Another Sunday, another beautiful day for baseball. The @fifthwardweebies and the @gentilly_giants_pbl sent up the morning call with a defensive heavy match. Submarine and sidearm pitches along with a first base mitt in center field proved challenging for the Weebie bats before small ball allowed them to pull ahead of the Giants. Quickly following the morning game, @cretestreetriot took the field with @rougarou_nola at home. The teams challenged each other — as well as some unruly fans who will not be named — in an exciting midday match with the duality of man (eephus pitches versus 900mph fastballs; or Dean versus Bruski) on full display. Also, our commissioner put his fence climbing skills on full display chasing down one those $9 baseballs. After the noonish game, the @bsjbluesbaseball played the @beefslidersbaseball in a game with no photographic evidence whatsoever. As the sun began its descent, the @s9nola and @nolapelicansbc took the field under beautiful gold and pink skies. A shutout rounded out the day but during the golden hour we were reminded why we play baseball in this dysfunctional and alluring city of ours.

5WW (3) @ GG (1)
CSR (5) @ ROU (6)
Blues (16) at Beef (1)
PEL (0) at S9 (10)

Pictures/Videos Available Here

The long awaited and serially delayed Fall Season of the PBL New Orleans has come. Opening Day saw the return of good friends, dramatic strikeouts, an “interesting” self-trade, plenty of HBP, and the continuation of a podiatric tradition that most of us are still trying to fully understand. Kicking things off at Perry Roehm, the Crete Street Riot and Weebies gathered at home plate for the reading of the Manifesto before engaging in what they call Feet Week. A beautiful 8-inning morning game led into the Mustard Cup. The Beef Sliders and Secret 9 faced off in an exciting back-and-forth eventually decided that Yellow Mustard would rule the day. Hot dogs were being served and beer was flowing as the Pelicans and the Rougarou engaged in a run-heavy match and came to the conclusion that werewolves don’t need moonlight to play baseball. Finally, the rematch between the defending champions and the Blues saw manager and ex-player face each other in a showdown after one of the most questionable offseason self-trades this reporter has ever seen — the result of which is captured here as the defying champion manager Ryan Carr strikes out former teammate Ryan Charles.

A great day for baseball. Results of Opening Day games below:

CSR (2) @ 5WW (6)
Beef (3) @ S9 (8)
ROU (12) @ Pels (7)
Blues (7) @ GG (2)

Pictures/Videos Available Here

The People’s Baseball League Spring 2021 Season came to an exciting close on Sunday with the Gentilly Giants walking off the field minted as champions! Congratulations! Thank you to all who participated and contributed this season!

With a heat-index floating ~106° F (probably ~120° on the infield dirt), three games of baseball were played by four teams in what may be remembered as the “Heat Stroke Classic.”

9:00 AM – The 4-seed Weebies left it all on the field in an attempt to knock-out the 1-seed Blues in what may have been the most exciting game of the day. Despite trailing 6-1 after four innings, The Weebies fought back to tie the game 10-10 after 9, and take it to a 10th. In the top of the 10^th, the Weebies went up by two runs, but the Blues refused to give in, loaded the bases, and chipped away until they earned their 3^rd run scored in the bottom of the 10^th for a walk-off win 13-12, and a berth in the championship game.

~12:30 PM – An anemic 2-seed Pelicans squad faced the super-charged 3-seed Giants. In an impressive feat of stamina, Giants manager Ryan Carr befuddled the Pels hitters on the mound for a complete game win bolstered by no less than four towering home runs from the aptly-named Giants hitters. The Giants ultimately run-ruled the Pelicans after 7 innings, winning 19-4, making way for the late-afternoon championship game.

4:30ish? – Two teams beat down by heat re-took a blistering field, with the Giants taking virtually no rest, and the Blues coming off a 4.5 hour lactic-acid buildup fest. The Blues briefly took a 1-run lead after the 2^nd inning, and the baseball gods blessed all the players with some cloud-cover for the rest of the game. Ultimately the Giants bats could not be beat in this offense-heavy game with both teams tallying a total of 23 hits. After 8 innings, lightning and rain forced the game to a close with the Giants victorious 12-7.

Pictures/Videos Available Here.

We wrapped up the Spring 2021 regular season for the People’s Baseball League this week. What a great one. We saw the glorious return to and mass improvement of Perry Roehm Stadium, the dawn of the juiced ball era along with a massive spike in home runs, the arrival of the Beef Sliders, the ascension of the Blues, a green team persevere through internal turmoil, CSR & 5WW celebrate each other’s feet, the advent of a volunteer play-by-play announcer Ryne Hancock, a poolful of Rougaboos, free popcorn, the iconic heckling of Frankie Vegas, among much more!

