The USBF takes flight!

[Ragin Cajun]

The year is 2036, a third of the way through the 21st century. Political corruption has reached an alltime high in the early 21st century and it spread throught the nation reaching all levels of life, love and the pursuits of happiness. As the American public became disenchanted with the widening gap between the upper class and the middle classes due to the continued corruption an upheaval was created and a military coup was enacted. Federal troops turned their backs on the government after spending 34 years in Iraq. Troops confiscated planes and the military returned to America and in a bloodless coup, overturned the government sending leaders of the three branches into exile in third world countries. Special elections were held and new laws enacted to bring America back to the forefront of the world stage. There would be no more career politicians, elected officials would once again come from the people "for the people" and serve no more than two terms in office. PAC's and lobbyests were outlawed to allow a true government that was in the best interests of the nation and not the priveledged few. Taxes were enacted to tax all earning levels evenly. Race wars ended and the Great American Melting Pot became fact for the first time. The country elected their first African American President and a female Vice President in the same election. All appeared to be heading in the right direction for the country, except in the sports world. Blood had not been spilt there in reform measures yet.

Baseball was not exempt during this time as the happenings of baseball made the 1919 Black Sox scandal and the Pete Rose travesty of the late 20th century appear mild. Baseball had become no better that professional wresting, with game outcomes fixed as baseball quickly fell behind table tennis, poker and professional pool as the top sports in the country. The NFL had fallen apart in the early 20's as drug abuse tore the sport apart and the continuance of concussions continued to plague the league dating back to the turn of the century. The average career span for players such as running backs dwindled from three years to about 9 games and the league could not field enough players to continue. Basketball fell apart due to escalating ticket prices and when Hollywood starts quit buying tickets at $10,000 per game, the league folded when it could not get Joe Sixpack to come back for reduced ticket prices and the players union refused to allow the league to restructure to bring salaries down to a level that reduced ticket prices could cover.

The baseball union, long the strongest players union in the country, had finally worked a deal with owners in 2011 to become part owners with the clubs and salaries were directly tied to club profitability. This helped the game short term but when the darker element came into the game and "the fix" became "the norm" the game was shunned in droves and every game began to look like a Montreal Expo game at the turn of last century.

When the new federal government took over, and the military supporting them, the players union was disbanded and the game of baseball shut down. Colleges had become professional in nature dating back to the BCS days of the early 21st century. The major colleges, labeled D-1, were also shut down athletically and forced to refocus on education as their primary goal to rebuild the nation per government mandate. Division II and III sports had been non-existant for decades as the schools could no longer afford the cost of fielding teams while continuing to focus on education. The government, recognizing the need for a professional league of some sorts, put together a National Sports Bureau to recreate professional leagues. The country while a world power, saw the harm of a spiraling economy where prices were out of control and the public was forced to work second and third jobs to maintain a middle class existence was determined to dial the country back to the 1950's from a financial point of view while maintaining a 21st century stance. Salaries were down, the costs of manufacturing was also curtailed. Costs of goods went down as the manufacturing costs came into play. Gas was at $1.00 per gallon for the first time in generations. A $50,000 salary was considered immense. And America prospered.

The NSB (National Sports Bureau) took over the old disbanded MLB and reformed the league using prior Division II college teams that could no longer meet the financial strains of fielding sports teams and put sports teams into those cities and vacated stadiums of regional D-II schools and in 2036, the game of baseball was played again.

[Ragin Cajun]

Here's a look at some of the setups for the new league:

1. Due to no further drug and steroid abuse in the game, players weights are down to 1970's levels and injuries have also returned to the levels of that time. As have statistical expectatons.

2. Two leagues were formed, the Northern League (NL) and the Southern League (SL). Both leagues would have two divisions. The playoffs would be three rounds, all 7 game series. There would be a division winner and two wildcards from each league, for four teams in the playoffs from each league.

