Expansion hits Laseron! LBA history included.

[Delgadodawg]

That is right! The LBA is adding one team to all four divisions. We have three owners in place and are need of one more. Soni is the lucky city in need of an owner. The new owner can come up with a team name and logo of his/her own or can ask for help from some of the talented LBA owners.

The LBA is a fictional league set place in a fictional world. We are coming to the end of our 11th season. Check our message board, rules and website for more details.

**Please send applications to Jobber_19@hotmail.com
I will wait a few days until after the long weekend before adding the new owner.

The following is a backstory explaining some of the history of Laseron. It was written by Max Winterbourne , owner of Geo Bahn. Dark (Space) Horse on these boards.

Laseron Begins 11th* Year!!!


*The people of Laseron celebrate beginnings, rather than endings. Thus, in this case, they celebrate the beginning of another decade.


No one knows for sure when people started playing baseball in Laseron. Or who invented the game. As far as anyone knows, baseball has always been played in Laseron. The game has been loosely organized for some seventy years, beginning with the Reedin Railroad tournaments on Elos in the 1840’s. And their have been professional teams since Commie Miskee first hired players to play for his Aces in 1851. Organized baseball existed for the next sixty years in a primitive form, which would occasionally fall victim to gamblers and other unsavory elements. But Lloyd Goodrich had a vision of a better organized game. He convinced several wealthy businessmen around Laseron that baseball could be a profitable enterprise.

The Laseron Baseball Group (Goodrich and the investors) set up offices in Sarinelos to make plans. They noted that barnstorming teams did not have binding contracts with any of its players and figured it would be easy to get them to play for the league with guaranteed contracts. They met with city leaders about building stadiums worthy of what they were calling Major League Baseball. They also made marketing plans to sell the league to the public and began negotiations for TV contracts.

Twenty three cities among the nine islands that make up Laseron agreed to build stadiums in hopes of gaining a team. Meanwhile scouts were sent throughout Laseron to invite players to the tryouts in Sarinelos that would lead to the league’s initial draft. Once the barnstorming owners got wind that their players were being targeted, lawsuits against the Laseron Baseball Group were filed on Elos, Firun, Minos and Rivar; the four major islands.

The barnstormers lost the first court case in Elos and likely would lose the other cases. But the cases could drag on throughout the planned baseball season. A compromise was reached between the Laseron Baseball Group and the barnstormers. Several barnstormers were allowed to own what the Group called Minor League teams. These Minor League teams would continue to barnstorm, but the Major League teams owned and controlled the players. Enough of the barnstormers were satisfied with this arrangement that the other lawsuits were dropped.

Once they had settled matters with the barnstormers. The group announced that the league, now named the Laseron Baseball Association, would place teams in sixteen cities. City officials in the slighted cities felt like that they had been misled. But Lloyd insisted that no city had been promised a team. And the league partially appeased the city again by promising that minor league games would be playing in the stadiums.

With these conflicts quelled the teams went about selecting players. Most notable among the selections were Tim Huckleberry and Matt Cruise. They were drafted first (by the team in Summerwind) and second (by the team in Broncdom) respectively. Thus began a trend that quickly showed how the game would be played in the LBA. The first seven picks in the draft were pitchers. And ten of the sixteen teams picked pitchers in the first round. Also, drafted in the first round was Jake Loescher, the son of a wealthy hotel magnate, was picked eighth. And college superstar Red Vedder was drafted fifteenth despite the fact that scouts felt he wouldn’t be ready for a couple of seasons. Yet, most predicted greatness for young Vedder.

The Broncdom Breakers won the league’s first championship by beating the Alicia Aces four games to three. Both teams led there respective leagues in pitching. The Aces’ team ERA for that inaugural season was 2.90. That is still the Northern League record. After the season the media gave awards to the players that excelled at pitching and batting. Tim Huckleberry and Matt Cruise, the top two picks in the initial draft, were named the top pitchers of their respective leagues. John “Shotgun” Shotwell and Dell “The Bear” Bradley were name the top hitters.