Thanks to everyone involved.

But we are not done yet! It’s playoff time! This Sunday, June 6. Single elimination. Winners go to the championship.
12:00 Pels vs GG
3:00 Blues vs. 5WW
We’ll see you out there! Expect another post on the matter.

Quick recaps, so I don’t go over the Instagram character limit:

9:00 AM
The Giants give the Blues a decent game of ball by keeping them under 10 runs, and staying within 4, but the Blues come out on top.
GG (5) – Blues (9)

12:00 PM
The Beef Sliders get pretty darn close to snagging that first win of the year, but CSR ain’t about to cave and be the only team to lose to these guys.
BS (9) – CSR (12)

3:00 PM
The Pels came out on a mission and hit four home runs (including a grand slam) against the Rougarou and clinched a playoff spot.
Pels (14) – Rou (4)

6:00 PM
Truly the game of the week. A game to determine who would advance to the 4th seed in the playoffs, with the loser landing in 5th and out of playoff contention. Longtime arch-enemies 5WW and S9 put on one of the best pitching battles we’ve seen in PBL history. Both pitchers go the complete game, but the Weebies’ Elliot Hamilton throws a gem and wins out over S9’s Stew Campbell with a shutout bolstered by outstanding defense.
5WW (3) – S9 (0)

Midweek Wed, May 26, 7:00 PM
Pels (15) – GG (7)

Memorial Day, May 31, 12:00 PM
BS (3) – Pels (19)

Pictures & Videos Available Here

Have you ever played baseball in an apocalyptic swarm of termites? We have. No delays necessary. This and more from Perry Roehm Stadium yesterday. Let me tell you about it!

9:00 AM
S9 & CSR had themselves a close battle until the Secret 9 released their secret weapon. While everyone has come to expect homers from the hulking Carson Briggs, S9 unleashed the untapped power of Phil “Hobbit Strength” Minnissale, as he hit his first career grand slam in the PBL to widen the run differential in this game. Congrats Phil, and thanks to you and Jarrod for putting together the crawfish boil.
S9 (11) – CSR (6)

12:00 PM
Noon saw a nice matchup of PBL OGs between the Fifth Ward Weebies and Rougarou, and the Weebies prove that they want a spot in the playoff contention with big shutdown pitching from Danny Gibbs to get the win.
5WW (12) – Rou (6)

3:00 PM
With a 3-run homerun from Grande in the top of the 1st, the Pels set the tone in what turned out to be a close matchup against the undefeated Blues. Despite trailing 10-0, the Blues battle themselves back to 10-7 in a late rally, but ultimately the Pels defense shut down the game, and become the first team to post a W against the Blues this season reclaiming the True Blue Cup in the process. Listen to the play-by-play audio broadcast of this game on the PBL website now here!
Blues (7) – Pels (10)

6:00 PM
Unnamed Green Team (now known as the Gentilly Giants) & the Beef Sliders squared off in what was a tight matchup with more than a few weird plays, an apocalyptic swarm of termites, and the worst heckler in the history of the PBL. Despite solid offense, the Beef Sliders were plagued by defensive blunders, and the green team extend their win-streak to 3.
GG (7) – BS (4)

With the conclusion of this week’s action, the Blues secure a playoff spot, and all eyes are on the Giants, Pels, 5WW, and S9—four teams vying for three playoff spots, with only one week to go in the PBL regular season, Spring 2021.

Pictures & Video Available Here

Don’t worry, I didn’t forget about you baseballians!

9:00 AM
A highly anticipated matchup between two teams both coming off of big wins last week. Carson Briggs knocks his fifth HR of the season in his first plate appearance in the top of the 1st, and S9 goes up by 5 early, but Pels slugger Dan April grabs his 3rd HR of the season to help equalize momentum. Both teams would go on to hit the baseball relentlessly over 7.5 innings in a very close game, until the Pels manage to put together a big 8-run bottom 7 to seal the deal in one of the highest scoring games in PBL history.
Pels (23) – S9 (12)

Noon
Where was Weebie Mike for a classic matchup of PBL OGs 5WW vs. CSR? At a Tulane Baseball game?! Watching baseball over playing baseball? Don’t be like Weebie Mike. Instead, be like John Michael Early, who pitched 9 innings for the Weebies and walked off the field with a W in his pocket. Always great fun when these two meet!
CSR (4) – 5WW (15)

3:00
The green team appear to be cruising post-restructure with a core group of solid performers in the lowest-scoring, and closest game of the day, closed out with some flame throwing closers.
Rou (4) – Green (5)

