How did PEBA come to be?

[Cole]

Since John is a busy man, I will fill in a few details to get you started.

The original idea came about by a poster on the Let's Go Tribe forum. I was not a member of that forum, but John was interested in the idea, and John happened to be in a fantasy league I was in and pitched the idea to myself and Chris (Tempe) to come join this new OOTP league.

Well, John was not the originator of the idea. The person who was quickly flaked out before anything got off the ground. John kept the idea alive however, and starting from scratch, with no OOTP experience, put this league together. I am willing to say, that even a person of vast experience could not have achieved what John did here. This league is second to none. He took the original idea, did his homework, and came up with a vision for what the league should be. That vision has evolved with time, but always in a direction that makes the league that much better.

A great many of the original owners came from those LGT forums. So naturally you will find quite a few Indians fans here. If the person is an Indians fan, there's a better than even chance that he's also an original member of PEBA.

The LRS came about because of the vast interest there was in the league, but an unwillingness to actually expand PEBA so early in it's existance. At least that's what I gathered at the time. It certainly gave the entire PEBA universe that much more depth, and you will find that the LRS owners are as engaged as the PEBA owners in every way.

Many of our owners have are from the original group of owners that started from the beginning. Almost the entire Dixie division is original owners or owners who came aboard during the first season to replace a failed owner. I believe 5 of the 6 Dixie owners were the owner of their team when the first PEBA pitch was thrown.

In the Pan_Atlantic, Manchester is an original owner. The other teams have changed hands at least a couple of times, but NJ has been here a while, as has Gloucester and Arlington.

In the Desert Hills division, Tempe, Bakersfield and Palm Springs are all original owners. Aurora is on it's second owner, and that is only because John stepped down and relinquished control of Aurora in order to concentrate fully on Commissioner duties. In the Great Lakes, I think only Crystal Lake is an original owner, but Fargo has been with us quite a long time, maybe since the second season, I think.

This is very good and what I was looking for. Thank you for putting together all of your recollections. By the way, was the Lets Go Tribe forum about the Cleveland Indians?

Thanks again for taking the time to put this history together.

[Matt]

I think your the third NJ owner. The first owner called the team the Gothic Knights, drafted a pretty good team, then tried to tell John how to run the show. Yeah, that was the wrong answer.

The second owner came in just before the playoffs of the first season and got to enjoy a championship from a team he did not build. Then he proceeded to run the team into the ground with bad contracts before throwing up his hands and walking away.

The Let's Go Tribe forum (LGT for short) is a Cleveland Indians forum. I've never been there, but from what I can tell it's full of highly delusional people who have non-stop hallucinations that the Indians are a real team that might actually win a championship someday. Like THAT could ever happen in Cleveland.

[Cole]

I believe 5 of the 6 Dixie owners were the owner of their team when the first PEBA pitch was thrown.

Actually, only three teams (NO, SA, and WV) in the Dixie have original owners at the helm. But the other three (KEN, FLA, CST) have had owners who have been with us so long they "feel" original.

I'm one of those LGT-recruited owners. At the time, I was filling the only empty spot in the league prior to the Inaugural Draft, though I believe at least two owners dropped out and were replaced between my recruitment and the actual draft occurring.

Prior to the start of human control of the LRS, we had such stable ownership that there was actually a somewhat deep waiting list to get a PEBA team. John was worried that owners would find another league if they were on a waiting list for months, so he initially opened up the LRS to human control as a sort of a "waiting room" for owners, where they could have fun running a team and then take over a PEBA team when a spot was available. During the process of turning the LRS "human," owners became so attached to their teams that the original concept was dropped and the LRS was simply turned from an AI league into a human league.

So the LRS is a completely independent league from PEBA? Can an LRS owner transfer to PEBA if there were an opening or is that not the real intention? I am not really sure of what rule differences there are (in real life) between the Japanese major Leagues and US MLB, but in our universe, does the PEBA and LRS play the "same" type of simmed baseball or are there rule differences. I am sorry if this is documented somewhere, it just that there is so much to read I am afraid I did not get to it yet.

I do believe though that Kentucky and Charleston were here before the season started that first year, or very shortly there after at worst. Florida I think came in during the second season?

At the very least, we are the division with the most stable ownership.

So did the PEBA face expansion at some point or did it always have the same number of teams?

