Unova Baseball League

[HKim]

http://www.pokemoncrossroads.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/unova_baseball_league_small.png


I honestly don't know where I'd put this, so if someone wants to move this thread, that's fine.

So as some people know, I've started playing a computer game called "Out of the Park Baseball". It's essentially a baseball simulator that allows one to run a baseball team as a general manager or manager. Everything from financials to trades to player hitting/pitching/fielding abilities are included. Then once you have your team assembled, you can play/simulate games against other teams.

Now to the part that you all care about. Within the game, I've created a fictional league modeled on the Unova region. Why Unova? Because that's America and America is where Baseball was born (I might later expand the league to include other regions, probably starting with Japan (Kanto, Johto, Hoenn, Sinnoh) and then France (Kalos) later). I've done my best to create realistic setups for the teams and how they'd exist in the Pokemon world.

So without further ado:


Unova League

Western Conference

Castelia Kings
Driftveil Dodgers
Mistralton Pilots
Virbank Rebels


Eastern Conference

Humilau Blue Waves
Nimbasa Thunderbolts
Opelucid Legends
Striaton Aces



Team Names and Locations

In regards to the naming, I really went with what sounded good. A lot of the names are inspired from the themes of the cities (especially they gyms). You can really see this in the case of Mistralton, Virbank, Humilau, and Nimbasa. For Castelia, Driftveil and Opelucid and Striaton, I went with alliteration (Driftveil and Dodgers both start with D, "Lucid" in Opelucid and Legends both start with L, Castelia and Kings both sound like they start with the same letter, and "aton" in Striaton and Aces begin with A).

There are a few other factors. Castelia, being a dominating city of business would naturally have powerful leaders, aka kings. The Los Angeles Dodgers used to be based in Brooklyn and since Unova is based on the New York area, I tried to fit them somewhere (though it isn't perfect since Driftveil isn't Brooklyn). I thought Aces was fitting for Striaton in which the gym leaders were all "aces" of a specific type.

I did try to see if any Unova Pokemon fit (after all, in the Pokemon anime, some of the mentioned baseball teams are named after Pokemon), but none really jived to me. Maybe as the league expands.

As for what cities were chosen (since Unova has more than eight cities), I mainly aimed for cities with gyms and a large population size (indicated by the number of people you meet there in the games).


How It Works

Each team will play a total of 162 games each year against the seven other teams. This will determine which teams are stronger than the others. There are no ties and games must be played until there is a winner.

Finally, I divided the eight teams into two conferences (also known as leagues). In the Finals (usually known as Postseason), the top two teams of each conference will play a 5-game series to determine who is the Conference Champion. The winner of these two series will then play a 7-game series to determine who is the overall winner (the World Series).


The Plan

Assuming this doesn't drive me crazy, I'll be taking the role of a general manager/manager of a team. I've set up the rules so that a team owner can hire or fire me depending on how well (or poorly) I'm doing over the course of a season(s). I'll write here about how the team we're following is doing (or what's going on in the world) and write up tidbits about the players. I honestly don't know how interesting this is going to be, but I figured this will help me get a little more immersed in the world and, well, why not?


TL;DR Version

Created Baseball League based in Unova
Will Play as the General Manager of one of the teams
Will write about what happens



Let me know what you think or want to see? Or you can just say "cool" or something and let me know I'm not writing to myself.

[Pokemon Trainer Sarah]

This sounds kinda interesting. I like imagining how every day things would work in the Pokemon world. Baseball isn't really a thing here so I don't know that much about it. Which team are you going to start with?

[Suicune's Fire]

I honestly don't understand what's going on here. xD Other than it seems like you're doing pokemon baseball... I don't get it; is this a story? Is that why it's in the writing section? If so, this sounds like a planning thread which may be better off in the Author's Corner, especially if you want people to comment and suggest ideas. :]

[HKim]

Thanks Sarah! I appreciate the reply even thought I've done nothing to deserve your admiration yet!

And Hi Grace! Good question! I don't know if it's a story, but more like a playthrough combined with roleplaying and writing!? Like I'm playing the game, but I'm also writing descriptions and scenes of what's going on, to make things seems livelier! Most of what happens in the game involves a click of a button or a hundred, but it's more fun to write out what's really going on! Brings everything to life!

