Ducks watch: Spotlight on Bubbie Buzachero

What's Bubbie Buzachero been up to since helping lead the Ducks to the Atlantic League championship series last year? Oh, just visiting relatives and playing a little ball on the weekends. Nothing out of the ordinary, except he was doing that stuff on different continents. Buzachero, after 10 years in the minors, joined the Ducks last season and was 7-2 with a 3.26 ERA. He re-signed last Monday and earned a win in relief Saturday. Between stints in Long Island, though, he's been a Preston Pirate and a Melbourne Ace in Australia, and a Kufstein Viking and an Attnang Athletic in Austria.

How did you wind up playing in Australia and Austria? "I played against Justin Huber in the Atlantic League and he told me about the opportunity to go to Australia. From there I went to Europe."

What's baseball like overseas? "Soccer is their biggest thing, so [baseball] isn't on the level of a national sport. They don't have the nicest fields and facilities, but you get back to the essence of the game. Guys have regular jobs and are giving up time with their families on the weekends to play."

Favorite place you visited: "Italy, by far. I looked up my father's background and found out I had distant cousins in Valdagno, living in the old house my grandfather was born in. It's a little village and the house is on a hill overlooking the town."

How did Edward Buzachero become Bubbie? "When we were little, my older sister, Crystal, couldn't say 'brother' so she'd say, 'He's my bubba.' That eventually became 'bubbie,' and it stuck. I've gone by Bubbie my whole life so I don't even recognize Edward."

Returning to the Ducks this season: "That 2011 Ducks team was such a great group of guys . . . I always kept in the back of my mind that if they had a chance to be in the playoffs this year, I'd like to be a part of it."