World Baseball Classic 46- Everything Thread

by **Nova Anglicana** » Thu May 30, 2019 7:03 am

Nova Anglicana WBC 46 Roster

Nickname: Lions
Acronym: NOV

Stadium

Stadium: Archbishop Stadium
Stadium Location: Londinium (capital), Newfoundland and Labrador
Stadium Capacity: 35,000
Distance to Walls: 315 to right with a high wall, 421 to right-center, 408 to straightaway center, 385 to left-center, 336 to left
Stadium Surface: Natural grass
Park Factor: 82, Archbishop Stadium is quite the pitcher's park

Archbishop Stadium is the home stadium of the Londinium Capitols as well as the Nova Anglican national team. It is big and it plays big, with a serious nighttime marine layer, an enormous right-center gap known as "Triples Alley" and an imposing right field wall. It's not as hard on right-handed hitters, but is a fly ball pitcher's paradise. Many people are seen in the bay outside of the stadium attempting to catch home runs hit into the water or simply cruising the bay while enjoying the sound of the game on the radio.

Starting Rotation (order as given)
RHP #36 Ben Clayton, 33 - combines 96 MPH fastball with 81 MPH hammer curveball, developed a decent change and slider, strikes out a ton and walks a ton
LHP #19 Nate McLaughlin, 33- fastball 90-92, with sharp curve and sweeping slider, tricky changeup as well
RHP #56 Damian Ryan, 33 - plus fastball at 93-95 with a good curveball, decent changeup and fringy slider; definite punch-out ability, but needs to get motion and walks under control; tall, slim frame
RHP #44 Wyatt Templeton, 28 - 97 with run on the fastball, changeup and curveball with slider as the kill pitch
LHP #20 Erik Russell, 24 - big high leg kick messes with hitters, 90 MPH fastball is underwhelming, but he can cut, sink, and run it, along with a circle and a Vulcan change, knuckle curve and passable slider, you just never know what's coming

Bullpen
LHP #57 Aaron Spencer, 25 - long guy out of the bullpen, stands 6'4, so his pedestrian 91 MPH fastball looks faster, sweeping slider, decent curve, will mix in a change every now and then as well
LHP #48 Clay Wilkerson, 28 - three-pitch guy, 93-95 MPH fastball, 86 MPH changeup, 80 MPH 12-6 curve
LHP #46 Ricky Bass, 29 - lefty specialist with a submarine release, sweeping slurve is his best pitch
RHP #38 Cody Brock, 22 - sits 100, throws a changeup at 87 that is tough to handle, and his slider is 91 as well, not much control right now
RHP #16 Rex Boyd, 23 - ROY pitcher will slot in as a dynamic reliever, sits 95 as a starter, but can reach 100 as a reliever, throws a slider and a changeup as well
RHP #11 Vic Fleming, 25 - forkball is his main pitch, does a lot of changing the batters eye level with 93 up top and then the forkball down low, has a curve if need be
RHP #30 Lee Bradley, 35 - fastball 87-88 with a good amount of run, sharp slurve at 82 plus a decent changeup; submarine arm angle gets him a lot of outs, but stuff is legit
RHP #43 Charlie Bowers, 28 - fastball/curveball guy, can really pump it in there, averages 98 and can reach back for 101
RHP #23 Nick Christensen, 34 - combines 98 MPH fastball with 88 MPH slider

C #51 Max Pope, 32, (S/R) - whiz defensively behind the plate, upped his power in the past couple of seasons and has a great eye
C #60 Trevor Goodwin, 26, (L/R) - strong arm and mobile behind the plate, could be a 15/15 guy and hit .280
C #18 Curtis Hughes, 21, (R/R) - still needs to work on the catching side of things, but he has power for days and his club thinks he could be a future MVP

1B #21 Jake Bryan, 30, (L/L) - Bryan is a polished player who consistently challenges for MVP, great eye, superb defender, natural hitter with good power, speed and arm are below-average
3B #26 Marc Dufors, 26, (L/R) - can really pick it at the hot corner with a strong arm, streaky hitter whose in-game power has grown
SS #11 Luke Mills, 23, (S/R) - former #1 overall pick out of high school, outstanding fielder, but his hit tool has really taken off, good power for a SS, a national team fixture for years to come, coaches hope
2B #6 Tommy Moran, 27, (R/R), - slick fielder who can handle any infield position besides 1B, hits for average, takes walks, and steals bases, not much power to speak of, but a valuable player
CI #50 Cal Stephens, 28, (S/R) - switch-hitter hits well enough with gap-to-gap power, but his calling card is his defense, plays a mean 3B, but can definitely handle first as well
IF #27 Kelvin Hill, 24, (R/R) - Hill's best defensive position is 3rd, but he can play second well, and plays short well enough, but he's mostly on the team for his hit tool, which scouts think could project to a .280-290 hitter and 25 HR

OF #25 Casey Wheeler, 29, (R/R) - late bloomer sticks with the NT, has become a consistently excellent player, .290/10/30 guy with amazing defensive versatility, which is why he'll start in LF most days and rotate with Moran occasionally
OF #35 Matthew Gilbert, 25, (S/L) - combines blazing speed with good range, a power bat, and a strong arm, still needs to boost his average and take a few more walks
OF #29 Jerome Duplantier, 24, (L/R) - strong right arm in right means runners don't challenge him, a launch angle revolutionized swing means he has 30 HR power, not super mobile and won't hit for much average
OF #24 Cliff Garner, 24, (L/L) - Garner is all about the three true outcomes (homers, walks, and strikeouts), poor range but good arm, not an awful LF, but he's here for his hit tool, mostly
OF #40 Ricard Lavoie, 31, (S/L) - Lavoie is a speedster who stole 65 bases to lead the league, excellent defender and can hit .300, though without a good OBP, will be pinch-runner, defensive replacement, and can step in if there is an injury

Orlando Murray #55 (Manager)

Aubrey Bell #1 (Hitting Coach)

Greg Richardson #47 (Pitching Coach)

Dale Garner #9 (1st Base Coach)

Casey Cain #8 (3rd Base Coach)

Marcellus Maloney #15 (Bench Coach)

Rhett Upshaw #52 (Bullpen Coach)

Starting Lineup w/o DH
2B Tommy Moran/Wheeler (Moran 5/6 games, Wheeler 1/6)
SS Luke Mills/Hill (Mills 9/10 games, Hill 1/10)
LF Casey Wheeler/Cliff Garner/Lavoie (Wheeler 4/6 games, Garner 1/6, Lavoie 1/6)
1B Jake Bryan/Stephens (Bryan 9/10 games, Stephens 1/10)
CF Matthew Gilbert/Lavoie (Gilbert 9/10 games, Lavoie 1/10)
RF Jerome Duplantier/Lavoie (Duplantier 9/10 games, Lavoie 1/10)
3B Marc Dufors/Stephens/Hill (Dufors 8/10 games, Stephens 1/10, Hill 1/10)
C Max Pope/Goodwin (Pope 8/10, Goodwin 2/10)
P Pitcher's Spot

Starting Lineup w/DH vs. RHP
2B Tommy Moran/Wheeler (Moran 5/6 games, Wheeler 1/6)
SS Luke Mills/Hill (Mills 9/10 games, Hill 1/10)
LF Casey Wheeler/Lavoie (Wheeler 5/6 games, Lavoie 1/6)
1B Jake Bryan/Stephens (Bryan 9/10 games, Stephens 1/10)
CF Matthew Gilbert/Lavoie (Gilbert 9/10 games, Lavoie 1/10)
DH Cliff Garner
RF Jerome Duplantier/Lavoie (Duplantier 9/10 games, Lavoie 1/10)
3B Marc Dufors/Stephens/Hill (Dufors 8/10 games, Stephens 1/10, Hill 1/10)
C Max Pope/Goodwin (Pope 8/10, Goodwin 2/10)

