Need some advice

[Clovidequano Dovatha]

Folks, I'm in need of some advice for a certain dynasty of mine now in 1907, as it relates to possibly adding another minor league to the game, if not another major league to it, it seems to me. At least as far as to where to put it, and where to put the new teams for it in the dynasty's current setup, so that I can continue playing it out, at least, for sure.

This dynasty's current setup consists of the following leagues:

Major League Baseball with sixteen teams in either the American League or the National League

The American Heritage League with sixteen teams in either the American Association or the International League

The Northern League with sixteen teams in either the Eastern Division or the Western Division

Major League Baseball is currently set up as follows, with the sixteen appropriate teams present here:

National League:

Boston Braves
Brooklyn Dodgers
Chicago Cubs
Cincinnati Reds
New York Giants
Philadelphia Phillies
Pittsburgh Pirates
St. Louis Cardinals

American League:

Boston Red Sox
Chicago White Sox
Cleveland Indians
Detroit Tigers
New York Yankees
Philadelphia Athletics
St. Louis Browns
Washington Senators

Now for minor leagues, I have the American Heritage League consisting of two subleagues of eight teams each, those subleagues being the American Association and the International League, with the league being at the AAA-level of this dynasty's current setup. The AA and IL are each as follows here, with parent clubs noted as appropriate:

American Association:

Baltimore Anthems (Senators)
Camden Gardeners (Athletics)
Evansville Triplets (Browns)
Hartford Dark Blues (Dodgers)
Louisville Redbirds (Cardinals)
Peoria Chiefs (White Sox)
South Bend Cubs (Cubs)
Syracuse Stars (Yankees)

International League:

Bowling Green Hot Rods (Reds)
Buffalo Bisons (Giants)
Charleston Miners (Pirates)
Columbus Buckeyes (Indians)
Indianapolis Racers (Tigers)
Milwaukee Braves (Braves)
Pawtucket Red Sox (Red Sox)
Wilmington Quicksteps (Phillies)

My second minor league currently present in this dynasty's setup is the Northern League, with it currently being at AA-level, and it now consists of two subleagues of eight teams each, with the relevant subleagues being the Eastern Division and the Western Division as follows, with parent clubs noted as appropriate:

Eastern Division:

Des Moines Bruins (Cubs)
Duluth Dukes (Senators)
Gary South Shore RailCats (White Sox)
Joliet Jackhammers (Giants)
Madison Mallards (Braves)
Schaumburg Flyers (Yankees)
St. Cloud River Bats (Phillies)
Thunder Bay Border Cats (Tigers)

Western Division:

Aberdeen Pheasants (Indians)
Fargo-Moorhead RedHawks (Reds)
Kansas City T-Bones (Browns)
Lincoln Saltdogs (Dodgers)
Minot Greenheads (Red Sox)
Rapid City Gold Rush (Pirates)
Sioux City Explorers (Athletics)
Sioux Falls Canaries (Cardinals)

Apparently, I need another minor league here because the roster sizes of the AA-level teams are too high at the present time, and I'm thinking that I should create an A-level league to help cut them down here easier. But I'm not sure where to put the new teams and the new league just yet. I've got the classic 16 teams, and ones mostly in the northeastern quarter of the US, and teams mostly in the Midwestern US except for Thunder Bay in Canada, but I'm not sure what part of the US I should put this new league in just yet. I've been thinking of putting it in the South, but not sure where exactly, if so, and where to locate its teams, et cetera.

I would really appreciate some suggestions here. As for team names, I'll be able to figure that out myself easily enough, I think. I just need help deciding where to put this new minor league here in the relevant dynasty, so I can continue to run with it for at least another season or so. Any useful help and/or advice you may be willing to offer, I'll gladly accept here, of course, folks. Thank you all for your time and attention and all here, then. CD out.

[Clovidequano Dovatha]

Moderators, I accidentally posted this thread in the wrong forum section, it seems. Please move it to the appropriate OOTP 22 forum section, if you please. Thank you. CD out.

