OOTP Developments Forums - View Single Post - 60 Team League History and story of Tate Redinger

majormet · 09-23-2020, 08:50 PM

It was a bright clear day in Montauk, Long Island and the tourist beach community was in a pre-mania mode with the regular locals parading down Main Street patronizing the local stores and restaurants. Only a year earlier, this town was a ghost town with the COVID-19 virus pandemic breaking out and most of the retail outlets shut down outside of takeout food with the sudden flood of Grubhub drivers or Doordash or whatever gimmick was big at the moment.

The town recovered and many people moved out of the New York City area to the area to live full time in the community and have adapted to the newfound city life. Tate Redinger was not one of those people. Tate had grown up in Montauk and was exposed to the ennui of the winters in a summer town. He had commuted a long distance to school every day to St John the Baptist high school just to have a solid Catholic school education. And at this given high school, Tate was a solid three sport star, lettering in baseball, basketball and football. Since Tate is just 6'3 215, by default he became a college recruit for the diamond and played his ball at Hofstra University while staying in the dorms.

Tate graduated college in 2020, and has worked odd jobs in Montauk, mostly at the aforementioned Grubhub, but also did property preservation work on vacant homes in the Hamptons.

These were unusual times, he did not enter into the end of season 2020 draft with Covid numbers up, and had great numbers. An agent named Al Stanton out of Queens saw videotape of Tate and suggest that he get in shape and enlist for the 2021 draft. So Tate tried out for the Atlantic League independent Long Island Ducks and is awaiting the call back to play in the 2021 season.

The issue with the Atlantic League in 2021 is that there are 60 major league baseball teams and the talent in the league has dropped from marginal major leagues to community college type players. Still it was baseball and he had not hit a curveball in quite some time.

The world changed quickly. Joe Biden defeated Donald Trump in the 2020 election and despite winning by over 10 million votes, Trump contest the election. He kept saying that people voted 3 times, dead folks voted and that antifa did not allow his base to go to the booth, still after 2 months, Trump was finally forced to leave after his son Eric Trump was facing 10 years in jail and, what was OK for Michael Cohen was not so acceptable for his son. Trump decided to launch his own TV network and he was fine for all that happened.

The world was still in recovery, the fighting on the street escalated and COVID eventually faded away without a need for an untested vaccine. As people were trying to reclaim their lives back, the MLB was also trying to get it's fanbase back. There was huge backlash to new rules such as 7 inning doubleheaders, NL having a DH, extra runner on 2nd base in extra innings and so many teams making the playoffs that the only solution was to allow 30 teams into the league and make ticket prices cheaper. More revenue sharing so teams in New York could fund teams in Des Moines or Boise.

Tate knew the landscape, he believed that he could get drafted in the top 5 rounds with the expansion. There was the dilemna of being drafted by an expansion team which meant rapid acceleration to the majors but playing losing baseball or being drafted by an established team and having to go through the minors.

Today was a day where he decided to just sit on a bench at the beach and was accompanied by his friend Brandon who was a rich kid who became a house flipper and had a very optimistic view of the world.

"What a difference a year makes, huh" said Brandon as he looked with confidence to the waves breaking.

Tate looked with guarded optimism "Yes, not sure if we are in any better sport though, out of college no jobs to be had and the economy has not recovered yet"

"But you are going to be a major league ball player. There are 60 teams you are going to have chances that so many on the Island never have had" Brandon replied knowing his uncle Bill O'Connor was drafted by the Twins in the 1980's in a 26 team league and never got past Visalia.

"True, but what if I get drafted by Caracas or Mexico City, aren't those awful places"

Brandon knew that wherever Tate landed would be a gift "You have to look at it differently, you will be a rich guy playing ball in those cities, may be worse if you ended up in Newark, that place is a human cesspool. Not sure how that city got a team, but Corey Booker kind of petitioned for it."

"Hey Corey is a good guy, this country would be in the right place if he won the primaries, instead he just kissed Biden's butt. I really hope the Racers draft me" ... The Riverhead Racers are the Long Island team now in their 3 year in the league and are actually a winning team.

"Would it be that good being on the Racers, I mean they have a good squad. I think you will be blocked on that team, maybe a team like Hartford or Brooklyn would be better. But dude, you have to look at any team as a blessing at this point."

Tate raised his eyebrows and considered those options "Well not sure where I land but I will miss this place, there is no place like this on earth. We have the beach, we have quiet, we can fish, and we can be in the city in 2 hours, well when the city is back open"

Brandon nodded in agreement "Yes, there is no place like home"

The two men walked on the beach with their whole lives ahead of them and a future that could not be any worse than the pandemic.

