The Atlantic Baseball League : how I started my OOTP journey

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The Atlantic Baseball League : how I started my OOTP journey

#1 Post by Reg »

I thought I would give you guys insight on how I originally got involved/addicted to OOTP. :smile:

(warning, this is a looooonnnnggg post)

Going back to my youth, and stretching back to the more primitive days of baseball video games, I always had this interest/idea of creating a simulated version of what pro baseball might look like in my home region (the Atlantic provinces of Canada .... Newfoundland/Prince Edward Island/Nova Scotia/New Brunswick, a region of 2.3 million people on the Atlantic coast of Canada roughly the size of New England which lacks actual pro baseball).

This idea started with Hardball III on the PC, spending an unhealthy amount of time trying to modify the player and team files. Then my idea evolved to NCAA Baseball 06/07 and MLB 2k11, until I finally stumbled upon OOTP a few years ago, and it was all that I always dreamed I could do: total creative control over a baseball universe, including logos, cities, players, story lines and everything else that didn't factor in hand-eye coordination.

So, the "Atlantic Baseball League" was finally born. It's history is a hybrid story of actual events/facts with a slight twist. Here is the story of the ABL:


THE FORMATION OF THE PRO LEAGUE


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The story begins in the early 1970s, when amateur senior baseball was pulling fans by the thousands in many cities across Atlantic Canada. Despite the lack of a pro league, the area is a hotbed of baseball and, soon, meetings were held by officials of the local senior circuits in New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island about the possibility of including pro baseball in the region. A pro league, although an expensive idea, would keep baseball flourishing and keep youth involved in the sport by giving them a legitimate way to earn a living playing the game.

In 1973, the initial proposal was for five local cities to apply to join American AA minor leagues, but this idea was quickly shot down. It was decided that a self-contained pro league with familiar teams and cities was needed to keep fans interested.

The second proposal was of an independent pro league in Atlantic Canada, seperate from MLB's "grid", pulling teams from the area's bigger cities, that would operate in such a fashion to offer players livable wages (that of a working man's salary). The league's idea was voted through and in October 1975, the basis and framework of the independent "Atlantic Baseball League" was formed.

Cities could bid to be admitted to the new league, which planned to start in the 1977 season, given they provided sufficient seating needed to house fans (stadia able to hold 2000 fans or more, and able to pull 1000 fans a game to be financially viable).

Eventually, 10 teams were selected to become the inaugural version of the ABL, split geographically in two "leagues":

The "Continental League" (or CL)

- Fredericton Royals : pop 80 000, white-collar provincial government town. 1/5th of the city population are university students.
- Saint John Alpines : pop 130 000, blue-collar industrial town. Home to the province's biggest oil refinery and sea port. Fredericton's bitter rivals.
- Chatham Ironmen : pop 30 000, city best known for it's salmon fishing and tourism. A quiet community that has been a baseball hotbed since the early 20th century.
- Bathurst Pirates : pop 30 000, northern New Brunswick's largest city, a hub of men's softball leagues, and the area's only serious hardball team.
- Prince Edward Island Lions : pop 65 000, the "friendly island"s only pro baseball team (for now).

The "Ocean League" (or OL)

- Amherst Blazers : pop 20 000, easily the smallest town in the league, known for it's blueberry harvesting in the area. From the beginning, they were a long shot to survive despite the town's baseball heritage.
- Truro Bears : pop 40 000, a railway hub, the team's baseball park was paid for by the Canadian National Rail, and a quarter-century later, it is still called "C.N. Baseball Park".
- Cape Breton Highlanders : pop 100 000, another industrial/oil/port city much like Saint John.
- Halifax Schooners : pop 250 000, the region's largest city, and cultural/media hub. The team's nickname is a hommage to the shipbuilding history of the city.
- Dartmouth Mariners : pop 120 000, Halifax's cross-harbor sibling, this town has a much more working-class and much less glamorous reputation. The name is also a nod to it's maritime history.

The format was a scaled-down version of the MLB. Due to the harsh Canadian winters, teams would play a 68-game season from June to August, and the two best teams from each league would play a best-of-7 "league championship series", followed by another best-of-7 "Atlantic Final Series" to decide a champion.

The league officially begins play on June 1st 1977, as Dartmouth defeats Truro 6-3 in front of nearly 3000 fans at CN Baseball Park in Truro.

