Fictional, fully customized American Baseball Association quick-start with 50 years of history

[willboat75]

Quick-starts for 1969 and 2021 can be found here: https://drive.google.com/drive/folde...bLzOjJBcPzIaiC

For OOTP 22, I originally wanted to start in 1871 and create a myriad of independent leagues to establish their own history and eventually all merge to create a massive North American promotion/relegation pyramid. That ended up being around 600 total teams with minor leagues, so I scrapped the idea after making it to the 1920s. Maybe next year.

The ABA is a much simpler universe. You have the major leagues with full minors including short season A-ball and a Dominican rookie league. I also have included two major league winter leagues. One mimics the Arizona Fall League and the other is for exclusively international complex players to begin accruing stats. The universe has about 150 feeder league teams that fully supplement the major league draft. You would need to add more if you planned on expanding past the 32 teams present. The extra players from those feeder leagues go to the three independent leagues present in the universe. Each one similar to a real life indie league.

The quick-start file is fully customized with kits for all teams except feeders as well as stadiums for all the ABA teams. I have made sure that all the options and rules across the league are realistic and immersive. I would like to thank all of the wonderful creators on the graphics forum for all of their work.

The ABA was founded in 1969 as a 24 team league. Some traditional MLB markets, some non-traditional markets.

The 1970s were dominated by the San Diego Padres (I couldn't find a better kit for San Diego. It is different from the MLB kit). Their pitching phenom J.C. Vegas pitched to a still-league record 13 WAR. Star second baseman Jimmie Lopez won 6 consecutive MVP awards and had the award named after him in retirement. Both made the Hall of Fame. Pitching GOAT Wilson Cabellaro joined them for two stints in the 1980s. Manager Oliver Hall led this team to 6 pennants and 3 North America Series titles. He is the namesake of the Manager of the Year award.

The 1980s saw the rise of the league's undisputed GOAT, Portland's RF Yuido Mendez. Mendez played his whole career in Portland (we don't talk about the age 42 season in New Orleans). He bested Lopez with 7 MVP awards. He is the all-time leader in hits, total bases, walks, steals, and WAR. His only weakness was his range in the corner outfield. During this time, Hall of Famer and namesake of the Reliever of the Year Award, P.J. Kaplan became a hired gun for Portland after years in Salt Lake City. However, even after winning three consecutive pennants in 1983-85. The Chinook could not beat the Eastern League champions. Detroit's 3B Jeb Walker and New York's 1B Anderson Tapia and pitcher Ryan Lawson presented themselves as roadblocks.

In the early 1990s, a potential Boston Masons dynasty ran into Yuido and Portland. In 1991, Portland won the title and Yuido won series MVP. They won again in 1993. Boston locked down the Eastern League pennant for three years winning one title. The 90s were a period of change in the ABA. Atlanta moved to Phoenix, six expansion teams entered, and Dallas moved to Milwaukee. The league also changed rules relating to player freedom and became more advanced than modern MLB. The end of the decade saw foreshadowing of the league's greatest dynasty.

The Oakland Oaks won the first league title in 1969. They won again in 1986. Until 1998 they would fail to do the job in the expanded playoffs, but in 1998 they finally broke through. Without a true game-changing superstar, the Oakland Oaks managed 8 titles from 1998 to 2011. They won pennants in 2002 and 2012. Ten North America Series appearances in 15 seasons. They had adversaries in the Eastern League in New York, Tampa, and Miami. But they were a true machine.

The 2010s were a period of relative parity. The Miami Gators were the team to beat until 2015. 2016 saw Salt Lake's first title in franchise history since their inception in 1969. Washington and L.A. won their first titles since the 1980s and are set up nicely for the future of the league.

Baseball fans have not been treated to success in Charlotte, Montreal, or Cleveland. 15 playoff appearances in 135 combined years with no titles. I would not be surprised if any of these teams moved in the next few years.

The 2021 quick-start for the league starts in the offseason of 2020 and awaits the pending expansion of the 31st and 32nd franchises in Nashville and Vegas.

I hope you guys enjoy this fictional quick-start!

[bradleycchurch]

Excited to try this! Thank you!

[Jareth]

This has been wonderful to play, thank you!

[The Game]

Could i trouble you for a Standings page screenshots of 1969 & 202? Just want to see the teams.

[willboat75]

Originally Posted by The Game

Could i trouble you for a Standings page screenshots of 1969 & 202? Just want to see the teams.

I don't have the 1969 quickstart loaded but the 2021 image is attached. The post-1969 expansion teams are Miami, Tampa, Nashville, Carolina, Minnesota, San Antonio, Houston, and Vegas.

Dallas moved to Milwaukee and Atlanta moved to Phoenix.

[Editor 6]

Hello. Are the files no longer there? Or can't I see them for looking?

[Ramzavail]

the 2021 league looks cool. But I get template errors when I go to load the history.

[ThatSeventiesGuy]

Been playing this quickstart and enjoying it. Thanks for posting it! I started in 1969, now in 1971. Do you have the years the expansion teams entered, and Dallas and Atlanta moved?

[willboat75]

I've forgot when that happened exactly, but it was late 80s early 90s. However, if you check the league evolution tab in the 2021 quickstart it should have the complete league history.

[Pjm8804]

Thank you for sharing this. Very well done, can tell you put a tremendous amount of work into this league. Just started playing, enjoying it!

[cody8200]

Thanks for sharing - having fun playing with this, great job!

[krownroyal83]

Quickstart no longer works?

[ecd1973]

Does anyone still have this quick start? I would love to try it.