[AZTarHeel]

Like most folks who play OOTP, I have scores of ideas for dynasty stories that I want to try.

But I keep coming back to one in particular that I started a few years ago and never really got deep enough into for my satisfaction: The Arizona League.

My original idea was pretty simple: take historical players (i.e. "real" guys) and plug them into a fictional universe where every team is based in the Grand Canyon State, a fascinating place that I called home for four years in the early 2000s.

My first attempt actually happened on a whim back around 2006 (that dynasty thread is HERE). It was late at night and I was procrastinating big time on some work I had to do on the computer. I fired up good ol' OOTP5 and began a historical dynasty in 1901. For the heck of it, I changed all the team names to places in Arizona (bringing to life clubs like the Tombstone Epitaphs, Flagstaff Lumberjacks, Tucson Saguaros and Prescott Antelopes). I then released every player and redrafted.

As happens to a lot of us, I got totally wrapped up in the world I had created. It was neat to see who became stars in The Arizona League ("Wahoo Sam" Crawford won the MVP award a bunch of times) and who didn't (Cy Young was just average on the back end of his career). And it was cool to watch which teams emerged as the powerhouses and what rivalries developed among the different franchises I had created.

After about 20 seasons, my computer died and The Arizona League pretty much went with it. I tried one re-creation (The Arizona League Redux) after buying OOTP9, this time starting in the 1870s. But after a few seasons, I had painted myself into some tricky corners and realized too late that the game couldn't really handle very well what I was trying to pull off. So my excitement for that attempt fizzled out pretty quickly.

So, here I am again itching to get back to Arizona’s territorial days and build another baseball universe using historical players. This time, though, I am going to do more than observe and report. I plan to take over a franchise and see what I can make out of it through the years.

After spending way too many hours reading tales of Arizona's Wild West and baseball history, I believe I am ready to go again, hopefully for the long haul.

Without further ado, AzTarHeel Productions presents The Arizona League 3.0. Let's hope this one is a charm.

(Fade out to a hypnotic Native America flute music)


(A postcard image of one of the first ballparks used in Arizona, Warren Ballpark in the southern mining town of Bisbee).