Minimum salary is set at $7500 a season, comparable to a government-mandated minimum-wage salary at the time, and would increase accordingly over the years. A star player, then as now, can expect to make roughly 4-to-5-times this amount. To this day, "minimum wage" in the ABL follows the government definition of the term (20 000 a year, as of the 2015 season).

The league is an instant hit, and thrives in most cities. Game tickets sell for roughly 10$, and Newspapers and local radio stations are filled with the goings-on of each city's newly-minted pro sports team. In the first 4 seasons, 4 different teams win the Atlantic Championship. Cape Breton wins the inaugural title in 1977, followed by Fredericton (1978), Truro (1979) and Chatham (1980).

GROWING PAINS AND INITIAL EXPANSION

Unfortunately by 1983, the Amherst Blazers predictably struggled to keep up with the bigger towns. The '83 Blazers showed just how difficult it was to retain talent in such a small town, and that year's team would go down in history as the worst team in ABL history: a .147 win% and a 10-58 record. For 1984, the team would rebrand themselves as the "Cumberland Classics" to try and pull fans from out of town (Amherst is within Cumberland County).

Despite this, the ABL had their eye on expansion in the area's two biggest cities without teams: Moncton and St. John's.

Moncton, population 130 000, situated halfway between Saint John and Amherst, was a natural fit. A city with a long baseball history situated in the region's geographic center, it was also the area's transportation hub, with a railroad history dating back to the late-19th century. The city was added to the ABL's Continental League in 1984 with an appropriate name: the Moncton Express.

Unlike the "slam dunk" idea of a team in baseball-crazy Moncton, the idea of a team on the island of Newfoundland was a risky idea.

Even though it housed the second-largest city in the region, the island of Newfoundland was part of Great Britain until 1949, and thus did not share it's sporting heritage with the rest of the area. Over there, rugby is king, and baseball is not widely played. Despite this, local businessman Alastair Smith thought that the island could embrace the sport if the team was competitive. "People enjoy winners. No matter what sport. Especially a professional sports team. Newfoundlanders have never had a pro team of any kind before." he said. "I think it can work". So, the big gamble was in motion, and the "Newfoundland Reds" also made their debut in 1984 in the Ocean League, on the island's capital city of St. John's (population 190 000).

To owner Alastair Smith's delight, the Reds were an instant contender, and the team went on an unprecedented run of five straight Atlantic Titles from 1986-1990, backed by the high-flying offense provided by right-fielder Omar Guillaume and first-baseman Gah-Fat Man (yes, that is his real name). The instant success of their Reds did wonders for Newfoundland's baseball popularity, and local television and radio broadcasts of games garnered very good ratings, and little leagues sprung up all over the province.

MORE RISK, BUT POSSIBLY MORE REWARD

By the mid-80s, the league was in a comfortable position, but had pressure from two groups wanting to get in: fans from St. Stephen, and western Newfoundland.

The Reds, enjoying their new-found team and success, pushed the league to find them a provincial rival. Reds owner Alastair Smith offered to start up a team in Corner Brook, the second-biggest city in Newfoundland (population 25 000) at the opposite end of the island, to expand baseball and give each other a natural rival.

Meanwhile, St. Stephen, a tiny town on the border with Calais, Maine with a regional population barely over 20 000, had been pushing for a team since the league started. Why would the league be interested in such a town after watching the struggles of Amherst/Cumberland? Because this is St. Stephen; a town with a long and proud history of baseball excellence and fandom. Although unverified, it has been stated by many that the St. Stephen area has more baseball fans per square mile than anywhere else in Atlantic Canada. During the 1930s, the local team was provincial champion 9 times in a row from 1931-1939, and even hosted a Boston Braves game during this time. To show they were serious about a team, the town's most famous employer, the Ganong chocolate factory, paid for a brand new 2200-seat park to be built in 1985 on the town's picturesque waterfront, only a few hundred feet from the town's international border crossing to Maine.

In 1988, the two cities were added to the ABL: the Corner Brook Admirals in the OL (with 50% local and 50% Reds ownership), and the St. Stephen Bluebirds in the CL, raising the number of ABL teams to 14.

THE LEAGUE'S FIRST FAILED TEAM

In 1989, the impossible seemed to have happened: the lowly Cumberland Classics made a post-season run. This struggling, penniless team had scrounged just enough resources to put a competitive team on the field that year, and they finished 43-35; good enough for a second place finish in the OL and a playoff spot. This was a team quite literally playing for their survival: if they could not pull new fans with a playoff run, the team would likely be essentially dead. The playoff push was a final gasp for a money-losing franchise. In the post-season, the Classics pushed hard, but ultimately lost to the mighty Newfoundland Reds in 7 games in the Ocean League Championship.
The Reds would go on to win a 4th consecutive title.

