(BA) The Baseball Association Opens Its Doors

[John C]

Greetings,

Mr. Jack Charles is ready to welcome Americans everywhere a chance at classy, professional baseball. The Baseball Association brings Smalltown USA the opportunity that other major professional leagues do not; the league brings the opportunity to bring down the New Yorks, the Chicagos, or the Philadelphias. We hope you will join Mr. Charles in his grand experiment, and help bring the Motherland's tiered-league concept to the States.

Mr. Charles will welcome any town clubs to apply via the league application. You can send your applications to this address (or just click and fill out):

The BA Application

(The Baseball Association is a 64-team league utilizing the promotion/relegation system via four divisions. We have a lot of good things going on here, but we're just building. The BA is looking for owners who are committed to building a foundation for the future, owners who wish to immerse and be immersed in the league's media, from articles to podcasts to the Wiki. If you're interested, and ready for be engaged in a total league experience, this league is for you.)

We're currently in the inaugural draft.

Full League Name (Initials): The Baseball Association (BA)
Main URL: Baseball Association
Reports URL:
Boards URL: Baseball Association - Total Sports World Forums
Commissioner(s) OOTP Forum Username(s): John C
Email Address: jcomey@baseballassociation.org
OOTP Version: 11
Game Needed: Required
Players: Fictional
# of Teams: 64 across four divisions
Export Deadlines Days And Times: Sunday/Monday and Wednesday/Thursday, time TBA
League Time Per Sim: 4 days (Sunday/Wednesday), 3 days (Monday/Thursday)
First Season: 1950
Latest Season: 1950
Special Rules & Settings: http://www.baseballassociation.org/rules.pdf
Currently Available Teams: Pittsfield Browns (Div 4)

[John C]

Good Evening Gentlemen (and Ladies, too),

Here are the openings for the BA. Please let me know if you'd be interested in one of these following teams:

Division 4 - Pittsfield

Contact me at jcomey@baseballassociation.org if you have any questions.

The rules are at: http://www.baseballassociation.org/rules.pdf
The logos can be found here: BA Logos pictures by 315design - Photobucket
The unis can be found here: BA Unis pictures by 315design - Photobucket

Take care, and hopefully I see you in the BA soon!

Sincerely,
John Comey
President, Baseball Association

[John C]

Two things to keep in mind:

1) The naming system in the BA is different than traditional baseball leagues. The teams in New York City are New Amsterdam Baseball Club and Atlantic. Independence United is in Philadelphia (their detractors will call them the Walking Contradictions). My team, in Harrisburg, PA, is Keystone Sandlot.

I have suggested to everyone to use Wikipedia, or other services that offer historical backgrounds on cities and towns, to come up with a team name. We're not looking for the New York Yankees, or the Minneapolis Crushers.

2) When describing a logo, it would be absolutely best if you can point us to a picture of what you're discussing.

3) I am pretty hands-on when creating this league. The league has a clear vision, and I am interested in staying within those parameters. This may turn you off. I understand that. But please, understand where I'm coming from. I want to get this right, and consistent, from the start. So please, do not feel like I'm hating on your idea. Far from it. My job is to take the ideas that come, and if needbe, work with people to frame those ideas into the framework of the league (which is 1950s America, and a British-based concept).

I write this because I imagine I'll come off as a pompous arse in responses to emails, and I want everyone who applies to understand the thought process going into this league. Hopefully our commitment towards making this as realistic as can be will entice people. We want to be authentic in a fictional landscape. I know, I know...hypocrites. ; )

Any questions, please email me at jcomey@baseballassociation.org . I recommend you sending questions before you send the application, should you have them.

Thanks,
John

[ukhotstove]

Non Americans welcome ?

[John C]

Yes of course, though I'm restricting placement of teams to American markets for a few seasons.

Trust me, though...future plans include international activity (Champions League + World Cup, mainly). I do want to build up the domestic league history for a little while first, and work out the kinks before we go down that road.

[ukhotstove]

Cool, are you allowing just towns to apply or cities as well ? Be honest I like the small town clubs but will you be putting a limit on the population a town can have ? See I'm thinking of a town that says as a population of 100,000 or less.

[John C]

The Div 1 and 2 teams are set; those are the major markets. You can find what markets are in Div 1 and 2 here:

The Baseball Association: The Teams Thread - Total Sports World Forums

After that, it's up to you. I'm setting the bigger towns/smaller cities in Div 3, and the small towns in Div 4. So far we have a pretty good mix.

To fully answer your question, I've set restrictions by already selecting the bigger markets. If there's a bigger market that hasn't been selected for one of the top two divisions, then they'd be a Div 3 team. I did research the biggest US cities in 1950 (Google Search) to select those markets. There are a couple left out. I can't remember which, off the top of my head.

[ukhotstove]

Thanks John, got the reply and will sort the app out tomorrow

[LFC1892]

Good job UKHS, come kick my a$$

[MikeyB]

Personally I can't wait to get started.

[LFC1892]

I keep checking TSW every 20 minutes in case theres an update,lol. I'm finding myself really enthusiastic about the concept and am really looking forward to seeing what Matt(truthserum) can come up with with my logo suggestions.

[ukhotstove]

Originally Posted by LFC1892

Good job UKHS, come kick my a$$

Pittsfield will come a calling don't worry

[John C]

Thank you guys. Hopefullly others get on board as well.

Just so people know, I am currently en route out of town. I will be able to check email, but I do not have BA email on my phone. So from now through Sunday, I will be a bit spotty in replying to emails. I hope to see a lot of apps when I do check, though.

[bagleymj]

I'm so excited for this league! I'm ready to take the Oaks to the top of the table.

[mavericktango]

Love the QPR logo being used for Independance - C'mon U R's !!

[kenjabroni]

Yeah this league is going to be a blast. Cant wait to get others involved because once we got a great group of GMs this league is going to explode.

[lefty1117]

Are the Key Biscayne Athletic Club still available?

[LFC1892]

Just a bump for a great concept. If it's of interest, be sure to refer to post #1 for all the details.

[John C]

We are at 26 guys so far, which is great. But we can do better. There is still the challenge of Division 4 available as well, which I find to be maybe the most difficult challenge available in any OOTP league. Perhaps there is a league out there that causes owners to fly to a central location and fight to the death to stay in the league. That would be a considerably more daunting challenge.

But, if that does not exist, then I could reason that working your way up from Div 4 to be the Champions of the Baseball Association requires time, energy, crackerjack roster managing, and some good fortune (as well as some bad fortune on the rest of the league). Having to overcome budget limitations, a relative lack of fan support, having to sell your stars to bigger markets and constantly find new talent...there are fewer challenges. Consider it akin to having to take a team in the New York-Penn League, and find a way to win the World Series.

It can be done. But do you have what it takes? Come find out.

The Baseball Association: Join Today!

[John C]

Just giving this a quick bump as we head into the holiday weekend.