Starting Lineup w/DH vs. LHP
2B Tommy Moran/Wheeler (Moran 5/6 games, Wheeler 1/6)
SS Luke Mills/Hill (Mills 9/10 games, Hill 1/10)
LF Casey Wheeler/Cliff Garner/Lavoie (Wheeler 4/6 games, Garner 1/6, Lavoie 1/6)
1B Jake Bryan/Stephens (Bryan 9/10 games, Stephens 1/10)
CF Matthew Gilbert/Lavoie (Gilbert 9/10 games, Lavoie 1/10)
RF Jerome Duplantier/Lavoie (Duplantier 9/10 games, Lavoie 1/10)
3B Marc Dufors/Stephens/Hill (Dufors 8/10 games, Stephens 1/10, Hill 1/10)
DH Curtis Hughes
C Max Pope/Goodwin (Pope 8/10, Goodwin 2/10)

My opponent, if they RP first, may do the following:
Choose my runscorers: Yes
Choose my lineup: No
Follow my pitching rotation: Yes
Godmod scoring events: No
RP injuries to my players: Yes, but not serious ones. Back stiffness, jammed fingers, bruises, etc. Nothing that would keep them out of the lineup for more than 1 game. Reciprocity is expected.
Godmod injuries to my players: No
Eject my players: No, but manager is fair game
Godmod other events: No
Use DH at home: No
Style Modifier: +1

by **Banija** » Thu May 30, 2019 8:26 am

Banija National Baseball Team

Coaching Staff
After a disastrous 45th World Baseball Classic, where the 12th ranked Banijans faced an embarassing group stage elimination, Raymond Cloutier, the manager from WBC 41 through WBC 45, was fired, alongside the rest of the staff. The coaching staff only has one foreigner on the staff.
Manager- Ousman Kakay. 51 years old. Leading Banija to their first ever WBC.
Bench Coach- Lafi Mansaray. 65 years old.
Hitting Coach- Baluta Colley. 41 years old.
Pitching Coach- Yakuba Borussa. 65 years old. Likes big, tall, hard throwing pitchers. Holdover from previous coaching staff.
1st base Coach-Cyrus Marshall. 69 years old. Holdover from previous coaching staff. From Etahne
3rd base Coach- Bamba Sanneh. 57 years old. Very aggressive, always looking for base runners to take that extra base.

The team used the same roster in WBC 41, WBC 42, and WBC 43.Ever since the disastrous WBC 45, they've overgone an overhaul, with this being the first time no players from the WBC 41/42/43 rosters are being used in a major tournament. Players that are on their first international callup are italicized.

Batting Order with Designated Hitter
1 SS Assan Mansaré. #30. 27 years old. Right-handed. Twin brother of Jibril Mansaré. Played at Northern Moravica..
2 CF Duwa Sohna. #31. 26 years old. Switch-hitter(right-handed). Currently plays at Kizza I College. Has great defensive range.
3 RF Jonkong Sillah. #30. 24 years old. Right-handed. Easily the best hitter on the team. Can hit for power and average. Does not have a lot of outfield range though he has a big arm. Plays at the University of Ankole.
4 1B Yakuba Kah. #5. 22 years old. Left-handed. Hits for power. Runs the base-paths poorly. Plays at the University of Moravica.
5 LF Cyper Kandeh. #19. 19 years old. Right-handed. He can throw baserunners out like nobody's business. Graduated from Golden Valley University.
6 DH Lama Ouattara. #12. 26 years old. Left-handed. Alumnus of the Islamic University of Busoga.
7 3B Lalo Diene. #3. 24 years old. Left-handed. Alumnus of the University of Ankole.
8 2B Jibril Mansaré. #4. 27 years old. Right-handed. Twin brother of Assan Mansaré. Plays at Northern Moravica.
9 C Makang Jawara. #9. 27 years old. Right-handed. Plays at the University of Ankole.

Batting Order without Designated Hitter
1 SS Assan Mansaré. #30. 27 years old. Right-handed. Twin brother of Jibril Mansaré. Played at Northern Moravica..
2 CF Duwa Sohna. #31. 26 years old. Switch-hitter(right-handed). Currently plays at Kizza I College. Has great defensive range.
3 RF Jonkong Sillah. #30. 24 years old. Right-handed. Easily the best hitter on the team. Can hit for power and average. Does not have a lot of outfield range though he has a big arm. Plays at the University of Ankole.
4 1B Yakuba Kah. #5. 22 years old. Left-handed. Hits for power. Runs the base-paths poorly. Plays at the University of Moravica.
5 LF Cyper Kandeh. #19. 19 years old. Right-handed. He can throw baserunners out like nobody's business. Graduated from Golden Valley University.
6 3B Lama Ouattara. #12. 26 years old. Left-handed. Alumnus of the Islamic University of Busoga.
7 2B Jibril Mansaré. #4. 27 years old. Right-handed. Twin brother of Assan Mansaré. Plays at Northern Moravica.
8 C Makang Jawara. #9. 27 years old. Right-handed. Plays at the University of Ankole.
9 PITCHER.

Bench
*1B/3B Lalo Diene. #3. 24 years old. Left-handed. Alumnus of the University of Ankole. *=Only on bench if there is no DH. If there is DH, he starts at third base.
OF Karafa Dione. #22. 30 years old. Right-handed. Best outfield thrower on the team. Almnus of Northern Moravica.
1B/C Bamba Jawo. #25. 28 years old. Switch-hitter(right-handed). Almumnus of Northern Moravica.
2B/SS Bunama Danso #2. 28 years old. Right-handed. Plays at the Islamic University of Busoga.
OF Jabril Saidykhan. #14. 25 years old. Right-handed. Plays at Loyola-Istria.
IF Lalo Kuyateh #15. 27 years old. Right-handed. Very aggressive on the base-paths, can bunt for hits and steal bases. Plays at the Islamic University of Busoga.
3B
Starting Pitcher Rotation
For the knockout stages, we are switching to a four man rotation. Ensa Suso will be in the bullpen.
1 Assan Condé. #6. 27 years old. Left-handed. Alumnus of the University of Ankole. Staff ace- can hit 94 mph, and best pitch is a slider.
2 Banta Jawara. #23. 26 years old. Right-handed. Alumnus of the University of Loyola-Istria. Can hit 97 mph, and best pitch is a breaking ball. Brother of former Loyola quarterback Isaka Jawara.
3 Duta Condé. #35. 21 years old. Right-handed. Plays at Northern Moravica.
4 Suntukung Kandeh. #24. 20 years old. Left-handed. Plays at the University of Moravica.

Bullpen
LRP Ensa Suso. #33. 18 years old. Right-handed. Plays at Kizza I College.
LRP Tairu Sesay. #44. 22 years old. Right-handed. Plays at Wild Valley University.
MRP Jebel Darboe. #17. 21 years old. Right-handed. Plays at Northern Moravica.
MRP Gibril Sowe. #48. 23 years old. Right-handed. Plays at the University of Ankole. Younger brother of former player and captain Jebel Sowe.
MRP Foday Kandeh.[ #45. 28 years old. Left-handed. The main lefty in the pen. Alumnus of the University of Ankole.
SU Sarjo Touré. #41. 26 years old. Right-handed. Alumnus of Kizza I College. Fastball can hit 102 mph, but is easily rattled and is known to hang his breaking ball.
CL Demba Baturu. #13. 30 years old. Right-handed. Alumnus of the Islamic University of Busoga.