The pitching award was named King of the Mound. This name came from the nickname of Balthasar King. The name was given to him by Commie Miskee. Miskee a marketing genius had named his team the Diamond Kings primarily because of the presences of the King brothers. Gaspar King, a good hitter and good defensive catcher, was called the King of the Plate. And Melchior King, one of the best defensive outfielder of the time, was called the King of the Field. But Balthasar King was the star. And when Balthasar hurt his arm, Miskee cut all three of the brothers. The King brothers joined a team from Erindel called the Blues. Although King could not pitch. He instructed the young pitchers on the Blues’ staff. Thus he became Laseron’s first pitching coach and the first coach of any kind. When one of the Blues’ pitchers began to excel, observers of the game would call them “Another King of the Mound.” At 41, when injuries to several of the Blues’ pitchers threatened to force the team out of the Laseron Cup, Balthasar took the mound again. Unable to throw hard, he relied on a new pitch he’d come up with that he called a knuckleball. They won surprised everyone by winning the Laseron Cup that season. And Balthasar was once again, the King of the Mound.

The batting award was named for one of Balthasar King’s teammates, Rick Blast. He joined the Diamond Kings of Dilgrane. His talent at the plate was instantly displayed. And soon Miskee had named him the King of Swing. He was the best hitter on the island of Elos. And when the game moved from open fields to ballparks, he became the best power hitter as well. He accomplished a number of firsts. He was the first player to be intentionally walked. He was the first player to be used strategically as a pinch hitter. He was the first player to switch hit. He played for the Diamond Kings for eleven seasons. He was a suspect in a woman’s murder and he disappeared. By then, his exploits and disappearance were known all around Laseron. It was common after that to suspect any man that hit well for an extended period time or that hit very long home runs of being the missing Rick Blast.

(more to come)

[Delgadodawg]

The leagues’ inaugural season was a success. The teams in the northern islands (Northern League) drew over 23.5 million fans to their new ballparks. While its counterparts in the southern islands (Southern League) did even better with over 24.5 million fans in attendance. And only two teams lost money. But the league was not without problems. With the initial draft they had found enough players for each team to have 25 men on each roster. But their minor league teams weren’t so well stocked. In fact, those teams relied on the minor league owners (the former barnstormers) to find players to fill in spots so they could field teams. Many of the minor leaguers quit after the first season. They were disappointed because they were still barnstorming. Add to that, several of the older players that were in the majors decided to quit after one season. And several others let it be known that the 1901 season would be their last.

Realizing that they would need a way to replace the leaving talent, the league made plans to hold a regular draft of new players. The league hired scouts to travel around Laseron looking for players. The scouts avoided the islands of Alaris, Salara and Tempura for two reason. One, they wanted to keep the peace with the remaining barnstormers (now calling themselves independent teams). Two, the independents had learned their lesson and signed their players to contracts. Everybody else was eligible, as long as they had graduated high school. (This is an old tradition that started in barnstorming days.) The scouts gave players that they deemed worthy invitations to the league tryout in Sarinelos. Among the 18 to 22 year olds that showed up for the tryouts was the 30 year old Wrooster Lollfinkus. The hard throwing Mountain Man, as he became known, had been found by former barnstormer, Crank Yannigan. Yannigan convinced a scout to give Lollfinkus a chance. Despite his advanced age teams were impressed by how hard the Mountain Man threw.

Sarinelos eventually drafted Lollfinkus in the fourth round of the new players’ draft. They signed Lollfinkus and assigned him to their AA team. Then Yannigan appeared with a contract signed by Lollfinkus. He demanded compensation for the player. Yannigan had owned a barnstorming team on the island of Rivar. After the LBA was established and took up most his players, Yannigan became disenchanted. He rejected offers to be a minor league owner and didn’t bother to start a new team. He tried at several businesses and failed each time. He was in debt when he ran into Wrooster Lollfinkus, while hunting. Lollfinkus was hunting rock hounds, with rocks! He had heard that the LBA was looking for new players. He gave the Mountain Man a ball and glove and showed him how to throw a couple of pitches. The only pitch he had any control over was his fastball. Yannigan took the league to court and the courts ruled in Yannigan’s favor.

