The Ducks next game is against the Confederacy, Monday night at 9pm at Spring View Field.
No word on when tonight’s game will be rescheduled.

Congratulations to Duck, Jesse Smith on being named starting catcher for the 2008 Monongahela Division All Stars.
Smith is hitting .385, and leads the Ducks in HR, OBP and, Slg.
The All Star Game will be held July 2nd at Spring View Field, at 8:30pm

Monongahela Reserves will be named Monday, June 30th.

I’d like to thank the Bulldogs for reading last week’s posts.

In 2003 the Black Sox were the Stampeders. It was against the Stampeders in the final game of the 2003 regular season, that the Ducks were involved in the only bench-clearing brawl in team history. None of the current Black Sox had anything to do with the lunacy that transpired that day. The Ducks went on to win the Championship from the fifth seed in the six team league.

The Black Sox ended the Ducks chance to repeat in a controversial second round playoff victory, which the Black Sox won two games to one. South Oakland won the first game 7-0, then the next game was rained out and rescheduled and the Ducks had to forfeit game two.

Their was something odd surrounding the game two forfeit, which I don’t remember exactly. We didn’t have enough players show up to the game which but it was rained out anyway, it wasn’t quite right.
That stuff happens, the Black Sox had enough players, and the Ducks didn’t.
So it goes.

Game three was rained out and rescheduled, and we had to play with seven guys, and the Black Sox won. It would have been nice to have the game rescheduled for a time when we could have had enough guys to field a team.

It is because of this playoff series I went out of my way to have an enormous roster, so we would never have to forfeit. But I always felt obligated to play everyone, and there were a few seasons where our depth dropped dramatically after the first 9-12 players, on a 24-man roster, which lead to some painful come-from-ahead, losses.

Joe Jackson is one of my favorite baseball players, certainly my favorite from the Dead Ball Era. Babe Ruth modeled his swing after Jackson’s. I only know Jackson through statistics.
I have only seen him through grainy documentary footage and still photos. I know his story through cinema, and literature. “Eight Men Out”, the story of the eight White Sox players who conspired to throw the 1919 World Series is my favorite, non-comedic baseball movie, it is based on the book with the same name.

The part of Eight Men Out that gets me, is the final scene where John Cusack’s character is watching what amounts to an NABA game, in which Joe Jackson is playing under a pseudonym,because he loves baseball.

Joe Jackson is why I hate Pete Rose and his constant blabbing about reinstatement.

Rumor has it, Kenny and the Black Sox were contacted by a group of gamblers before the 2005 Pittsburgh NABA championship game, and were paid a hefty sum to throw the series against the underdog Warriors. Matt Slavonic took the money, but hit over .375 in the series and didn’t commit an error in the field.

We lost 15-1 to these guys on opening day. We need a win desperately.

We’ll probably see the righty on Saturday

Eight Division Games left.

The South Oakland Ducks (5-8-1) lost on a 2-run double in the bottom of the seventh inning, by the Bulldogs’ ten-hitter.
It was a pitchers’ duel early.
The Bulldogs went ahead 3-0 in the bottom of the third thanks to three unearned runs.
South Oakland tied the game 3-3 in the top of sixth on Coby Kolaja’s RBI single.
The Bulldogs scored another unearned run on a two out error in the bottom of the sixth to take a 4-3 lead.
In the top of the seventh, South Oakland scored two runs after KT Murphy walked to lead-off the inning, stole second, and then moved to third on a ground out by TC Jones.
Nick Homa singled in Murphy, and then Eric Lee sacrificed Homa to second.
Gwin singled to left to give the Ducks a 5-4 lead going into the bottom of the seventh. The Ducks would leave the bases loaded in the seventh.
The Bulldogs came to bat in the bottom of the seventh, down by one, with their seventh hitter leading off the inning.
Then after a single, a fielder’s choice and a walk, the last hitter in the Bulldogs’ order came through with a drive to the left center gap to end the game.