3. No DH.

4. 154 game schedule

5. To avoid large market teams from having an advantage, the governing board of baseball (NSB) took control of all contracts. All teams would get the same media contract and baseball was shown on all channels. This meant no revenue sharing. The average player salary dropped to under $300,000 while a superstar would make under $3.5 million. The minimum player salary dropped to $68,443, still higher than an average middle income salary but not by a huge margin.

6. With the corruption through all levels of baseball, all players, managers, coaches and owners have been disbarred from the game and banned for life. All players left will come from the minor league systems, only those with no major league playing time, or new collegiate players. Don't be surprised that you won't recognize any of the names.

[Ragin Cajun]

This dynasty will work a bit differently. Instead of focusing on the league as a whole or a team, this will look at a single player as the game of baseball tries to rebuild it's public image and develop the new stars needed to shape the foundation of the game.

I will pick a player at random, typically a positional player who should play daily, and follow his career. When one career is done, the goal is to move on to the next generation of players and pick a new one to continue.

I hope you readers find this of interest.

[Ragin Cajun]

Eugene "Gene" Morris is a young prospect from Daniels, West Virginia. Originally in the farm system of the Seattle Mariners, he is now one of the top prospects in baseball. At 6'2, 200 pounds he is a physical specimen, however he has next to no power at the plate. What he does bring is a Tony Gwynn eye and contact potential with Paul Molitor gap power. He's speedy but not the fastest guy out there and is a tremendous bunter. He is rated a 5-star player by the NSB who will provide scouting reports to all teams, with no team allowed their own scouts to gain any unfair advantage in the game.

The day of the inaugural draft approaches in early January, 2036; and Morris is sitting at home with his parents (no agents allowed by the league) awaiting the phone call that may change his life.

[Ragin Cajun]

The league decides on a serpentine draft for the first year to allow the most equitable distribution of talent to all teams. They will go 100 rounds, digging deep into the minor leagues and the best of D-II and D-III talent. There are 2,904 players eligible for the draft as determined by the NSB. Here's a look at the teams that will make up the new US Baseball Federation league and their draft position.

Northern League					Southern League
Division One					Division One
Adelphi (NY) Panthers				Bridgeport Knights
Ouachita Tigers					Catawba Indians
Pitt MountainCats				Francis Marion Patriots
Slippery Rock Rocks				Mt. Olive Trojans
West Chester Rams				St. Josephs Pumas
West Virginia Yellow Jackets			Tusculum Pioneers

Division Two					Division Two
Dowling Lions					Assumption Greyhounds
Edinboro Scots					Barton Bulldogs
Mansfield Mountaineers				Drury Panthers
New Haven Chargers				Lander Bearcats
Stonehill Skyhawks				Montevallo Falcons
Wilmington Wildcats				Tuskegee Tigers

And here's the draft order for the first round:
Assumption, New Haven, Bridgeport, Drury, Slippery Rock get the first five spots.
Montevallo, Tusculum, Stonehill, Pitt, Tuskegee, Edinboro and Mt. Olive round out the rest of the first half of the round.
The second half will be Lander, Adelphi, St. Josephs, West Chester, Barton, Francis Marion, Dowling, Wilmington, Mansfield, Catawba, Ouachita and West Virginia.

[Ragin Cajun]

With the reduced expenditures for the league, they have scrapped the aborted "live" draft meant to copy the NFL version so our hero awaits a phone call at home. The draft starts at 10am EST, so he's stuck between Price is Right, soaps or a DVD. He opts for Rocky 17 on DVD.

All estimates are that he could go top ten, but no guarantee. Several teams have called him and his hopes are that either New Haven at number 2 or Stonehill at #8 will be the team calling.

Pitcher Josh Wilson goes #1 to Assumption.
New Haven opts to take pitcher Manuel Ramirez.
It's all pitchers until pick number 7 where shortstop Antonio Ortiz goes to Montevallo.
Stonehill goes with a pitcher so now all bets are off.
Pick number 13 comes up and the phone rings. The house goes deadly silent as Morris answers the phone and acknowledges the caller. He listens for a few minutes that stretch to eternity for his parents and he thanks the caller and hangs up the phone. "I'm a Trojan, and going to play for Mount Olive" he says, a new 1st round draft pick.