On the field, none of the division winners of 1900 were able to repeat. In the Northern League, two teams the Laserus Destroyers and Geo Bahn Rock Hounds went from worst to first. And the two most prolific offenses (Erindel Gryphons and Dark Cove Bounty Hunters) met in the Southern League. Geo Bahn and Erindel advanced to the 1901 Laseron Championship Series. The matchup featured the reigning Rick Blast award winners, John Shotwell and Dell Bradley. And both the Shotgun (Shotwell) and the Bear (Bradley) would shine. After both sluggers were held hitless in the first game, Bradley drew first blood with a two-run homer in the seventh inning to give the Gryphons a lead. Not to be outdone, Shotwell hit his own two-run shot to give the Rock Hounds the lead. It ended up being the game winner. And it gave the Rock Hounds a 2-0 lead in the series. Then Bradley took over. He led his team to two straight victories at home and won the player of the game award for both games. Once again, Shotwell would have the final word, driving in two runs to clinch the series in game six. The Rock Hounds came from behind to get all four of their victories.

In the first two seasons, the teams were average attendance was nearly 3,000,000. And only three of the sixteen teams suffered losses. Despite the success that the teams were experiencing on the field and at the bottom line, league officials continued to search for talent. Using the Yannigan-Lollfinkus situation as precedence, the league let it be known that they would pay Independent teams for players. Owners brought in several players. The majority of these players came from the lesser islands of Alaris, Salara and Tempura. The media dubbed these players “The Island Boys.” Though, the amount per player was undisclosed. It can be assumed that the owners were paid well for the players. But they didn’t get as much as they anticipated getting. In the contracts that their players signed was what they described as an agent clause. The wording of the contracts entitled the owners a percentage of the money earned in the players’ next contract. When neither the LBA nor the Island Boys gave them their believed cut of the players’ new contracts, they took the league and players to court. The lawsuit against the league was immediately thrown out because the agreement was not between the league and owners. The dispute between the players and their former owners took much debate. Finally, it was decided that selling the contract voided the terms of the contract. Once again the independent owners were turned away.

(more to come)

[pat]

application sent.. my email is patrick_garde@yahoo.com..

[Delgadodawg]

Back on the field, three of the 1901 division winners repeated. This was a foreshadowing of the dominant teams that would emerge near the end of the decade. The Destroyers would set a NL record with 95 wins to retake the Minos. The Aces would hold off the Rage and the defending champion Rock Hounds to take the Rivar. And in the South, the Gryphons and Bounty Hunters would meet again. The Aces and Destroyers played three straight one run games to begin the series. And, in the first six games, the Aces outscored the Destroyers 17-16. The Aces returned to the Laseron Championship Series by taking game seven. Down south, the road team won the first six games of the series. Erindel broke the trend to take game seven at home. This is the only time that both Regional Series went seven games. The Championship Series was just as exciting, although the Gryphons swept the Aces. In order, Erindel won the games by one, two and three runs. And they won the fourth game by one run in extra innings. Following the season, Red Vedder finished up his long awaited rookie season by taking the NL Rookie of the Year award.

In the offseason, the independent owners suffered another setback. With the league signing several Island Boys, and Bumble Ward’s success with the Northern League champion Alicia Aces, youngsters were more eager to sign with the LBA. This made it more difficult for the independents to acquire legitimate baseball talent. They persevered but it would be several years before they threatened the LBA again. Meanwhile, the next two years would be years of transition. In the Minos Division, Laserus faltered after two disappointing Regional Series. And Summerwind and Crystalis took turns at the top. At Rivar, Kron’nul, led by Red Vedder, grew to power. Down south, Dark Cove, like Laserus, fell off after two Regional Series defeats and Broncdom returned to power. And Zorphyr took over the Elos division as their vaunted farm system began to mature. The Laseron Championship Series of 1903 and 1904 were two of the most memorable series in LBA history. Both series involved the Zorphyr Rivercats, both series went seven games, and, both times, Dennis Larsen was on the mound for Zorphyr in game seven. In 1903, Larsen tossed a one-hit shutout against the Summerwind Seagulls to give the Rivercats their first Laseron championship. In 1904, Larsen attempted to do even better. He took a no-hitter into the ninth inning against the Crystalis Robins. But the Robins broke up the no-hitter and managed to score five runs to take the lead and the title.

