PSPBL Week 3 Recap

With help from Ryan Helsley, the Hackers nearly swept Fall Guy on the pitching side (Imagn Images)

BIG WINNER

It’s a little early in the season to call any result stunning or season-changing, but it’s fair to say what we saw in ANDY HACKS AT 3–0’s 13–1 win over FALL GUY STUNTMAN ASSOCIATION was surprising enough to be head-turning.

The Hackers not only went 7–1 on the hitting side but an equally good 6–0–2 on the pitching side. Ryan Helsley may have allowed six runners to reach base and a let in a run against the White Sox, but he also got two saves for the Hackers’ pitching, while Willson Contreras sparred with the Brewers but also drove in nine runs while slashing .500/1.471 for the Hackers.

The Hackers’ first win of the season takes them from five games under .500 to seven games over. As for Fall Guy, they’re off to a 1–2 start and now find themselves both 10 games under .500 and in need of answers. We’ve gotten very used to spectacular regular season results from Fall Guy. They haven’t missed the playoffs since 2018. This year, though, another playoff appearance will require turning things around after a slow start.

THE CHASE

EAMUS CATULI may have seen their lead in the Schulz Division get cut into by the Hackers’ big win, but they still got a victory themselves, moving to 3–0 on the season by beating JOHN JACOB ZIMAHEIMER SCHMITT, 9–4 Catuli’s dominant start to the season hitting-wise came to a close, but they made up for it by going 7–0–1 on the pitching side as Yoshinobo Yamamoto gave up just a single run over six innings in the process of getting a quality start and a win. That Schulz lead did shrink from nine games to five and a half, but Catuli has the best record in the league by two whole games and looks like the team to beat right now.

Meanwhile, RHUBARB BIKINI may still have the lead in the Glorioso Division, but they’re still off to a far-from-ideal start, having dropped their second game of three to begin the campaign with an 8–7 loss to the SOUTH BEND BENDERS. A late scoring change tilted a couple hitting categories to the Benders, giving them a 6–1–1 advantage there with help from two homers and a .566/1.722 slash line for James Wood. Bikini’s lead in the Glorioso is four and a half games, but they sit just two games over .500 after the loss. As for the Benders, their first win of the season could be the start of a turnaround for them, as their numbers seem better than their 11-games-below-.500 record.

WEEK 3 ONE TO WATCH

We mentioned Catuli is one of three undefeated teams remaining in the PSPBL. The other two, however, come from the Harris Division.

One is JUDAS PRIESTER, who joined Bikini in getting a 9–6 win, topping BIGADODDLEDOOPENGUINHEADS in this week’s featured game. Priester went 6–2 on the hill, partly because BADP posted a 5.98 ERA and 1.52 WHIP, but also partly because Lucas Erceg recorded three saves.

The win moves Priester to 14 games above .500 and they maintain their lead in the Harris, though their heels are being nipped at by LANCER PRIDE, which also remains undefeated after taking down HARRY DOYLE’S HANGOVER, 10–4. The Pride went 6–1–1 on the hill as Erik Saborowski recorded the matchup’s only two holds. The six-category win moves the Pride within a half game of Priester in a Harris that looks like it will be very competitive.

WEEK 4 ONE TO WATCH

Fresh off the Hackers’ big-time takedown of Fall Guy, they’ll be in the spotlight this week as they go up against a third good team from the Harris, FUKUROUND AND FINDOOT, in this week’s only showdown between teams above .500.

F&F is 2–1 and bounced back from their Week 2 loss with a Week 3 win over a struggling HAVE MERCY team, 10–4. The Owls went 6–1–1 on the pitching side as Paul Skenes gave up just a single run in 6.1 winnings while earning a quality start and a victory.

With the start that Priester & the Pride are off to, F&F runs the risk of flying under the radar in the Harris for the time being, not to mention that we’re still in “small sample theater” territory. But after an outstanding 2025 campaign, F&F shouldn’t be counted out. The question moreso is what to expect from the Hackers, who didn’t get off to a good start in the first two weeks but very much turned things around against Fall Guy.

Even though neither of the teams are division leaders right now, it’s still an intriguing matchup between good teams that may already be starting to think about jockeying for playoff position.

TWENTY WEEKS, 20 YEARS: 2009

Ryan Braun (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel)

BUBBLER SPORTSBLOG BASEBALL CHAMPION: FALL GUY STUNTMAN ASSOCIATION RUNNER UP: EAMUS CATULI LEAGUE TEAMS: 10 DIVISIONS: Two (Civil, Disobedient)

MLB AWARD WINNERS **NL MVP: Albert Pujols (Cardinals) AL MVP: Joe Maurer (Twins) NL Cy Young: Tim Lincecum (Giants) AL Cy Young: Zack Greinke (Royals) NL Rookie of the Year: Chris Coghlan (Marlins) AL Rookie of the Year: Andrew Bailey **(Athletics)

Bubbler Baseball shed two teams between 2008 and 2009, but continued to establish its reputation as a competitive league of seamheads as a couple familiar team names found their way into the Championship Final 17 years ago.

The 2009 season began with four teams still in the league to this day: The pride, Catuli, Fall Guy and the new entry of andyhatesadamreid, a team managed by BVS that would later be renamed the South Bend Benders.

Teams were split into two divisions, the Civil and Disobedient, with the Civil being won by inaugural Bubbler Baseball champions Blitzkrieg Baseball and Karl Schulz, while Fall Guy won the Disobedient in their second season of league play.

The league’s third-best record, however, belonged to Catuli, which not only knocked off Tara Pfeifer-Lagermann’s Twisted Pies in the Wild Card Round, but also took down Blitzkrieg in the semifinals. Fall Guy found their way into the Final as well, having only to beat Frank Harris’ Platinum Sombreros to end one of Harris’ best seasons in the league.

In the end, Fall Guy toppled Catuli in the Final, 8–5, to claim their first Bubbler title with a team led by Ryan Braun, Jimmy Rollins and CC Sabathia, making them the first of the league’s current participants to win a title. They’d repeat the feat in 2017. •