[Ragin Cajun]

Morris is the cornerstone of the franchise and will break with the big league club this year. Before the season starts, spring training needs to be done to begin to build team chemistry.

3/2 Morris' first game as a pro is against the Bridgeport Knight. He comes up with two outs and nobody on in the bottom of the first, batting in the three spot. He swings at the first pitch and grounds out to the shortstop for the first at bat of his career.
Morris comes back up in the bottom half of the fourth inning. The leadoff man, Pollard, doubled to open the inning. Ibarra singled, moving Pollard to third, and Morris comes up with men on the corners and nobody out. On the first pitch, Ibarra was thrown out stealing second. Pollard held at the corner. On the 1-0 pitch, Morris laces a line drive into the left center gap and gets his first RBI when Pollard crossed the plate. Morris legs it out for a triple for the first hit of his career. Moments later he scored the first run of his career as he scored on a ground ball to the second baseman by Evans.
In the bottom of the sixth, Pollard led off with a single and then Ibarra reached on a fielders choice. With one out and one on, Morris comes up. With a 2-1 count, he fouls off two straight pitches before going down swinging on the 2-2 pitch; the first K of his career.
That would be the last bat of the game as he was lifted in the 8th inning.

As spring training would draw to a close, Morris meets with team and league officials to work out a contract. He expects a spot in the middle of the lineup. They sign him to a 1 year deal worth $68,443, and he is on an automatic contract, meaning he has no control over his salary for a few years yet.

[Ragin Cajun]

At the end of April, Morris' first month as a professional ballplayer, his Trojans were 16-12, two games out in the Southern League D-1 race. They were contending for the division lead until the last week of the month when they dropped five straight.

Morris' first game as a pro, with stats that counted, he went 1 for 4 with one RBI against Tuskegee, that saw the Trojans lose 12-3. His high water mark for the month game after game three on the schedule, Morris had gone four for four that night, and six for 10 in the last two games to see his average climb to .583. At months end, Morris was hitting .383 with 17 RBIs and 4 stolen bases. He had rapped out 44 hits in 115 at bats including 10 doubles. He took 10 walks against 7 strikeouts and was still looking for his first home run.


May 2036
May saw the Trojans get on a tear and the team was 36-21 with a three game lead in the division chase. This month saw Morris hit .324, going 36-111 at the plate with his first career home run, 14 RBIs and 8 more stolen bases. For the season, he is batting .354 with 1 home run, 31 RBIs and 12 stolen bases. He has struck out 12 times, walking 29 times. His OBP is .426 and he is currently third in the league in batting average, behind his teammate Felix Ibarra and Cheol-min Son from Adelphia. The homer cane in the first game of the month, a solo shot in the top of the 9th that went 401 feet to left field.


June 2036
As the month opens, Morris begins appearing in a handful of local and national commercials as his popularity level is very high. The only holes that anyone has been able to punch in his game is his arm and his lack of power. Luckily, he doesn't have to throw the ball very far from second base and hitting in the three hole inthe Trojans lineup he isn't required to hit homers as long as he drives in runs and moves up runners.

In the first half of the month, Morris hit .394 with 13 RBIs through 16 games. Hitting .363 for the season, Morris received some good news on the 17th that he had been elected to the All Star team in the leagues first year. He would forever be known as an original-all star. He didn't start the game but took the field in the top of the sixth. It would be the 8th before he got to the plate where he worked a 3-1 count and ended up at first on a walk. He moved to second on a single and on a heads up play, made it safely to third when the outfielder held the ball a split second too long. It was a heads up play as he scored on a short single between the shortstop and the third baseman giving the Southern League an insurance run in their 11-8 victory.

As the month drew to a close, the Trojans went 6-4 over the final ten games and at 49-34 were still 3 up on the St. Josephs Pumas. Morris got hot in the final half of the month and saw his average climb to .408 for the month and finished with 28 RBIs and 11 stolen bases. For the season, Morris has pounded out 122 hits in 329 at bats, hitting an astounding .371 with 1 home run and 59 RBIs. While stealing 23 bases, he has been caught 11 times, seven of those in the last thirty days. He's tallied 49 walks while striking out 18 times for a .451 OBP and now leads the league in batting.


