Centurion comes...to OOTP5

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Say what you will about Mexico City's Salaam Ali, San Antonio's Josh Eagan and Darren Panglaet, the trio has earned their keep.

Despite his huge $70m pricetag, Ali has tried to power the Mexico City offense. He made his 10th All-Star game this year, leads the AL in batting, he has 29 homers and 93 RBI. Yet, with that contract would Mexico City consider dealing him?

"It's going to be a lot like the Hainkel deal, where his contract was so bad that the two make a settlement arrangement and then they release him outright," said one AL GM.

He's referring to Dodgers third baseman Alan Hainkel, who signed a one-year deal over $50m with the Minneapolis Lakers in the off-season, mainly to get him so other teams wouldn't. An early sputtering start and they realized the irrationality of the deal. Since no one would pick up the contract or even split it with Minneapolis, they had to decide waht to do. In the end, both sides agreed to separate, since Hainkel wanted a ring and the Lakers wanted to free up space to spend more on other aspects of the club.
The Dodgers signed him via a trade from Hartford, who claimed him off waivers.

Eagan, who was often criticized for not producing in his previous assignments, has helped revitalized this once mortibund franchise. The Aviators are leading the NL South and are driving towards the playoffs. He made his third straight all-star game since coming to San Antonio, he looks to surpass his 29 homer told last year, with 25 so far this season and has 87 RBI and is hitting .278, but hit over .300 both of his previous years here.

"We're thrilled with his output," said San Antonio Aviators owner David Robinson.
Panglaet on the other hand, has powered himself towards infamy. He has 604 career homers and at age 32, seems to be gunning for A-Rod's record. He's batting .322 and has 117 RBI so far this season and this is his tenth straight 100+ RBI season, in 10 seasons, with 7 all-star appearances.

The provisional salary cap might force them to be broken up. "We're not looking forward to that. We're hoping for a stay of execution," said Murray Combs, Aviators Asst. GM.

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The Hartford Whalers released Ben Hauser and his $15 million salary today, before he signed a free agent deal with the Atlanta Party Animals, who needed an upgrade at first. He's got over 3000 hits, 10 All-star appearances, over 450 homers, a career .355 batting average and seven batting titles. The question isn't, "Is he a hall of famer," its "What team is going to build him a statue?"

"You can talk about baseball over the last decade without talking about Ben Hauser", said WMCB commentator Jordan Theirry, who has followed Hauser's career in Oregon. "We're just amazed by what he's able to do. He's a consummate professional and should have an award named after him for being the "good guy" who done good," said Theirry.

Hauser, 37, has little boys across the nation wanting to wear the number #96, like Wayne Gretzky's #99 or Michael Jordan's #23. "He's become the icon, the gold standard like Ted Williams of a bygone era," said Bill James, Jr., a baseball historian.

So what cap will it be for Hauser? "We'll have to see when it comes to that time," he said.

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LOS ANGELES - We always knew deep pockets would prevail, but how is interesting. The Mexico City Leopards, looking to rid themselves of a $70m hole in their payroll and not wanting a $400 mil buyout of their star Salaam Ali, struck an unprecedented deal with the Los Angeles Dodgers and Ali. Ali, 32, will go to Los Angeles under a renegotiated deal that will give the Dodgers the player for 2 years, before he again become a free agent. "We're pleased that Salaam valued winning over money," said Dark Cloud.

"As a devout Muslim, I'm not playing this game for money. I want to do what is best for my team and my family. We are very well off and have been very fortunate, I have done many personal things. I must win a championship title for my children.They would be happy," he said.

The Leopards send Ali, who will make $70m this season, but then will make only $3 million next season, to Los Angeles for RF Delmon Young, who Dark Cloud said he was loathe to trade. "I drafted him in Oregon. He's been with me through here, Tokyo and now he's come to LA. I'm glad we got another ring together. He's a special player and I hope going to Mexico City, will really take his career even further," he said.

Young, 33, has 20 homers and 78 RBI so far this season. He's batting .276 this season. The Leopards also get minor league infielder Alejandro Machado.

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August 8, 2018

Look at the free agent listings. You see the following names:

1B Ben Hauser
1B Josh Pressley
3B Hank Blalock

Where have the years gone?

