Leghe Italiane di Baseball (Serie A football-based alternative to Serie A baseball setup)

[BBGiovanni]

I've had this idea for a long time but haven't ever gotten around to doing everything (replace nameset, simulate history, etc.) to make a template I can import to replace Italy's Serie A when I start a new game. Someday

In the meantime, I've had enough fun making graphics lately to put these together in hopes someone else will use them. I couldn't find much in the way of fantasy/alternate Italian unis of any type except for some random teams stuck in international leagues. I didn't troll the various soccer uni threads either, but I couldn't find a complete attempt to do this.

I took the symbols and colors from some of the Serie A calcio squads, and adapted them to fit the baseball context. I made no effort to include sponsors on the unis, I realize that's completely normal for football but I dislike ads on baseball uniforms and it would kind of defeat the purpose of the project.

I've found that replacing the current baseball teams/kits makes for more immersion for me, the familiar symbols and colors and cities looks more "real" to my brain. No disrespect to places like Godo and Collecchio, but I suspect that (since I had to look them up on the map) most OOTP players don't recognize them in the game. And one or more will probably drop out next season anyway!

With a couple exceptions I chose the largest cities in Italia, filling out a Northern and Southern League (hence "Leghe Italiane") corresponding to Serie A football programs. Many of them sprouted from sporting associations, so my fictional history is that the football sides sprouted baseball squads after World War II when baseball spread through northern and central Italy.

No city has two teams in the Leghe, with the slight exception of Rome and Nettuno for reasons I'll explain when I post the Nettuno kit. And there's no Juve in my universe, make those for yourself if you want them, or just use the Yankees I've assumed teams follow the football scheme with dark jerseys at home and white on the road. I've included some alt unis, but in some cases (especially Bologna) there aren't a ton of alternate symbols or schemes available. In some cases I've emphasized different colors to help differentiate the teams, Bologna and Genova are both navy and scarlet, but I used more navy in the Genova set and more scarlet in the Bologna set to try to keep them distinct.

Also, I've used the actual city names, not the foreign/translated versions the game recognizes. So, for example, the "Roma Lupi" are from Roma. If you make a fictional setup, you could use the English names when you generate the league so that the ballparks are in the right places, and edit them afterwards. Also, I've followed the baseball-style convention of City+Mascot for names, and used one of the common nicknames used for the football side for the mascots.

That's most of the general background I can think of, use them in good health and be sure to include an Italian league in your games!

[BBGiovanni]

I haven't actually played this setup yet, I have to get an alternate name list and decide whether I want fictional players or use the real guys there. In fictional leagues I usually set the Italian league (and the Dutch league, FWIW) PCMs similar to those of the Mexican League so that some players are more useful in tournament play and more likely to filter into the MLB over time. There's a good 156 game schedule for two 5 team subleagues, so that's how these are set up.

Some may be surprised to see Rome and Nettuno in the "Southern" league; it's a bit of a fictional choice. If you ask people from Lombardia (Milan) or Piemonte (Torino), they think of Rome as southern. On the other hand, one time I talked to a lady from Sicily who thought I was from the "north" even though I've studied mostly with a teacher from Napoli I mentioned that to a friend from Milano and she said "well to Sicilians everyone is from the north!" Anyway, with the cities I chose to fill out 10 teams they fit this setup very well; if you change the real Serie A baseball teams you can pick and choose since there's only one division.

[Eugene Church]

Looking forward to seeing your graphics.

Grazie!

Very nice league logo... you don't often see a defender featured... usually a batter or pitcher... nice job.

[BBGiovanni]

Originally Posted by Eugene Church

Very nice league logo... you don't often see a defender featured... usually a batter or pitcher... nice job.

Prego! It's just a mod of the Serie A football "scudetto" patch... but I did look long and hard for a fielder I tried different baserunners but it always looked like a track logo.

[BBGiovanni]

I'll post these first, since Nettuno is a special case both in reality and in OOTP. It's a small coastal city in Lazio, about 60 km from Roma. "Nettuno" is the Italian name for the Greek god Neptune; it's next to Anzio, and is thought to be the modern site of the old famous Roman port Antium. If you are into WWII history or have ancestors that fought for the Allies you'll remember Anzio as the landing site for Operation Shingle; Nettuno is the site of the Sicily-Rome American Cemetery, where GIs that died invading Salerno, Sicily, and Anzio/Nettuno are buried.



Although American soldiers were (and are) stationed all over in Italia, for whatever reason, the people of Nettuno fell completely in love with baseball. Oddly enough, it's so popular that there are multiple baseball clubs in the city that apparently have often squabbled/competed, to the point that there was no Nettuno team in Serie A1 at all this year; the successor to one of the old squads is in Serie A2. I didn't quite understand all the machinations, but for present purposes I used the "new" Nettuno Baseball Club 1945 for Nettuno's entry. Unlike all the other teams, I didn't use their football team nickname. "Mareggiata" is Italian for "stormy sea", so I picked that for Neptune's ball team. It's close enough to Roma that I think it would function as the capitol's second team. And I gave them road grays because I imagined they would have had road grays when the GIs started them playing baseball and would have resisted switching to white as the football-based clubs.

I haven't seen it yet, but there is a documentary film about Nettuno and its sport, and if you can find a copy, Baseballissimo by Dave Bidini is a fun read about his experiences playing in the lower levels of Italian baseball.

