Women in baseball?

[Heisenberg]

Are there any plans to include female leagues in the next version? Could really expand the market.

[Mr. Marlin]

Uh oh... better put on flame retardant suits.

[Le Grande Orange]

I doubt it would expand that much, if you mean it would mean more purchases by women gamers. Based on the detailed data on this site, only about 2% of sports video game players are female. In fairness, the games used for that analysis are not really that comparable to OOTP.

If one classifies OOTP as more of a 'grand strategy' game, the percentage of female players for that genre is 7%; if you (loosely) consider OOTP a 'turn-based strategy game' then the figure for female players is 11%. For 'sandbox' games (OOTP could certainly be thought of in that way), the percentage of female players is 18%.

I'd surmise the figure is somewhere between 2%-7%, as OOTP is seen first and foremost as a sports game.

[vulcan4]

Originally Posted by Heisenberg

Are there any plans to include female leagues in the next version? Could really expand the market.

Errrr....I sure hope not and if Markus and gang do, I hope there is an option to turn having women in your leagues off. =/

[ohiodevil]

Originally Posted by Heisenberg

Are there any plans to include female leagues in the next version? Could really expand the market.

Read through this thread and I think you may get your answer

http://www.ootpdevelopments.com/boar...women+baseball

[Charley575]

Yeah, it's all been said. The fact is that it would be a lot of work for the dev team to add a feature that too many folks would take as a sign that the world as they know it is coming to an end.

[Mr. Marlin]

Like I've said elsewhere... when it happens in the real world a a woman is signed to an affiliated minor league team it will happen in OOTP. And sooner or later it will happen.

[Le Grande Orange]

Originally Posted by Mr. Marlin

Like I've said elsewhere... when it happens in the real world a a woman is signed to an affiliated minor league team it will happen in OOTP. And sooner or later it will happen.

I'll bet much later, biology and physiology being what it is. Major league baseball players represent an extremely tiny slice of men (1,200 on the 40-man rosters out of a U.S. population of men of some 150 million, and that's not taking into account players from foreign nations); the slice of the women population who could make it would be vastly smaller than that.

[Mr. Marlin]

Originally Posted by Le Grande Orange

I'll bet much later, biology and physiology being what it is. Major league baseball players represent an extremely tiny slice of men (1,200 on the 40-man rosters out of a U.S. population of men of some 150 million, and that's not taking into account players from foreign nations); the slice of the women population who could make it would be vastly smaller than that.

Well there is the novelty factor to consider. Men and women are equal in many things but physical strength is not one of them. So when it happens it will likely be as a relief pitcher using a trick pitch like a knuckle ball. But like I said the novelty factor alone will get someone signed at some point as long as they have something going for them. Manon Rhéaume was signed by the Tampa Bay Lightning and played in goal for them for a few games. She wasn't that good. Neither were the Lightning then but it did get people talking about them. She later played for a few IHL teams.

[Le Grande Orange]

Originally Posted by Mr. Marlin

Well there is the novelty factor to consider.

That's a fair point. However, there are not a lot of Bill Veeck-style owners around these days, though, to pick up on that angle.

[Buck Bokai]

I'm all for it, though I understand if the effort required might make it a low priority for now. I agree it's likely only a matter of time before a female player at least makes the affiliated minors, and I wouldn't be at all surprised to see some sort of women's professional baseball league form in the near future. But given the trend towards OOTP getting more comprehensive in terms of leagues included (which is great in my books), female players could become relevant to OOTP well before either of those events happen...

The 2016 Sonoma Stompers had three female players and both Kelsie Whitmore and Stacy Piagno will be back for this season. The Pacific Association is pretty small (four teams, all clustered around the Bay Area), but the Stompers have gained enough notoriety from The Only Rule Is It Has To Work that the Pacific Association could certainly be worth adding for OOTP 19. Similarly, if historical independent leagues get added, a team that Eri Yoshida or Ila Borders played for is likely to get included sooner or later. Finally, expanding coverage of the Negro Leagues further into the post-integration era would bring Toni Stone, Mamie Johnson and Connie Morgan into the equation.

And of course there's the AAGPBL...yes, I know their rules were different, but I'm of the school of thought that given OOTP already covers both international leagues with different rules from MLB and historical eras with different rules from today, let's not split hairs. They are definitely a well-known part of the history of the game and I'm sure there is plenty of interest. Personally, my level of interest in playing the AAGPBL in a historical game would be at least close to the pre-integration Negro Leagues or historical *** (if that becomes an option), and I'd honestly be more interested in playing the AAGPBL than most of the historical affiliated minors other than the Pacific Coast League, the International League or the Northwest League and its predecessors.