Accomplishments
3rd place at XI Olympiad in Aeropag, Commerce Heights.

My opponent, if they RP first, may do the following:
Choose my runscorers: Yes
Choose my lineup: No (My lineup is here for all to see, so please use it. Of course, you can do subsitutions for pitchers and players as you see fit, throughout the course of the game. But the starting lineup should remain the same)
Follow my pitching rotation: Yes (My Group stage pitching schedule is laid out to a T, so please follow that. It's not just a straight rotation, as I look to get extra starts for my top two starters. All laid out below. Thanks!)
Godmod scoring events: Yes
RP injuries to my players: Yes (That's fine, but please say what the injury is, and please specify how many games the player will miss. No deaths please).
Godmod injuries to my players: Yes (That's fine, but please say what the injury is, and please specify how many games the player will miss. No deaths please).
Eject my players/coaches: Yes
Godmod other events: Yes (As long as you don't kill anyone, go ahead)
Use DH at home: Yes
Other: When we are pitching, they induce a lot of ground balls. The strike out rates aren't terribly high for Banijan pitchers, but they play solid, fundamental defense, and they have strong arms all over the diamond. However, while Banija's rotation is one of the strongest in the multiverse, the bullpen leaves much to be desired, especially the middle relievers, who are well known to be the team's weakest link.

Knockout Stage Pitching Schedule
Ro16 Matchday 1: Banija v. Ethane. SP: Assan Condé
Ro16 Matchday 2: Banija v. Ethane. SP: Banta Jawara
Ro16 Matchday 3: Ethane v. Banija. SP: Duta Condé
Ro16 Matchday 4: Ethane v. Banija. SP: Suntukung Kandeh

Quarterfinals Game 1: Banija v. Sherpa Empire. SP: Assan Condé
Quarterfinals Game 2: Banija v. Sherpa Empire. SP: Banta Jawara
Quarterfinals Game 3: Sherpa Empire v. Banija. SP: Duta Condé
Quarterfinals Game 4: Sherpa Empire v. Banija SP: Suntukung Kandeh

Semifinals Game 1: Cassadaigua v. Banija. SP: Assan Condé
Semifinals Game 2: Cassadaigua v. Banija. SP: Banta Jawara
Semifinals Game 3: Banija v. Cassadaigua. SP: Duta Condé
Semifinals Game 4: Banija v. Cassadaigua. SP: Assan Condé

Third Place Game 1: Banija v. Lycrabon. SP: Banta Jawara
Third Place Game 2: Banija v. Lycrabon. SP: Suntukung Kandeh
Third Place Game 3: Lycrabon v. Banija. SP: Assan Condé
Third Place Game 4: Lycrabon v. Banija((if necessary). SP: Duta Condé
Third Place Game 5: Banija v. Lycrabon(if necessary). SP: Banta Jawara

by **Hampton Island** » Thu May 30, 2019 8:51 am

Hampton Island Golden Bears

In regards to Midnight, who is an actual black bear: he is ok with being referenced as a Golden Bear for the competition. No one knows how he became so good at baseball. Will get along with teammates and opponents as long as he is well fed before the game. The team was looking to liven things up after making the playoffs for the first time in World Baseball Classic 43, before losing in the first round. He performed well during WBC 44, and the upswing continued in the last classic.

Manager: John Morton, 65 (4th year)

Lineup:
1) Adam Voorman, 30- CF (Speedy, likes to run and great with glove)
2) Patrick Seguin, 33- SS (Contact hitter with great range)
3) Larry Huckston, 32- 1B (Contact hitter, great with runners in scoring position)
4) Midnight, age unknown- LF (Actual black bear. Explosive power when he makes contact)
5) Brad Thomas, 33- RF (Home run or strike out most of the time)
6) Phil Haggarty, 28- 3B (Excels when runners in scoring position. Not a power hitter, but has enough of it to respect).
7) Danny Hackerbee, 25- C (Great overall contact hitter, works long pitch counts)
8) Bryce Mueller, 30- 2B (Deceptive power, very intelligent player)
9) Dave Shanahan, 22- DH (Infielder otherwise, contact hitter)

Bench:
1) David Carson, 30- C
2) Robert Orville, 31, 1B, 3B
3) Denny Ramirez, 21, 1B, 3B, OF
4) Anthony Cianci, 32, OF
5) Jerome Jurdeen- 25, 2B, SS
6) Scott Van Allen- 27, 2B, SS

Rotation:
1) Chris Tyson, 32 (RHP)- Hard thrower, not afraid to throw at batters
2) Dean Douglas, 29 (RHP)- Good fastball but nasty breaking pitches
3) Cory Clover, 26 (LHP)- Up and coming phenom, nasty curveball. Doesn’t get along with Sanfredi
4) Jake Williams, 32 (LHP)- Splitter is his speciality
5) Curtis Sanfredi, 25 (RHP)- Young, very arrogant, and a wicked curveball. Doesn’t get along with Clover.

Bullpen:
1) Shawn Levinson, 23 (RHP)- Middle/Long Relief
2) Gabriel Wright, 24 (LHP)- Middle/Long relief
3) Byron Shannon, 22 (LHP)- Middle relief
4) Bryan Prater, 27 (RHP)- Short relief
5) Aaron Mayfield, 30 (LHP)- Short relief
6) Chad Whitlock, 29 (LHP)- Set-up
7) Martin Reynolds, 31 (RHP)- Closer

Stadium- National Stadium (Capacity- 68,217) in Stafford City

Choose my runscorers: Yes
Choose my lineup: No
Follow my pitching rotation: Yes
Godmod scoring events: Yes
RP injuries to my players: Yes
Godmod injuries to my players: No
Eject my players: Yes
Godmod other events: Only if centered around Midnight, our actual outfield playing bear, but no killing or injuring him, or having him kill anyone.
Use DH at home: Yes

by **Cassadaigua** » Thu May 30, 2019 10:26 am

Getting The Call,
by Macy Hamel- 3B

Deep down, I was very hopeful that I would get this call. I know I am only 22, but I felt as though I had proven myself professionally for the consideration after a couple good years at Starksville University. Leaving the school after just my sophomore year was not a tough decision for me in terms of knowing that it would be best for me and I was confident that I could play professionally right away. That didn’t mean that the decision did not also make me sad to leave all of those at Starksville of whom I had become acquainted. I got two years of a solid education, and I had to promise my parents one thing in order to turn professional. That I would go back and finish my degree regardless of how my baseball career unfolds. There is no timeline on that, but I do plan on keeping that promise.

As fate would have it, my first career professional at bat came against Katia Tavarez. In a fairy tale, I would have smacked a home run in the at bat, but that’s not what happened. Katia went after me on the first pitch, and by that, I mean, a little chin music with a fastball that ended up being registered at 98 MPH. Welcome to the big leagues! The next pitch, a nasty curveball, painting the outside corner to even the count up at one and one. I made contact on the next pitch, but hit a lazy groundball to second which was routinely played to get me out. Returning to the dugout, I could only reflect on what I saw. Hitting big league pitching was going to be so much more difficult, but it didn’t make matters easier that I was going up against the best pitcher in Cassadaigua in my debut. I went 0-for-4 that day. My teammates cheered me up by acknowledging that I was one of just two people in our batting order that never struck out. The next day, my name was on the lineup card again, batting seventh. This time, there was no megastar on the mound, and in the game, I collected two hits. Soon later, came the first home run, and I was off to a great rookie year, and would be honored to win rookie of the year.