I do hope you guys enjoy what I've put here. I plan on introducing a few more interactive elements. After all, since this is a game, our choices will determine how well we do! Or how badly we fail!


As for the team well...


What is Baseball?


http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/44891000/gif/_44891007_baseball_466x300.gif (http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/other_sports/baseball/3562135.stm)
A BBC Guide to Baseball (http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/other_sports/baseball/3562135.stm)

I'm not going to go into a detailed explanation of what baseball is. That's what Wikipedia is for.

Simply put, baseball is a game in which the team that scores the most points (also known as runs) wins.

Baseball is a turn-based sport. There are nine rounds (innings). In the first half of a round, one team will play offense (batting), while the other plays defense (fielding). Then in the second half, the two teams switch roles. The final score of the game is determined at the end of the ninth round.

To score a point, a team must move a player from Home Plate to First Base, then First Base to Second Base, then Second Base to Third Base, and then finally back to Home Plate (Home -> First -> Second -> Third -> Home). All bases (except Home Base) are considered "safe zones" in which a player cannot be tagged out by the ball. Think of those children games of tag that use safe spots or items. You can't get tagged if you're touching the object. Same with baseball.

Problem is, a thrown baseball can fly faster than a person can run. So how does a player score?

This is where batting comes into play. When a player hits the ball from Home Plate, the ball is considered in play (most of the time), which allows the hitting player (or players already on bases) to run to the next location. Depending on where the ball is hit, the defending team can catch or retrieve the ball, then throw it to try and tag out offensive team players. After things settle down, the ball is returned to the pitcher (sort of) so he can throw the ball to the next player batting.

After three outs (when an offensive team player is tagged out (or strikes out)), the half of the inning is over and the team switch roles. This happens until the end of the game.

By the way, in regards to hitting a pitched ball, the player pitching the ball (pitcher) is on the defending team while the player hitting the ball (batter) is on the offensive team. As such, the pitcher usually wants to throw the ball to the batter in a way in which he can't hit it. Each time he throws the ball to the batter in such a manner, the batter receives a strike. Three strikes and the batter (and the team) receives an out.

This is more complicated than it sounds. The pitcher must throw the ball in a specific rectangular area in front of the batter, generally considered a location that a batter could possible hit the ball in. Any throws outside of this area is not considered a strike and is called a "ball". A batter that receives four balls gets a free pass to 1st base (walk) without needing to hit the ball. As a result, a pitcher's job is strike out a batter without letting them hit the ball or walk to first base.

Obviously there is a lot more to baseball than that and I've simplified a lot of it. But hopefully you'll understand most of what I'm saying. Or not! My goal is to write everything in a way Pokemon fans can understand without losing the spirit of what baseball is!



So It Begins...

He didn't look happy to see me.

The older man glared, his brown eyes drilling into me as if boring through the entire contents of my life. They searched through the depths and layers of who I was, searching deep for what will and soul was buried within. It was too much to bear and I glanced away, my eyes quickly sliding around the room, quickly taking in the trappings of the man's office.

He had decorated it conservatively, his few mementos barely lit by the sun filtering threw the drawn shades of the window behind the man's desk. The light naturally enhanced the earthen shades of the office, casting the tan walls and brown rug floor into a softer, golden glow. On the wall I glanced over the man's framed gym certification next to a framed photo of the current gym leaders and Elite 4 of the Unova Pokemon League. The man, being one of the taller and larger leaders, stood in the second row, behind a rather striking young woman dressed in a bright yellow sun dress. His stern frown contrasted sharply with her attractive smile. The photographer either didn't care or didn't want to ask the intimidating man to try and appear a bit more cheerful.

On the opposite wall was something a little more familiar. Another framed photo, this time depicting the man standing next to the local baseball team, the players dressed in their signature blue and white uniforms. The photo, taken last season, included every member of the team and the main members of the staff including the general manager who stood next to the larger man. The manager, Dan Richardson, had signed on to run the team last season. He had failed miserably, leaving the Dodgers with 65 wins... and 97 losses. They had only won a little more than 38 percent of their games. That season, the Dodgers ranked 8th out of 8 teams.