Over the next few seasons, it was clear that Cumberland's fanbase would not grow despite the run, and the team would once again slip to the bottom of the standings. The team finally collapsed after the 1992 season. The remains of the team were bought by the Sobeys grocery family, and the team was relocated near the company's headquarters in Pictou County (population 40 000), known for it's mining industry and several grocery-related headquarters. The new team would be known as the Pictou County Clippers.

By this time, the league expanded their schedule from 68 to 78 games, to coincide the season's start with Victoria Day on the third weekend of May: Canada's unofficial start to the summer season.

In 1993, another major event had an impact on the ABL's list of teams. The announcement of the Acadian World Congress in Moncton.

THE RISE OF THE FRENCH


The city of Moncton is linguistically split: The western half of town is of English-speaking British Loyalist heritage, and the eastern half (an area known as "Dieppe"), of French-speaking Acadian heritage. Acadians are the distant cousins of Louisiana's Cajuns, and, like their American cousins, are descendants of the original French settlers in the region in the 1600s. Although the Moncton Express have enjoyed good crowds since their introduction to the league in 1984, the French-Acadians had largely stayed away from the team, as it was seen as the town's "English team". With the Acadian Congress in 1994, a unified feeling among the french population was renewed, and the idea quickly escalated to a push for a cross-town rival baseball team to cater to the Francophone population.

Backed by a series of Acadian banks and insurance companies, the "Dieppe Aces" were added to the league in the CL for 1995. The team's name was chosen from a "name the team" competition, and has been popular due to the fact that "Aces" has the same meaning (and spelling) in both languages. The team would hire Ben Paull as the team's manager, and although no one knew it at the time, he would become the longest-tenured manager in league history. As of the upcoming 2016 season, Paull is still at the helm of the Aces, and has accumulated over 1150 wins over 21 seasons.

Another team to be added for the '95 season was the Annapolis Valley Thunderbirds (in the OL): a team from Nova Scotia's scenic "wine country" on the coast of the Bay of Fundy. It might as well be known as the province's "military country" for it's vast Greenwood military base that is situated nearby.

By 1996, the league kept growing at an impressive pace, with 16 teams now in place. It was decided that the regular season would stretch from mid-May to the end of August, thus extending the season to 96 games. The league also added an All-Star game on the first Saturday of July, giving the league a one-week break.

With the number of teams now at 16, the CL and OL were also split into East and West Divisions. Each division consisting of 4 teams, and the top finisher advancing to the league's championship series.

In 1997, after the town of Chatham amalgamated with other surrounding towns to become the much larger city of Miramichi, the city's baseball team was also renamed the "Miramichi Ironmen".

Despite the ABL's relative stability during the rest of the 1990s, more towns and cities pushed to enter the league.

By 2004, the league had expanded further from 16 to 24 teams, which is still the current number as of 2016.

Each division had now also grown to an extent where the two top teams would play to decide a Division Champion. Each champion would then move on to their respective League Championship Series.

Although the area does not have any big metropolitan regions, the abundance of medium-sized towns and cities makes it a perfect fit for an area needing a bit of entertainment.

Even today, as the league approaches it's 2016 season, players still make a wage similar to the average person : rookies make 20k/season, the average league salary is 45k/season, and superstars make between 75-100k/season. The league is a shrunken down version of the MLB, but local fans wouldn't want it any other way. They have their own version of Red Sox, Yankees and Mets to cheer for, and they like it just the way it is.

Below is an excel file with a summary of the current structure (note the tabs at the bottom) and how each team fared since they entered the league.
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Re: The Atlantic Baseball League : how I started my OOTP jou

#2 Post by Apollos »

That's fantastic, Reg. I always like reading about other people's creations for solo leagues. I'm curious if you took control of one of the teams or if you've let it play out entirely in a sim? Either way I'll look forward to future updates on how the ABL continued to progress through tgthe years.
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#3 Post by Bill »

Nice. I agree that it is fun to read about other people's passion for OOTP. I made a Great Lakes Baseball League once with custom everything. I spent hundreds of hours on the setup and only played a season and a half...lol. Though to be fair, I played out all the games, so it took a while. I actually just found the backup disk last week when cleaning up. I should dust it off and/or reboot that league.
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Re: The Atlantic Baseball League : how I started my OOTP jou

#4 Post by Hitmen »

Very nice Reg! I am hoping to get back into solo play as well and would love to construct my own world like Mike Dunn did. I found his old posts explaining how he did it, it's more of a time thing for me but it's definitely exciting!
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Re: The Atlantic Baseball League : how I started my OOTP jou

#5 Post by Jason »

Okay this is awesome!