After a strong second season, people began to suggest that I may be named to the World Baseball Classic roster. I looked at some of the other possibilities that could be chosen instead of me, and I did feel that I could have a good chance. Eventually, I would get that call from Maddie Polanco. Not only was I named to the roster, but I would be starting.

I can’t wait to have this chance. I know what I am capable of doing, and I know this is a hungry roster this year. We have been knocking on the door of our fourth title for a little while, and feel that this can be our year. Group 2 sees some nations known to us, mainly Lycrabon, but Cosumar will always be a good challenge. Drawkland is in our group, and you know that if they can ever figure out how to do baseball as good as they do other sports, like basketball and football, then they could have a bright future. But instead of worrying about everyone else, our focus in on ourselves, and doing what we need to do. If we take care of that, then we should go far.

by **St Saratoga** » Thu May 30, 2019 10:40 am

Saratogan National Baseball Club

Establishment: Spring 2016
Owner: Harry Kane
Manager: Harry Kane
Athletic Trainer: Baxter Simonson
Hitting Coach: Phillip Nelson
Pitching Coach: Holden Christy
Bullpen Coach: Robert Dominy
Stadium Location: Rogerbei, St. Saratoga
Nicknames: Saints

Stadium:

Land O Lakes Stadium
Seating: 48,000

Uniform:

High Res Uniforms

Roster
Starters:
Catcher: Damian Lambert
First base: Esteban Ramírez
Second Base: Jason Rubio
Third Base: Tex Murray
Shortstop: William Outlaw
Left Field: Eduardo Aguayo
Right Field: James Fischer
Center Field: Jack Rubin

Pitching Rotation:
SP: Nick Novak
SP: Luis Barros
SP: Duke Rupert
SP: Antônio Costa
SP: Eduardo Santana

BullPen Pitchers:
RHP: Johnny Lundqvist
RHP: Carlos Silva
RHP: Dewayne Warner
LHP: Paulo Santos
LHP: Roy Nalls
RP: Julian Silas
RP: Alan Miller
RP: Osmar Pineda
CP: Ben Castella
CP: Thomas Kriner

Bench:
Catcher: Woody Johnson
IF: Zachary Jamieson
IF: Clayton McLean
IF: Felix Hernandez
IF: David Worley
IF: Juan José Solano
OF: Andreas Ward
OF: Matthew Enríquez
OF: Anthony Lee

My opponent, if they RP first, may do the following:
Choose my runscorers: Yes
Choose my lineup: No
Follow my pitching rotation: Yes
Godmod scoring events: No
RP injuries to my players: Ask first
Godmod injuries to my players: No
Eject my players: No
Godmod other events: No
Use DH at home: Yes

by **Lycrabon** » Thu May 30, 2019 11:12 am

Group Stage Preview

ST. CATHERINE -- Lycrabon was placed into the third group in the WBC 46 group draw over the weekend, which - for once - proves to be an actual challenging group stage. It looks to be a race of thretsquads for two championship spots. The teams in the group:

- Lycrabon (11)
Coming off of another quarterfinals exit, the squad was revamped with a new set of players - but led by WBC 20 championship-winning veterans Garry Barnett, Jr and Paul Bray. If they qualify, they're poised to make noise.

- Drawkland (17)
A dark horse, but these guys have been through the fires before, and more than held their own. The third-most popular betting favorite in the casinos, Drawkland getting into the postseason is not an upset pick.

- Cassadaigua (3)
Oh, the pink ladies. A traditional powerhouse, the Jays will get serious momentum if they can steal a game or two from the Dagans. Of course, recent history could bring back a trace of bad blood: no one from the GB3 debacle is on this team, though.

- St Saratoga (36)
We have no real experience with this crew, but in this tournament, there are no easy games.

-Tornado Queendom (UR)
A newcomer, the Queendom is a mystery to everyone until they play.

-Cosumar (24)
Cosumar is a perennial power, but they have been on the downside the last few tournaments.

Our prediction: 23-7, tiebreaker for 2nd, fourth place overall.
Prediction for group qualifiers: Cassadaigua and Lycrabon.

by **The Sherpa Empire** » Thu May 30, 2019 12:39 pm

Xue Gong was not looking forward to his meeting with Kencha Adhikari, the new Minister of Culture. The most recent election had brought in a new right-wing government that didn't like diversity, globalism, or modernity. Ula Sherpa, the Communitarian Conservative Party's inoffensive center-right prime minister, had been replaced by an isolationist paranoiac named Mekonen Shirodkar. Shirodkar's disdain for everything foreign was probably his way of overcompensating for the fact that he wasn't ethnically Sherpa. He was in the process of filling government posts with his own people, and he had appointed Kencha Adhikari to run the Ministry of Culture.

Adhikari had a history of complaining about rowdy crowds at sporting events, railing against famous athletes that he thought were bad role models, and pitching a fit every time he was reminded of Cassadaigua's existence.

Gong arrived at Adhikari's office with a briefcase in one hand and a mug of Assam tea in the other. He set them both down so he could shake hands with the new Minister of Culture. The office still had the sterile half-empty look of a space that has not been in use long enough to get cluttered -- no forgotten pens or papers or food wrappers strewn about, no photos or potted plants decorating Adhikari's desk, and no dust anywhere. Adhikari shook hands politely, but he had a look of disgust in his eyes. "Who told you you could host the World Baseball Classic?" he demanded.

"The WBC Council," said Gong. What a stupid question, he thought privately.

"And what made you think you had the right to submit a bid?" Adhikari asked, still glowering disgustedly.

"I'm the director of the Sports Department," said Gong. "Baseball is a sport. Besides, it will be good for the economy, bringing people into the country. And collaborating with the Newmanistanians will be good for our relationship with them."

"Since when do we have a relationship with Newmanistan?" Adhikari fumed.

Gong shrugged. "They have one of the world's largest economies, and we've never had any conflicts with them," he said. "I don't see what the problem is."

"Guilin used to be somewhere people went to enjoy the the picturesque cliffs and caves," said Adhikari. "Now it's where people go to watch traps, rat-eaters, and trained cocoabos drive in circles, and the streets are choked with lumbering herds of kerbals, mongrelized Vangazis, and big stupid Newmanistanian tourists that can't even read the damn street signs. That's what the problem is."

"I think they've started putting up street signs with English on them so people won't get lost as much," said Gong. "There are ways to manage these things without losing the income that the tourists bring into the country. Regardless, we've already agreed to co-host the World Baseball Classic, and any changes you want to make will have to wait until after that. So let's move on..."

Adhikari still looked annoyed. Gong sighed. It was going to be a long 5 years waiting for the next election.

by **Saintland** » Thu May 30, 2019 8:40 pm

St. Petrus, Saintland

King Paulus XVI and Patriarch Innocentius IV had been waiting at the airport for hours. Today was to be the start of an important meeting for the True Church of Iesus Christus but Father Delmar Lavallee's flight was late in arriving. As they waited, the King of Saintland and his cousin the Patriarch of St. Petrus could only think about how the long night of the True Church had begun...