I joined like 2 weeks before the first First Year Player Draft ... joined and had to rush learn the game and the ratings and the draftees.

Team was already built - in the RED and a farm that was dismally full of MR

Sorry but was is MR?

[Duane]

I joined like 2 weeks before the first First Year Player Draft ... joined and had to rush learn the game and the ratings and the draftees.

Team was already built - in the RED and a farm that was dismally full of MR

Sorry but was is MR?

MR = Middle Reliever

and as far as I can tell yes there have been 24 PEBA teams plus the farms and feeders

[Cole]

I joined before the 2011 season began and with the migration to the OOTP 10 platform. This was also the time when me and Mike #2(Aurora) joined during the article submission contest to take over Aurora. As far as I know, I think there was only 1 or 2 owners that ran the team before me.

I am still in the process of turning around a horribly financial run team that was on the down turn since winning in the inaugural season. But it has been a blast, and I can honestly say I am happy I did not win the Aurora team because I plan to change all my minors and my major league team to my likings

Barring anything extreme happening (knock on wood) I plan to be here till the end with the Hitmen.

Michael -- Are you from/still New Jersey? I am originally from NJ, Bergen County.

Well, Yuma, Canton, Omaha, and Duluth were all originally Dobney brothers teams. They stayed with us quite a while, they just weren't that active. I think at least three of those teams are only on their second owner, as Canton, Omaha, and Yuma have stabilized under the new ownership. Duluth has had a number of owners come in, throw up their hands, and leave over the past season. Which has been the story in K-Zoo almost since the beginning. That has been a true revolving door. I think every owner in K-zoo leaves after the first three game losing streak.

Oh Oh, now that is something I will change. Like they say in RL when interviewing a GM or a manager of an MLB franchise, "there are only 30 of these jobs in the world so I am very thankful for the opportunity."

This will be a challenge because not only do I have to turn a franchise around but I also have to learn the game (OOTP that is, luckily I am pretty familiar with RL baseball), but I am up for the challenge. Most turn arounds will take more then one season so I am not deluding myself into thinking that I am a miracle worker. In fact, quite the opposite. I expect to be knocked down and dragged around by you vets as I try to find my way, but that is part of the challenge that I accepted as part of getting lucky and snagging one of these jobs.

[klewis]

I think the KAL team is the only team to have an owner join once... leave... join... only to leave again.

This sure has been a popular thread today.

I remember the Dobney brothers. I believe it Canton Dobney who made the proposal for winter ball. So, he will always have that legacy with him. It's been a feature that has stuck with PEBA.

[Duane]

I am still surprised that PEBA made it out of the first season intack. I took over this dismal team and discovered that I was in the red for having 2 5 million dollar players. I could not get fans, I could not raise prices, I had to literally give players away (prospects along with a salaried player for a late round pick). I was stuck in a small market and boy did I give John a hard time about it. And I was only 1 person - he was getting an ear full from so many directions.

CHEERS to John for sticking through and shouldering the pain and agaony.

I know Bill is drinking to that as we speak

I think the KAL team is the only team to have an owner join once... leave... join... only to leave again.

This sure has been a popular thread today.

I remember the Dobney brothers. I believe it Canton Dobney who made the proposal for winter ball. So, he will always have that legacy with him. It's been a feature that has stuck with PEBA.

All of the Dobneys are gone?

I have them as friends on Facebook

[DanD]

I think I'm either the second or third owner of Arlington. I know they were originally called the "Arlington All-Blacks", but changed their name to "Bureaucrats' after the initial draft and before the first season started.

From what I can piece together, the team was built around very strong pitching with an anemic offense and successful through the 2008 season. After that, the team started tanking in 2009 thanks to two rising stars busting into oblivion. The PEBA's first 20-game winner went 20-7 as a 21 year old in 2008. In 2009 he went 4-15. He logged 23 innings in 2010 and hasn't been seen in the US since. The other player, and I understand he was a serious candidate for the Wunderkind Award (ROY) in 2007, suffered numerous back injuries and a serious knee injury in 2009 and was never the same.

I assume the owner left during that 2009 season due to the implosion of everyone not named Matos. I took over the team then and have been rebuilding since.

[klewis]

@ Duane - Yes, all the Dobneys have moved on.

@ Badger Bob - Here is a piece of Badger history for you: George Crocker - arguably the best center fielder at the time.