And it's perfect timing because I have been working on my own solo universe lately - The New England Baseball Association.
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Re: The Atlantic Baseball League : how I started my OOTP jou

#6 Post by Borealis »

I'm sure it's not uncommon in the community, I, too, had my own solo world: the World Baseball League, which morphed into the WB Association when that feature was introduced. That's the League George Crocker morphed into during his 'sabbatical' in Bogata. It's mostly taken a very empty back seat since I joined on here, as I just can't focus on that many named - it's definitely more interesting in an online league such as we have...
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Re: The Atlantic Baseball League : how I started my OOTP jou

#7 Post by Reg »

WHY YOU NEVER GIVE UP ON THE DREAM

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by Jimmie Jameson
Atlantic Baseball Weekly
July 13th 2015

Of all the players in the ABL system, there is only ONE active player who was under contract with a team during the 1980s, and he is a story of perseverance: Sergio Jimenez.

In September 1989, 16-year-old high school player Sergio Jimenez from Puerto Rico was recruited and offered a "reserve contract" by the Cape Breton Highlanders of the ABL. This stipulated that Cape Breton would have him listed on their reserve roster for the 1990 season, and should there be a need for a pitcher, they could contact him to join the team in eastern Canada.

Every subsequent year, in the spring, a new contract would arrive in the mail at Sergio's home.... and every time, he signed it. Unfortunately for him, he was on the reserve roster of what would (as of 2015) be the most successful team in ABL history, and their depth at pitching left him on the outside looking in. With no "minor leagues" in the ABL at the time, the reserve roster was the only way to potentially be called up.

With no other prospects of playing professionally either in his native Puerto Rico or abroad, he kept playing amateur hardball in his home town, and he signed Cape Breton's reserve contract a total of 24 times.

Then, on July 30th 2013, two months after his 40th birthday, he received the letter that he had been dreading would arrive one day: he had been released by Cape Breton.

Having never appeared in a game, and having only briefly visited the team's facilities in Sydney a handful of times over the years, the father of two assumed that his chance at playing pro baseball was behind him.

"I told myself: Well, that was a fun dream. Even though I could and would still pitch, I guess I missed the boat", said Jimenez.

But, later that same day, there was a long-distance missed call and a voicemail message left on his cell phone. The call was from Howard Mullen, General Manager of the Edmundston Impact. Another ABL team that heard about his release. A team with a lack of pitching depth on their reserve roster, and that was in need of a relief pitcher and potential alternate closer to lessen the workload on Pete Feightner, who had just recovered from his third stint on the DL in a two-month span. So, the GM decided to give him his big break.

That very night, he jumped on a plane and joined the Impact in Edmundston, signed a contract at noon, and at 7:05pm on August 1st 2013, at the age of 40 years 2 months, he made his professional debut. That night, he pitched the 9th inning, allowed 1 hit, 1 walk, and recorded his first strikeout in a 4-1 loss to Saint John.

The team's prediction turned out to be true: regular closer Pete Feightner injured his calf in mid-August, and Jimenez would get his chance at playing regularly. But, maybe because of nervousness or because of the suddenness of his call-up, Jimenez struggled mightily. He posted an 0-3 record in 6 appearances and a colossal ERA of 12.27. Dejected, Jimenez flew back to Puerto Rico after the season, convinced he had blown his one and only chance at playing professionally.

Three weeks later, there was a letter in the mail again. It was an invitation to Edmundston's 2014 training camp, with a note from GM Howard Mullen: "Don't think we gave up on you that quickly. You have great stuff. Get yourself ready over the winter, come on up and give it a second try. - Howard"

At age 41, Jimenez finally spent the entire summer as a professional baseball player. Wearing jersey #33, he was a revelation: 30 appearances, a 3-1 record, 2.03 ERA, 31 K's in 44.1 IP.

