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eMLBCommish · 07-19-2011, 06:07 PM

Happy 11th Birthday, eMLB!

Longtime league enters Second Decade rebooted and stronger than ever!

by: Ethan Knight (aka- LB's writing personality)
July 19, 2011

BIDDEFORD, ME - Today is a special day for Electronic Major League Baseball, affectionately known as eMLB. Back on July 19th of 2000, when Bill Clinton was still in office, and before the Commissioner had a wife and children, James LeBlond (also known as "LB" to many) and former Asst. Commissioner John Comey had officially announced the creation of what became eMLB.

What began as a High Heat league for its first 2 years of existence, eMLB enjoyed 6 seasons using the High Heat, Sammy Sosa High Heat, and High Heat 2002 game engines. However, seeing the concerns arising from the now defunct 3DO, and with LeBlond's approach for not supporting a "dead product", LeBlond looked at the widely popular Out of the Park Baseball series created by Markus Heinsohn to run the league going forward. LeBlond had been familiar with OOTP, having purchased both OOTP 3 and OOTP 4, and was looking at using OOTP 5 as where eMLB would find its new home. But there were serious hurdles to address. The most important being the history, as the league was rich with it already.

With the help of charter members like Chris Holland, eMLB began the painstaking task of creating a formula that would be fair for all by creating our very own "fake" Lahman database. Using this setup, players with a certain amount of at bats or innings pitched would have their ratings based predominantly on their results, while the remainder would be rated using a formula created for this event alone. Once all the parameters were agreed upon, we constructed a wonderful model that continues to stand the tests of time, more than a half decade after he originally created it.

The biggest task LeBlond, Bensel & Holland then had to contend with once the database was intact...was manually editting every single at bat or inning pitched in eMLB's Major League history! This would not have been possible without the magnificent third party programs people created, especially noting Pierre's "Career Editor" for OOTP 5 as the most useful of all available tools. To this day, some form of inputting career stats into the database continues, as eMLB strives to keep its history intact. Many additional thanks to Jeff "Raidergoo" Evans for his assistance here.

Back to the history: How long did it take for eMLB to begin the 2006 season? It took six months of tender loving care! And the great news: We lost only one owner during that time, due to the sheer passion and energy level of the league...not to mention wonderful communication from the League Officers.

However, as time went on, and OOTP improved, there were very noteworthy holes in the history that could never be repaired. With some additional matters that came up, it made sense to reboot the league. So, eMLB 2.0 is was born, and went historical (1998) so that it could take real history imported players, and merge it with the 1.0 history to create a unique universe of real and fictional major leaguers that was built up over 20 years of simulated play.

Now, eleven years after it began, and eight years later into its OOTP based simulations, eMLB has converted to OOTP 6, OOTP 6.5, OOTP 2006, OOTP 2007, OOTP 9, OOTP X, and currently using OOTP 11 on its rebooting. eMLB 2.0 enters the 2000th season. eMLB has announced it intends to convert to OOTP 12 at the conclusion of the 2000 season.

Combining the universes, eMLB is in its 23rd sim season, and remains a modern league despite time marching on by adding new real life players each and every season for the Amateur Drafts and combining them with fictional players that were added in future seasons. This helps, along with the batch of fictional names from its 1.0 universe, to give the game and eMLB a rich history that shows why there are still SIX of the league's original owners still with the league today, and that 13 of the owners in the league have been in the league for more than half of its existence! eMLB 2.0 enjoyed another successful and highly active season where everyone is returning to contend for the crown next season and de-throne charter member Chris Holland as he won his first 2.0 Title, and 7th Title in league history.

LeBlond, a believer of W. Edwards Deming's theories in "Total Quality Management", takes pride in his league just as much as his Financial Planning & Investment Management practice he created in 2005. While undergoing drastic personal change in his recent life going through a divorce, his commitment remains to balancing his family life of his two beautiful daughters, and remaining just as dedicated to what his ex-wife calls "His long time girlfriend" or "his real first wife (eMLB)".