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NEW YORK - The United Players Legion of Baseball, an organization that replaced the players union once it was decertified, is considering taking drastic action against the Board of Governors implementation of the Provisional Salary Cap. "This goes against the grain of our sport," said Dave Burrney, the UPLB chief, who said he will file a suit against Modern Era Baseball d/b/a/ Major League Baseball and the Board of Governors. The players who are members are generally supportive of the measure, but also understand the need for competitive balancee.

"Players have the right to have their contracts lived out. Teams are releasing players, trading them and more, just to ensure they get some benefit. The system cannot work and we won't stand for it," said Burrney, who represents over 1000 players in the majors and minors. A strike, which last occured in 1994 and wiped out the World Series, would be a different move for a league that has been among the most stable compared to hockey and Basketball's lockout in 2010.

"We're enjoying labor peace and we want to maintain it. This can be worked out," said Board of Governors chair Bob Costas.

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August 13, 2018
SAN ANTONIO - The leaders of the four major baseball player advocacy groups have agreed to meet on Monday August 16th, to decide what they will do. The groups have come to an agreement that something must be done to prevent the Board of Governors and specifically ownership from implementing a salary cap. The players are arguing that a new vote must be taken, since it was years ago since the vote was taken and implemented and new players are against it.

"We're not trying to be locked down to old legislation. Owners are trying to subvert the system," said Mexico City first baseman Ben Hauser. Players argue that ownership should be more willing to spend on all teams and that issues with finance has nothing to do with players.

"We want to be a united front. They can't break our spirit or our resolve," said Josh Conner of the Professional Baseball Union, the second largest player advocacy group.

Rumors are that the Board of Govenors would cancel the season and force the players to play out their contracts, by implementing an early post-season. "We have no comment on any action by players who are under contract with us. They will play and the fans will see their teams play all the games, "said MLB Spokesman Marcus LeBourie.

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ST LOUIS - A meeting of the four major player advocacy groups has yielded an agreement that will mean over 99% of the players in Major League Baseball will not play a game after September 1st.

"We have decided today that we, players united will not stand for any salary restraints that impede our abilities to make a living," said Paul Pennelli, a spokesman for the group "PLAYERS UNITED", which the groups formed after the meeting.

"We believe that owners need to come to the bargaining table and renegotiate or take a vote, in order to determine what will happen with our sport this season and in the future," he added.

Board of Governors chair Bob Costas flew to St. Louis, to hold preliminary talks immediately following the annoucement and said he is confident the groups can come to a decision. "We want our teams to be able to compete, but we understand the need and the desire for players to be able to maximize their earning power," he said.

Costas said he had not discussed plans of the season's future with the Board, but an emergency meetign was setup for Friday to make a decision.

Most owners are rumored to be incensed and want to "play hard ball" with the players. "We're not going to give in. This has to happen, we need to control costs and do it now," said George Leary of Orlando. "No other industry is as out of whack with salary as we are," he said

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August 29, 2018

NEW YORK - With regrets he said, Board of Governors chair Bob Costas cancelled the remaining games in the 2018 season, in response to the players move to strike and a failure of either side to reach an agreement prior.

"We're far from happy about this," he said. "But we can't let our fans be abandoned and we need to come to some sort of amicible solution," he said.

Owners are furious and have continued not to hold the season together, while a few are more adamant about playing the playoffs. "I don't care if its November and freezing. We're going to have playoffs," he said. The 12 games cancelled cost baseball over $210 million in revenues, not to mention upset fans and pennant races stunted. "We're pissed, because we had a real shot to do great things," said San Antonio Aviators assistant GM Dave Barker. The Aviators are 3 games out, but with the strike and cancellation will not be able to make up the defecit, giving the division title to Atlanta. "We're not happy with this outcome."

The Players UNITED group, states that "ending the season is a bully tactic on the part of the owners, who want to see us cave in. We will do no such thing," said spokesman Pat Jones.

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Minor League members of the Player advocacy groups are not on strike for their minor league teams, because the groups didn't want to hurt the players future prospects.