(More to come)

[Jeremy Weimer]

Max needs another hobby.

[Delgadodawg]

Still taking applications.

[Delgadodawg]

The only major change to the game was the allowance of base coaches on the field in 1904. And pitching coaches would now visit pitchers when they were in trouble. This went along with a change in thinking by baseball management. In the past, they had the same strategy for the whole team. But the most significant event of 1904 was something no LBA fans knew about. One of the independents stumbled upon four nineteen year olds while barnstorming on Tempura. The owner quickly recognized their talents and immediately signed them to contracts. This time the owner had no intention of selling the players to the LBA. Several of the independent owners had gotten together with a new plan which would require them to gather and develop as much talent as possible. They were aided by the fact that the LBA cut its draft back to five rounds. This was in response to court ruling found for the players that allowed players to go through arbitration after they had competed in three seasons. Since the league started young players would play five seasons at a minimum salary before becoming free agents. The players wanted free agency after three seasons. The arbitration was a compromise.

The LBA settled into a stable period where no major changes occurred. But some would argue that the league had become too stable. By 1908, there were several things that LBA fans could count on:

1. Laserus would run away with the Minos Division.
2. Kron’nul would run away with the Rivar Division.
3. Broncdom would run away with the Firun Division.
4. Erindel and Zorphyr would battle for the Elos Division.
5. Zorphyr would win the Elos Division.
6. The Northern League would win the All Star Game.
7. The Southern League team would win the Laseron Championship.
8. Red Vedder would win the NL Rick Blast Award.
9. Matt Cruise would win the SL King of the Mound Award.
10. The Laseron Champion would not repeat the next season.

(One more installment)

[Delgadodawg]

The predictability started to effect the LBA owners’ pockets. That year they found out that the value of their TV contracts would be reduced. In response, the owners voted to reduced the salary cap and reduce the amount of the league minimum contracts. This upset the players. The league then took some bad publicity when former Geo Bahn pitcher, Larry Keefer, wrote a book Just Gimme the Ball!. In it, Keefer claimed that his former team ruined his career. His point was that the Rock Hounds didn’t want him to pitch for the team but wouldn’t release him so that he could sign with another team.

Meanwhile, fans began to call for an expanded playoffs. They also were distracted by what the independent owner called his new Kings. It seems the four teenagers that he’d found on Tempura were relative of the famous King brothers that were apart of barnstorming teams in the 1860s and 1870s. Word of their talent spread around Laseron. By 1909, fans were traveling to smaller surrounding towns to watch the New Kings play. In 1910, to make peace with the players, the owners put some rules in place to insurance that minor league players would have some freedom to move. Also, in 1910 the LBA saw a significant drop in attendance around the league. Fans would openly debated whether the New Kings could be some of the weaker LBA teams. LBA owners met and decided that on two things. First, they’d expand the playoffs, and allow second place teams to play. Second, they decided to invite four of the stronger Independent teams into the league (specifically the New Kings), in hopes that they would bring fans back to the stadium.


(finished)
Thanks Max!

[wireman]

What a job Max has done!

He is a god who walks the Earth.

[Jeremy Weimer]

Louie, where are my flowers?

[wireman]

Originally Posted by Jeremy Weimer

Louie, where are my flowers?

Now everybody wants flowers. My mother was right.

[Jeremy Weimer]

Thanks Louie.

[treedom]

Originally Posted by wireman

Now everybody wants flowers. My mother was right.

trippy

[Dark Horse]

Originally Posted by Jeremy Weimer

Max needs another hobby.

No i should try to do this for a living and give up the day job.

Believe it or not this was the short version.

[Delgadodawg]

Last day for applications.