1. Does the Core-2 system last more than a season?
At the start of the 2012 season, the Palisades WBL will see its first implementation of Core-2 system. The Core-2 system alters the way teams are forming in 2012, and has caused a spirited debate about the merits and shortcomings of the new system. But regardless of your stance on the new system, the real burning question here is, will it last? It has been no secret that in five short seasons the League has gone through four different formats for team formation, and while each seems to have refined the process and made the league more competitive, one has to wonder when a lasting system will be settled on.
Each season may give a new perspective on how to tweak a system for the better, but to give the League solidarity and continuity, it needs to pick a system, whatever that may be, and stick with it. Is this finally the one?

2. Should the Giants/Mets get the 1st overall pick if Puls and Dooly core?
Speaking of how team formation is changing with the Core-2 system, one of the major points of contention is draft position. By placing no restriction on Core format, you can see any combination of pitchers and hitters in a Core-2. As it currently stands, all dual-pitcher cores will draft last, behind single and no-pitcher cores, respectively. However, the reigning PWBL Champs seem to have found a loophole in the system, looking to form the 2012 Mets core with batting champ Rob Pulsonetti, and defensive standout Kris Dooly. The obvious plan here is to then get the first overall pick in the draft and pick up staff ace Rich Guillod.
The problem with this, is that this also gives the reigning champs the first pick in all of the subsequent rounds as well. Can the league turn a blind eye to this sort of draft shenanigans? True, the Mets risk not having the first overall pick and someone else picking up Guillod, but would anyone risk Guillod not giving 100% for a team he doesn’t want to be on? With all of the commotion this offseason, the Mets are considered the third or fourth best core going into next season, but we have to remember, they did win it all last year with just these three guys on the field in the World Series. Is it fair to allow the 2011 Champs to get even better with the first pick in the second and third rounds of the draft? Or will two non-pitcher cores step up and squash the plans for the first Mets team to be relevant since 2000?
3. Will we get 10 teams this year? And if so, will they all be competitive?
10 teams. That was what commissioner Bevelacqua said in the offseason. He is a man on a mission, tirelessly working to reach his goal. Expansion is ever on the mind of the PWBL, and with a nine team season last year, 10 teams seems like an easy step to take for 2012. However, early in the offseason there are only four officially declared teams, and despite rumblings of up to five other teams, none have officially stepped forward and put pen to paper to announce their franchise. With the Core-2 system changing how teams are forming, are more players reluctant to core-up? Or is this just another case of the slow start to the next season that we often encounter?
In any event, the important question is not whether we can get 10 teams, but whether we can field 10 competitive teams. Many of the “premier” players from 2011 have already declared allegiance to a Core, so will the remaining members of the PWBL be willing to step up and take a gamble on finding a stud rookie arm or bat in the draft?
4. When will the rules finally start being applied?
Every year the rules get tweaked bit by bit to accommodate situations from previous seasons, and Commissioner Bevelacqua has worked hard to ensure that most of these situations are now covered. But, despite a rulebook being issued each season, and players being instructed to become familiar with all the rules, it’s still a stretch that more than 10% of the league could enforce the rules with authority. And with the retirement of Pete Montanez and the status of Matt Hollbrook currently unknown, we could lose two of the rule book aficionados the League has come to rely upon in the past.
If a batter swings but the ball hits them in the hands is it a foul ball? Will the “a pitcher must have X number of balls to pitch for every game” ever be enforced? I know both of these situations played heavily into last season, and could do so even more this year.

5. How will the new field effect the game?
The WoLF, FSK, or however you want to refer to it, the beloved and storied field that was home to the PWBL for five seasons now, is no longer the home of PWBL. Yes, it’s okay to cry, this one time.
Due to extenuating circumstances beyond the League’s control, the PWBL will be moving to a new home in 2012, playing at the fields at Cottage Lane just a few miles away. The real question here is, how are these new digs going to effect the 2012 season? A lot of hard work and maintenance was put into FSK over the years and it turned into an ideal wiffle arena.
The fields at Cottage Lane will sport dual fields each week, both without a single tree within 50 yards of the fields. How will the wind wreak havoc on the pitchers this season? Will this turn out to be the wiffleball equivalent of New Yankee Stadium, with homers leaving the park at alarming rates? Such a prospect may at first be daunting, but were this to happen, would the emphasis switch to the power hitting teams in the league over the dominant pitching ones? We won’t know for sure until the season starts, but Cottage Lane could very well be the most influential player of the season.