Finally, I'm sure there must be other players who would also like to have the option of creating a women's or co-ed fictional league (possibly allowing for some degree of customization of just how integrated a co-ed league is, rather than just a three-way all-male/co-ed/all-female choice).

[Cryomaniac]

To be honest the AAGPBL was essentially Softball.

As to the discussion, it's been had any number of times, usually never ending in anything other than arguments.

My position remains the same as ever. It would be cool to have, but given how divisive it is, I can't see it happening.

[Buck Bokai]

Originally Posted by Cryomaniac

To be honest the AAGPBL was essentially Softball.

True enough of the first few seasons, but their rules steadily changed to become more like men's baseball. 1943 AAGPBL rules could be described as "softball with baseball rules" (i.e. nine players, nine innings, leading off, sliding and base stealing) and slightly longer base paths, but 1954 AAGPBL rules were essentially full-on baseball with slightly shorter base paths.

Of course, accurately simulating all those rule changes in the game engine might be enough of a headache to be an argument against implementing the AAGPBL, or for either considering not modeling their rule differences an acceptable break with reality or simulating the 1954 season only (or 1950 onwards, since the smaller ball and overhand pitching of that era could be called "close enough" more reasonably than the softball-baseball hybrid of the 1940s seasons) and allowing players to continue the league after its historical dissolution as a what-if.

[kjb023]

Originally Posted by Buck Bokai

I'm all for it, though I understand if the effort required might make it a low priority for now. I agree it's likely only a matter of time before a female player at least makes the affiliated minors, and I wouldn't be at all surprised to see some sort of women's professional baseball league form in the near future. But given the trend towards OOTP getting more comprehensive in terms of leagues included (which is great in my books), female players could become relevant to OOTP well before either of those events happen...

The 2016 Sonoma Stompers had three female players and both Kelsie Whitmore and Stacy Piagno will be back for this season. The Pacific Association is pretty small (four teams, all clustered around the Bay Area), but the Stompers have gained enough notoriety from The Only Rule Is It Has To Work that the Pacific Association could certainly be worth adding for OOTP 19. Similarly, if historical independent leagues get added, a team that Eri Yoshida or Ila Borders played for is likely to get included sooner or later. Finally, expanding coverage of the Negro Leagues further into the post-integration era would bring Toni Stone, Mamie Johnson and Connie Morgan into the equation.

And of course there's the AAGPBL...yes, I know their rules were different, but I'm of the school of thought that given OOTP already covers both international leagues with different rules from MLB and historical eras with different rules from today, let's not split hairs. They are definitely a well-known part of the history of the game and I'm sure there is plenty of interest. Personally, my level of interest in playing the AAGPBL in a historical game would be at least close to the pre-integration Negro Leagues or historical *** (if that becomes an option), and I'd honestly be more interested in playing the AAGPBL than most of the historical affiliated minors other than the Pacific Coast League, the International League or the Northwest League and its predecessors.

Finally, I'm sure there must be other players who would also like to have the option of creating a women's or co-ed fictional league (possibly allowing for some degree of customization of just how integrated a co-ed league is, rather than just a three-way all-male/co-ed/all-female choice).

Eri Yoshida is still actually playing, for the Tochigi Golden Braves in the Baseball Challenge League, which is in OOTP.

[ohiodevil]

Originally Posted by kjb023

Eri Yoshida is still actually playing, for the Tochigi Golden Braves in the Baseball Challenge League, which is in OOTP.

And she is in the game in the default roster set

[Lukas Berger]

Originally Posted by ohiodevil

And she is in the game in the default roster set

and has been for years

[Mr. Marlin]

Some folks have been asking for this for years... and they had it all along!

Now THAT is funny!

[thorpegiovanni]

All I ask for is historic AAGPBL at some point so I can play as the Rockford Peaches.

[rleb]

Originally Posted by thorpegiovanni

All I ask for is historic AAGPBL at some point so I can play as the Rockford Peaches.

I second this!

[Lukas Berger]

Originally Posted by thorpegiovanni

All I ask for is historic AAGPBL at some point so I can play as the Rockford Peaches.

Someone made a mod of it a few years ago. Do a search in the mods forum and you'll probably find it.