It's 2002 and the MLB season has once again ground to a halt due to a player strike. The owners and the players were unable to agree on a new CBA and frankly the nation is sick of both sides. Whatever good feeling there was with being a professional baseball fan is gone. Both sides are greedy and uncompromising and selfish. They both put themselves above the good of the game and the betterment of their sport. The players have gone home to their families and the owners have moved on to their "real" jobs. Bud Selig has retired and will now concentrate on brokering compromises between his grandchildren. The ballparks are empty and fans have moved on to more stable sports like the NBA, err... I mean the NHL, well... how 'bout the NFL?
What happens next? There is no negotiating going on. Both sides are adamant about refusing to meet. The players realizing that this is their livelihood are starting to get anxious. The owners close the deal when they sell all rights to their teams and franchises to an International Consortium. This is the death blow to the MLB.
Weeks pass with no word from the Consortium as to their plans. Then in the winter of 2002 an offer is made to the players: Your Player's Union will be disbanded and created anew with less autonomy. The MLB teams are no more and you will be redistributed to new equitable teams all over the globe. (You can hear the players moaning) Then the one bright spot: Your old MLB contracts will be honored and paid in full. With no other alternatives on the table, the players accept and the Federation of International BasEball (FIBE) is formed!
There are 24 new teams spanning the globe and found in baseabll "hot spots". They are broken into 2 leagues representing the Old World and the New World. There are three 4-team divisions within each league and they are also regional in nature. Despite this thoughtful distribution, travel will still be a pain. To help alleviate this, the Consortium has purchased 24 Concorde jets. All 24 jets have been put through a rigorous refurb process and are fully safe and air ready. Able to cross the Atlantic in 3.5 hours should help alleviate the travel demands of the new league.
Players are getting back into shape, some more successfully than others. Some are hoping to be drafted by a city in their home country, some are just ready to play some ball!
The above is the premise for a new OOTP5 online league that is forming. The league has filled rapidly despite my slowness in making this public announcement and now only has 3 cities left: Johannesburg, Moscow and Caracas. The league structure is obviously fictional in nature, but we will be using the real players from the TotalMinors roster set. They will be drafted to teams via a Fantasy Draft.
This will be a league where writing is expected (patterned off the ORB and the MBBA). The board will be busy and fun. As an original owner you get to draft your team (of course), but I'm also allowing owners to set their mascot, design their own logo and specify their own stadium. It should be a blast. If you are interested, PM me and I will show you more.
