Vacation recap and video coming soon, as soon as I have some time to do some editing.  Also possibly a game recap from last week's games vs the Rebels.  The Bulldogs split the double header to clinch the #8 seed in the playoffs and end the season on an 8-2 run.  The games start at 10 am, with field to still be determined.  Check the 28 and over site for details or check back here later in the week.

Assuming the Fall League is still going down, visit http://pittsburghnaba.com/ for more details.  Registration deadline is tomorrow Fri 13th, but I'm assuming that may get pushed back if more players are still needed to make teams.  Opening day is slated for Sept 11th.  Get your money to Joe ASAP and you probably have to fill out a registration form under the Handouts section of the website.

Fall ball is a lot of fun.  It's definitely a more laid back vibe compared to the summer league.  It's a good opportunity for people that are new to the league to get some playing time and possibly get picked up on a summer team.  Games take place on Sunday mornings.  I think some dude from the Maulers is helping run the Fall League, as Joe is possibly grooming him to be his protege.

All Star Searches for July

I found these in the search logs.... "raw chicken smells like fish", "smoking two cigs at once" - i'm assuming that was someone from the blacksox, and "beaver shots in sports" - someone looking for pictures of Trojan.  And of course the month wouldn't be complete without a search for "beth ann tiedemann".

The PBL Bulldogs are in a fight for the playoffs, and after a decisive two-game sweep of the River City Sharks, they control their own destiny with an 11-13 record.  The Sharks were unable to retire two players all day (6-6 with three walks, and 2 HBP) while the Bulldog hitters collected 24 hits on the day, and the Bulldogs pitching allowed only 2 earned runs in 14 innings.

The NABA Bulldogs were well-represented in the NABA All-Star Game with Justin Meyers, Jarrod Harris, and Matt Dugovich all starting in the contest.  Dugovich and Myers accounted for 2 of the 3 runs scored for the Allegheny squad.  BJ Rankin, Joe Graff, Jeff Trojan, and Adam Phillip were also nominated for the roster.

In the early game, Dave Higgenbothem allowed only one unearned run in the top of the first en route to a 3 hit, complete game shutout.

The Bulldogs offense was hot in game one, with three singles, in the first two innings.  However, they only came away with one run early, after two balls were scorched at infielders for taylor-made double plays, and a third ball was lined directly to the leftfielder.  A lead-off walk in the third, and a lead-off single in the fourth led to no runs, as the Bulldogs pissed on four more balls, but right at a Sharks defender, who made the plays on the urine-drenched baseballs.

A Bulldogs feasts on a Shark Pitcher

The flood gates begin to open in the fifth, when after two outs, the Dawgs top four hitters all reached base, scoring two runs.  In the sixth, they scored four runs on three hits, with two more outs coming on line drives.

In Game two, the hits finally began to fall in.  The Bulldogs scored 6 runs in the first inning, and never looked back, scoring 5 more runs in the fifth inning on 6 consecutive hits.

Notable Performances: Strom 4-4, 4R, 2BB, 3RBI; Boyd 3-4, 2R, BB, RBI; Logan 3-6, RBI; Morgan 3-5; Rankin 4-7 3R; Graff 2-2, 3R, 2HBP, BB, SAC

Strom proudly displays his balls.

With a sweep of their last 4 games, the Bulldogs will assure themselves of making the playoffs, and with a little help could end up as the #5 seed.

SHARK WEEK!

Yes, the old dawgs go to battle this week against the River City Sharks.  The old dawgs control their playoff destiny having games against the 10th, 5th, 6th, and 7th seeds in the PBL to finish out their season.

They will go into battle shorthanded, without defensive stalwarts Greg Wittmer, Matt Hreha, and Mike Martin.  They will also miss the offensive wizardry of Hreha, Tim Maul, Bill Jacobs, and Craig Boley.