The Ducks played without six starters and fought hard.
Starter Nick Homa (2-3) pitched well enough to win. He threw a five-hit complete game.

The game was originally scheduled to be played at 9pm in Etna, but was moved to Avonworth Field at 6pm, due to a problem with the lights in Etna. The schedule change didn’t occur until Friday, after many Ducks’ players had made plans to leave town, and return in time for what they thought was a 9pm start. It’s not an excuse, just symptomatic of how the chips have fallen this season.

If it wasn’t for bad luck…

• This was painful to write
• The Bulldogs played without Rick Beyer, last season’s batting champion.
• Brian Strom got the win for the Bulldogs. Hats off to them, they made key plays in the infield and kept us off the score board early. Catcher, Joe Graff made a nice pick on a low throw from the short stop to record a run saving 6-2 put-out in the sixth.
• There were a few kids on the Bulldogs who appeared to go to the plate with the sole intention of earning a base on balls. That’s what I always dreamed of as a kid, getting into the batters’ box and taking four borderline pitches to draw a walk.
• Nick wasn’t awfully wild, and the defense wasn’t terrible. We just made the errors after the walks.
• Another wasted outing by a Ducks’ starter, and another game where we didn’t start playing until the last two innings.
• Their first pitcher was tough to hit, but his stuff wasn’t overwhelming. He held the Ducks hitless for 5 innings.
• I’m not one to blame the umpires.
• This was a great baseball game; there is some solace to take in playing good competitive baseball.
• We have to win seven or eight of our last ten games, and get help to make the playoffs.
• I should have had that last fly ball, I was out of position, the sky had turned gray, I got a bad jump and took a bad line. It carried. That’s a play I can and should make, especially after lobbying to play outfield.
• Coby had a clutch game tying RBI and a phenomenal diving catch in right field.
• Attendance must improve if we are to win enough games to get into the playoffs.

The Ducks are still mathematically alive for playoff contention

The Bulldogs are wounded; Last season’s Allegheny Division winners are currently mired in 4th place, owners of an apologetic 4-7 record. They’ve suffered injuries, but still have plenty of good ball players.
The Bulldogs set their rotation to have their ace pitch last Wednesday, against the Rebels and they did us a favor by shutting down the Confederate Army. They also beat the Phatoms 2-1 yesterday. A victory today would solidify their hold on the last playoff spot in the Allegheny.
The Ducks (5-7-1) look to ride the momentum of yet another one-run victory.
When the dust settles after this weekend’s Monongahela Division games, the Ducks could find themselves half a game out of third place, if they win tonight.
We’ll see who shows up today, but at this point in the season we have to expect to be short-handed. Players have been stepping up, Coach Jones has done a great job putting players in position to succeed.

The League President is on the Bulldogs, he chose to play the Ducks twice this season, who can blame him after our inept 2007 campaign.

Around the Monongahela Division:
The Rebels surrendered to the Matadors yesterday.
Unfortunately, the Ducks find ourselves rooting for the Black Sox the sweep the Rakers.
The Eagles(6-6) lost to the OwlZ yesterday.

Without the help of the entire starting infield and two-thirds of the starting outfield, Ducks’ Manager TC Jones, patched together a brilliant last-second lineup and led South Oakland to victory. The Ducks (5-7-1) got strong performances from their reserves, and held on for a 6-5 victory over the Hurricanes(2-4). Jones (1-1) pitched five innings for his first victory of the season, Nick Homa recorded the save (3).

Gwin singled and scored on Nick Homa’s ground-out to put the Ducks up 1-0 in the first.
The Hurricanes answered with a single and a double in the bottom of the first, tying the game at one. Jones stopped the rally with two strike outs and a ground out to end the first.

In the top of the third, Gwin singled, stole second and scored on Rick Whalen’s RBI double.
Whalen also threw a runner out in the bottom of the third.
Were it not for two Hurricane double plays, the Ducks could have run away with it early.
South Oakland lead 2-1 after three and a half innings.

