The Adella Baseball League (1951-)

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1951: Welcome to Adella

Legends abound about the Queendom of Adella. Once upon a time -- these legends say -- magic flowed with ebullient glee. It made Adella into one of the most prosperous countries in the world but also saw it fall into the pits of civil war as users of magic -- becoming ever more powerful -- sought control of the country. Wealth and prosperity it turned out, came with the price of blood.

Today, the magic is gone. It's been gone for hundreds of years in fact. Most assign these stories to the category of myth but the unexplainable lives on. There's the impossible architecture of Eternal City, the desolation of Purple Fields in the North, and the giant creature that lives in Squidloch in utter defiance of all we know about physics and biology. There may be rational explanations for all of this but science hasn't got us there yet.

The legends of Adella grew thanks to its isolation. To this day, the only way into the country is via boat. It's north, west, and south borders are defined by a mountain range that's impossible to pass. In modern times airplanes inexplicably fail when they approach, leaving the government of Adella to enact a no-fly zone over the entire country.

Nowadays, Adella is a modern society. Vestiges of magic use remain but overall, the average Adellian is a modern citizen of this 1950s world and the craze of baseball has infected the populace since the end of World War Two.

Leagues popped up everywhere, teams appeared and disappeared as if by magic. Crowds swarmed to watch the action in abandoned lots in Salt Town or on the many lush green parks found in Punkarella. Getting all that madness into an organised league seemed like an impossible task (good thing Adella specialises in the impossible!) but it was announced that a league featuring 12 teams from across the country will make its debut in 1951. Minor leagues will also make their debut as will university and high school leagues. It was an exciting time to be a baseball fan in Adella.

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Adella City, once known as a small fishing village by the name of Dumfray has exploded with people in the last 50 years to become the biggest city of Adella. It's thoroughly modern here. The skyline is full of skyscrapers and all the trappings of modern life can be found here.

Adella City is the financial hub of the country and easily the biggest market out there.

Affiliates

Treasure of Indi Ducks (Development League of Adella, AAA)
Heart (Queen Indi Baseball Association, AA)
Diamond Wharf Metros (Association of Adella City Baseball, Short A)

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We move away from the big city to the quaint town of Bas Marx where horse racing is king. A far cry from the skyscrapers of Adella City, barely a building cracks three stories in Bas Marx. Instead it's sprawling cottages (loosely defined), on stone-cobbled streets. Move out further and it's horse ranches as far as you can see. These people are nuts for them.

The biggest horse racing event of the year happens in Bas Marx: the Marx Classic. The town is filled to breaking point as the highest dignitaries of Adella and overseas swarm in. It's big money and the entire industry -- and therefore the entire town -- is under control by the Marx family.

You can trace the Marx family back hundreds of years to the founding of the town. If you want to make it in horse racing then you need to kiss the Marx family ring. Nothing happens without them taking their cut.

Affiliates

Pinwood Bats (Development League of Adella, AAA)
Neptune (Society of Gentlemen Baseball League, AA)
District Red Devils (Emerald Island Baseball Ladder, Short A)

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Legend has it that Emerald Island was created during a year-long eclipse. That was as long as needed to craft this piece of paradise (supposedly). Id take that with a grain of salt but Emerald Island is a sight to behold and is the home to the unlikely (or likely to be honest...) duo of starving artists and financial hotshots from Adella City.

Affiliates

Monster Valley Mammoths (Development League of Adella, AAA)
Excelsior (Society of Gentlemen Baseball League, AA)
District Orange Warriors (Emerald Island Baseball Ladder, Short A)

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The Eternal City confounds modern architecture and engineering. The City is built into a mountain with the feature being a giant tower that can be seen from Adella City on a clear day. The Eternal City wraps around the natural environment and itself. It seems inconceivable that there was a point in time that it didn't exist.

Dragons are a common feature of the Eternal City mythology so it was an easy choice for the team moniker. Their ballpark is up at altitude so there's going to be a fair amount of home runs in this ground.

Affiliates

Dragonsight Storm (Development League of Adella, AAA)
Moonglow (Society of Gentlemen Baseball League, AA)
Kingston Cows (Association of Adella City Baseball, Short A)

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To the citizens of Frostport, it sure feels like the winter never lets up but there is (we promise) a nice baseball season sized window to get some baseball played. Frostport is one of the major ports in Adella and acts as the nexus for the mining towns in the area.

The brutal white bears roam around the mountains to the north of Frostport so were a natural choice for the team name. May they strike as much fear in their opponents as the real things do for the locals.

Affiliates

Rock Town Avalanche (Development League of Adella, AAA)
Galaxy (Society of Gentlemen Baseball League, AA)
Central Frostport Thunder (Frostport Baseball League, Short A)

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Queen Indi, the current Queen of Adella once described Hadestown as "an absolute miserable sh*thole" that "should be burned to the ground and never spoken of again." so that should give you some idea of what's it like there.