[Matt]

PEBA has always been at 24 teams, in their present locations. A few teams were in a different location prior to the first season, but if those owners were replaced prior to that season starting they were allowed to move. I think one or two teams early on moved, but all teams have been in their present location since the first pitch was thrown.

There had been some murmurs for expansion, but it has been wieghed against the difficulty in keeping a league full of owners. 24 teams with 24 active owners seems to be better than 28 teams or 30 teams where a handful of owners are inactive or just plain flake out. As it is, we usually have 2 to 3 ownership openings per season anyway, and that's just on the PEBA side. Several more occur each season in LRS. Recruiting owners is a bit of a full time job for John, and expansion would just increase that burden.

I think the only way we could really anticipate expansion happening is in a perfect world where we had 24 owners who were onboard full time and were really really stable.

Yes, John definately shouldered a lot of pain while the rest of us have reaped the rewards.

Something the new owners should know, and will come to realize in time, is that John will listen to what you have to say. Sounding off publicly won't exactly help your cause, nor will making demands or ultimatums, but John will let you make your case to him privately. Not every decision is going to come down your way, so be flexible and go with the flow. In the end you will find that John is flexible, as long as your willing to be flexible. Simply state your case or your complaint, and let John hear it. Then listen to what John has to say about it. I think over time you will realize that whatever decisions are made are done so with the best interest of the league at heart. Sometimes a certain problem can't be rectified right away, but you'll later learn that John was working on a solution in the background.

[klewis]

I still remember when we changed from "1-100" ratings to "1-10". I'm glad that turned out smoothly :)

[Matt]

I still remember when we changed from "1-100" ratings to "1-10". I'm glad that turned out smoothly :)

[Lions]

While I just joined during this past postseason, I've been following PEBA casually since March or April of 2009 when he volunteered the league to be StatsLab's live beta test league, which was pretty early in PEBA's history, too. There are a few things I've observed about the league and John in that time: John's a "benevolent dictator" commish. He listens, takes suggestions, looks out for the best interests of each member, and when he decides, his decision stands. It seems to work quite well. PEBA's level of involvement can be intimidating for prospective GM's. PEBA doesn't lend itself well to export only GM's. PEBA's level of involvement creates a very rich atmosphere in which to game. John and the other GM's commitment to the league make it really attractive to GM's who want that greater depth of experience. I know that I resisted the urge to join PEBA for a relatively long time simply because I wanted to be sure that I could commit to the league and uphold that standard.

[Hitmen]

I joined before the 2011 season began and with the migration to the OOTP 10 platform. This was also the time when me and Mike #2(Aurora) joined during the article submission contest to take over Aurora. As far as I know, I think there was only 1 or 2 owners that ran the team before me.

I am still in the process of turning around a horribly financial run team that was on the down turn since winning in the inaugural season. But it has been a blast, and I can honestly say I am happy I did not win the Aurora team because I plan to change all my minors and my major league team to my likings

Barring anything extreme happening (knock on wood) I plan to be here till the end with the Hitmen.

Michael -- Are you from/still New Jersey? I am originally from NJ, Bergen County.

Unfortunately I have never actually been to New Jersey. Was born in Chicago and lived 20+ years there before moving to Wisconsin for the last 5 years to get my BA and finish up my MBA. I have fallen in love with my team though and I don't see myself relocating it, the minor league teams are another story

[Cole]

While I just joined during this past postseason, I've been following PEBA casually since March or April of 2009 when he volunteered the league to be StatsLab's live beta test league, which was pretty early in PEBA's history, too. There are a few things I've observed about the league and John in that time: John's a "benevolent dictator" commish. He listens, takes suggestions, looks out for the best interests of each member, and when he decides, his decision stands. It seems to work quite well. PEBA's level of involvement can be intimidating for prospective GM's. PEBA doesn't lend itself well to export only GM's. PEBA's level of involvement creates a very rich atmosphere in which to game. John and the other GM's commitment to the league make it really attractive to GM's who want that greater depth of experience. I know that I resisted the urge to join PEBA for a relatively long time simply because I wanted to be sure that I could commit to the league and uphold that standard.

I have/had the same fear of being able to meet the standards, but I am finding that the writing portions of league involvement are actually very stimulating and fun. The "Marketing" of this league (in the OOTP forums) is like none other and the vetting process that John put me through was very intimidating. It was a huge challenge to to be accepted into the league.