I left for work

Sources say there was a four run rally in the top of the fifth, to put South Oakland up 6-2.
The Hurricanes chipped away, and trailed 6-5 in the sixth. Then Homa came in and shut them down for his third save of the season.

BULLET POINTS

• The Ducks are now one game back in the win column of the 6-5 Eagles, who hold the final playoff spot in the Monongahela Division.
• The fourth place Rakers are 5-5, pending the results of their game today against the Oilers. The Rakers play a double header against the division leading Black Sox (9-1) tomorrow, starting at 12pm at Avonworth High School.
• Coby had an unbillievable day at the plate.
• A. Smith had an RBI single
• KT played a good three innings at second, and the defense as a whole was solid.
• The Eagles played the second place OwlZ (7-2) today (no score posted), and the Matadors tomorrow.
• As this weekend progresses, the Monongahela race will tighten one way or another.
• Here’s to a 6-7 log-jam.
• Should the Ducks win tomorrow vs. the Bulldogs, it will be South Oakland’s first winning streak of the season.
• The 6-5 victory was the fifth one-run game of the Ducks’ season, (3-2).
• The tie vs. the Phantoms will be completed if the outcome will effect playoff seeding.
• The Hurricanes are good guys, and I wish them the best of luck the rest of the season.

The Ducks play Sunday at 6pm at Avenworth High School Field.
There will be a pre-game post by 2pm tomorrow.

Go Ducks.

South Oakland is 1-1-1 at Pie Traynor Field this season.
Judging by the updated stats, found at Pittsburghnaba.com, we need to steal more bases and strikeout less.
We are batting under .200 as a team we need to create runs.
I am a brilliant baseball strategist.

There is a three way tie for the Bob Faust hit-by-pitch award: Guthrie, J. Smith, and Gwin (3).

The South Oakland Ducks (4-7-1) are 2 games out of a playoff spot with 12 games remaining. The Ducks will have to finish at least .500 to earn the team’s first trip to the post-season in three years. One game at a time. Starting with the Hurricane Carters (1-3-1) on Saturday.

Around the Pittsburgh NABA:
The Bulldogs beat the Rebels 6-1 on Wednesday.

The Ducks’ roster has been posted in its entirety. South Oakland leads the league in players with 22.
Injuries to Tom Pusateri, and Chris Roth have limited their availability. Brett Pusateri’s Series of Unfortunate Events has kept him out of the lineup since early May. Gregg Campbell has disappeared off the face of the earth, and Bill Francisco-Cabrera has been unavailable to tell us how to play since the disgrace that was the second Eagles’ game.
We haven’t seen the last of Brett, and hopefully Chris.
I hope Gregg has not been kidnapped, some things are more important than amateur baseball.
There are players on our team who, after twelve games, still have not met .

Apparently, a member of the OwlZ’s front office changed the spelling of their team name on the main NABA page to contain a “Z” instead of the traditional “S”.
Since the days of Shakespeare, the letter “s” has been used to denote the plurality of nouns, albeit in a less Xtreme and phonetically intimidating manner than the letter “z”.
The OwlZ lead the league in Playaz
I do own the Redman album “Dare Iz a Dark Side”, it is solid, and if the OwlZ are going with the “z” as an ode to Redman, I’m all for it. Whateva, Man.

Hip Hop videos used to be different.

In other news, We should seek a sponsorship from Subway.

I was at this Phish show where they covered, Dylan’s “The Mighty Quinn”