[thehef]

I'd look to the major cities excluded so far from your game from that era's American Association & International League for one league:

Minneapolis Millers
St. Paul Saints
Toledo Mud Hens
Jersey City Skeeters
Montreal Royals
Newark Sailors
Providence Grays
Rochester Bronchos
Toronto Maple Leafs

And then I'd go with eight teams from that era's Southern Association for another league:

Atlanta Crackers
Birmingham Barons
Little Rock Travelers
Memphis Egyptians
Mobile Sea Gulls
Montgomery Senators
Nashville Volunteers
New Orleans Pelicans
Shreveport Pirates

(Both of those lists include 9 teams so just pick eight...)

I'd make the above two separate leagues because back in 1907 the travel between many of those cities would just be too much.

I would also, for fun, create the equivalent of that era's PCL, with all independent teams:

Los Angeles Angels
Oakland Oaks
Portland Beavers
Sacramento Senators
Salt Lake City Bees
San Francisco Seals
Seattle Siwashes
Vernon Tigers

Good luck / have fun!

[Clovidequano Dovatha]

Well, in six years of activity in this dynasty so far, my Cardinals have stunk things up. We haven't even broken .500 for a full season, although I think we had one year that we had our first winning month in it, possibly 1906. Even after trying to do at least some wheeling and dealing on my part here, simply because the other 15 MLB teams are still rather stacked, even now. Or at least for the most part, they are, anyway. Albert Pujols isn't even a 3-star player at the current time in this dynasty packed with many big-name players throughout baseball history, in truth.

To start things off, I stacked the teams with 40 players each from baseball history, even the Cardinals, of course, but to date, my team has really stunk things up, and even my draft picks generally haven't really paid off yet, if at all, or if they eventually will. My team's pitching, for instance, is atrocious, and so is its defensive quality. Part of that may be because I'm trying to train certain players at multiple positions, but that can't be the only reason I'm not doing well with the Cardinals yet, for sure.

Thank you very much for your advice here, thehef. I'll certainly consider it. Especially when it comes to potential teams, or at least locations, that were just mentioned in your post, including those in the South. CD out.

[Pelican]

I agree with Hef on the placement on new minor league teams in the south, where you don't yet have teams, and using vintage minor league cities to fill in the others. When I play historical sims in the Dead Ball era, I try to be mindful of how difficult travel was - mostly by train - back then. So, geographic concentration works. In that regard, the classic Pacific Coast League is tough. Seattle is a long way from San Diego.

I'm flattered that you gave my fair city of Wilmington a Phillies minor league team, and honored the Quicksteps. I live in a community that was built in 1918 (technically, the first federal housing project, through the War Department, to house workers building ships for World War I) on the former site of the Quicksteps' home field, Union Park. Now known as Union Park Gardens, naturally.

Also love the Anthems as the Baltimore team. Well played!

[Clovidequano Dovatha]

Ideally, I'd like to eventually give every US state/district/territory and/or Canadian province/territory at least one team, by the time I finish this dynasty's run, if possible, in one or more leagues, whether major league-level, minor league-level, or whatever, in nature. Although I don't know exactly how long that might take, if possible, I do know that the classic 16 teams for MLB are permanently going to remain in their current cities with their current names, at least. So if there are Los Angeles Dodgers, they will likely be a minor league affiliate of the Brooklyn Dodgers at some level, for instance. And so on and so forth. I'm not entirely sure yet about whether each MLB team will always be in their currently-assigned stadiums in their designated city, though it's likely that they always will be, in any case. CD out.

[Clovidequano Dovatha]

So far, the Boston Red Sox are in the lead with three World Series titles, and the Pirates, Tigers, and Yankees have one World Series title apiece. The Cardinals are so far the worst of the 16 Classic teams, record-wise, never even getting out of last place in the NL for any season by the end of it, in six years of activity to date. While the worst overall team in the AL is the Cleveland Indians, at present.