Under Republican time, the Fall of the Church had happened only 11 years ago but under Sanctii time that was nearly a lifetime ago, long before either of the leaders of Saintland had been born. In the chaos that followed, the Eurans had removed the King's father, King Andreas from power and installed the excommunicated Petrus the Heretic on the throne. In the years that followed, the heretic gradually handed more and more power to Feministvs Sanctvsterra, eventually going so far as to adopt their blasphemous "Marianity" as the state religion. This heresy worshiped the Virgin Maria as part of a Trinity of "Goddess" and inverted the natural roles of the sexes. By the grace of God, King Andreas had managed to establish his Kingdom in the eastern portion of Saintland and survive against aggression from the evil Satanas-inspired feminist state in the east. Eventually, the east outbred the west and Petrus the Heretic died without a male heir, allowing King Paulus XVI to claim the western throne and enforce his claim via overwhelming military force. (OOC: Obviously, this history isn't how things actually happened but it is how the Sanctii theocracy has rewritten its own history.

The reasons for the Fall of the Church were now well-known by every Sanctii schoolchild: God had punished their parents and grandparents for their lack of piety by exiling the Church. Even the two mysterious time warps that advanced Saintland's time by decades when the rest of the multiverse stood virtually still had been part of God's wrath. The Saintland of King Paulus XV, while publicly committed to the faith and to spreading it throughout the multiverse, harbored private doubts. The Saintland of King Paulus XVI, with the exception of those who had lived on the western side of the St. Paulus Wall prior to the War of the Western Succession, had no such doubts about the truth of their faith for the Church now had an Office of the Inquisition to identify those who harbored doubts or outright rejected the faith and heal their souls through any means necessary.

The success of the True Church in erasing all doubt within God's Chosen Nation had been driven by sophisticated psychological research carried out by the Salvation Circle in the Free Republics. While the Circle did not aggressively seek to identify those who doubt the faith and force them to believe, it permitted parents within the Inner Circle to arrange for interventions to protect their children from doubt. In practice, this was rare as most children of Inner Circle members were either sincere believers or had enough sense to hide their doubts from their parents. Most of the test subjects for this program were criminals and juvenile delinquents. The experiments quickly proved extremely successful to the point that even militant atheists convicted of minor crimes were commonly becoming zealous converts to the Circle while in prison.

But soon those thoughts were interrupted by the arrival of Father Lavallee, an ordained priest of the True Church who had founded the Salvation Circle as a stealth front for the disgraced Church after the dark times began with the Mutiny against Consul Reino Kulseth by his own military. He was joined by a rather serious looking man in a suit.

Father Lavallee - Your Majesty, Your Holiness, I thank you for welcoming me to Saintland. This is Samuel Lucchese. He's practically running the day by day affairs of Malifornia for me!

King Paulus XVI - I'm pleased to meet you, Mr. Lucchese.

As the King said that, Samuel Lucchese's phone went off. He ignored it for a moment.

Samuel Lucchese - Thank you, Your Majesty, but the honor is all mine.

Patriarch Innocentius IV - You may go ahead and check your phone. We wouldn't want to delay any important business.

Samuel Lucchese looked at his phone. He had received a text from his son Elio. Elio and his girlfriend Sarah were attending the University of Republica. He had accidentally sent a photo of Sarah in her baseball uniform. She was now the starting 2nd baseman for the Patriots, the school's baseball team, but both of them had been trying to keep this a secret from her father. Samuel was flustered a bit once he realized the deception that the two of them had pulled on him but he tried to hide it. There was simply no way he could mention such an embarrassing family situation to the King of Saintland and the Patriarch of St. Petrus.

King Paulus XVI - Is something the matter, Mr. Lucchese?

Samuel Lucchese - Everything's fine, Your Majesty.

King Paulus XVI - It doesn't look like it, judging by your facial expressions.

Father Lavallee, unaware of the cause of the situation, chose to speak up on behalf of his chief lieutenant.

Father Lavallee - Samuel gets like this all the time when his wife sends him photos of their kids being disciplined.

King Paulus XVI - I apologize for pressing the issue. It is rather unfortunate that children cannot behave themselves at all times but it cannot be helped.

Patriarch Innocentius IV - The fact that children do not behave themselves at all times without having to be taught to do so is why we know that the teaching of original sin is true. It is remarkable how the teachings of the True Church conform perfectly to observed reality and it is even more remarkable that there are those who choose to deny reality rather than obey God.

Father Lavallee - Indeed, it is a shame that many people are impervious to facts, logic and reason and continue to deny the existence of God even when it is staring them right in the face!

King Paulus XVI - I suggest we continue this discussion at the palace. There's still plenty of time to discuss this before I have to go pitch against Lisander in the WBC opener.

Patriarch Innocentius IV - Isn't the opening game of the WBC supposed to happen tomorrow night?

King Paulus XVI - That's correct, my Holy Cousin.

Patriarch Innocentius IV - I've noticed that they're bringing a female assistant manager called Christina Hishida with them. She's 20 so only barely over the age of majority. According to their official media guide for this WBC, she is a player who was named assistant manager in protest because their baseball association won't let them put a woman on the diamond.

King Paulus XV - Well, women have no business playing baseball! Its supposed to be a man's sport. OOC: Remember that this conversation is taking place in the open in the St. Petrus airport and is not being broadcast so the only way anybody would know about it is if they somehow overheard it.

Samuel Lucchese - Well said, Your Majesty. God created women to be wives, mothers and homemakers. God did not create women to be athletes or to do any other kind of work outside of the home.

Father Lavallee - Which is why women are banned from working outside of the home in Malifornia. We provide financial assistance to widows and repentant single mothers who are members of the True Church to ensure that they don't have to work under the table.

King Paulus XV - A wise policy, if I do say so myself. I imagine many of these women have converted to the True Church.

Samuel Lucchese - That's correct, Your Majesty. As of the most recent count, 98.8% of widows and single mothers in Malifornia are members of the True Church.

Patriarch Innocentius IV - I assume the idea behind forgiving single mothers for their sin of fornication is that, by doing so, you can deliver their children to Iesus Christus.

Father Lavallee - That's correct, Your Holiness.

As they were speaking, they had continued walking toward a limo. Private ownership of vehicles was illegal in Saintland but the royal family was permitted to travel by limousine and the police were permitted to utilize vehicles. During the short ride to the Royal Palace, the 4 of them continued to chat about their future plans to expand the True Church to the 4 corners of the multiverse...

by **Hapilopper** » Fri May 31, 2019 2:52 pm

The HNBT Clubhouse, Capital Stadium
The morning of game one - 11:05 AM

The gates had not yet opened for the first game of the HNBT's bid for a World Baseball Classic championship, but every single player on the team, as well as manager Carl Gardner and the coaching staff were already at Capital Stadium's clubhouse, getting ready. Game one was that evening, and every single one of Capital Stadium's 63,535 seats had been sold out. The game wasn't for hours, but a good number of fans had parked outside the stadium, tailgating with friends, family and people all sharing a common interest - the desire to see their countrymen beat the world, and it started tonight with the Republican National Baseball Team, the #4 team in the world.

Their mood - that of joviality and optimism - contrasted sharply with the HNBT, who were holding a very serious business-like meeting in the clubhouse. Gardner and Mo Beverly, the team's starting catcher, were reviewing each of the other five teams they had to deal with, and ways they could *possibly* shock the world by defeating contending teams such as the Republicans and Hampton Island, as well as standout countries such as Tierra de Castro, Oscioru and the fellow-unranked Trastamar. To a man, players all carried determined looks on their faces, but knew there was a chance they wouldn't even make it out of the group stage. It wasn't for a lack of trying, however.