09-23-2020, 08:50 PM	#2
majormet Hall Of Famer Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: Long Island, NY Posts: 2,536	April 2021 It was a bright clear day in Montauk, Long Island and the tourist beach community was in a pre-mania mode with the regular locals parading down Main Street patronizing the local stores and restaurants. Only a year earlier, this town was a ghost town with the COVID-19 virus pandemic breaking out and most of the retail outlets shut down outside of takeout food with the sudden flood of Grubhub drivers or Doordash or whatever gimmick was big at the moment. The town recovered and many people moved out of the New York City area to the area to live full time in the community and have adapted to the newfound city life. Tate Redinger was not one of those people. Tate had grown up in Montauk and was exposed to the ennui of the winters in a summer town. He had commuted a long distance to school every day to St John the Baptist high school just to have a solid Catholic school education. And at this given high school, Tate was a solid three sport star, lettering in baseball, basketball and football. Since Tate is just 6'3 215, by default he became a college recruit for the diamond and played his ball at Hofstra University while staying in the dorms. Tate graduated college in 2020, and has worked odd jobs in Montauk, mostly at the aforementioned Grubhub, but also did property preservation work on vacant homes in the Hamptons. These were unusual times, he did not enter into the end of season 2020 draft with Covid numbers up, and had great numbers. An agent named Al Stanton out of Queens saw videotape of Tate and suggest that he get in shape and enlist for the 2021 draft. So Tate tried out for the Atlantic League independent Long Island Ducks and is awaiting the call back to play in the 2021 season. The issue with the Atlantic League in 2021 is that there are 60 major league baseball teams and the talent in the league has dropped from marginal major leagues to community college type players. Still it was baseball and he had not hit a curveball in quite some time. The world changed quickly. Joe Biden defeated Donald Trump in the 2020 election and despite winning by over 10 million votes, Trump contest the election. He kept saying that people voted 3 times, dead folks voted and that antifa did not allow his base to go to the booth, still after 2 months, Trump was finally forced to leave after his son Eric Trump was facing 10 years in jail and, what was OK for Michael Cohen was not so acceptable for his son. Trump decided to launch his own TV network and he was fine for all that happened. The world was still in recovery, the fighting on the street escalated and COVID eventually faded away without a need for an untested vaccine. As people were trying to reclaim their lives back, the MLB was also trying to get it's fanbase back. There was huge backlash to new rules such as 7 inning doubleheaders, NL having a DH, extra runner on 2nd base in extra innings and so many teams making the playoffs that the only solution was to allow 30 teams into the league and make ticket prices cheaper. More revenue sharing so teams in New York could fund teams in Des Moines or Boise. Tate knew the landscape, he believed that he could get drafted in the top 5 rounds with the expansion. There was the dilemna of being drafted by an expansion team which meant rapid acceleration to the majors but playing losing baseball or being drafted by an established team and having to go through the minors. Today was a day where he decided to just sit on a bench at the beach and was accompanied by his friend Brandon who was a rich kid who became a house flipper and had a very optimistic view of the world. "What a difference a year makes, huh" said Brandon as he looked with confidence to the waves breaking. Tate looked with guarded optimism "Yes, not sure if we are in any better sport though, out of college no jobs to be had and the economy has not recovered yet" "But you are going to be a major league ball player. There are 60 teams you are going to have chances that so many on the Island never have had" Brandon replied knowing his uncle Bill O'Connor was drafted by the Twins in the 1980's in a 26 team league and never got past Visalia. "True, but what if I get drafted by Caracas or Mexico City, aren't those awful places" Brandon knew that wherever Tate landed would be a gift "You have to look at it differently, you will be a rich guy playing ball in those cities, may be worse if you ended up in Newark, that place is a human cesspool. Not sure how that city got a team, but Corey Booker kind of petitioned for it." "Hey Corey is a good guy, this country would be in the right place if he won the primaries, instead he just kissed Biden's butt. I really hope the Racers draft me" ... The Riverhead Racers are the Long Island team now in their 3 year in the league and are actually a winning team. "Would it be that good being on the Racers, I mean they have a good squad. I think you will be blocked on that team, maybe a team like Hartford or Brooklyn would be better. But dude, you have to look at any team as a blessing at this point." Tate raised his eyebrows and considered those options "Well not sure where I land but I will miss this place, there is no place like this on earth. We have the beach, we have quiet, we can fish, and we can be in the city in 2 hours, well when the city is back open" Brandon nodded in agreement "Yes, there is no place like home" The two men walked on the beach with their whole lives ahead of them and a future that could not be any worse than the pandemic.