As for Wilmington's performance in four seasons of activity, they are 28 games over .500 for their entire history, dating back to 1903, with them having two second-place finishes, along with one fifth-place finish and one seventh-place finish, in it. I don't know if 1907 will be better for them yet, however.

Both Cardinals minor league affiliates in 1906 won league titles, however, so maybe we'll be better this year in MLB, I hope. Even though we've not gotten out of last place for a full 154-game season, to date, in our team's history, I'm still hoping we can do so with certain players now on our roster, and hoping that certain players can get better than they have generally been so far in this dynasty. Pujols and Ken Boyer and Rogers Hornsby, to name a few, for example.

The favorites for 1907 almost certainly have to be the Red Sox, who just signed the superstar Alan Trammell away from Detroit for about $34,000 in base salary over 8 years, I think. Joe Mauer went to the Browns for 8 years for just over $23,000 in base salary, as well. We got Goose Goslin, but I don't really know how well he'll perform for us just yet.

We drafted Mike Trout, among other players, in the recent amateur draft, but I think it'll be at least a year before he comes to play for St. Louis. We'll probably start him out in Sioux Falls or Louisville, if he doesn't make the big club out of Spring Training. Or whatever place we choose for our next minor league affiliate, that is. Thanks for your commentary, Pelican, in any case. I'll certainly consider it here, of course. CD out.

[Clovidequano Dovatha]

I'd like to put at least one team in Virginia, and perhaps at least one team in Tennessee, and possibly at least one team in Arkansas, if I go south of any of the states or DC with already-existing teams. I also don't want to go further west than a line from North Dakota to Texas at this time, with any teams or leagues, I think. So no teams located in or sufficiently near the Rockies, at all, or at least not at this current point in time here.

So if this new league is going to be placed in the South, I suppose that puts Oklahoma, Texas, Arkansas, Louisiana, Tennessee, Mississippi, Alabama, Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, and Virginia in possible play here for teams in this new overall league. And I'd most likely need sixteen different locations for the relevant teams here, of course, as a result, folks. Seeing as Missouri, Kansas, Kentucky, Nebraska, West Virginia, Maryland, DC, and Delaware each have at least one team apiece present for themselves, in this dynasty's current setup here, that is. CD out.

[Clovidequano Dovatha]

I'd prefer to use locations I won't likely want to use for other potential major league teams in certain other leagues, when it comes to this new league. So that probably might eliminate cities like Atlanta and Nashville and Houston and Miami and Tampa, for instance, from current consideration as potential spots for teams in my relevant current dynasty setup, at least as far as North American ones, that is.

It's also most likely way too early to go out West, unless I put the next potential league out there, and work eastward with its related minor league teams and levels. I don't think I want to do that until at least 1925 or so, more or less, in truth. Especially seeing none of the classic teams will ever be leaving their current cities or nearby ones for new home locations for sure.

So with at least Atlanta and Houston and Miami and Nashville and Tampa out of the current picture, most likely, for new teams, I'll need other potential places for certain teams to play in here, if I put the new league in the South. I really don't know if I want to use actual team names and locations for all of them yet, mind you, but I do want to have at least certain locations present in this new league, in any case, for sure.

So any suggestions you might have to fill those sixteen spots that I might not want to have as locations for other major league-level teams will be greatly appreciated here, folks. With Milwaukee, for instance, occupied here as a Braves affiliate, that might prevent the creation of the Brewers here, unless I include it as part of a separate major league in my dynasty here, of course. Same thing with certain other locations with currently-existing teams in them, as well, for that matter.

If I put Montreal in a league as a minor league team, they aren't likely to ever have a major league team here, I think. Baltimore's currently taken by the Anthems, so the Orioles and the Terrapins might not actually appear later in this particular dynasty of mine, either, among various other teams in certain other locations and/or real-world leagues, even if said leagues are at least somewhat fictionalized here, as well, in turn.