July 2036
July was not kind to the Trojans as they fell to third place. Granted they were only 2 games out but Catawba went 9-1 in the final ten games of the month and at 64-47, they took over the division lead. Morris struggled a bit at the plate, hitting .387 with 16 RBIs for the month, and adding ten stolen bases to his total. For the season, Morris has 163 hits, a .375 average and 75 RBIs to go with his lone home run. He saw his 14 game hitting streak come to an end on the first of the month and a 9 game RBI streak end on July 4th. His average continues to lead the league by 16 points.


August 2036
St. Josephs consistent play has seen them take the lead in the division race at 81-59. The Trojans continue to trail by 4 games, currently in third place, and one game out in the wildcard chase. The magic number for the wild card is 15, for the division it's 12.

Morris continued to pound out hits at a torrid pace, batting .404 for the month with 44 more hits in 109 ABs. His Wheaties diet kicked in as he slugged three home runs for the month; one on 8/6 against Lander, a 386 foot two-run shot down the left field line; a second against Assumption on 8/10, another left field drive that cleared the fence and measured in at 368 feet. The final homer came on 8/15 against Catawba, a solo shot in the top of the 8th that went 358 feet to left field that gave the Trojans a 7-6 lead and turned out to be the winning run. For the season, his average sits at .381 with 4 home runs, 91 RBIs and 42 SBs. On the 13th he suffered a back injury that had him day to day; he didn't miss a single start.

September 2036/Pennant Stretch
Down the stretch and Mt. Olive responding, winning their final four games to finish 84-71. Although 4.5 games behind St. Josephs in the division chase, they wrap up the second wild card spot, 2.5 games behind Drury and 1 game in front of Catawba. A playoff game with Catawba was required to decide the outcome. Mt. Olive won 11-5 in the playoff game, Morris went 4 for 5 with 1 RBI in the game. Morris is playoff bound.
* His worst month of the season, Morris hits only .242 over 15 games.
* 7 RBIs and no home runs.
* Ends the regular season with a .366 average, 4 HR, 98 RBIs and 43 steals.
* Took 99 walks and struck out only 34 times. OBP of .453
* 222 hits for the season, 606 ABs; played in all 155 games.
* The Trojans announce they will offer Morris arbitration in the offseason.


Playoffs round one: vs. Lander Bearcats
Game One: 8-1 win for the Trojans. Morris went 2-4 with 2 RBIs and a stolen base.
Game Two: 10-1 win for Mt. Olive, 2-0 lead in the series. Morris went 1 for 3 with 1 RBI, hitting .429 for the playoffs.
Game Three: 6-3 win and a commanding 3-0 lead in the series. Morris went 2-4 with two doubles and 4 RBIs and turned three double plays in the field. Was a bit disappointed to not win player of the game honors.
Game Four: 3-2 win and a series sweep for the Trojans. Morris went 2-4 with one double and 1 RBI. .467 for the series with 8 RBIs to lead the team.

League Championship series vs. Drury Panthers
Game One: 8-3 win for the Trojans. Morris goes 1 for 5 and 2 RBIs.
Game Two: 5-4 win, 2-0 series lead. A 1-5 night for Morris, he strands 4 on the bases. Involved in three DPs.
Game Three: 3-1 loss, 2-1 in the series. Morris draws the goose egg going 0 for 3 with 1 RBI.
Game Four: 3-2 win, 3-1 series lead. Morris went 2 for 4 with three RBIs and was named Player of the Game. All three RBI came on a 3-run blast in the bottom half of the third, a 397 foot shot to left-center.
Game Five: 6-5 win and the Trojans are heading to the World Series. Morris goes 2 for 4 in the deciding game with 1 RBI. He finishes the playoffs with a .361 average and 16 RBIs to lead all players.