With the Republicans coming to play first, Gardner spent the majority of the meeting going over each of that team's players, their strengths and weaknesses. Each of the players studied video on each of their opponents. Batters were reviewing video of each of the Republicans' pitchers, their pitches and their arsenal. "Wild" Ralph Fiedler looked like a tough pitcher to go against, but HNBT batters learned quickly through the film that Fiedler hadn't gained his name because of his control.

"He throws one of those fastballs about 102," said HNBT ace pitcher Charlton Forest, who was reviewing film with several of the HNBT starting lineup. "He had 88 walks a few years ago. He's got velocity, but I'm not sure about that control. You get a good pitch, you SWING AT IT because you won't get many of them. You see a pitch going anywhere out of the way, hold that bat still or he'll make you look like an idiot swinging at a pitch that'll hit the hot dog guy in the fifth row behind the backstop."

Forest, meanwhile, had a packet of information in his hands about the Republican batters - where to pitch them to, what not to do, and the best ways to make them look like fools in the batter's box. He had been awake since about 5:30 in the morning, as he usually did on days he started games, warming up, getting his arm ready, checking scouting reports, reviewing film, and making sure he could get some kind of advantage - any kind of advantage - over one of the top teams in the world. Almost as expected, his disposition wasn't really sunny, but he had a lot on his mind, and a big game ahead of him.

While the HNBT were looking ahead to that night's game, they had already received large swaths of information about Tierra de Castro and Oscioru, their next two opponents. Vic Foster, meanwhile, was looking ahead to the Hampton Island game, a game he was scheduled to start. As he looked at the information concerning the Hampton Island Golden Bears, there was one piece of information on the first page of his packet that caught his eye.

"Hey guys, it says here the cleanup hitter of the Hampton Island team is an actual black bear," Foster said incredulously.

Much of the team looked up at Foster's revelation. Some of them started laughing, thinking this was some kind of joke. Gardner and Beverly, however, looked really grim.

"It's true," Gardner said. "That bear can rake, too. I wouldn't laugh at it, that bear can hit home runs out of a stadium entirely."

"Yeah," Beverly said grimly. "Midnight could concievably hit a ball into the West River when they play here."

The HNBT's preparations rivaled that of a playoff team, playing for their professional lives, because, yes, it was that important to the Hapilopper National Team. There was no guarantee they would win, and in fact, experts pretty much predicted the team would end up bowing out after the group stage. But if they did get knocked out, it wouldn't be for a lack of trying. The Hapiloppians were a never-say-die bunch, and they would play and fight to the very end.

Most importantly, they were preparing and playing as a united front. The team wore jackets that expressed their new slogan: "It's a family affair - all for one and one for all," a slogan blatantly ripped off from a well-known heavyweight champion boxer from the 1980s, but one that still applied to their situation.

by **Free Republics** » Fri May 31, 2019 4:13 pm

University of Republica, Republica, Free Republics

Elio Lucchese had just attempted to text a picture of his Calculus test to his father. However, he had accidentally sent the wrong picture, which showed his girlfriend, Sarah Fuerst, in her baseball uniform. Despite not playing baseball for a few years due to the Salvation Circle, Sarah had walked onto the baseball team at the University of Republica and quickly become their starting second baseman. Thanks to her efforts, the Republica Patriots had won the Big 16 Conference this season and made a deep run in the RCAA tournament. Already on the radar of the National Baseball Team due to her relationship with Honomi Kamei (OOC: This was covered heavily in my RPs in WBCs 43 and 44.), she was widely expected to be added to the National Team by WBC 47 at the latest. However, that callup had not happened as Kyle Thomas preferred to stick with the team that he had led to #4 in the multiverse.

Elio waited nervously in his expensive off-campus apartment that the Salvation Circle was paying for, waiting for his father to respond to the text, entirely unaware that his father was in the middle of an important meeting in Saintland scheming for the True Church's next attempt at world domination. Since both of them had arranged to enroll at the University of Republica year round to earn both a bachelors and a masters in 4 years, they would not have to return home to Malifornia during the summers and live under the stifling theocratic tyranny of the Salvation Circle. But the revelation to his father, a zealous leader of the Circle, that Sarah was participating in a "man's" sport, in direct violation of the teachings of the Circle would result in adverse consequences for both of them. At best, he figured that he'd be ordered to "punish" his girlfriend on video and send it to his father. At worst, his father might cut one or both of them off, leaving them scrambling to find some other way to afford to finish school. Regardless, there was no way Sarah would be able to continue playing baseball now that Samuel Lucchese was aware of what was going on. The Salvation Circle would excommunicate both of them if they found out that she continued playing.

After over an hour of waiting around for a response for his father, Elio figured he needed to tell his girlfriend what had happened. Sarah returned from her Introduction to Computer Programming class at that very moment.

Elio Lucchese - Welcome home, Sarah. How was class today?

Sarah Fuerst - Hey Elio! Class was boring. The professor is taking his dear old time explaining to us what a variable is. Its like he thinks we're all complete idiots!

Elio Lucchese - That's a shame. Hopefully you get a chance to actually do something soon.

Sarah Fuerst - I wish they wouldn't assume we know absolutely nothing about computers. I've been hacking for years and you don't get good at that without being able to modify your tools.

Elio Lucchese - At least you don't have to worry about that class. Its definitely nothing like Physics.

Sarah Fuerst - I can't believe they actually make us take Physics and Differential Equations.

Elio Lucchese - I think they're trying to weed people out of your major before they even get into core classes. I was talking with a guy earlier today who told me he's doing a software engineering degree because he wants to actually learn useful shit, not a bunch of crazy math. Personally, I just wish we didn't have to take fucking Calculus for a political science degree! Thanks by the way for programming the derivative rules into my calculator. Without that, there's no way I would have passed that first test.

Sarah Fuerst - That's what I'm here for honey.

Elio Lucchese - We both know you're the smart one. Its crazy how you used to be a total punk who didn't respect authority or give a shit about school.

Sarah Fuerst - What says I've changed?

Elio Lucchese - I know you're still the same girl I fell in love with.

Sarah Fuerst - Yeah, I just decided it was worth trying to get out of that hellhole my home Republic turned into.

Elio Lucchese - I know.

Sarah Fuerst - And now I put forward an effort because I actually give a shit.

At that moment, Elio's phone went off. It was a notification with the starting lineup for the WBC opener between the Free Republics and Hapilopper but it reminded Elio of something.

Elio Lucchese - Oh shit, I've been meaning to mention that I fucked up really badly earlier.

Sarah Fuerst - What did you do?

Elio Lucchese - I tried to send my dad a picture of my Calc test but I fucked up and sent him a picture of you in your baseball uniform.

Sarah Fuerst - That's not good, for either of us. Have you heard back from him yet?

Elio Lucchese - No.

Sarah Fuerst - You know we'll be lucky if he orders me to quit baseball and you to send him a glorified BDSM film, right?

Elio Lucchese - Yeah. I'm so sorry. I can't believe I was so stupid.

Sarah Fuerst - There has to be another way besides obeying the Circle. We're adults now.

Elio Lucchese - Yes. We could find a way to pay for school ourselves which probably means moving into the dorms and living with roommates of the same gender.

Sarah Fuerst - Fuck that. I want to be with you and I want to stay here.

Elio Lucchese - Then we have to hope my dad will let us off relatively easy.

Sarah Fuerst - Wait, I think I may have thought of a way out of this predicament. I'll ask Honomi Kamei to help us.

Elio Lucchese - That's actually a great idea but will she do that?

Sarah Fuerst - Might as well ask.