The Bulldogs dropped two close games early in the season on a muddy field allowing unearned runs to decide the outcomes of both games.  Since then, the Bulldogs have reeled off 4 wins in a row, including a close win over Justin Smith, one of the top pitchers in the PBL.  Although they stand at 9-13, they are 4-0 in their last 4, 5-5 in the last ten, 8-6 against the 5-12 seeded teams in the league, with all 6 of those losses being decided by unearned runs.  This team could easily be 15-7 right now.

Expect the Bulldogs to dine on Shark Sunday with their playoff hopes on the line.

In other news, some Baby Bulldogs will be playing the Pittsburgh NABA All-Star Game Sunday afternoon at 5pm at LaRoche College: Joe Graff, Matt Dugovich, Jeff Trojan, BJ Rankin, and Adam Philip have all been selected to participate.

Following the double header, several of the 28 and over Bulldogs will rest up and then travel to Laroche College to help out the NABA Bulldogs who face the Oilers in the first round of the NABA playoffs.  This game is huge for the baby Bulldogs, as we have still yet to win a playoff game (kind of embarrassing to admit).  Despite several great regular seasons, the Bulldogs have been huge chokers when it comes to the playoffs (see last year's example).  It's time to turn that around on Sunday.

Hopefully last night's practice pays off.  We need to keep our heads in the game and play SMART baseball.  No stupid mental errors on the base paths or in the field.

Please let GM Joe Graff know your availability ASAP.

There is a dollar draft night at the Chester from 9-11.

However, the objective behind this year' s format was to expand the league in 2011 into two sepearate leagues, with indepenent playoffs.  This would lead to regular season divisional champions, and overall league champions.  Pittsburgh NABA Champions from the first 7 years of the league would essentially be "AA" Champions.  To be sure, 2010 is a transitional year.

Top AA teams, and bottom end A teams should not be facing each other more than once a year, if at all.  With the admittedly imperfect 3 division format this year it at least assured AA teams that they were playing the A teams no more than 2 times during the season.  In  hindsight, this certainly was preferable to the following format:

3 Games versus teams in own division; 1-2 games vs. Teams in opposing division

Allgeheny Division
Hurricanes
Warriors
Bulldogs
Matadors
Oilers
Titans

Monongahela Division
Black Sox
Ducks
Militia
Eagles
Maulers
Knights

This would have created a scenario where last year's champion would have played the Oilers and Titans 3 times a piece, while only playing some other AA teams once.  It's a difference of about 3 games in terms of difficulty.  The format used for the 2010 regular season assured a more difficult schedule for final four teams from last year (Canes, Sox, Ducks, Warriors), while allowing the A teams to play 9 games ( instead of 4-5) against teams of similar ability.

I am pleased with that arrangement.  Could the playoffs be structured differently?  Perhaps, but that' s why these things getting voted on in the off-season.

Next year, it is imperative that we  increase the number of teams in the league to go to the following type format (More teams, more games against evenly matched opponents):

AA: 8 teams; 24 games.  (3 games in division, 10 games AA, 5 games A)
AA playoffs: Rd. 1 - #1, #2, bye; #3 vs. #6, #4 vs. #5, #7, #8 are out; Rd. 2 - #1 vs. #4/5, #2 vs. #3/6; Best of 3 for Championship

A: 5 teams; 24 Games (8 games AA, 16 Games in division)
A Playoffs: #4 vs. #5; Rd. 2 #1 vs. #4/#5, #2 vs. #3; Rd. 3 - Best of 3 for Championship.

There would be a AA, and an A Champion in 2011.  The A champion would automatically become a AA team for 2012, while the worst team in AA would move down to A.  The idea is to achieve competitive balance while placing important on both the playoff structure, and regular season.

Division Champions (Allegheny and Monongahela) would achieve the top seeds in their playoff.  The last place teams in each division would either be out altogether, or be placed automatically in the worst playoff position.  The middle seeds (3-6) would then be determined by overall AA record (as it is this year).  This allows teams to stress games within their own division as a priority, instead of an equal emphasis on all games during the season.