As far as Canada, when would you perhaps recommend an all-Canadian league be created? I'd probably think that sometime after 1910 or 1915, at least, might be best here, in truth. Mexico's not yet a possibility either, come to think of it, I believe, realistically speaking, at this time.

I'd like to wait at least a few more seasons before I start adding foreign leagues and/or teams to the mix, as well. But it probably wouldn't hurt all that much here if I actually started adding various fictional nations of mine to the relevant dynasty's world from which certain players could then come from here, starting with Slaabovia, for instance, until there's enough players from those countries to perhaps create a new league to host those players with easily enough, if I don't want to have a bunch of players created from each of those countries en masse at any time, in bulk.

Thank you all for your time and attention and all here, then, and I will patiently await your future suggestions here in this thread for new teams and all, of course, everyone. Talk more later here, as time permits and all, I'm sure, if and when possible and all. CD out.

[Bottom Of The Sixth]

If you need more teams, what about using Negro League team names?


Txranger over the years has done a ton of super good looking uniforms and logos for them.


Go through his collection and look over what is available, and select your favorite looking ones. There are a ton of good ones.


It will save you a ton of time and effort instead of trying to do your own logos and uniforms, and allow you to play your league alot sooner instead of later.


Good Luck!

[Clovidequano Dovatha]

I have the Historical Minor League Jersey Pack, actually, in one of my OOTP 18 folders, but do you have any specific locations in mind where I could perhaps put certain teams, at least as of the present time? If I don't currently have any team sets for certain locations, I can certainly get them, though, mainly in the Retro thread, I'm sure. That is a very good suggestion here, as well, BOTS. One I'll gladly consider, of course. Thank you. CD out.

[Bottom Of The Sixth]

[Bottom Of The Sixth]

[Clovidequano Dovatha]

I'm considering putting at least one team in each of the twelve states running from Oklahoma and Texas in the west and Virginia to Florida in the east, and south of Kentucky, if I place this new league in the South. Here are my current candidate cities in mind for each relevant state, I think, folks:

Alabama:

Dothan
Huntsville
Mobile
Montgomery
Talladega
Tuscaloosa

Arkansas:

Arkadelphia
Batesville
Fayetteville
Hot Springs
Little Rock
Pine Bluff

Florida:

Bradenton
Daytona
Gainesville
Jupiter
Orlando
Pensacola
Tallahassee
Vero Beach

Georgia:

Albany
Americus
Athens
Brunswick
Covington
Macon
Milledgeville
Savannah
Statesboro
Valdosta
Warner Robins

Louisiana:

Alexandria
Baton Rouge
Lafayette
Lake Charles
Monroe
Natchitoches
Opelousas
Shreveport

Mississippi:

Biloxi
Brookhaven
Gulfport
Hattiesburg
Jackson
Kosciusko
Meridian
Yazoo City

North Carolina:

Asheville
Chapel Hill
Durham
Greensboro
High Point
Kannapolis
New Bern
Raleigh

Oklahoma:

Bartlesville
Enid
Lawton
McAlester
Muskogee
Norman
Oklahoma City
Stillwater
Tulsa

South Carolina:

Greenville
Hartsville
Myrtle Beach
Orangeville
Rock Hill
Spartanburg

Tennessee:

Chattanooga
Clarksville
Dyersburg
Johnson City
Knoxville
Oak Ridge
Paris
Pulaski
Shelbyville
Union City

Texas:

Abilene
Amarillo
Austin
Beaumont
Brownsville
Corpus Christi
Corsicana
El Paso
Laredo
Lubbock
Midland
Odessa
Waco

Are there any thoughts that any of you might perhaps have here about any or all of these places for sixteen potential teams to then hail from here? Yes, I know some of the bigger cities from a number of those twelve states may not be listed above, but that's because I might be considering them as possible sites for other major league-level teams in the future, supposing that I'm somehow actually able to progress this particularly relevant dynasty far enough into it to include those places in the dynasty's relevant setup later on.

