oakland Ducks Baseball, who names their team the Rebels?
profanity in this video


90’s hip-hop, I miss you.

The final game, much like the Ducks’ sixth season, came and went in a green and yellow blur.
It’s going to be odd when 6pm approaches on Monday and it won’t be time to get ready for batting practice before leading the caravan to Spring Hill.
The Ducks season opened with a 15-1 loss, and unofficially ended with a 15-3 victory, a nice bookend. It is never fun when a good thing ends, and this season was very good in many ways, but South Oakland went out quacking, in a game that featured the pitching debuts of Ryan Novak, and right-handed specialist, Jimmy Spagnola, by trouncing the Bulldogs in what may have been a preview of next season’s championship (barring radical realignment, which is possible).

Dan Morgan started for the Bulldogs

Starting pitcher/middle linebacker, Dan Morgan was headhunting early on, but the Ducks jumped out to an early lead. On the hill for the Ducks was SS, Ryan Novak, who threw five innings, striking out six or seven batters while allowing three runs for his first unofficial Pittsburgh NABA win.

Novak also hit Coby in the groin with a sixth inning curve ball, Novak’s curve was so deadly, not only did it paralyze the Bulldogs, it dominated his own catcher who had presumably called for the pitch.

South Oakland lead 5-3 going into the top of the fourth, when Manager of the Year, TC Jones’ strategy to bat twelve hitters in the starting lineup paid off. The Bulldogs moved middle linebacker, Dan Morgan, from the mound to first base the Ducks sent twelve batters to the plate and scored seven runs, on a handful of hits putting the game out of reach.

Nick Homa relieved Novak and pitched a scoreless sixth, stranding the bases loaded.

The seventh inning was James Spagnola’s NABA pitching debut. Spags pitched a scoreless seventh after catching the first five innings of the game, impressive. The CMU Robot Master will look to break into the rotation next season, and at the very least add depth to the bullpen.

  • BULLET POINTS
  • This was a weak recap. I wasn’t paying close attention, it was a fun exhibition and a great way to close out the season.
  • Next year we close it out with a championship
  • Wojton hit seven doubles, and was offered a contract by the league president to play for the Bulldogs next season, which would make him the first paid player in league history.
  • Andy McCray nearly went yard then hustled out an infield hit on one leg. He also kept Vaughn relaxed on the mound

  • Eric Lee hit a double, and stole two bases
  • KT reached base three times, and had a shot down the line ruled foul that appeared to hit the chalk.
  • The invisible hand played a solid game at short, and actually seemed to enjoy himself. he walked a few times and I’m pretty sure he had a single and an RBI
  • Guthrie had two infield hits and played a Jason Bay-esque game in left
  • Manager of the Year hustled to reach on an error and was solid at first base.
  • Coby, “werewolves of london, Griffey junior” Kolaja will wear a cup the next time he catches.
  • Novak will probably be next year’s set up man. he also had a hit and was on base frequently.
  • Brian Strom is a solid pitcher. I had a bad at-bat against him, he kept me off-balance, and got me out on a sensational play by second baseman Vinny Gala, who pounced on my soft liner up the middle like a ballerina going for whatever they go for in ballets. Graceful.
  • The Bulldogs are friends’ of the Ducks.
  • the season in review will appear in the next couple days.
  • I adjusted the blog settings so you don’t have to sign up for a blogger account to leave a comment..
  • I’ve decided to keep the blog quacking year round.
***
Around the Pittsburgh NABA

An unfortunate clip of the fans after game three of the Monongahela Championship between the Owlz and Black Sox.

The Owlz won 3-2 in nine innings. It was a great baseball game, somewhat tarnished by the carrying on of the fans.
Black Sox, pitcher Florian pitched six strong innings when he could barely walk, NABA veteran adn friend of the Ducks’ pitcher Luke Demsey, worked out of a bases loaded, no outs jam in the seventh to send the game to extra innings. SS, Kenny Rayl made a phenominal play on a would be game winning hit up the middle to save the game in the eighth, but the Sox could not score a run off Dunn, who allowed only one runner while pitching the eighth and ninth innings. Some guy on the Owlz singled in the winning run in the bottom of the ninth.

The Ducks support the Warriors in the finals.
(we’ve got to keep it Old school, Fago, nothing personal)

Since my selections of Nick Homa for Pitcher of the Year, and TC Jones for Manager of the Year, are unbiased, it’s only fair to put an MVP nomination on the blog even though the Ducks are without a serious candidate, due to Jesse Smith’s lack of plate appearances.

The Ducksblog votes for James Fago, Owlz, for MVP.
He lead the league in RBI, and pitched and caught at a high level for a first place, division winning team.

MVP

Fago drove in the game tying run when he was hit by a pitch in the bottom of the seventh, in the Monongahela Championship. During game three he dealt with unconscionable taunting at the hands of a well lubricated Black Sox booster club. Good game, and good season, Jimmy.

Rakers Larry, you can come to the Ducks as well if you want.

Team of Destiny 2009, “We’re on a mission”

2008 Ducks Finale Sunday 12pm at Laroche College

pittsburgh NABA, South Oakland Ducks Baseball

Ducks vs. Bulldogs, Sunday 12pm at LaRoche College.

There is no game tonight vs. the Matadors, they could not get enough players.

The Warriors swept the Oilers en-route to the Allegheny Division Championship.

The Black Sox beat the Owlz today forcing a game three in the Monongahela Championship Series, tomorrow at 3pm. The winner will play the Warriors for the Pittsburgh NABA Championship.

Once and Future Duck

pittsburgh NABA, South Oakland Ducks Baseball

“I want to be a Duck“, Jeremy Barchie, via text message.

Rakers pitcher and former Duck, Jeremy Barchie, has made a verbal commitment to quack next season. Will fellow Rakers’ pitcher Ben Sorosky follow suit?
Barchie holds the Ducks single game strikeout record (17).
This will be the best staff in Ducks history.

Ducks’ founder, Ben Gwin has agreed to give Barchie number four in exchange for two cans of Grizzly Wintergreen smokeless tobacco. Gwin will wear 19, in honor of his cousin Tony.

Rumor has it, Barchie broke out in song shortly after his decision.

Bad news for the Monongahela Division

Quack

Party at Coby’s?