Today, aged 42, he is still pitching for Edmundston and, with the league having ditched the reserve roster system for a AAA minor league, he has blossomed into a dominant closer for their AAA club.... and most importantly, he is now a pro baseball player.... 26 years after the dream first began.
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Re: The Atlantic Baseball League : how I started my OOTP jou

#8 Post by Nigel »

It's that desire to write that shows in every PEBA owner. We might not always feel that creative spark but it's always bubbling under the surface
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#9 Post by Bill »

Indeed, well written piece. Those are the little nuggets of a league history that make it come alive. Poor Sergio though... :(
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#10 Post by Rory »

Good read Reg
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#11 Post by Reg »

Sandgnats wrote:That's fantastic, Reg. I always like reading about other people's creations for solo leagues. I'm curious if you took control of one of the teams or if you've let it play out entirely in a sim? Either way I'll look forward to future updates on how the ABL continued to progress through tgthe years.
I generally let the league evolve on it's own, except for expansion/relocation and salary tweaks to stay relevant. From that point of view, I had a very specific storyline I wanted to follow.

However, I admit I created a version of myself as a young knuckleball pitcher which was drafted by Shediac in the CL East (in my own mind, a submarine pitcher, like Pat Caraway for the White Sox in the 30s).
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#12 Post by Reg »

'CINDERELLA' SERGIO JIMENEZ ANNOUNCES RETIREMENT

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by Fabian Jones
Atlantic Baseball Weekly
September 24th 2015

"I achieved what I wanted to achieve: I pitched, and won as a pro baseball player. I regret nothing, and today, I retire a happy man as a baseball player."

That was the statement given by Sergio Jimenez yesterday, a pitcher over the last three seasons with both the ABL Impact and their AAA Madawaska affiliate, as he bids farewell to the game he loves as a player.

In 2013, Jimenez became somewhat of a media sensation, as he was called up to the Impact after over two decades on Cape Breton's reserve roster. Many people doubted his abilities at such an advanced age, but his fantastic 2014 season will go down in ABL folklore: recording a 2.03 ERA in 30 appearances as a 41-year-old quasi-rookie.

Known as "Grampa Jay" in the clubhouse for his level-headedness, endless list of stories and willingness to teach rookies, he was a favorite in Edmundston during his short stint with the team. After a particularly tough night at the plate and subsequent tense behavior in the locker room, former team-mate Ben Mullins remembers Gramps' reaction well. "I remember he said, 'Ben, Ben, come here. Come here'. I walked over to him, and he sat me down beside him. He said with this total matter-of-fact-ness: 'you know, pitchers are human. You can defeat them. Believe me, I know. Don't worry about today. But you get to try again tomorrow. Focus on that, and sleep well tonight, ok?' it achieved what he wanted it to achieve: it calmed me down and put it in perspective. He was great that way."

The Impact thought his way with team-mates was great too, and so he had a second announcement to make today.

"Today, I have accepted the position as manager for the Madawaska Vikings in AAA. I think it will be an exciting challenge, and one that I am looking forward to."

So, the bad news is, we won't see Jimenez on the mound, but the good news is, he is still around our beloved town as a manager. The dream continues.
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#13 Post by Cole »

This is great Reg and the ABL is a fantastic universe, especially for someone like myself who is familiar with (And lives in) the region.

I've tinkered around with it a bit and when I have more time to play OOTP solo again I might like to again. Do you have different versions of it available at different points in the ABL's life?
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#14 Post by Reg »

Corner Brook : The new kids on 'the Rock'
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Jimmie Jameson
Atlantic Baseball Weekly
June 2nd 2016


It was a long time waiting for fans on the western portion of "The Rock"; the island province of Newfoundland. Some even thought it would never be possible at all.

When the Newfoundland Reds arrived in 1984 in the province's capital city of St. John's as the province's first baseball team (let alone it's first professional one), it became the area's media fixation. They had never witnessed something quite like this: pro sports on a largely ignored area of North America. The island was a British colony until shortly after the second world war, and thus amateur Rugby was the sport of choice. Baseball was mostly unknown. Then, the city's new darlings slugged their way to an unheard-of run of five straight championships from 1986 to 1990, live on regional television. The team immediately took off. The stadium was packed with new fans every game. Soon, they felt they needed a cross-province rival.

Instead, what they got was mostly a cross-province punching bag.

The Corner Brook Admirals were founded in 1988 as a joint project by Reds owner Alastair Smith and the provincial govermnent to grow the sport on the island. However, the Admirals, who eventually found local ownership in the early-90s in the form of a pulp and paper mill, had only 1/10th the population of their rivals. This was not the glorious capital. It was a hard-scrabble town of tough men and women on the island's "other" shore. Despite this, locals embraced their only chance at any pro sports, even though they knew they could not muster anywhere near the resources to compete.

