Baseball League of the Americas--A Large Fictional Quickstart On the Way!

[nebradska]

Background
The year is 2053.

After Major League Baseball's collapse following the peak of the steroid scandal in 2013, the American public became upset and disillusioned with the sport. The resulting vacuum of high-level baseball in the United States led many promising young athletes to seek their fortunes elsewhere--primarily in Japan, Korea, and Australia, where established professional leagues were already flourishing. Some, however, chose to travel to Europe.

The increase in competitive baseball across England and the Continent was, at first, met only with tepid interest, with association football still holding the attention of most of the populace. But, much like the MLB's image, international soccer was wracked by accusations of match-fixing and cheating, falling out of grace with much of Europe. The incident at the 2018 World Cup finals was the last straw and baseball's popularity exploded, with most EU countries adopting organized pro-am leagues by 2022. Within a few years, fully professional leagues were the norm; by 2030, an elite league spanning the entire European continent was formed.

Meanwhile, in the Southern Hemisphere, the sport was assisted by its close relation to the hugely popular game of cricket. In fact, as more Aussies tuned in to watch baseball, the governing bodies of cricket and pro baseball saw a money-making opportunity and began organizing exhibition matches between the Australian national team and an Australian baseball all-star team. The teams would face off both on the diamond and the pitch on successive days. The move worked to greatly expand the baseball fan base in Australia and New Zealand.

It was this effort to intertwine the great athletes of both sports that indirectly led to the spread of baseball to the Indian subcontinent. As the Australians toured with teams from other cricket powerhouses, the players would entertain their counterparts by introducing them to the novel sport that used to dominate the American pastime. The players were apparently enthused with the game, as competitive leagues began popping up across southern Asia, eventually forming a loose association with an annual international competition between them.

Like Europe, Africa was heavily invested in soccer; like Australia, cricket was popular in several major countries. Baseball didn't have a strong foothold when international soccer collapsed, but due to Africa's increasingly close cultural ties to Europe, it did eventually immigrate in the late 20s. A massive multinational effort led to the creation of a professional continental league (though in practice it is primarily sub-Saharan). Unfortunately, the level of play remains relatively low.

Central and South America, long a bastion of major league talent, suffered the most after the fall of American professional baseball. The in-roads made into training and recruiting by the MLB were lost and the geographically disparate European and east Asian leagues made no effort to restore them. There were some attempts within the countries themselves to create professional leagues, but none were able to thrive. With the rise of the Baseball League of the Americas and its free-spending owners, Central and South America have once again resumed the status quo as a production center for exceptional baseball talent that is shipped to the United States.

The east Asian leagues were nearly as well established as the MLB at the time of its fall. The Japanese, in particular, had existed since the 1920s. In decades past, many fading MLB players had made the trip across the Pacific; now some spent their entire careers in the East. The influx of the North American players helped spur growth in the leagues, but they remained within their already-established borders. The biggest change came from a gradual easing of tensions between mainland China and Taiwan, eventually leading to a merger between the two leagues in 2028. Soon after, the three east Asian leagues and the Australian league entered into a close working relationship.

Ironically, many historians believe that it was the sudden and prolonged absence of American hegemony in baseball that spurred the international growth of this distinctly American sport. While the amateur game never died out, for the first time the truly great athletes were leaving the country to showcase their talents elsewhere. Perhaps stinging from being outclassed in a game they once dominated, in the early 30s Americans began flocking back to baseball and consuming foreign merchandise en masse. A number of savvy (and very wealthy) individuals noticed this trend and set out to capitalize on it. Founded in 2035, the first fully professional baseball league in North America in over 20 years, The Baseball League of the Americas set out to re-establish the United States as the pinnacle of baseball competition in the world. Though the leagues were located abroad, much of the talent in them was from the Americas, and the opportunity to both make more money and come back home was too much for many players to pass up. The response from the players and fans both was phenomenal. Franchises were given out freely, until the league reached a massive 40 teams in 2049. Though it's younger than every other professional league, the BLA, with its massive financial backing, has managed to quickly attract many premier players and America is, once again, the home for the best baseball in the world.

Details
This is a fairly large (though it's no World of Baseball) fictional universe with the intention that each league will play a little differently. Generally speaking, each league only drafts from its home countries, with foreign countries being accessible as foreign amateur free agents or scouting discoveries. The following notes are tentative, but I am mostly confident this is how the big picture will look.

The EU league doesn't scout internationally, but drafts from all European countries and is strong enough to keep the other major leagues from stealing their talent. European born talent is about 75-80% as compared to America and the finances are strong.

The east Asian and Australian leagues get their foreigners from the Pacific islands and southeast Asia, as well as dipping into the Indian subcontinent. The leagues are each strong enough to keep foreign recruiters out of their home country. The local talent ranges from about 65%-90% as good as the Americas and the finances vary widely. The four leagues are associated without a shared draft pool and meet for a championship playoff.

The south Asian leagues draw their foreigners from central & south Asia. The leagues are not strong enough to prevent foreign scouts from recruiting their players (this is just for flavor and has no in-game effect, as draftable players and international discoveries/FAs are generated completely separately). The local talent is about 60% compared to U.S. and finances are relatively low. The four leagues are associated with a shared draft pool and meet for a championship playoff.

The African league only drafts from a few African countries. Most countries are accessible only for 'foreign FAs/discoveries' due to the lack of a strong baseball infrastructure in the continent. The league doesn't hold the power to keep other leagues from plucking their players away from them. The talent is about 40% of that in the U.S. and the finances are poor.

The North American league drafts only from member countries but can access foreign FAs almost anywhere (aside from Europe and the east Asian league countries) and has an exclusive ability to recruit from Central and South America. It's also currently the only major league with a set of dedicated minor leagues and the only league with feeders. It is the standard-bearer in talent and finances.

There is also a smaller independent American league with no draft or foreign scouting, a talent level somewhere around AA/AAA and low finances.

I'm playing with league financial settings, schedules, talent levels, and performance adjustments to try and make sure that each league has at least a slightly different flavor in how it is played.

I'm using the community Nickname Project (to which I was not a contributor) for logos, caps, and jerseys. Custom schedules still need to be made, minor league teams need to be named, and some tests need to be run.

In the meantime, I am open to suggestions, especially on minor league team cities/names (so long as one or the other has been covered by the incomparable cephasjames, justafan, and their collaborators <http://www.ootpdevelopments.com/board/ootp-mods-logos-graphics-html/218251-nickname-project-uniform-logo-sets.html>).

I'm also considering adding a minor league for the Europeans and/or Japanese.

[soxfan34]

Looking forward to this, hope it takes shape.

[EKomrska15]

Man this sounds awesome!!!

[Rayzor]

Would love to try it when u get to ready.....sound interesting.