The MLB and PCL: A collection of quickstarts

Blue · 03-30-2015, 12:31 AM

I decided to share my weekend project with you all so that you may join in on my preference of alternate histories. For those unaware, the Pacific Coast League has existed as one of the highest minor leagues in the US. In the 50s it became an open affiliated league and was primed to rival the MLB before the Dodgers and Giants relocation in 1958 killed the dream for the regional league. Many of the teams left as their markets were filled with MLB franchises.

But what if the MLB decided to absorb the league in 1958? The ABA and AFL saw their conclusions in a similar manner in later years, so here's the scenario if the MLB started the trend.

The setup: I decided the point to start was 1903, the first year of the PCL. I replicated the structure of the MLB at the time, 16 teams in two leagues, AL and NL. The PCL was 8 teams with two divisions with some of the most popular clubs that existed during its tenure. There is one major difference in my setup: I prefer consistency for logos and uniforms, so I used the great work of txranger and knuckler for this idea. With this is mind, I did replace some of the real life teams with alternatives due to what logos and uniforms I had.
The initial alignment:
1903
AL
Boston Red Sox
Philadelphia Athletics
Cleveland Indians
New York Yankees
Detroit Wolves (replacing Tigers)
St. Louis Browns
Illinois Nationals (replacing White Sox)
Washington Senators
NL
Pittsburgh Pirates
New York Giants
Chicago Cubs
Cincinnati Buckeyes (replacing Reds)
Brooklyn Dodgers
Boston Braves
Philadelphia Phillies
St Louis Lions (replacing Cardinals)

PCL
San Francisco Seals
Oakland Oaks
Seattle Rainiers
Hollywood Stars
Los Angeles Angels
San Diego Padres
Salt Lake City Alpines (replacing Sacramento)
Portland Beavers

From the start I knew I would not have all 8 teams join the MLB in 58, and therefore I chose the markets represented in the MLB today, leaving Portland and SLC with the fate of folding.

I did do a number of changes over time to fit a close representation of how the leagues evolved, and made several quickstarts around the time of these important changes. The first step I made was not allowing players to leave either league and the regions were set to Northeast for the MLB and the West Coast for the PCL, mainly for the players hometowns and minor league affiliates to be close by. The leagues follow the historical financials and strategy and player creation modifiers automatically through the entire run. Initially I set the MLB reputation to 10 and PCL to 8. Both leagues also used a draft from the beginning as I'm not a fan of Free agent rookies with a minor league level in place.

The first quickstart is set in 1904, following the first year for both leagues. If you want to take this idea your own way, here's where you start. Both leagues began with AAA levels with the nickname project as the source for logos for this level. I did forget to set a few nicknames straight at the beginning, not noticing until 1908, so do note that when starting from here.

The second quickstart is in 1921. This is where I begin to allow players to switch leagues. The AAA logos are corrected at this point as well. From here you can take on the league in your own direction with some history already in place.

The third quickstart is in 1942. All I did for this was move PCL's reputation up to 10 from 8. Players began to swap more between after this. Again, another point to start with already some history in place.

I initially had a quickstart at the point where the leagues combined in 58, but some elements were left out and the schedules needed to be fixed so my next quickstart is 1963. This is the end of the first wave of relocations, set similarly to real life and the first expansion in 1962. This is where the team names begin to deviate further away from real life.
Timeline:
1953 - St. Louis Browns relocate to Baltimore, become Baltimore Atlantics
1955 - Boston Braves relocate to Milwaukee, become Milwaukee Bisons
Philadelphia Athletics relocate to Kansas City, become Kansas City Monarchs
1958 - Hollywood Stars, Oakland Oaks, San Francisco Seals, San Diego Padres, Los Angeles Angels, Seattle Rainiers join MLB. PCL and remaining teams fold. East-West Divisions established in AL and NL. League Championship Series created. AA and A levels created. International player signings rules are established. Pitcher of the Year Award renamed William Johnson Award. MLB league region removed.
1961 - Washington Senators relocate to Minneapolis, become Minnesota Muskies
1962 - MLB expands to 24 teams. Houston Colt 45s join AL. Washington Senators join NL.

With the Dodgers and Giants never moving West, I had to decide on which had to relocate and where, to not allow 3 teams to occupy New York and the Yankees are untouchable. The idea popped in my head ahead of time to have one move to Atlanta, with the Braves franchise staying in Milwaukee instead. At the time I was still a ways off and both teams were successful so I decided to wait until 1966 and decide then. When I reached this point, the Dodgers had reached the World Series several times in the past 20 years, winning a few and they boasted the highest payroll and third highest budget. The Giants had not visited the World Series in a while and were middle ground in budget and ticket sales so their destiny was determined.
Timeline continued:
1966 - New York Giants relocate to Atlanta, become Atlanta Thrashers
1973 - AL and Minor Leagues add DH rule
1977 - Here's the point of the next quickstart. The League expands to 26 teams. The Toronto Maple Leafs and Dallas Texans join the AL East and West respectively. A rookie league is created in Texas and the Rule 5 Draft is established.