World Series vs. Edinboro Scots
Game One: 3-0 win. Morris goes 1 for 4 and turns two double plays.
Game Two: 3-2 loss. Series tied at one. Morris goes 1 for 4 with 1 RBI.
Game Three: 12-9 loss. The Trojans trail a series for the first time this postseason. Morris is held to 1 for 4 again with 1 RBI.
Game Four: 3-1 win, series tied at 2. Morris is blanked, going 0 for 3.
Game Five: 3-2 loss, one game away from losing the series. Morris goes 1 for 4 with 2 left on base.
Game Six: 10-6 win to force a deciding Game 7. Morris goes 1 for 4 again, 2 RBIs and four left on base.
Game 7: Tied at 1-1 after nine innings, the game goes 14 innings before the Scots score in the bottom of the inning and win the Series 2-1. Morris goes 1 for 5 wiht 1 RBI and one left on. He hits .297 for the postseason, 1 HR and 21 RBIs.

Expected to contend for the Albert Pujols Award for the leagues best batter, Morris was stunned to find out that his top batting average was not enough as Jamie Brooks from the St. Josephs Pumas took the award.

With the rookie draft, Mt. Olive added 1B Phil Roberson.

With arbitration, Morris signs a new one year deal worth $1,338,040 for the '37 season.

[Ragin Cajun]

As the offseason progressed for Morris' team, the Trojans made one move in signing reliever Ruben Reyes, a hard throwing righty to a one year deal for $505,000. Last year, Reyes went 13-7 with a 2.12 in 27 games.

For the spring, Morris hit .383, with a .473 OBP and looks ready to pick up where he left off last season.

For the upcoming season, Morris will again start at 2nd base and is penciled in to the three hole in the order behind Felix Ibarra. Clancy Ball is the utility man for the team and will back up Morris as needed.

[Ragin Cajun]

April:

April ends with the Trojans in a familiar place, 18-10 and three games up on the division. They did go 4-6 in the last ten days, so the team knows there is plenty of room for improvement.

Morris was "en fuego" to coin a phrase, in April, hitting .456 to lead the league in batting. Going 47 for 103, Morris had 14 extra base hits and 20 RBIs and an astounding 26 bases on balls while striking out 6 times. He was still looking for his wheels as he was 4 for 8 in stolen base chances.

Named Batter of the Month for the Southern League in April.

May:

A 14-14 month saw the Trojans slide into second place, one game behind Tusculum in the division race.

Morris cooled down dramatically in May, hitting only .345 while going 39 for 113 at the plate. He hit his first home run of the season while driving in 19 runs and scoring 27 times himself. The wheels started coming around as he was a perfect 4 for 4 on the basepaths, he also walked 16 more times, striking out 5 times. For the season he is batting .398 with 1 HR, 39 RBI and 8 stolen bases. He's walked 42 times already in only 57 games. The home run came on the 18th against St. Josephs, a first inning two-run shot to straight away left field clearing the fences at 358 feet.


June

A rebound month for the Trojans who go back on top of the division by two games over Tusculum. At 46-37, the team is playing solid ball and for the first time this season, do not suffer a losing record down the stretch.

Morris continues to cool off, going 32/97 at the plate, batting .330 for the month. He drives in 14 runs with 5 stolen bases and his average is down to .377 for the season, still tops in the majors and seven points in front of his next closest competitor. Teammates Pollard and Ibarra are also in the top eight for the Southern League.

* Morris named to second straight All Star team.
* The Trojans acquired 26 year old third baseman Ilias Carson this month from the St. Joesphs Pumas in exchange for 36 year old starting pitcher Ivan Murillo and 23 year old minor league pitcher Sancho Avila. Carson is hitting .283 with 1 HR and 23 RBI in 67 games this year.
* Morris goes 0 for 3 in the All Star game, starting for the first time. He had one strikeout and left three men on as the Southern League won again, 4-1.

[Ragin Cajun]

July

Mt. Olive goes on a 9-1 tear in the last week and a half to take a four game lead over Catawba with a 63-48 record. The magic number pops up and it's 40 games.