[BBGiovanni]

I have seen a few Rome uni sets around, and as the capital I imagine many use it as the site for an Italian team in an international league. This set is based on the symbol and colors of AS Roma. One of the team's nicknames is "la Lupa", from the wolf on their shield which is a Roman symbol depicting the myth of its founders Romulus and Remus being fed by a she-wolf which you can see in the famous 1000-year old Capitoline Wolf sculpture. The jersey logo comes from Roma's municipal coat of arms.

[BBGiovanni]

Heading south, from Lazio to Campania and incomparable Napoli, founded sometime around 1000 BC, capital of various kingdoms on and off until the Bourbon King of the Two Sicilies was deposed by Garibaldi's army in 1861. Shattered during WWII, it's struggled famously since with various scandals and corruption until recently when it's become a hip tourist destination once again. Like most cities and regions, the local dialect (napuletano) is widely spoken, and most songs people think of as "Italian" (like "Funiculi, Funicula" or even the ribald "Lazy Mary" that's played during the 7th inning stretch at Mets games) are really in napuletano.

SSC Napoli is the team for the town, and the witty napuletani have adopted the "ciuccio" as their mascot... somehow devolved from the original stallion logo after a particularly dreadful year.

[BBGiovanni]

Moving down the "boot" to the heel, we come to Puglia and its capital, Bari. The city and the surrounds are home to 1.3 million souls and is most often visited by tourists boarding ferries across the Adriatic or beyond to Albania or Greece. And they love their calcio squadra, the "Galletti", or roosters, even though they've sunk down to Serie C. Let's pretend they love their baseball team too!

[BBGiovanni]

To finish off the Lega Meridionale, it's over to Sicilia and its elegant capital Palermo. Settled sometime around 8000 BC, it was the capital of multiple states over the centuries. Its calcio team is back from bankruptcy but still languishes in Serie D. Their ballclub is major league in OOTPland though!

[Eugene Church]

Really enjoy your graphics and your concept.

[BBGiovanni]

While fixing something on Genova's jerseys I noticed I had made this alternate for Bari.

[BBGiovanni]

First up in the Lega Settentrionale is the Genova Grifoni. Still a powerful port, Genova's republic ruled a maritime empire that stretched at various times from Morocco through Sicilia, Crete, and the Crimea. Fabulous wealth followed, so Genova's ancient city hosts a special UNESCO site, which consists of 47 palaces, some museums and some still owned by their ancient families.

Known as the first pro football team in Italia, Genoa (the only club to use their city's English name) is plagued with financial problems and poor results and stumbles up and down between Serie A and lower ranks. No such problems in the Lega Settentrionale, though, for their baseball side.

[BBGiovanni]

Italia's second-largest city, capital of Lombardia, and center of the industrial north, Milano is relatively young compared to the other cities of the Leghe (founded by Celts sometime around 600 AD). They famously support two calcio teams but the distinctive colors and symbols made me pick AB Milano for the Lega Settentrionale. Without Inter their main rivals would probably be Torino (the other large industrial northern city) and Genova (which is invaded every holiday by the "foresti" seeking refuge from the heat/fog of the interior).

[BBGiovanni]

Another city that has a team in Serie A1, the real-life Fortitudo actually have a pretty great logo and the team is pretty good. Famous for its porticoes, towers, and of course ragu` (which you'd better not put on spaghetti or you'll get laughed at).

For 74 of 89 calcio seasons, the Veltri (greyhounds) have played in Serie A. One of their other colorful symbols/nicknames is "Balanzone", named for a Bolognese character in the commedia dell'arte.

[BBGiovanni]

I'm still alive and although I seem to have lost the notes on my league setup, the logos and unis are still here. So, here are the Torino Tori from the capital of Piemonte. There's another much more famous team from Torino, but I'm not making their unis! In addition to the great colors, the team's logo includes the rampant bull that is the symbol of the city. The team struggled horribly this year but seems to be out of danger of relegation.

[BBGiovanni]

One of the nicest color combinations in sports comes from Fiorentina including the fleur de lis that has been the symbol of their city for eons. This concludes the LIB, use it in good health!

[Eugene Church]

Your work is absolutely marvelous.

Almost perfection... excellent in all respects... designs, choice of colors, mascots... great contrast and clarity.

In my opinion, your work is just about the best around.

Your are right at the top of the list of graphics gurus.

[BBGiovanni]

Originally Posted by Eugene Church

Your work is absolutely marvelous.

Thanks EC, many of the color combos and symbols in Serie A are just fantastic. I signed up for ESPN+ this season to follow along, and I've really enjoyed the games and just seeing the different unis in action. I don't have any current plans to keep going, but there are more really interesting unis. Parma has navy blue and lemon yellow, which looks great together, Sassuolo is black and dark green and very striking, and Benevento has a great uni set and a better logo.. the "Stregoni" (Wizards)... maybe someday!

[Antonin]

Originally Posted by Eugene Church

Your work is absolutely marvelous.

Almost perfection... excellent in all respects... designs, choice of colors, mascots... great contrast and clarity.

In my opinion, your work is just about the best around.

Your are right at the top of the list of graphics gurus.

What he said. This is beautiful stuff. I guess now I have to start a new Italian league...

[BBGiovanni]

Originally Posted by Antonin

What he said. This is beautiful stuff. I guess now I have to start a new Italian league...

Ottimo! In bocca al lupo (break a leg!)!