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05-12-2007, 03:12 PM
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#1 |
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Hall Of Famer
Join Date: Jun 2003
Posts: 8,712
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Presenting Arena Baseball 2K7
I was trolling through the channels today and I happened upon this really weird thing on Channel 714. I thought it was another re-run of Basketball: The Movie, but then I realized that it was something else.
I know I'd always thought about "Arena Baseball" as a concept, but I didn't ACTUALLY believe anyone would try it. Holy cow. I did a little research and found out the league got started in 1989, on a shoestring budget with 16 teams. I figured that since none of us had ever heard of it before, it might be cool if we actually got to learn more. Consider me the ambassador of the game. |
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05-12-2007, 03:13 PM
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#2 |
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Hall Of Famer
Join Date: Jun 2003
Posts: 8,712
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The Arena Baseball League is comprised of two eight team conferences, each with two four-team divisions.
This is the 1989 lineup of teams. EASTERN CONFERENCE --- North Buffalo Bisons Hartford Whalers New York Bears Quebec Revolution South Birmingham Barons Louisville Sluggers Orlando Lions West Virginia Power WESTERN CONFERENCE --- Midwest Davenport Rivercats Indianapolis Racers Kenosha Captains Peoria Eagles Pacific Colorado Crushers Dakota Thundercats Fort Worth Wranglers Oklahoma City Stampede |
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05-12-2007, 03:15 PM
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#3 |
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Hall Of Famer
Join Date: Jun 2003
Posts: 8,712
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Rosters carry 17 players and taxi squad is another 18 guys. They can all be called up after February 1st. The season starts October 20th of each year.
The trade deadline is January 1st, which coincides with the All-Star weekend, which takes place in a league city each year. The regular season is 114 games. The playoffs are comprised of the two division champions, plus two wild card teams in each conference. The Conference Semi-Finals are a best-of-three game series, the Conference Finals are best-of-five game series and the Arena Series is a best-of-seven game series. The entire playoffs are in March. |
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05-12-2007, 03:16 PM
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#4 |
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Hall Of Famer
Join Date: Jun 2003
Posts: 8,712
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I wanted the stats to balance out, so that while there was going to obviously be offense, I wanted pitchers to be similarly endowed or else, the game would be one dimensional and as a result, boring.
The league leaders from the first season in major categories: BATTING AVG: Michael Evans (.530) HR: Michael Evans (Louisville) 84 RBI: Michael Evans 267 WINS: Dave Carter (New York) 26 ERA: Dave Carter 4.98 Strikeouts: Nick Lewell (Indianapolis) 674 Teams only go with 3-man rotations and closers are rare (league leader only had 17 saves). It's truly ironman baseball on both sides of the ball. |
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05-12-2007, 03:44 PM
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#5 |
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Hall Of Famer
Join Date: Jun 2003
Posts: 8,712
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I'm going to simulate some seasons, then recap the history and give you an idea of what's happened and where we are now.
I think that's probably the best way to do it. |
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05-12-2007, 03:58 PM
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#6 |
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All Star Starter
Join Date: Aug 2002
Location: Arizona
Posts: 1,044
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 Can you explain some of the differences between regular baseball and arena baseball? |
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05-12-2007, 04:03 PM
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#7 |
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Hall Of Famer
Join Date: Jun 2003
Posts: 8,712
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Would it be helpful if maybe I just ran through a whole season, but wrote about it, so you all could get a feel for what the league is like?
Let me know. OOTP '07 is the first version that's actually adapted well enough to work this. I've done it in past versions, but it was usually too much tweaking to keep it going. But not anymore! You all let me know what sort of info/insight you'd want and I'll adapt my style to that for this particular one. |
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05-12-2007, 06:30 PM
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#8 | |
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Hall Of Famer
Join Date: Jun 2003
Posts: 8,712
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Quote:
Diminished roles of closer/starters Better endurance for more wins, strikeouts Hitters hit more homers, RBI, etc. The idea basically is, that the game would be played in arena's just like hockey and basketball and as a result, with shorter fields and other tweaks (that I can't create in the game organically..) the game would result in more offense and just a generally more EXCITING brand of baseball for fans during the off-season. I've simmed from 1989 until almost 2007 now. The season was shortened in the late 1990s to 82 games and the season changed from the end of November until the end of February, with the entire post-season in March. I'm going to (try) to get everyone immersed and involved by doing a rundown of the entire 2007-08 season. I don't know exactly how I want to do that, but..I think that going through the season and giving you all a recap of games, what teams are doing, some of the hot new players out there, now that the guys from the first wave of the game have retired...it'll be even more exciting than before. Then we'll see from there. Stay tuned. |
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05-12-2007, 11:45 PM
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#9 |
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Global Moderator
Join Date: Oct 2004
Posts: 29,090
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__________________
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05-13-2007, 12:01 AM
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#10 |
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All Star Starter
Join Date: Apr 2007
Location: Cleveland, OH
Posts: 1,199
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I LIKE this concept. There's no reason it couldn't really happen, except as you say - if we're playing in 'normal' arenas offense is going to go through the roof. Then again, that's why many like the AFL vs. the NFL.
I'd definitely like to see things at a more sedate pace like other leagues so we can get a feel for what's different, how the different teams shape up and so forth. How are the financials set up? Any team in particular trouble or doing overly well? |
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05-13-2007, 12:19 AM
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#11 |
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Major Leagues
Join Date: Dec 2004
Posts: 302
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I'm intrigued.
