Ducks Regular Season Recap

Overall we had a solid year. We won and lost a few close, low-scoring games. The losses to the Eagles and D2 are frustrating, but that happens. Everyone in AA has at least one good arm who is capable of shutting down a team, and we weren’t able to overcome that a few times this year. Records aside, there aren’t any easy teams to beat this year.

Our pitching and defense were statistically the best in AA. 65 runs allowed is a good number. We set team records for single-season shutouts, saves, and runs allowed.

We usually put up more runs, but I think we faced a lot of teams number one pitchers, and we also ran into a few junk ballers who kept us off balance. Typically, we do better against fast pitching, but that’s not exactly a secret. So bring on your crafty lefties in the playoffs. Hopefully we can adjust.

We also had a few guys who took a year off last year who didn’t round into form until late in the year. I also batted eleven guys more this year than in the past, which took some at bats away from the guys at the top and the middle of the lineup. I probably cost us at least one win here, but I got everyone at least 2 at bats per game on average, which I feel is giving everyone their money’s worth while still trying to win.

16 wins is good. I’m a believer in the last ten games being the best indicator of how a team is playing, and we have won nine of them. Hopefully the time off is good for us and we don’t lose any momentum going into Saturday. D2 has a shitty record, and a bad run differential, but they beat us twice and we had a tough time against a couple of their pitchers.

Around the Pittsburgh NABA

In approximate order of news-worthyness..

Here’s a link to the Cranberry Crusaders’ website. Solid work over there. It’s much more fun to write recaps when you’re winning. I assume Andy will post something inflammatory before the playoffs start. Keep an eye out for that bulletin board material. It’s interesting to read through their posts from this year and see the tone shift from cautiously optimistic to confident. Congrats to Cranberry on a good season.

The Wolfpack literally quit this season. What a joke. West View folding for the second straight year hurt us this time, as we don’t get a team coming off a play-in game. They should be voted down to single A, and forced to add free agents to their roster to avoid folding for a third straight year.

The Bandidos and Eagles, 2017 finalists, both have a bad record. It won’t surprise me if either team goes on a run in the playoffs. They are battle tested.

The Oilers are absolutely not cheating. I swear.

Jays had a run-in with Cranberry this year, and I think they used the resulting suspensions as motivation to put together a decent season.

Grizzlies won ten straight to start the year, and have since faltered. We had a 3% chance of taking over second place after we lost to D2 in July, but after that game, we won out, and the Grizzlies went 1-5 or something. Sleeping giant though. I think most teams want to avoid them in the post-season. They have some great pitching.

The Devils are probably better than their record, which isn’t that bad to begin with. I thought they would be in Cranberry’s position now.

Up In AAA

The AAA mangers meeting might be an eventful one, as the Tropics are probably cheating. Shocking, I know. No stats entered for them all season. The only advantage that could possibly give them is a way around minimum games played if no one wants to take the time to challenge them. It creates a situation where everyone is forced to either do a lot of work or not question any of their players eligibility and probably let them play ineligible players. I don’t think the league would be worse off without them.

Our league has always erred on the side of letting players play. Whether it’s giving teams extra time to get money in, letting teams enter the league late, or putting the burden of proof on the team that is challenging player eligibility. I don’t agree with all the decisions that are made by the commish, but I’ve never questioned his integrity or his intention. The intention has always been to grow the league, and give as many people as possible the chance to play baseball. Most of the issues that arise are due to teams taking advantage of that sentiment.

I’m grateful for another regular season. Thank you to everyone who has made that possible. Hopefully we will be playing until August this year. I think we have a good shot.