LeBlond's additional newest passion has been playing MLB The Show 11 online leagues. He commishes the SimNation League that began a couple weeks ago. His first love is always eMLB though, and he has joked with Mr. Heinsohn that the moment he adds "Head to Head" online league play, LeBlond is his unequivocably.

Even with this busy life, LeBlond still finds the time to speak with other eMLB members about their teams, what they think of the league, and how he can improve it. LeBlond has 3 World Championships in eMLB 1.0, having made some very risky moves at the expense of a rich farm system that have paid off, but questioned the long term health of the team. But the first thing he'll tell you...he loves seeing new success, and there's never a better year in eMLB when someone not named Boston or Toronto win the title.

While not having the time he once had, he still looks to provide a high quality product. The website is currently in re-design format due to broken code with a server move. LeBlond has hired a local graphics business, and the site should be released by September.

Not caring if he's the "Best", LeBlond wants to know if people enjoy their eMLB experience, and really values the longtime friendships he's built through it and past leagues, where some of eMLB's owners have been playing together in some way, shape, or form, as far back as 1995!

With the continued affiliation to SimNation, and the enhancements to the eMLB brand, eMLB continues to provide a mature HUB for baseball savvy minds to show their genius in managing their team to a World Title! Visitors are always welcome to stop by and see one of the older leagues in the internet gaming world, and what makes it a good story to tell!

Happy 11th Birthday, eMLB! It's amazing this league could be a 6th grader now, and it has been the considered opinion of many that you may only now be hitting your stride! May you continue to have many more wonderful years with great people committed to its continued success!

For more information: visit the eMLB Home Page. eMLB is a Proud Member of SimNation.