As you might expect for somewhere named after the God of the Underworld, Hadestown is a dark damp place. It's densley packed with tight roads and even tighter alleyways. Merchants largely ply their wares on the street and food is primarily served from tiny little carts that ignore any resemblance of hygiene standards.

It's home to a vibrant art and university scene. The Hadestown School of Magic still exists and has made a successful pivot away from teaching magic to the top art program of the country. Find any writer or musician and you'll probably find they toned their craft in the depths of Hadestown.

Affiliates

Lupinhollow Wolves (Development League of Adella, AAA)
Independence (Society of Gentlemen Baseball League, AA)
Mount Steam Falcons (Frostport Baseball League, Short A)

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Well, if Hadestown is the dictionary definition of miserable then Punkarella is the antonym. Every where you go its picturesque and full of happiness. To reflect that, they put a goofy sun up as their logo. They don't want to scare anyone into submission. They just want to chill and play a cracker game of baseball while sipping mojitos.

Affiliates

Punswallow Broncos (Development League of Adella, AAA)
Courage (Queen Indi Baseball Association, AA)
District Yellow Lemons (Emerald Island Baseball Ladder, Short A)

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A bridge divides Adella City and Salt Town but that divide goes beyond a physical bridge. While Adella City has quickly become a prosperous and vibrant city behind the back of a finance boom. Salt Town and its working class citizens have struggled. Along with Frostport, Salt Town is the primary port for the country. Nearly everything that goes in and out of the country goes through these ports.

So while they're busier than ever, for the people of Salt Town, life feels more like a squeeze. As they look Southwest over the bridge to Adella City, they can't help but feel a little bitter.

Affiliates

Kapertown Cosmos (Development League of Adella, AAA)
Sword (Queen Indi Baseball Association, AA)
Operations Wharf Elephants (Frostport Baseball League, Short A)

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[Sizeman21]

Cool introduction and setting the scene of Adella. Will be following because of my love for fictional universes with baseball ties in. Good luck

[kq76]

I love fictional leagues. Great job!

Where's the map from? If you made it, what program did you use?

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Originally Posted by kq76

I love fictional leagues. Great job!

Where's the map from? If you made it, what program did you use?

Thanks! Map was made with a pretty cool online tool: Inkarnate.

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Ladies and gentlemen, the Capital City. This place is a fortress. Built during the 300 year reign of Queen Adella herself, this city is impenetrable.

Well, that may be true for the inner sanctum but the city has expanded a lot since the time of Queen Adella. The suburbs are up for the taking for any roving gang of marauders but don't worry, the Queen and the politicians will be perfectly safe.

Affiliates

Bookmore Bandits (Development League of Adella, AAA)
Serendipity (Society of Gentlemen Baseball League, AA)
Queen Street Broncos (Association of Adella City Baseball, Short A)

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In the middle of town is a giant tower. Taller than any skyscraper you'd find in Adella City. No one knows what it's for though. No one can even work out how you get inside.

It's a bit of a mystery and a bit of a cult or two has sprung up in the town of Sprite Tower. Most of Adella is pretty secular these days. The fall of magic can do that to the populace. There are many that believe that Sprite Tower holds the key for the return of magic.

So they wait.

Affiliates

Little Sprite Lions (Development League of Adella, AAA)
Steel (Queen Indi Baseball Association, AA)
Indilyn Rhinos (Association of Adella City Baseball, Short A)

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Something lives in that lake. We know that much. Whether or not it's a giant squid or not is still to be determined but the founders of Squidloch were pretty convinced.

Freshwater squid isn't even a thing, that's how silly this whole thing is (OOC: I'll admit I didn't even think to look this up until I started to write this). So it turns out, the one freshwater squid in existence is this giant one?

For most of Squidloch, the giant squid in the lake doesn't really affect their daily lives. I mean people who venture out in the lake do occasionally go missing. And that's sad. I guess.

Squidloch is one of the most beautiful areas in Adella. The lake is surrounded by beautiful snow-capped mountains which offer up some of the best skiing in the area.

The team is named after the famous train line: the Squidloch Express which connects Squidloch to Frostport and the Eternal City.

Affiliates

Insti Steelhounds(Development League of Adella, AAA)
Arrow (Queen Indi Baseball Association, AA)
Steel Town Spiders (Frostport Baseball League, Short A)

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Oh boy, they love unicorns here. On top of a giant cliff overlooking the ocean is a giant bronze unicorn statue, keeping guard over all looking to invade Adella from the sea. Unicorns were the steed of choice for Queen Adella and who blames here? Just take a horse and add a deadly horn on top of their head. Your opponents would just get wrecked.

Unicorns aren't a thing anymore, they died out along with the magic but the hope they represent lives on.