Sarah texted Honomi, explaining what had happened and asking for help. She waited for a response...

Capital Stadium, Hapilopper City, Hapilopper

Honomi Kamei finished her turn in batting practice and returned to the dugout to rest before the game started. Upon entering the dugout, Kyle Thomas handed her phone back to her. Normally, Mr. Thomas held onto their phones from the time they arrived at the park until the end of the game so Honomi knew something was up immediately. When she looked at the texts that had come in, it took home a moment to realize what was going on.

Honomi Kamei - So Sarah Fuerst may never play baseball again because her boyfriend screwed up? That's just not right!

Kyle Thomas - That's a shame. I was planning on calling her up later on if we needed a secret weapon. I think she's already better than Ethan [Joyner].

Honomi Kamei - Would it be possible for the National Team to give them scholarships to cover their school expenses?

Kyle Thomas - I think so but I'd have to talk with the higher ups about that which will have to wait until we play Trastamur in Mortonsville in a few days.

Honomi Kamei - Regardless, I think I could let them stay at my place. Its probably an upgrade on the apartment they're staying in and I certainly have lots of spare rooms there.

Kyle Thomas - That would settle their housing situation.

Honomi Kamei - I'll text Sarah back and let them know that I'll find a way to help them stay in school. I'll be thrilled to do that actually because the Salvation Circle are some of the worst woman-hating scum in the multiverse. They're nearly as bad as the Church of Saintland! (OOC: The fact that the Salvation Circle and the Church of Saintland are one and the same is not public knowledge.)

Kyle Thomas - I hope you will go out and dominate tonight like you usually do. Every time you do well, you make the Salvation Circle's sexism look foolish.

Honomi Kamei - That's extra motivation for me but even if they'd all drop dead tomorrow, I'd still want to be known as the greatest of all time when I finally retire.

Kyle Thomas - I think your unprecedented dominance both domestically and internationally has you well on the way to that goal but obviously we need to win a WBC championship to cement your legacy.

Honomi Kamei - I know that. There's a ton of pressure on all of us. Rumors are floating around that the front office is getting impatient.

Kyle Thomas - Those rumors are true. They expect us to win now.

Honomi Kamei - Well, we're gonna have to do that then.

Honomi quickly texted Sarah to let her know everything would be taken care of no matter what Mr. Lucchese did and then she returned to the locker room with the rest of the team to deliver a pre-game pep talk...

by **Tierra de Castro** » Fri May 31, 2019 5:14 pm

Federación Castrollana de Béisbol
World Baseball Classic 46 Roster

HEAD COACH: ‘El Profesor’ Edgar Abasto, 60, third appearance (WBC 44, 45, 46)

A spectacular second baseman and leadoff hitter for the Marineros in his playing days, ‘El Profesor’ has since coached his boyhood ball club to multiple national titles which has led to them being discussed as a true Castrollano baseball dynasty. Abasto is a deep thinker and can often be found poring through statistics in an attempt to find the perfect formula to win a game. Away from baseball, Abasto has a doctorate in psychology and this is where his nickname primarily comes from. Abasto masterminded Tierra de Castro's impressive progression out of the group stage in the nation's debut World Baseball Classic, they may have fallen at the first hurdle in the play-offs, but the Castrollano team certainly left an impression on every other country that competed. In the national team's second bite at the WBC apple, he took them to the quarter finals where they were dispatched 3-1 by giants of the game Newmanistan. He has brought the nation firmly into the mind of world baseball as a potential contender for glory.

ASSISTANT COACH: ‘El Zorro’ Hector Chicote, 43, third appearance (first as coach) (WBC 44, 45, 46)

Somewhat of a living legend within Castrollano baseball, he finally retired following the conclusion of the Castrollano campaign at WBC 45 in Cassadaigua. Chicote was a crafty pitcher, his nickname translates as 'the fox' and gives some idea of his cunning nature on the mound. He has undergone a degree of character development over recent years, earlier on in his career nobody would have suggested he would become a coach, but he has endeared himself to many with a hard-working approach as he has scouted games across Tierra de Castro for the benefit of the national team. He is now Abasto's right-hand man and nobody would be surprised to see him succeed his mentor as the head coach of the national team one day.

STARTING ROTATION:
#03: Alfredo Tejedor, 30, LHP, 26 de Julio, third appearance (WBC 44, 45, 46)

Tejedor was talked up as the next big thing to come out of Castrollano baseball in his younger days and he has steadily fulfilled his potential since then. He is now the national team's first choice pitcher, picking up from his hero Hector Chicote. His trademark, a dizzying knuckleball, is something which could be straight out of Chicote's repertoire and Tejedor has steadily added more diverse pitches to his arsenal throughout his career. He has stayed loyal to his boyhood ball club 26 de Julio throughout his career and he was rewarded finally last season as he took them to a surprise National Championship when they beat Macacos 4-1 in the finals series. No doubt they benefited from down years for both of the big two, Industriales and Marineros - but Tejedor had to be on top-form as he pitched all five games and led them to their second national title, forty years after their first.

#29: ‘El Niño de Oro’ César de la Cavallería, 22, LHP, Estibadores, second appearance (WBC 45, 46)

Last time out he was the youngest player to ever be selected for the national team and he played a couple of games and was successful, closing out tight encounters and continued solid performances domestically have led to his promotion to the starting rotation - replacing none other than Hector Chicote. Big shoes to fill for the young man. He started his career when he was still in high school, playing for Estibadores and becoming a national star as a result of his quality at such a young age. He was christened with his 'golden boy' moniker and it has stuck due to his exceptional pitching ability and his diverse repertoire will make him a weapon for years to come. Mature beyond his years, he could be baseball's next global superstar.

#25: Orlando Tenorio, 26, RHP, Industriales, second appearance (WBC 45, 46)

Still in the national team set-up, but both Tenorio and the rest of his Industriales team haven't been playing quite as well as expected for a few years. Abasto has stuck with Tenorio, his pitching offers something a little different to the others in the team and he'll remain part of the starting rotation in the process. Utilises a vicious curveball to good effect and Abasto will hope he can regain the form that got him into the national team and that he displayed in his debut Classic.

#04: Gustavo ‘Cheesy’ Quesada, 36, RHP, Tortugas, third appearance (WBC 44, 45, 46)

The evergreen Quesada took his team to a National Championship (finally!), two seasons ago. They had been consistently hamstrung by a poor offense, but they got it right that year and beat Los Cubanos 4-2 in the finals series. This is likely to be his last Classic, unless he's able to keep his quality into the very twilight years of his career, so he'll hope to go out with a bang this time around. Quesada is known for being able to switch extremely naturally between a fierce fastball and a devious changeup.

#06: Juan Zoido, 34, RHP, Hormigas de Fuego, third appearance (WBC 44, 45, 46)

Zoido is a veteran starter at home and he was perhaps a little unfortunate not to be named in the starting pitching rotation in his debut with the national side in WBC 44, but he has slowly become an important part of the pitching rotation. Zoido is an intelligent pitcher who works in tandem with his catcher to devise plans on every single hitter they face and this in-depth approach makes him one of the more successful pitchers domestically and has helped to endear him to the national team's similarly conscientious coach Edgar Abasto. Continued quality in the Castrollano domestic league has helped him grab a place in the starting rotation this time and Zoido is likely to grab it with both hands. His main pitches are his two-seam fastball and his cutter.