In the Triple-A Game, the Jersey City Knights (NJ) will take on the Southern Illinois Aviators (SA)

In the Double-A Game, the Tampa Devil Rays (IND) will take on the Jacksonville Suns (LA)

In the Single-A Classic, the Allston Patriots (HAR) will take on the Mississippi Gulls (LA)

[Jordan]

darkcloud rules

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NEW YORK - With the regular season cancelled, the owners and players came together today and struck a historic agreement that should leave baseball in labor peace for the next ten years.

The deal will revoke the provisional salary cap, after about 1/3 of the owners agreed that it "had not been negotiated in good faith" and that the two sides would need to work out something else.

The Collective Bargaining Agreement will increase the pool that owners get for winning in the playoffs, increase their merchandising cut, but allow players to continue to earn whatever the market dictates. "We're happy the two sides could work together on a deal that benefits everyone, most important, baseball".

The playoffs will begin next week, since the regular season was cancelled. In an unprecedented move, next season will be extended to "make up" for the lost games this season. Board of Governors chair Bob Costas, with a unanimous consent vote among the Board of Governors agreed to a one-season, 162 game schedule. Two games a month will be deemed "Free days" for fans. Fans who had tickets to games this season that were cancelled, can present those tickets for either playoffs tickets - at no extra charge - for this season or get upgraded seats at one of the free fan days next season, in which the tickets will be free for the fans who show up to the stadium first.

"We want fans to have their game back and we're going to work on that." The new slogan for baseball is "Baseball - Back in Business, For you!"

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LOS ANGELES – LA Dodgers owner T.D. Schofield has sold the Los Angeles Dodgers franchise to Cougar TV magnate Doug Schultz yesterday for $1.3 billion, after the National Football League approved the Schofield application to put an NFL franchise in Los Angeles after over 20 year absence. “This has been a dream of mine since I was just a young financier. I’m thrilled to stay in LA and bring the city a title in a new sport.” This throws the contract of GM Dark Cloud in jeopardy, with one year left. There were rumors that despite winning back to back titles, Schultz had “no desire to deal with Dark Cloud or his penchant for spending like crazy,” said one source. The source stated that “Schultz would find someone better to spend his money and he didn’t need a friend of Schofield to run his club.”

It’s hard to dispute the talent that Dark Cloud possess as a evaluator of talent after capturing his sixth World Series title in his thirteen year career. Despite that, he is expected to be released from his contract a year early and the Dodgers franchise expects to cut as much as $30 million in salary this off-season. “We can win without breaking the bank. I see no reason to spend like a maniac and I won’t,” said Schultz in a press conference. He avoided the questions of Dark Cloud’s future, other than to say, “I think there is little doubt that he’s one of the best at what he does. But there is also little doubt that I’m the very best at what I do,” he said.

Will DC hook up with Centurion, with their emerging club in Hartford? Will he rejoin Oregon and their resurgent club? Not likely, but he is rumored to have interest in the Toronto Blue Jays. An official announcement is expected soon.

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DID YOU KNOW? Only 14 players in Modern Era history have hit 50+ homers in a season. Three players have done it multiple times (Alex Rodriguez, Darren Pangelaet, Lars Heinreich)

Only four players have thrown a perfect game in Modern Era history. (Jerome Williams (2005), Matt Brown (2008), Ryan Madson (2014), Max Roswell (2016)

There have been 41 no-hitters in Modern Era history, 4 players have thrown multiple no-hitters. Jesse Foppert has thrown 4, the most by any Modern Era pitcher. Jenarvis Coleman is the only pitcher to throw 2 no-hitters in the same season.

On Sept. 3, 2011 – Lars Heinreich hit 5 home runs in a game, an obvious major league record. No player in the Modern Era has ever hit 4 in a game. 20 players in 2018 hit 3 in a game.

Only three times with three different pitchers since 2016, have had 15+ strikeout games. Prior to that year from 2003-2015, it happened close to 100 times total.

There has been a 20+ game winner every season in the Modern Era.