Thanks for the maps and advice, BOTS. I'll consider it here quite a bit for potential future reference, although many of the shown Negro League teams played in already-claimed areas, it seems, for this particular dynasty of mine, in truth. CD out.

[Clovidequano Dovatha]

I forgot to add Virginian candidate cities to the last post, by accident. But I picked from the ones I had in mind and the above ones using a random picker website, and the following cities were selected for possible inclusion in a league based in the Southern United States:

Dothan, Alabama
Hot Springs, Arkansas
Gainesville, Florida
Pensacola, Florida
Albany, Georgia
Brunswick, Georgia
Alexandria, Louisiana
Jackson, Mississippi
Durham, North Carolina
High Point, North Carolina
Bartlesville, Oklahoma
Norman, Oklahoma
Spartanburg, South Carolina
Pulaski, Tennessee
Brownsville, Texas
Lynchburg, Virginia

I will most definitely look for usable enough graphics related to those locations, both on my computer and on the forums, but in the meantime, how would you folks perhaps suggest I configure the related league here? Should each relevant subleague for this proposed South-based league have one eight-team division or two four-team divisions here? Please advise. Thank you, folks, for your time and all here, then. CD out.

[Bottom Of The Sixth]

What is great about OOTP is that you can play it the way you want to play it. Sometimes it can take a ton of time to get it where you want it; sometimes after sinking in a bunch of time in, you find that your idea will not turn out or play out the way you had hoped.


In my fictional worlds, if I decide to use a minor league, I use only one. Alot of times, for me, I don't even have a minor league system.


From past experience, I found that pouring in a bunch of time with minors, does pay off.


Also, if you have a massive sized world, it takes for every to simulate and after a number of years, the game file gets huge.


With a ton of "moving parts" the higher the chance you will see a run error that you can't recover from and there goes everything down the drain.


That is why I prefer to use the K.I.S.S. (Keep It Simple Stupid) method.


CD, you have alot of good choices for team locations; with so many teams, if you decide to custom assign logos and jerseys for each and every team, it will take you 20 years to get your world ready-to-play.....if you ever decide to play or sim it. Sometimes it is more fun just creating a world....



I wish you luck with the finalized creation of this world...

[Clovidequano Dovatha]

1907's MLB season is underway. I found logos and uniforms for most, actually, in the Historical Jersey Pack and/or various quickstarts, or other sources of graphics, like low's items, for instance. The new league is a version of the Southern League, and the chosen locations are listed in my previous post here. I hope my Cardinals can fly and get out of the basement this season, of course, because my owner isn't happy at the moment, for instance.

Fortunately, he can't fire me, but I don't want to see my Cardinals continue to get dominated as they have been the past six seasons before 1907. Here's hoping at least that I finish over .500 this season, and that my minor league teams do well, as well. CD out.

[Clovidequano Dovatha]

Redbirds are in the lead in the AA, Canaries in the lead in the Northern League Western Division, and the Hot Springs Bathers are utterly dominating the Border States League portion of the Southern League. Cardinals are just above .500 near the end of June 1907, but eight and half games back of the Reds, and two back of a virtual three-way tie for second between the Braves, Giants, and Pirates. Phillies are in last place in the NL, and Indians are in last place for the AL, before the games of Monday, June 24, 1907. Pirates are at .54, while the Braves and Giants are at .542. We're 37-35 at the present time. We were predicted to finish with an even record, but it's too soon to know which way we'll end up the season, with 82 games remaining for us on the schedule, however.

Will keep you all posted as time permits and all, I'm sure. But it may be at least a couple of days or so, before I complete this season, unless I quick-sim much of it, I think. Don't think I'm going to expand the current mix of leagues and teams until at least the 1910 or 1911 season here, though. CD out.