The Ducks (4-7-1) have four days off before traveling to Pie Traynor field to play the Hurricanes (1-3). Naturally, following an entire week off, the Ducks play back to back games this weekend (sat. vs. Hurricanes, sun. vs. the Bulldogs (1-7). )
South Oakland is presented with a great chance to get back in the thick of the playoff race. Yesterday the Ducks learned they would be awarded a forfeit victory for an early season game against the Rebels, which was illegally canceled by the Confederacy. The retroactive win comes on the heels of a brutal three game losing streak.
With the W, South Oakland climbs out of the cellar and past the Rebels into fifth place, just two games behind the Eagles for the third and final playoff spot in the Monongahela Division.
The Ducks remaining schedule now consists of eight division games, and four games vs. the Allegheny Division, which consists of two teams with winning records and four teams with a combined three wins.
We should have seen this coming
Last season, the Monongahela division sent the sub-.500 Knights into the playoffs. This lead to an uproar from the Phantoms, who finished above .500, and in 4th place in the Allegheny Division, but did not qualify for the post-season. The current format has the top three teams in each division advancing, instead of an NHL-type format which would have the division winners seeded one and two, with the next four teams qualifying for the playoffs.
When the topic of playoff seeding was brought to the table in the off-season meetings, the vote was to keep the same format. Now, there are five teams in the Allegheny Division with one or fewer wins. Under the “division winners plus four” format, South Oakland would hold the sixth playoff spot. I doubt the Phantoms are whining about the seeding this season, as they sit 1/2 game out of third place, with a 0-3-2 record. There’s no reason for us to complain, we almost quacked into third place last year, despite being pretty bad.

In Regards to this weekend’s games, conspiracy theories, and bulletin board material.
The league expanded this season, the OwlZ, and their superfluous “z” were added to the Monongahela Division, and the Hurricanes were added to the Allegheny. The Owls, roster is full of NABA veterans, and small college players. The Hurricanes are struggling, I’m sure their roster lacks the “star power” of the Owls, who have Faygo, (a sick pitcher) and a bunch of kids from the RMU team who were league runners up, in 2006. Those guys have obviously played together before, they remind me of the Yankees from the Bad News Bears.

Bulldogs player, and league president Joe Graff, added the Hurricanes to the Bulldogs’ Division, and put the Owls in the Monongahela. Interesting…Of course this could be an attempt to even out the divisions, based on last years parity; add the better team to the softer division, and the team that’s weaker on paper to the division that was better top-to-bottom. What I would have done if I ran the league and had to deal with all the BS Joe does, put the worse team in my division. It also could have been an arbitrary decision.

Also, the League president and schedule maker, has pitted his team against the Ducks twice, when he could have chosen to play any of the other five Monongahela Division teams twice. Big mistake. Clearly he conspired with the Bulldogs front office and hand picked his team’s inter-division schedule, and the decided they wanted two games against South Oakland.
The Ducks were 1-1 against the Bulldogs last season.

The Bulldogs got jobbed in their game on Sunday. There was a terrible call that lead to the Black Sox scoring the go ahead run in the top of the seventh(made by the same guy who called Eric Lee out in our game), and (all other things remaining equal) the Bulldogs scored in the bottom half of the inning, they tied it up instead of winning, and went on to lose in extra innings.
The Ducks did not fare well against the Black Sox on opening day.

What’s really killing the Bulldogs is the pre-season injury to their best starting pitcher who was hit in the hand during batting practice, and lost for the season.
Brian Strom is a good ball player and a friend of mine, but he’d be the first one to tell you he’s no pitcher.

The table is set for the Ducks this weekend, we have to take advantage of a couple struggling teams and build some momentum. It’s great to be competing every game and to be playing exciting baseball, and we have to proud of that and optimistic that we can turn the corner. But if we can’t turn our improved play into victories, it will be nothing more than bittersweet consolation, when we look back on a season of near misses.

Quack, Quack.

In five of the teams losses, South Oakland (4-7-1) has had the tying run at the plate in the last inning, or has lost in the bottom of the seventh. Defeat snatched from the jaws of victory, time and time again. The improvement from ’07 to ’08 is only marginally represented in team’s wins and losses, the Ducks won nine games last year, but did not compete game in and game out, the way they have in ’08.

This weekend the Ducks play the Hurricanes at 3pm on Saturday, and the Bulldogs on Sunday. The two Allegheny Division teams have won three games between them.

It’s time for a victory montage to take us into late July, or we will be disbanded and moved to Florida.