[joeswell]

Here's what I did:

1. I created a new game and a fictional league.
2. I created the teams and league structure I wanted.
3. I made all the made up players free agents and released them so they were free agents and then "deleted all free agents"
4. I began to import the players I wanted, one by one, into my game. I have 3 teams done in a 10 team league. This takes a while, but it's not that hard once you start doing it. There's an awful lot of mouse clicks. I wish they would possible to import players in batches instead of one by one.
5. I am creating and editing the managers and coaches into the real names the owners want, modifying park dimensions, photos, etc.
6. I am assigning teams to the ballparks chosen by the owners.
7. I "normalized" all the stats at "1.000"

We had an actual in person draft to choose our players. We could pick any real player from any era and any year. I'm just transferring the picks into OOTP.

We were playing in APBA, but OOTP seemed a step up because we can keep the stats over a period of seasons, and because stats are cumulative and players wear out and retire, we thought it would be more challenging... plus the financial aspects, better strategy, playing over the internet, etc.

I hope this helps. It is possible to create fictional leagues with real players in OOTP, but they don't make it easy for you. Personally, I wouldn't even consider using the game with made up players. That does not appeal to me.