__________________
PBRL - Chicago Cubs TWB - Los Angeles Dodgers |
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05-13-2007, 01:37 AM
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#12 |
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Major Leagues
Join Date: Jul 2005
Posts: 432
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Hmmm, maybe I can go tryout for this league IRL. IN all honesty his is an interesting idea.
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05-13-2007, 02:01 AM
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#13 | |
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Hall Of Famer
Join Date: Jun 2003
Posts: 8,712
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ARENA BASEBALL
I'm getting ready for the 2007-08 season, but before I do that I want to give you all an idea of what's different about this versus other OOTP imaginary leagues. After all...it's hard to know. I tried to upload the league files so you could look at the web site, but it's always been a big pain to me and so, I'm not going to do that right now. If there is a huge clamoring for it, then maybe I'll fumble with it another time. Ok.. The talent level in this league was intentionally depressed at first. Eventually, I figured the talent distribution would get better. But that the players would be strangely one-dimensional. (Or not so strangely?) Let's take a look at one player. Quote:
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05-13-2007, 02:16 AM
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#14 | |
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Hall Of Famer
Join Date: Jun 2003
Posts: 8,712
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TEAM MOVEMENT
Like any league like this, you're going to have lots of teams moving to different cities. Based largely on the strength of the investors of the league since its founding in 1989, the Arena Baseball League has done better in some respects than others. Just to survive for almost 20 years is a coup in and of itself, but..to expand the way the league has in recent years, due largely to the increased exposure from television and other media, has helped immensely. Here are the league's teams, their date entering the league. Teams in bold have moved cities and the years they were in that city are indicated. Quote:
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05-13-2007, 02:22 AM
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#15 | ||
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Hall Of Famer
Join Date: Jun 2003
Posts: 8,712
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2007-08 LEAGUE ALIGNMENT
For the first team in league history, the ABL has moved from a two-division format to a four division format with four teams in each division. The playoffs are now four rounds, adding a true "March Madness" feel to the league's post-season in March. The regular season remains a 82-game season with no interconference play. Mostly because I can't find a schedule that has interleague play for 82 games and this number of teams. Sucks, but..in a way, it just harkens back to old school baseball in that regard I guess. Or so we'll spin it that way. Plus, it cuts down on travel. A huge consideration for a league like this. PLAYOFF ROUNDS -- Quote:
Quote:
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05-13-2007, 02:24 AM
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#16 | |
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Hall Of Famer
Join Date: Jun 2003
Posts: 8,712
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05-13-2007, 02:28 AM
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#17 | ||
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Hall Of Famer
Join Date: Jun 2003
Posts: 8,712
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ARENA BASEBALL: FINANCIALS
Here are the team payrolls as of Opening Day 2007. The salary cap is now at $900,000. Less than a decade ago, it stood at just $500,000. The league is growing and capitalizing on its unique brand of baseball to increase revenues across the board. Ticket revenue is shared 50/50 by teams. Average ticket price is $1.80, currently. Teams earn $50k per season in media revenue from the league, this number is for each team and includes residuals and league merchandising. Quote:
Some local owners actually own businesses that employ their players in the off-season, in such industries as real estate, restaurants, construction and other fields. For these top players, their salaries are enough that they can make a good living without having to do anything other than Arena Baseball. It wasn't always that way, that's for sure. Quote:
Last edited by darkcloud4579; 05-13-2007 at 02:30 AM. |
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05-13-2007, 02:57 AM
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#18 |
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Hall Of Famer
Join Date: Jun 2003
Posts: 8,712
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DAKOTA THUNDERCATS
The Dakota Thundercats are the only team in the league to actually SPLIT their time between two cities. Half of their home dates are played in Grand Forks, North Dakota and the other half, in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. This expands the team's fan base beyond the borders of one metropolitan area and as a result, has ensured its survival despite being located in a very small TV market. The Thundercats hold more playoff appearances (12) than any other team in ABL history. The team has won 10 Pacific Division titles (1989, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003) and 3 Western Conference titles (1989, 1990, 2000), but have never captured an Arena Series championship. The team's most notable player was CF George Mata who played from 1989-2004 for the Thundercats, amassing 573 career home runs and 2536 career RBI. Both are team records. His HRs total is currently 11th all-time and his RBI total is tied for 11th on the all-time list. Mata's #24 jersey is one of two retired numbers by the team. The other is #20, the jersey number of Brian Picot, who is nicknamed "Cy" because his career record of 341-142. His 341 wins put him atop the all-time Wins list for pitchers. He also claimed the all-time strikeout leader position upon his retirement after the 2006 season, ringing up an astounding 8,291 strikeouts in his career. His career 8.966 ERA puts him sixth all-time. Picot remains the ONLY pitcher in Arena Baseball history to register TWO 30 win seasons (1991, 1993). The Thundercats have a proud tradition of excellence and are often cited as one of the venerable franchises in Arena Baseball. |
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05-13-2007, 03:32 AM
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#19 | |
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All Star Starter
Join Date: Aug 2002
Location: Arizona
Posts: 1,044
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05-13-2007, 04:45 AM
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#20 | |
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Hall Of Famer
Join Date: Jun 2003
Posts: 8,712
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ARENA BASEBALL CHAMPIONS (1989-2006)
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