3:00/6:00
The 1st place Blues took on the last place Beef Sliders in a double-header with two 7-inning games, one at 3:00 at City Park, and the other at 6:00 at Perry Roehm. You gotta hand it to the Beef Sliders for agreeing to this. Maybe it was a strategy to get through the Blues best pitchers, but we all know the Blues have a deep bullpen. The Blues extend their win-streak by two, and Sliders do the opposite.
3:00 BS (3) – Blues (17)
6:00 Blues (24) – BS (9)

Pictures and Videos Available Here

You couldn’t ask for more of a storybook ending to Sunday’s action in the PBL of the 6:00 game. Featured in our cover video on instagram with the call by our newly minted play-by-play announcer Ryne Hancock. The Weebies and Secret 9 battled a hard fought game with great pitching and hitting on both sides, with the game tied after 9 innings forcing extra innings. The Weebies came up scoreless in the top of the 10th, and Carson Briggs of Secret 9 seized the opportunity in what I believe to be the first walk-off home run in PBL history.

S9 (8) – 5WW (6)

In the 9 AM game, The Beef Sliders squared off against the green team formerly known as the Parleaux Beer Labs. Despite putting up a promising 9 runs, the Sliders walk off the field still winless on the season while the green team is showing a burst of new excitement in their lineup.

BS (9) – Par (12)

At noon, the Rougarou took on the Pelicans in their first and only matchup of the season, a rematch of last season’s first round playoff with a reversal in outcome. The Pels batters came out with a vengeance against every pitcher Rougarou put on the bump, and are able to keep the Rougarou scoreless through 8 innings, with Andy Gross claiming the title of shutout-ruiner with a solo-shot home run in the bottom of the 9th—a small consolation in a blowout.

Rou (1) – Pels (20)

At 3:00 PM, Coming off a victory last week, CSR took their hand at putting together a win against the Blues, but like every other team that has faced them fail to do so. James Flynn shines for the Blues with 7 innings pitched and two home runs on the day, one a grand slam.

Listen to the audio commentary of this game here.

Audio commentary from Ryne Hancock with color commentary from Braden Piper, John Nowaczyk, Michael “Q” Quartano, Adam Kronenberg, and Marc Oddo.

CSR (1) – Blues (16)

Tossing out the undefeated Blues and the winless Beef Sliders, the field of competition remains very tight between six teams with the 6th place teams only 1.5 games behind the 2nd place team.

Pictures and Videos Available here.

A light drizzle primed the field at Perry Roehm Stadium perfectly on Sunday, and a mostly beautiful day of baseball proceeded.

Listen to the audio commentary of this game provided by Ryne Hancock!

Sunday brought the beginning of the juiced ball era and some surprise outcomes in what has become a rebalanced season in the PBL. The rain gods finally blessed us with beautiful weather, and we finally had another week with four games of baseball.

9:00 AM
The Pelicans smash four home runs and get out to an eight run lead against the Weebies. But before the 7th inning the Weebies all ate from a bag of radioactive sunflower seeds, caught the Pels defense asleep, and put up a nice big 10-spot to take the lead. One that the Pels could not gain back.
Pels (10) – 5WW (13)

12:00 PM
Jason Sorbet throws 14 SOs in 8 innings to help S9 take it to the beleaguered Beef Sliders in general despite some new life in their pitching rotation from young gun Ahiyjah Charles. Carson Briggs tattoos his first HR of the season over the Center Field fence.
S9 (15) – BS (3)

3:00 PM
“Krony pitched a gem.” – John Nowaczyk.
CSR ace, Adam Kronenberg goes deep pitching 7 1/3 innings and limiting runs. Rougarou can’t match it, and the fracture cup goes to CSR.
CSR (8) – Rou (4)

6:00 PM
The Blues back up their huddle call “Blues fucking rule” with a well-rounded rout of an uncharacteristically sloppy Beer Labs squad. Despite a brief sign of a comeback after the arrival of Chris “Centerfold” Shinaberry in the later innings, the run-hungry Labs turn to a desperate stolen base attempt, a bad strategic move in a league where stealing is illegal, and one that would ultimately squash their momentum with the Blues extending their lead by 3-runs in the bottom of the 8th.
The game ended in a once-in-a-lifetime play: with 1-out and the bases loaded, Beer Labs batter Shorty ducked under an inside pitch coming right at his head, but failed to lower his bat, hit the ball behind his head into play (a perfect bunt down the third base line), and the Blues clean it up for a double play.
Blues (11) – Par (6)

Spring 2021 HR Leaderboard;
2 Dan April
2 Lou Brown, Jr.
1 Carson Briggs
1 Steve DeLong
1 Cody Dunlap
1 John Nowaczyk
1 Samuel Vargas

Pictures and video available here.

RAINED OUT

After five straight days of heavy rain, there is no field in New Orleans that is suitable for playing baseball.