Timeline continued:
1993 - MLB expands to 28 teams. The Miami Marlins and Colorado Gold Sox join the NL. The Central Division is created in both leagues and the Divisional Series is created. A foreign rookie league is established across several island and latin nations in the Western Hemisphere. The foreign league is restricted to allow only players from the Latin America region.
1997 - This is the point of my latest quickstart. MLB expands to 30 teams. Las Vegas Aces join NL. Montreal Canadians join AL. Interleague Play is established.

I hope you guys take advantage of my creation here. A ton of interesting things occurred in the process. The Beavers would win the final PCL Championship before folding and some teams have found a ton of struggle along the way. The Red Sox last time I checked haven't won a World Series since the 30s and the Cubs found their success along the way, most notably having several appearances in the late 80s and early 90s, visiting the World Series 5 times in 6 years, winning 3. The Minnesota Muskies visited the World Series 4 straight years in the mid 80s and won 0 times during this stretch. The Padres haven't visited the playoffs since the merger as of 1999, but do hold 3 PCL titles. The Seals have also struggled, with no World Series wins since the merger, but 6 playoff appearances. The Bisons-Braves, Indians and Dodgers sit with the tie for most World Series victories at 9, the Yankees right behind them with 7. The Thrashers boast no World Series titles since their relocation(peak Atlanta).The Home Run King goes by the name of Benton Webb, who smashed 795 in his 19 year career, all with the Indians.

I plan on adding one more quickstart to this set in 2015, with the playoff change added in 2013. Until then I hope you guys enjoy!

All the quickstarts can be found here:
Google Drive

Hopefully I set them up correctly. Each has the year in the name, except for the 1921 quickstart, but all include descriptions to help just in case. For those that haven't before, all you need to do is extract the folder to the OOTP quickstarts folder. Should be something like /OOTP16/data/quickstart_games

Blue · 03-30-2015, 11:45 AM

A 2015 quickstart is now included at that link. A lot of the world series droughts ended in the 2000s, but there are still a few teams looking to regain success.

Mgomz · 04-02-2015, 07:06 PM

You used fictional people.

Scott Vibert · 04-04-2015, 10:45 PM

Love alternate history scenarios, like the premise and setup, will definitely check it out!