Affiliates

Murderer's Bay Sting (Development League of Adella, AAA)
Champion (Queen Indi Baseball Association, AA)
District Purple Wizards (Emerald Island Baseball Ladder, Short A)

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So that's all 12 teams in the Adella Baseball League. Here's a quick overview of all the baseball you can hope to find in Adella.

The Majors: Adella Baseball League

1970s style baseball. 3 divisions of 4 teams. Division winners go to the playoffs as well as one wildcard team. They play a best-of-five semi final and a best-of-seven final. No DH, though the option is ticked in league evolution so it can become a thing.



Triple AAA: Development League of Adella

Same setup as the ABL. Though the playoffs are shorter with a best-of-three semi final and a best-of-five final.



Double AA: Queen Indi Baseball Association

Named after the current Queen of Adella: Queen Indi. This league is made up of teams named after the six orders that pledge their lives in defense of the Queen. There's no playoffs in this league.



Double AA: Society of Gentlemen Baseball League

Named after six of the known orders of magic. There's no playoffs in this league.



Single A: Local Leagues

These are small local leagues based in Adella City, Emerald Island, and Frostport that kick off after the amateur draft. All of the teams are local to the city so no travel required. No playoffs in these leagues.







College: Adella University Baseball Challenge

This competition is divided up into two leagues: one for the historical magic schools and the other for the modern universities. Top two teams from each league qualify for the playoffs. Both the League Championship and the University Classic is a best-of-seven series.





High School: Regional Leagues

These are three leagues made up of the top baseball schools in each region. No playoffs in these leagues.

[ayaghmour2]

Really excited for this one! I'm already hooked!

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As April rolled around and summer started to rear its head once again, the scribes of baseball made their predictions for the season ahead. Their consensus: it was Salt Town's to lose.



The predicted record of 103-59 was a big step ahead of anyone else thanks to some crafty recruiting over the winter: picking up two amazing young pitchers in Aiden Butler and Szever Payton (24 and 25 years old respectively) and backing it up with some great hitters. All of them lived up to the hype and the Penguins roared out of the gate with a 19-6 record in April.

They finished shy of the prediction but with a 97-65 record easily secured the Alpine Division title.

On the other hand, the Capital Division's early favourite -- the Sprite Town Sluggers -- practically vomited out of the gate. By the end of May they were 23-31 and 7 games off the pace set by the Adella City Sharks, then they exploded in June, went 23-5 and suddenly led the division by 4.5 wins.

What the heck happened? 2B Istvan Szivos attributed the turnaround to the night of June 5th. They were nursing their wounds after a walk-off loss to the Frostport Bears and decided to try the famous Frostport whiskey. They lost the next game to hangover but Szivos found a case of the stuff on the train ride home and got the team to have a dram before each game. They went 21-2 until they ran out of the stuff on the 1st of July.

They couldn't quite recapture the magic of that whiskey but it was enough to get them that division title easily.

And in the South, the division title was fought between Emerald Island and Punkarella throughout the season. Emerald Island -- led by the dominant 3B Kaleb O'Neill -- got ahead early in the count and never let go of their lead in the division.

But the real drama belongs back in the Alpine Division for that wildcard spot. Picture it: The Frostport Bears, at 84-76 arrive in Hadestown, at 86-74 for a two game series. The last two games of the season. If the Bears can win both they can force a tiebreaker against Hadestown for that final playoff spot and the best player in baseball -- Aron Kris -- can have a shot at the title.

The Bears clobber Hadestown in that first game 9-0, with pitcher Balint Hamblin pitching a complete game shutout to seal the deal for the Bears. The momentum kept flowing to the Bears the next day as they took the next game 4-1, the highlight a 3-run home run by LF Dex Massie in the 5th inning in what turned out to be a critical plate appearance.

Dex followed it up the next day in the tiebreaker with a 2-run home run in the 7-5 win. The Frostport Bears have snuck into the playoffs with some last minute heroics from their Left Fielder Massie. To add a bit of cheek, that last home run got Massie one ahead of his teammate Aron Kris for the home run title.



They take that energy into the playoffs and deal a fatal blow to the favourite Salt Town Penguins (including neutering the pitcher of the year Aiden Butler in game one). Dex Massie is named Series MVP and they book a spot in the final against the Emerald Island Eclipse.

Dex Massie continued his home run heroics with one in game one but the Eclipse ultimately take the game out 6-4 thanks in part to two doubles from Emerald Island superstar Kaleb O'Neill. The two teams trade blows leaving the series tied at 2-all. Finally, the Bears win the last two games of the series with identical 5-4 scorelines, Aron Kris providing critical home runs in see the Bears home as the inaugural champions of the Adella Baseball League.

The Bears shocked everyone just by making it to the playoffs, and they got to shock everyone again by winning the whole thing! What a brilliant first season!

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1951 Statistics







1951 Most Valuable Player





1951 Pitcher of the Year