Morris suffers his fourth consecutive slide in average this season as he only hits .308 for the month, with 14 RBIs, and he's caught stealing more than he succeeds for the first time this year. For the season he has 154 hits, a .358 average, 1 HR and 67 RBIs with 15 stolen bases.

* Morris' best game of the month comes on the 26th on the road against Assumption. He goes 2 for 4 with 4 RBIs as the Trojans won 8-7.


August

A 3-7 slump as the month drew to a close allowed Catawba to catch up in the standings and the two teams enter September dead even at 73-67. The team is a bit disturbed that they are barely over .500, but only six teams have better records at this point. The big news as the month ends is that New Haven has already clinched their division over in the Northern League.

Morris sees his average inch down yet again, to .306, and to .348 for the season. He gets 15 more RBIs this month, 82 on the year, and at 187 hits he only needs 13 to reach 200 for the season. He now sits tied for third in batting average in the league.

* Morris' best game is at home against Tuskegee when he goes 3 for 5 and scored one run in the teams 6-1 win. He also went 3 for 5 with 2 RBI against Catawba as the Trojans lost 8-5.


September: Pennant Stretch
Bridgeport was the hot team down the stretch going 8-2 but were too far out to compete for the pennant. Mt. Olive lost early in the day on the final day and a Catawba win would force a playoff. As luck would have it, Catawba lost to Bridgeport to give Mt. Olive the division title by one game with a 81-73 mark.
* The Northern League Champions are the West Chester Rams and the New Haven Chargers; Mt. Olive and the Drury Panthers winning the Southern League divisions.
* Morris hit an amazing .396 in the final fourteen games of the season with 13 RBIs and 21 hits put him over 200 for the year.
* He goes 5 for 6, his first five hit game ever, against Tusculum with one triple, 1 RBI and two runs scored.
* Morris' final numbers: .352, 1 HR, 95 RBIs, and 22 stolen bases. He racked up 104 walks against 31 K's and an OBP of .447.
* Finished third in the Southern League in average (.356 won).
* Finished first in the majors in OBP


Playoffs: Round One vs. Montevallo
The Falcons were wildcard winners from the second division, finishing 83-71. They finished the season on a three game winning streak. They are paced by the trio of Miguel Martinez (RF), Edgardo Contreras (3B) and Antonio Ortiz (SS), all whom hit over 100 RBI this year. Contreras led the team with 11 HR.

Game One: 10-7 loss. Morris went 2 for 4 with 2 runs scored.
Game Two: 2-1 loss; down 2-0 in the series. Morris was held to 1 for 4 at the plate, still seeking his first RBI.
Game Three: 9-2 win, down 2-1 in the series. This was a must-win game. Morris went 1 for 5 with 1 RBI. Teammate Paul White (1B) is batting .643 with 5 RBI for the series.
Game Four: 5-4 win, series even at two apiece. Morris goes 1 for 5 and strands 4 on the bases.
Game Five: 8-0 loss; down 3-2 in the series. Morris is held hitless, going 0 for 4, dropping his postseason average to .227.
Game Six: 14-4 loss; Trojans lose the series 4-2. Morris goes 1 for 4 with 1 RBI and finishes his postseason hitting .231 with 2 RBI.

The World Series would pit Montevallo against New Haven, the Chargers heavily favored. Montevallo would stun all the pundits with a 6-4 win in Game Six as they take the series four games to two and become world champions.


* The Trojans resign starting pitcher Ruben Reyes, 27, to a three year deal worth $2.439 million dollars. He went 11-5 this year in 29 games with a 3.95 ERA.
* In the rookie draft, Mt. Olive holds the 19th overall pick. They take outfielder John Phillips from San Angelo, Texas. He has good pop and a solid eye but does tend to strike out a fair amount and will only make average contact.
* Morris goes back to arbitration and receives a one year deal for $1,256,890 for next season.
* His career numbers: .359, 5 HR, 193 RBI, 203 BB, 65 K, 65 SB, 430 hits.