Early on, the team had promise. Their stars included young switch-hitting first-baseman Bill Goodyear and pitcher Yves André. The team's best record was registered in 1990 when they went a less-than-impressive 36-42.

Believe it or not, after 27 years of competition, this still stands as Corner Brook's best season in the ABL. For 10 of the team's seasons, the team won less than 1/3rd of their games. Worst yet, the young Bill Goodyear would eventually have his best season in 1992 ... as a member of the Newfoundland Reds.

It seemed like a hopeless case. From 1991 onwards, the team was a low-budget team ripe with prospects but who was a glorified farm team for other, more financially stable clubs. Once the sport grew to other areas in Newfoundland and beyond, the Admirals evolved into a bottom-feeder.

In 2013, the team was looking for a way to turns things around. A few ex-GM's were floating around but they knew that the traditional route would not be useful to them. They needed a man who had an eye for talent both young and old. They eventually found a new General Manager who could try and dig the team out of the basement. In arrives Alexandrus "Zander" Colwill, a chizzled veteran manager from Halifax's amateur leagues. "We need the best players that $35,000 can buy!", he said in a press conference.

[for reference, league-mandated minimum wage is $20,000, and superstars earn in the area of ~$100,000 a season]

He knew that talent would initially need to be pulled by youngsters and the right blend of what he called "second chance vets". If his plan succeeded, he could then keep them with the newly-found revenue. Within a few days of his hiring, Colwill hired 23-year-old relief pitcher Jonathan Duggan, a kid he had watched for years in his native Halifax. Duggan arrived in the ABL as a teenager with the Truro Bears a few years earlier and struggled to make an impression in their bullpen. More than anything, he seemed nervous and in the wrong role. He needed to be a starter, who would have enough time to play though nervousness and have time to sort out his talent as a finesse pitcher. The Bears eventually gave up on him in early-2012 and released him while he sported an ERA of 5.19. Colwill knew of his lazer precise curveball and fastball and gave him a chance. In November 2013 he was now a member of the Admirals as a starter.

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Jonathan Duggan

By 2015, 25-year-old Duggan finished 8-8 with a 3.09 ERA on a very sub-par team. Still, GM Colwill knew he found a top pitcher if he can be given the chance. So, the team needed to beef up elsewhere. They acquired veteran shortstop Jim Helmer, catching prospect Lance Bannerman and veteran outfielding slugger Norberto Gonzalez. Most players he hired during this time agreed to fairly inexpensive contracts, since they were either castaway newbies with rookie contracts, or veterans with no team to go to.

The 2015 team finished 44-52, which was enough for 3rd (out of 6) in their division... the highest they have ever finished in team history. It was still 9 games out of a post-season spot, but really who cares.

In the words of Jim Mora: "Playoffs?!? you talking about Playoffs?"

The fans in Corner Brook didn't care. The post-season never even registered on their radar before anyway. They were just excited to see some progress for once.

...and so here we are. After 2 weeks of play in 2016, the little punching bag from Newfoundland's tough, west coast blue-collar town has finally put together a contender.

As of June 2nd, they have an 11-2 record. For the first time in their quarter-century of existance, they lead the Ocean League East. They even sit one game ahead of those damned Reds (10-3). Could it be? Could Corner Brook transform, even momentarily, into a contender? It certainly looks like it so far.

Who knows ... perhaps good things DO happen to those who wait. Even those who wait 27 years.

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The Ocean League East stadings, as of June 2nd 2016
Reg LeBlanc
General Manager, New Orleans Trendsetters
(2021 - 2037)
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Re: The Atlantic Baseball League : how I started my OOTP jou

#15 Post by Reg »

Badgers wrote:This is great Reg and the ABL is a fantastic universe, especially for someone like myself who is familiar with (And lives in) the region.

I've tinkered around with it a bit and when I have more time to play OOTP solo again I might like to again. Do you have different versions of it available at different points in the ABL's life?
Thank you, Cole. It's one of those "labors of love". Unfortunately, I don't have different save/quickstart points other than the 2015 version that was posted. However, I wish I had thought of it at the time. I did make a 2016 save point, though, which includes all the 62 major high schools in the area, all amateur AAA affiliates, and since there are so many high schools, I created two 6-team "beer league" hardball leagues as basically a catch basin for those that did not get signed/drafted by a team. In the case of injury, ABL teams can pluck players out of this pool as depth replacements.
Reg LeBlanc
General Manager, New Orleans Trendsetters
(2021 - 2037)
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