03-30-2015, 12:31 AM	#1
Blue Minors (Single A) Join Date: Apr 2014 Location: Seattle Posts: 93	The MLB and PCL: A collection of quickstarts I decided to share my weekend project with you all so that you may join in on my preference of alternate histories. For those unaware, the Pacific Coast League has existed as one of the highest minor leagues in the US. In the 50s it became an open affiliated league and was primed to rival the MLB before the Dodgers and Giants relocation in 1958 killed the dream for the regional league. Many of the teams left as their markets were filled with MLB franchises. But what if the MLB decided to absorb the league in 1958? The ABA and AFL saw their conclusions in a similar manner in later years, so here's the scenario if the MLB started the trend. The setup: I decided the point to start was 1903, the first year of the PCL. I replicated the structure of the MLB at the time, 16 teams in two leagues, AL and NL. The PCL was 8 teams with two divisions with some of the most popular clubs that existed during its tenure. There is one major difference in my setup: I prefer consistency for logos and uniforms, so I used the great work of txranger and knuckler for this idea. With this is mind, I did replace some of the real life teams with alternatives due to what logos and uniforms I had. The initial alignment: 1903 AL Boston Red Sox Philadelphia Athletics Cleveland Indians New York Yankees Detroit Wolves (replacing Tigers) St. Louis Browns Illinois Nationals (replacing White Sox) Washington Senators NL Pittsburgh Pirates New York Giants Chicago Cubs Cincinnati Buckeyes (replacing Reds) Brooklyn Dodgers Boston Braves Philadelphia Phillies St Louis Lions (replacing Cardinals) PCL San Francisco Seals Oakland Oaks Seattle Rainiers Hollywood Stars Los Angeles Angels San Diego Padres Salt Lake City Alpines (replacing Sacramento) Portland Beavers From the start I knew I would not have all 8 teams join the MLB in 58, and therefore I chose the markets represented in the MLB today, leaving Portland and SLC with the fate of folding. I did do a number of changes over time to fit a close representation of how the leagues evolved, and made several quickstarts around the time of these important changes. The first step I made was not allowing players to leave either league and the regions were set to Northeast for the MLB and the West Coast for the PCL, mainly for the players hometowns and minor league affiliates to be close by. The leagues follow the historical financials and strategy and player creation modifiers automatically through the entire run. Initially I set the MLB reputation to 10 and PCL to 8. Both leagues also used a draft from the beginning as I'm not a fan of Free agent rookies with a minor league level in place. The first quickstart is set in 1904, following the first year for both leagues. If you want to take this idea your own way, here's where you start. Both leagues began with AAA levels with the nickname project as the source for logos for this level. I did forget to set a few nicknames straight at the beginning, not noticing until 1908, so do note that when starting from here. The second quickstart is in 1921. This is where I begin to allow players to switch leagues. The AAA logos are corrected at this point as well. From here you can take on the league in your own direction with some history already in place. The third quickstart is in 1942. All I did for this was move PCL's reputation up to 10 from 8. Players began to swap more between after this. Again, another point to start with already some history in place. I initially had a quickstart at the point where the leagues combined in 58, but some elements were left out and the schedules needed to be fixed so my next quickstart is 1963. This is the end of the first wave of relocations, set similarly to real life and the first expansion in 1962. This is where the team names begin to deviate further away from real life. Timeline: 1953 - St. Louis Browns relocate to Baltimore, become Baltimore Atlantics 1955 - Boston Braves relocate to Milwaukee, become Milwaukee Bisons Philadelphia Athletics relocate to Kansas City, become Kansas City Monarchs 1958 - Hollywood Stars, Oakland Oaks, San Francisco Seals, San Diego Padres, Los Angeles Angels, Seattle Rainiers join MLB. PCL and remaining teams fold. East-West Divisions established in AL and NL. League Championship Series created. AA and A levels created. International player signings rules are established. Pitcher of the Year Award renamed William Johnson Award. MLB league region removed. 1961 - Washington Senators relocate to Minneapolis, become Minnesota Muskies 1962 - MLB expands to 24 teams. Houston Colt 45s join AL. Washington Senators join NL. With the Dodgers and Giants never moving West, I had to decide on which had to relocate and where, to not allow 3 teams to occupy New York and the Yankees are untouchable. The idea popped in my head ahead of time to have one move to Atlanta, with the Braves franchise staying in Milwaukee instead. At the time I was still a ways off and both teams were successful so I decided to wait until 1966 and decide then. When I reached this point, the Dodgers had reached the World Series several times in the past 20 years, winning a few and they boasted the highest payroll and third highest budget. The Giants had not visited the World Series in a while and were middle ground in budget and ticket sales so their destiny was determined. Timeline continued: 1966 - New York Giants relocate to Atlanta, become Atlanta Thrashers 1973 - AL and Minor Leagues add DH rule 1977 - Here's the point of the next quickstart. The League expands to 26 teams. The Toronto Maple Leafs and Dallas Texans join the AL East and West respectively. A rookie league is created in Texas and the Rule 5 Draft is established. Timeline continued: 1993 - MLB expands to 28 teams. The Miami Marlins and Colorado Gold Sox join the NL. The Central Division is created in both leagues and the Divisional Series is created. A foreign rookie league is established across several island and latin nations in the Western Hemisphere. The foreign league is restricted to allow only players from the Latin America region. 1997 - This is the point of my latest quickstart. MLB expands to 30 teams. Las Vegas Aces join NL. Montreal Canadians join AL. Interleague Play is established. I hope you guys take advantage of my creation here. A ton of interesting things occurred in the process. The Beavers would win the final PCL Championship before folding and some teams have found a ton of struggle along the way. The Red Sox last time I checked haven't won a World Series since the 30s and the Cubs found their success along the way, most notably having several appearances in the late 80s and early 90s, visiting the World Series 5 times in 6 years, winning 3. The Minnesota Muskies visited the World Series 4 straight years in the mid 80s and won 0 times during this stretch. The Padres haven't visited the playoffs since the merger as of 1999, but do hold 3 PCL titles. The Seals have also struggled, with no World Series wins since the merger, but 6 playoff appearances. The Bisons-Braves, Indians and Dodgers sit with the tie for most World Series victories at 9, the Yankees right behind them with 7. The Thrashers boast no World Series titles since their relocation(peak Atlanta).The Home Run King goes by the name of Benton Webb, who smashed 795 in his 19 year career, all with the Indians. I plan on adding one more quickstart to this set in 2015, with the playoff change added in 2013. Until then I hope you guys enjoy! All the quickstarts can be found here: Google Drive Hopefully I set them up correctly. Each has the year in the name, except for the 1921 quickstart, but all include descriptions to help just in case. For those that haven't before, all you need to do is extract the folder to the OOTP quickstarts folder. Should be something like /OOTP16/data/quickstart_games

03-30-2015, 11:45 AM	#2
Blue Minors (Single A) Join Date: Apr 2014 Location: Seattle Posts: 93	A 2015 quickstart is now included at that link. A lot of the world series droughts ended in the 2000s, but there are still a few teams looking to regain success.

04-02-2015, 07:06 PM	#3
Mgomz Minors (Double A) Join Date: Jan 2015 Posts: 132	You used fictional people.

04-04-2015, 10:45 PM	#4
Scott Vibert Hall Of Famer Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: My Computer Posts: 8,182	Love alternate history scenarios, like the premise and setup, will definitely check it out!