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BOSTON – The Boston Red Sox have announced that Dark Cloud will become their Vice President of Baseball Operations. Dark Cloud was signed to a three-year deal, after the Los Angeles Dodgers decided to fire him after winning back-to-back World Series titles and their owner T.D. Schofield sold the club. “We’re delighted to have Dark Cloud join our franchise. We’re looking forward to providing our fans with an exciting product,” said Red Sox owner Shannon McLaughlin.

“I’m looking forward to the opportunity to help the Sox end the streak,” said Dark Cloud, who in thirteen years as a GM has won six World Series rings (3 in Oregon, 1 in New York and 2 in Los Angeles). “I’m obviously used to dealing with big city fans and I’m really excited about what we might be able to do here,” he said.

Dark Cloud wasted little time pulling the trigger on a deal, sending SP Johnny Mcnear and 3B David Fredrickson to Mexico City for Cy Young and Rookie of the Year award winner SP Jenavris Coleman and 3B Conor Jackson. “We’re going to do some dramatic things to bolster this ballclub and having a front-line ace like J-Coleman is a step in that direction,” said Dark Cloud.

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BOSTON – In a league known for its offense, few expected the first player ever to be signed to be a pitcher. But that’s exactly what has happened. The Boston Red Sox purchased the contract of SP Victor Laguerre from the New York Ruff Ryders yesterday. “I’m numb, I can’t believe this is happening,” said Laguerre, who is universally considered one of the top pitchers in the league. He’s second in career wins at 35 and in a league where ERA hover over 10, he has a career ERA under 9. The Sox weren’t done there, they also acquired SP Lenny Pinero from the Delaware Founders. Pinero, 24, is the league’s career strikeouts leader.

“These two players are solid players who I am confident will make immediate contributions to our club,” said Sox GM Dark Cloud. “I can’t believe no one has tried going to the Arena League for players before. But I bet you that they’ll start after these guys start showing the league what they’re made of,” he said.

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Arena League Baseball

I simulated from 2006 until 2019. So, the Arena League is now even with the Modern Era. Check out the career stats and other random info in the league. It's crazy!

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2019 PLAYOFF RESULTS
The site will be updated sometime soon.

But here's the story from the 2019 season, which feature a 162-game schedule, the first and only such season in the Modern Era, as "payback" from the strike that cancelled the last few games of last season.

It was a topsy-turvey year, which include the Boston Red Sox, Dark Cloud's newest team missing the playoffs despite the second best record (104 wins) in the major leagues, as New Jersey won more.

DIVISION SERIES
Wyoming d. New Jersey 4 games to 3
Detroit d. Orlando 4 games to 0
Philadelphia d. Los Angeles
Chicago d. San Antonio

LEAGUE CHAMPIONSHIPS
Detroit d. Wyoming 4 games to 0
Philadelphia d. Chicago

WORLD SERIES
Detroit d. Philadelphia 5 games to 0

The Detroit Tigers, who sported the 3rd best record in the majors had arguably the best postseason in the Modern Era, if not ever. Not only did they pull off a perfect playoff record, including the first five game sweep in Modern Era World Series history, but the team was probably one of the best assemblies of talent ever.

The Tigers included C Leonard Hobbes, Jr., who won the elusive ring his dad, Hall of Famer Leonard Hobbes never did. RF Salaam Ali and 27-game winner Kosta Nikolandis pulled the three-peat after winning two titles in LA the past two seasons.

This unlikely team in this unlikely year makes this one of the best in Modern Era history.

More news later.

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The Carolina Citadelles, Alabama Bullfrogs and Kansas City Monarchs all join the National League this season.

Because of a deletion error, a number of teams had to be recreated including the World Champion Detroit Tigers. Not something I'm happy about, but it happened.

The leagues revert to three divisions, from four.

The site will be updated by tomorrow with the progress from the 2020 season, moves and other information.

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BROOKYLN - The San Juan Swarm have been purchased by media magnate Shipp Lingerie and will play the 2021 season in Brooklyn, N.Y. as the Brooklyn Robins. "We're glad to make the New York area a four team town again. Its the way it ought to be," said Lingerie at the press conference for the ground breaking of MetLife Field, where the Robins will play their games. "We can't wait to give the fans of Brooklyn something to cheer about," said New York mayor Bill Clinton, who will throw out the first pitch in the Robins history.