6. How are the rookies coming in this year? Can they possibly outdo last year’s?
Trenary. Bevilacqua. Schaefer. Robles. Guillod. Pulsonetti. This time last year these guys were a bunch of unknowns. There were questions about whether rookies could hit the elite pitching of the league, and then Pulsonetti takes the batting title. There were questions about whether rookies could anchor a pitching staff, and Trenary gave Dakota a run for his money at the Cy Young, setting what is sure to be an unbreakable strikeout record. There were questions about whether rookies could be all around studs in the league, and Bevilacqua wins Rookie of the Year. Bevilacqua was also in the running for MVP, and don’t look now, but of those upstart Giants that won it all? All rookies. And those other new guys? Yeah, they’re not too bad either.
With a crop of rookies that instantaneously made the leap from questionable talent to elite status, can the 2012 rookies possibly compete? Can they even come close? Expectations are sure to be much higher for rookies this year, and will that lead to more pressure, and consequently more meltdowns? With Core-2′s forming the way they are, a rookie class that can immediately come in and be game changers will be essential to making the teams at the top of the draft competitive World Series contenders.
Can they do it?!
7. Will commissioner Bevelacqua ever win a championship?
After five seasons of steering the League’s ship, pouring hours upon hours of his time into the PWBL, Commissioner Bevelacqua is the architect of one of the premier wiffleball leagues in the country. And yet the success is bittersweet, as he has yet to hoist the prize of prizes, the coveted Silver Bucket overhead at the end of a season in grand victory.
Each and every year he has fielded a competitive team, never failing to make the playoffs, and yet he has fallen short each time. No longer an overpowering hurler, Bevelacqua has refined his pitching, and knows that ground outs count just as much as strikeouts. As such, he has added defensive all-star Eric Lanks as his right-hand man in forming the 2012 Dodgers, knowing that every ball the sure-handed Lanks fields is going to record an out. With more talent than ever before in the League, and what looks to be a promising draft position going into 2012, will the Commish finally put together a squad that will bring home the big one?
8. What is the status of the Gallo brothers? And will any team take a chance on them?
7-0. Just two seasons ago, Joe Gallo went undefeated in the PWBL, and looked to be a force for the 2011 Astros, having two MVP’s providing his offense, and a prodigy in training in younger brother Nick providing his backup on the mound. But then suddenly, the 2011 Astros fell apart, Joe went back to school, and Nick’s attendance was questionable each week.
With significantly lower pitching and hitting stats than his phenomenal 2010 season, and attendance being a major question mark, will anyone take a risk on either Gallo brother? Perhaps a team with two arms looking to get a few starts mid-season to rest their starters, knowing they may not have the brothers Gallo come the playoffs? Or perhaps a team willing to gamble on a long shot might take a chance on one or both, hoping that last season has left them with a chip on their shoulders. The Gallos are one of the most interesting player cases of 2012, as both have shown the potential to be difference makers, but are the ultimate high-risk/high-reward types of players
But who is willing to take that gamble?

9. Is Pete Montanez actually retired?
Tiger and Elin. Kobe and Vanessa. Montanez and the Blue Jays. It seems these days that no high-profile sports power couples can stay together. After a post-season run that many didn’t expect out of the Jays, and coming up just short in one of the most epic World Series to date, Montanez shocked the wiffleball world by announcing his retirement from the PWBL. But despite the out-of-left-field announcement, few people in the league have reacted, as the general consensus is that Montanez will be back in some capacity before the 2012 season is over. The man himself even mentioned toying with the notion of returning mid-season through the waiver process to help out a struggling team, but the real question is, how long can he hold out once the plastic itch comes back in spring?
If, as he claims, he will be showing up to the field to watch some of the games, will it really be possible for him to resist the calling? As one of the most storied players in PWBL history, Montanez could easily turn around the fortunes of a struggling team mid-season. It seems unlikely that any team could pass up the opportunity to claim him if the time should come. I’m sure the future Hall of Famer’s status will be monitored closely by all the teams in the league as the 2012 season nears and begins, because Montanez might just be the key to turn a good team into a World Series contender come October.
10. When will fantasy wiffleball finally start?
Let’s be honest, from September to February, there is essentially only one sport that consumes the minds of America every Sunday, and that’s football. And from September to January, every other day of the week is also consumed with football, of the fantasy variety. Fantasy sports are one of the largest and fastest growing forms of entertainment, and thanks to major sports websites like ESPN, people are able to make entire careers out of fantasy sports.
So the last burning question is, when will we see a fantasy incarnation of the sport that consumes the minds of America from April to October: Palisades WBL. There are so many possibilities, how can we not? Should we give part of the winnings to the winner of the fantasy league? Who will be the first PWBL Pete Rose? If you play, do you have to draft yourself (someone get some NFL players on the line, they must know this stuff works.) Whatever the case may be, it’s about time we saw fantasy wiffleball in all our lives. Because maybe it will help make that strikeout just a little less painful when you know the guy who struck you out is also on your fantasy team.