07-19-2011, 06:07 PM	#1
eMLBCommish All Star Reserve Join Date: Mar 2003 Posts: 678	Happy 11th Birthday, eMLB! Happy 11th Birthday, eMLB! Longtime league enters Second Decade rebooted and stronger than ever! by: Ethan Knight (aka- LB's writing personality) July 19, 2011 BIDDEFORD, ME - Today is a special day for Electronic Major League Baseball, affectionately known as eMLB. Back on July 19th of 2000, when Bill Clinton was still in office, and before the Commissioner had a wife and children, James LeBlond (also known as "LB" to many) and former Asst. Commissioner John Comey had officially announced the creation of what became eMLB. What began as a High Heat league for its first 2 years of existence, eMLB enjoyed 6 seasons using the High Heat, Sammy Sosa High Heat, and High Heat 2002 game engines. However, seeing the concerns arising from the now defunct 3DO, and with LeBlond's approach for not supporting a "dead product", LeBlond looked at the widely popular Out of the Park Baseball series created by Markus Heinsohn to run the league going forward. LeBlond had been familiar with OOTP, having purchased both OOTP 3 and OOTP 4, and was looking at using OOTP 5 as where eMLB would find its new home. But there were serious hurdles to address. The most important being the history, as the league was rich with it already. With the help of charter members like Chris Holland, eMLB began the painstaking task of creating a formula that would be fair for all by creating our very own "fake" Lahman database. Using this setup, players with a certain amount of at bats or innings pitched would have their ratings based predominantly on their results, while the remainder would be rated using a formula created for this event alone. Once all the parameters were agreed upon, we constructed a wonderful model that continues to stand the tests of time, more than a half decade after he originally created it. The biggest task LeBlond, Bensel & Holland then had to contend with once the database was intact...was manually editting every single at bat or inning pitched in eMLB's Major League history! This would not have been possible without the magnificent third party programs people created, especially noting Pierre's "Career Editor" for OOTP 5 as the most useful of all available tools. To this day, some form of inputting career stats into the database continues, as eMLB strives to keep its history intact. Many additional thanks to Jeff "Raidergoo" Evans for his assistance here. Back to the history: How long did it take for eMLB to begin the 2006 season? It took six months of tender loving care! And the great news: We lost only one owner during that time, due to the sheer passion and energy level of the league...not to mention wonderful communication from the League Officers. However, as time went on, and OOTP improved, there were very noteworthy holes in the history that could never be repaired. With some additional matters that came up, it made sense to reboot the league. So, eMLB 2.0 is was born, and went historical (1998) so that it could take real history imported players, and merge it with the 1.0 history to create a unique universe of real and fictional major leaguers that was built up over 20 years of simulated play. Now, eleven years after it began, and eight years later into its OOTP based simulations, eMLB has converted to OOTP 6, OOTP 6.5, OOTP 2006, OOTP 2007, OOTP 9, OOTP X, and currently using OOTP 11 on its rebooting. eMLB 2.0 enters the 2000th season. eMLB has announced it intends to convert to OOTP 12 at the conclusion of the 2000 season. Combining the universes, eMLB is in its 23rd sim season, and remains a modern league despite time marching on by adding new real life players each and every season for the Amateur Drafts and combining them with fictional players that were added in future seasons. This helps, along with the batch of fictional names from its 1.0 universe, to give the game and eMLB a rich history that shows why there are still SIX of the league's original owners still with the league today, and that 13 of the owners in the league have been in the league for more than half of its existence! eMLB 2.0 enjoyed another successful and highly active season where everyone is returning to contend for the crown next season and de-throne charter member Chris Holland as he won his first 2.0 Title, and 7th Title in league history. LeBlond, a believer of W. Edwards Deming's theories in "Total Quality Management", takes pride in his league just as much as his Financial Planning & Investment Management practice he created in 2005. While undergoing drastic personal change in his recent life going through a divorce, his commitment remains to balancing his family life of his two beautiful daughters, and remaining just as dedicated to what his ex-wife calls "His long time girlfriend" or "his real first wife (eMLB)". LeBlond's additional newest passion has been playing MLB The Show 11 online leagues. He commishes the SimNation League that began a couple weeks ago. His first love is always eMLB though, and he has joked with Mr. Heinsohn that the moment he adds "Head to Head" online league play, LeBlond is his unequivocably. Even with this busy life, LeBlond still finds the time to speak with other eMLB members about their teams, what they think of the league, and how he can improve it. LeBlond has 3 World Championships in eMLB 1.0, having made some very risky moves at the expense of a rich farm system that have paid off, but questioned the long term health of the team. But the first thing he'll tell you...he loves seeing new success, and there's never a better year in eMLB when someone not named Boston or Toronto win the title. While not having the time he once had, he still looks to provide a high quality product. The website is currently in re-design format due to broken code with a server move. LeBlond has hired a local graphics business, and the site should be released by September. Not caring if he's the "Best", LeBlond wants to know if people enjoy their eMLB experience, and really values the longtime friendships he's built through it and past leagues, where some of eMLB's owners have been playing together in some way, shape, or form, as far back as 1995! With the continued affiliation to SimNation, and the enhancements to the eMLB brand, eMLB continues to provide a mature HUB for baseball savvy minds to show their genius in managing their team to a World Title! Visitors are always welcome to stop by and see one of the older leagues in the internet gaming world, and what makes it a good story to tell! Happy 11th Birthday, eMLB! It's amazing this league could be a 6th grader now, and it has been the considered opinion of many that you may only now be hitting your stride! May you continue to have many more wonderful years with great people committed to its continued success! For more information: visit the eMLB Home Page. eMLB is a Proud Member of SimNation. __________________ The Fluffy Kitty Ninjas Show - Home of the eMLB Universe! www.twitch.tv/FKNCommishLB The Man Behind eMLB - https://atl-02.statsplus.net/emlb/re..._150_home.html Proud OOTP Affiliate Streamer Proud Twitch Partner (Partnered 3/15/22)