Those were dismal results and it quickly led to Mr. Richardson's departure. He was a smooth talker, though, and, from what I hear, landed a spot as the general manager for the Opelucid Legends after their GM resigned. Can't say it was much of an improvement. Opelucid finished 6th, right in front of Humilau. You'd think a man who was fired from a team with the worst record wouldn't get another shot, but it looks like Opelucid was desperate. Maybe they made the right decision. Guess we'll see.

I returned my gaze to the man sitting at the desk.

"You have a nice off-."

"You're awful young to be runnin' a team," the man remarked, interrupting me. "I can't understand what gave old Charlie the idea that youth had any place in leading a baseball organization. You don't have the experience or the know-how to handle this job."

Charlie, better known by his full name "Charles West", was my current employer and owner of the Castelia Kings. He hired me back in 2014 to manage his Single A, Minor League Team, the Border Purrloins. When I led the team to a successful 72-68 (that is 72 wins and 68 losses) season, he promoted me to manage his Double A, Minor League Team, the Gunslingers for the 2015 season.

Baseball Organization

The baseball organization can be described like a ladder, or rather, each team's organization is a ladder. Each rung on the ladder represents a baseball team. The top rung represents the top teams which play at the "major league" level. This includes teams like the Castelia Kings, the Driftveil Dodgers, and the Virbank Rebels. Then each rung below it was another team within that organization. These are the minor league teams.

Generally, the lower you go, the worst players you find (though this may be due to inexperience rather than talent). The general manager of an organization can promote or demote players between these teams, sending them up or down a rung in the ladder. The minor league teams, therefore, serve as a sort of "testing ground" to train players. If players prove they are good enough, they might eventually move their way up into the major league.

Each rung of the ladder in a baseball organization:
1. Major League (ML)
2. Triple A League (AAA)
3. Double A League (AA)
4. Single A League (A)
5. Short Season A League (S A)
6. Rookie League (R)

Like the Dodgers, the Gunslingers finished 8th in the Double A League out of 8 teams. In 2015, I led the team to finish... 8th out of 8, though we had a better win percentage than the previous season. Finally, in 2016, we broke out, finishing 3rd. It was a huge improvement and I was proud of the team.

That success led me here, into the office of Gym Leader Clay Yakon, owner of the Driftveil Dodgers.

"You come highly recommended," Clay continued. "Some of the smartest folks I know said that if anyone can turn around our losin' streak, it's you. That you could do for the Dodgers what you did for the Gunslingers. Frankly, I'm not quite convinced. You haven't even managed a Triple A team, and three years as a manager ain't what I call a credited resume."

He paused, considering his next words.

"But I'm not goin' to dismiss you quite yet. Charlie is a pedantic snob, but he knows how to hire the right people. So tell me, son, what can you do that these other applicants cannot?"

This was it. The chance I'd been waiting for. My shot at managing in the big leagues.

Clay was rich, but he made his wealth through hard work. He even helped dig and set up the mine that started his rise to fortune. He wanted straight answers and held no love for weakness.

"The Dodgers, sir," I began, "they're a mess. You're overpaying some very weak veterans and have hired a disaster of a pitching staff. Half the team on the field will go to free agency before the next season and that's most of the guys of any value. In short, you're losing what you want to keep and keeping what you need to lose."

There, I said it. I gave him the bad news. I told him that his team, his baseball team, was in a terrible state of being.

I hoped he wouldn't kick me out. Physically. He was a big guy and I was just a little over five feet. It wouldn't end well for me.

For his part, Clay said nothing. He stared for a moment, then glanced to the picture on the wall, the one with him and the Dodgers. Then just as silently, he looked over to the opposite wall where his gym leader mementos hung.

"Okay, son," he finally replied, turning back to look at me. "What do you propose to do?"


TL;DR Version


I did well managing two minor league teams associated with the Castelia Kings.
Clay is interviewing me to become General Manager of the Driftveil Dodgers organization.
The Dodgers ranked 8th out of 8 teams last season. This is going to be hard.

[Pokemon Trainer Sarah]

Thanks for the explanations, Harry. :) I've never been that interested in reading stuff about sports but this seems like a pretty fun story so far. I like Clay's accent haha.