The thing I have liked about this year is the acknowledgment of "Big Games".  Ducks vs. Black Sox, Hurricanes vs. Bulldogs, Oilers vs. Maulers, Black Sox vs. Militia, Matadors vs. Hurricanes, etc.  Managers knew those games were more important to their seasons than games against non-divisional foes.  I personally felt that part of the schedule was a success.

No team had clinched their division until the last week of the season.  No team was out of the divisional running until mid-July.  That 3 months of the 4 month season that teams still had a shot at their division title.  For the playoffs, you can' t be sure that you've seen the best a non-divisional opponent had during the regular season; the game was not a "must-win".

In general, I think the 2010 regular season has been a success.  Only the Eagles, and the extenuating circumstances of their management were a sore spot in my mind.  The Titans and Knights learned lessons this year, and figure to be back in 2011 and compete for the A Championship along with 2-4 new teams.  Scheduling is beginning to be ironed out, and I expect good things in 2011.

In the 2nd game, Dahlke shut down the Beaver bats.  The offense scored 4 runs in the bottom on the first and would cruise to a 5-0 win, as the sun finally made its way out toward the end of the 2nd game.

Earlier in the week, the NABA Bulldogs lost a tough game against the Hurricanes 7-6 on Wed night.  All 3 games vs the Canes this season have been decided by 1 run.  The young (or should I say "aging") Bulldogs bounced back the next night by beating the Warriors 6-3 at John Herb field.

The 28+ Bulldogs next play this Sunday in a twin bill vs the Monroeville Hurricanes, not to be confused with the evil Pittsburgh Hurricanes of the NABA.  The young Dawgs will probably start their playoff run on Sunday afternoon, which means that half of the team will be playing their 3rd game of the day....  Should be another long, hot one.

As an introduction to any topic, it is always important to first assess prior knowledge.  With that in mind, please take a few minutes to answer the questions below.  For fun, post your responses, and compare your answers with other readers!

Answers to questions will be posted on 7/20.

Next Up: A 7/20 Article on the History of Beavers in Western Pennsylvania

Self-Quiz: Know Your Beavers

1.  How much wood can a beaver consume in a day?

A. 948 Butt Cords
B. 14 bushels, varying on amount of wood in the bush
C. An amount in direct variation with the size of its mouth and ability to digest and store food.

2.  What type of wood does a beaver prefer?

D.  birch, aspen, willow and poplar
E.  Dogwood, dank, and pecker
F.  Strom, Ohrman, and Logan

3.  What of the following is NOT a characteristic of a beaver?

A.  Large, unclawed front webbed feet
B. Large, very broad and flat scaly black tail
C.  Thick and oily dark brown fur

4.  What is the diameter of wood a beaver prefers?

D.  2-6 inches
E.  12-18 inches
F.  1-2 inches, but only if stiff, and in lengths between 5-9 inches at a time

5.  How do beavers reproduce?

A.  Sexually
B.  Asexually
C.  Through File sharing, a violation of copyright law.

6.  How many partners does a beaver have in its lifetime?

D. 1
E.  2-3
F.  Greater than 3 (males report at a rate 4 times greater than females, leaving female self-reported sexual partners unreliable)

7.  How much of its life does a beaver spend wet?

A.  80 Percent
B.  Most of its life, varying based on availability of food and shelter
C.  After puberty it should become a daily occurrence acting as a natural cleansing of the body

8.  Whats the best way to eat a beaver?

D.  In a soup or stew
E.  Lightly seared, with a garnish of strawberry
F.  Raw but shaved,  like eating a pie without the use of your hands

9.  How do other beavers recognize each others territory?

A.  Scent Mounds
B.  A shoving and wrestling match
C.  They often don't, resulting in shared wood resources

10.  What does beaver taste like?

D.  Pork
E.  Warm apple pie
F.  Raw Chicken, but smells like fish
(Note:  If it tastes like shit, you should flip it over.)

WINO's BONUS QUESTION

Bonus:  When does a beaver become sexually active?

A.  1 1/2 to 2 1/2 years old
B.  14-18 years old
C.  When they are lured to the den of an older male.

Submit your answers below and compare your results to other readers!

Check back tomorrow for the answers.