Originally Posted by ALB123
I found this post on Reddit. It was written two years ago, but I messaged the author and we chatted it up. The post below isn't his current OOTP setup any longer. He had to chop off a few of the lesser leagues due to his free time lessening quite a bit. But check out how he was playing OOTP:
My one and only OOTP world is huge. I have 70 leagues (30 major league level, 36 minor league level, 4 feeders), 1058 individual teams, 38403 players, and around 40K games played every year.
The calendar is basically year-round. The first thing that happens every year is the World Series which takes place from February to March. Each Continental association sends their best 2 teams (with North America sending 4). Those 12 teams are split into 2 groups, who play each other 2 times for 10 games each. Top 2 group teams advance to the World Series semis and finally the World Series finals. The regular season kicks off in May, most leagues play an 82 game schedule, with the exception being the American Leagues, who play 88 game schedules. The regular season ends around late July, early August, and league playoffs startup after that. League playoffs end around late August, and by September association playoffs are underway. After those, the offseason starts, and international tournaments run from November/December.
The world is divided into 5 continental associations, representing 6 continents
The North American Baseball Association (NABA) consists of the Mexican Baseball League, Canadian Baseball Association, Cuban Baseball League, Dominican League, Panama Baseball League, Jamaica League, Dutch Islands Baseball League, Puerto Rican League and the Central American League. On top of this, the NABA also contains the American baseball system, which runs on a P/R format, with the American League (Tier 1) and the United States Baseball League (Tier 2) being at a "Major League Level" and getting spots in the association's playoff at the end of the year. The National League (Tier 3), Continental League (Tier 4), and the United States Open Division (Tier 5) do not gain Champions League spots. 40 teams get bids to the North American Champions League (NACL) and are seeded 1-40, with seeds 25-40 playing in a 1 game playoff to get to the main bracket of 32, which is split into 8 team bracket groups. The Group Quarter, Semis and Finals are all 5 games, each group winner qualifies for the World Series as well as the NACL semis which are 7 games long as well as the finals. The NABA has been the dominant association, winning 10 of the 20 World Series played (the league is currently in the 2053 season, its 40th full year). In terms of the NACL, Camaguey (Cuba) has won the most NACL championships, winning 3. 7 teams are tied for 2nd with 2 championships, including Ottawa (Canada), Guaynabo (Puerto Rico), San Juan de la Maguana and San Pedro de Macoris (Dominican), Oklahoma City (USA), Santa Clara (Cuba) and Quebec City (Canada). The American League, Dominican League as well as the Cuban League all have 6 NACL champs, with Mexico having 5, Canada and Puerto Rico having 4, and Jamaica, Panama and the Dutch Islands all having 1
The Asian Baseball Conference (ABC) consists of 5 member leagues, including the Japanese Professional Baseball League, the China League (has teams from China, Hong Kong, and Mongolia) the Taiwan League (also has a team in the Philippines, the United Korean Baseball League (North Korea fell in the 2030s) and the Oceania League (consisting of teams from Australia, New Zealand, as well as some of the islands). 16 teams qualify for the Asian Baseball Conference Champions League, which starts out with 4 groups of 4, winners advance to a best of 5 QF series, then the semi/finals are 7 games. The ABC is widely considered the 2nd best association, although some have it equal with the South American Baseball League. The Japanese and Koreans have dominated this association, with Japanese teams winning it 13 times, and Korean teams winning it 11 times. Osaka out of Japan has 4 ABCCL victories, with Kaesong (Korea, previously of the DPRK League) and Busan (Korea) following up with 3. Only 2 Asian teams have ever won the World Series, those teams being Kyoto and Osaka, both of Japan
The South American Baseball League consists of 5 member leagues, covering every one of South Americas countries. The Venezuelan Baseball League is the oldest and covers Venezuela, as well as Guyana and Suriname. The Columbian Baseball League contains teams from Columbia as well as Ecuador, the Peru League has 4 teams from Peru, the Brazilian Baseball League serves Brazil and the Argentine League has 8 teams from Argentina as well as 1 team from Uruguay, Paraguay, Chile, and Bolivia, as well as a MiLB team in the Falklands. The SABLCS is the association's tournament and is ran exactly like its Asian counterpart. This association has had its fair share of global victories, with Pereira (Columbia) being 1 of 2 teams to win 2 World Series titles. Turmero (Venezuela) and Brasilia (Brazil) have also won the World Championships.
The African Baseball Federations has 4 member leagues, 3 from Africa, and 1 from the Middle East. The Middle Eastern League has 2 sub leagues, the Israeli League and the Muslim League (even in 2050 those groups don't get along), the Sahara League has teams from Northern Africa, the African Central League contains teams from the central part of the continent, and the South African League has teams from the South. The ABF Champions League contains 14 teams. Overall, the ABF is one of the weaker associations but still have had international success. The Sahara League has proven itself to be one of the better leagues in the world, with 3 World Championships, 2 by Tunis, and 1 by Algiers.
The final association isn't really an association, but a league. The European Super League consists of 16 teams, mainly from Western Europe. The teams play 82 games in a single league table, with the winner of the regular season booking a trip to the World Series. After the regular season, all 16 teams compete in a knockout tournament, with the winner winning the European Cup and also advancing to the World Series. Globally, Europe has never been able to win the big game. Only 1 European team has ever won the World Series (Manchester in 2045) but multiple others have gotten to the Finals. Dublin lost in '37, Berlin in '40, Naples in '41, Hamburg in '42, Oslo in '46, and Rotterdam in 2052. Europe is going to get stronger though as the CIS League begins to play next season, which will bring baseball to Eastern Europe
Overall, playing in this league is a very different experience than any other OOTP league I have played. Due to the sheer size, and the ability to trade with any other league, there are always options available if you want to nab a guy or 2. But that also comes with difficulty, because not all leagues are created equal. While there are a few big leagues that feature the highest players (AL, MXL, CBL, DL, JPBL, and to some extent the VBL) other leagues around the world are of variable strength. So it is always a gamble to acquire a stud from the African Central League because he was facing much worse competition in Africa than he would be facing the American League. Also due to the playoffs being so long, dynasty's form and stay on top for a long long long long time. The best way I can put it is it is like European football. Most leagues have 2 or 3 teams that have run the league (more than half of the Puerto Rican Leagues championships have been won by only 2 teams).
This has been my little hobby for a few years now and thought you guys would enjoy hearing about it. If you have any questions about anything let me know! It is a fascinating world that really pushes the boundaries of OOTP baseball.
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