BULLPEN:
#01: Yoel ‘Snoopy’ Martinez, 33, RHP, Los Cubanos, second appearance (WBC 44, 45, 46)

‘Snoopy’ Martinez has made a career domestically out of pure speed. He doesn't have too much variation in his locker, but he will put batters under pressure and try to give them something to think about. Martinez has immense stamina and this made him a regular favourite of ‘El Profesor’ in WBC 44, but he perhaps doesn't have the variation necessary to be a part of the starting rotation and that was almost definitely in Abasto's thinking in naming the squad ahead of this Classic as he has named Martinez as a bullpen pitcher. ‘Snoopy’ will most often act as a long reliever.

#26: Alberto Céspedes, 26, RHP, Industriales, second appearance (WBC 45, 46)

Forms a pitching tandem with Tenorio for Industriales domestically and he relies more upon his fastballs and change-ups than breaking balls. As mentioned when discussing Tenorio's selection, Industriales have had a few poor seasons domestically - albeit by their own very high standards - and a few commentators were wondering if it might have been better to pick the pitchers who had displayed the best form in the domestic game. Abasto has stuck with the players he believes to possess the best quality in the main, however, and he will hope Céspedes repays that faith by performing well when he comes onto the mound.

#07: Benjamin ‘Benji’ Arboleda, 30, LHP, Tocororos, third appearance (WBC 44, 45, 46)

Benji Arboleda was originally touted as a closer with immense potential in WBC 44 and since then he has progressed to a level where people are starting to say he has reached his potential. He has a knack for pressure situations and looks almost ice cold when he's on the mound and assessing how best to get the next out. Arboleda will be the go-to closer. Domestically, Tocororos fans took a while to warm to Arboleda as he grew up a fan of their hated rivals from across town the Urracas, but his performances have started to endear him to them slowly but surely.

#30: Luis Obregón, 23, LHP, Macacos, debut appearance

Obregón, also known as the bad guy of Castrollano baseball, renowned for his short temper and a tendency to be the focal point of bench-clearing brawls - in the midst of all that he's also a good pitcher. A bit of a rockstar domestically for his good lucks, devil-may-care attitude and off-the-field exploits he has run into trouble with the Party on occasion. Coach Abasto has had to work hard to try and persuade him to stay on the straight-and-narrow, but if he can he could end up a key part of the starting rotation in the future because his unorthodox attitude is mirrored in his pitching and it makes him extremely difficult to play against. The WBC could be in for some fun if Obregón comes on in relief of a starter, prepare for fireworks!

STARTING LINE-UP (bats/throws):
#09: Facundo Mina, 36, LF (L/L), Industriales, third appearance (WBC 44, 45, 46)

An excellent example of a contact hitter, Mina enjoys the task of getting on-base and is consistently a leader domestically in at-bats per strikeout. A speedy baserunner, he will also patiently attempt to steal bases. He's an integral part of the Industriales team domestically, with his professional approach rubbing off on his team mates and this is something that has carried across to how he deals with his team mates in the national team set-up. Mina has already announced that this will be his last WBC and he will be hoping he can motivate his team mates to do something special before he perhaps joins the coaching team ahead of the next edition.

#10: ‘Cool Hand’ Lucas Leguizamo, 33, 2B (L/R), Avispones, third appearance (WBC 44, 45, 46)

Leguizamo is a patient hitter and is often able to walk due to his ability to read pitches well and leave those that are outside the strike zone. He is another contact hitter who is adept at moving the leadoff man into scoring position. Abasto prefers a lefty hitting second due to the potential advantage for them if a runner is on first (i.e. first baseman holding on the runner and second baseman playing double play depth), and Leguizamo is skilled in finding the 3-4 gap in the infield.

#11: Adan Carita, 30, C (R/R), Marineros, third appearance (WBC 44, 45, 46)

Carita is this team's bona fide worldwide superstar, known as one of the best catchers in the game as well as being a regular home run hitter and with an envy-inducing RBI to boot. He is Tierra de Castro's all-time leading run scorer and is known for being a clutch player too, if the team need something, more often than not it is Adan Carita who provides it. Coach Abasto often is said to just hope Mina and Leguizamo can do their job and get on base and that if they do he can rely upon Carita to do the rest. He's only small in stature (5'6), but he is a hefty man and packs some power into his hitting. Generally quiet off the field, preferring to help out at his family's restaurant than involve himself in any of the partying many other baseball stars take part in, on the diamond he is a different proposition altogether and a notoriously fiery character.

#19: Juan Esteban Capmany, 29, 3B (S/R), Marineros, third appearance (WBC 44, 45, 46)

Capmany was the national team's designated hitter in both his and the team's debut Classic and he was promoted to the clean-up spot last time out, replacing Castrollano legend Eustacio Lain in the process. He has regularly been the leading home run scorer domestically and as a childhood friend of Adan Carita the two make quite a pair on and off the diamond. They both play for their boyhood club, the Marineros and will often be seen sharing a laugh and a joke in the dugout together. However, where Carita is quiet off the field, Capmany is said to be the polar opposite as he lives an extroverted lifestyle (or as out there as can be in a communist state, although baseball stars are given some leeway...), and is a good interviewee with his always forthright views.

#20: Isaias Tejeda, 31, SS, (S/L), 26 de Julio, third appearance (WBC 44, 45, 46)

Tejeda is a spectacular athlete, blessed with speed and exceptional fitness. He was employed regularly as a pinch runner in WBC 44, but he's worked incredibly hard on his hitting since then and he is now a really rounded player, being promoted for WBC 45 and now part of the furniture for WBC 46. A real all-rounder, Tejeda has led the league in stolen bases four times in his career with his aggressive baserunning and he's been an all-star 7 times in the past 8 seasons. He moved to 26 de Julio to play alongside his good friend Alfredo Tejedor ahead of the championship-winning season last year (it was a surprise move at the time with his old team Los Cubanos finishing runners-up in the National Championship the season before, but boy has it paid off!), and his hitting inspired the fairytale as much as Tejedor's pitching.

#14: ‘Pint Size’ Emilio Pinto, 31, 1B (L/L), Marineros, third appearance (WBC 44, 45, 46)

Pinto is short and skinny but has a knack for contact hitting and that makes him useful at sixth in the batting order. He is a true speedster, though and that is more perhaps the reasoning by having him here. A decent hit can lead to him gaining a little more ground than expected, due to his pace and his daredevil nature. He's a four time National Champion domestically, following his controversial move to the Marineros from his old team Lobos a few years ago - a move which was greeted with fury in some parts of Castrollano baseball, with many feeling that it was a distinctly anti-socialist move and a case of the 'rich' (i.e. Marineros), getting richer. There were even protests outside government buildings in La Habana! Pinto didn't seem to mind too much though, winning two more National Championship pennants in the first two seasons after his move to go with the one he won with Lobos!

#23: Diego Espina, 32, RF (S/L), Marineros, third appearance (WBC 44, 45, 46)

A switch hitter who has plenty of power in his locker, Espina fulfils a role as a power hitter late in the hitting order. He plays right fielder for Marineros and possesses a rocket arm and plenty of ability when at-bat. He's evidence of why they are one of the dominant forces in Castrollano baseball,given the fact that he's a top player and it seems like he has been around forever despite the fact he's still only 32!

#31: Eduardo Ciceron, 19, CF (R/R), 26 de Julio, debut appearance

Ciceron was a major part of the 26 de Julio team that won the National Championship last season and whilst many have said Abasto isn't selecting the team based on form this is one selection that he simply had to make. Ciceron was mesmeric at times, making magnificent catches in the field and slamming home runs over the fences as he was part of the trio (along with Tejedor and Tejeda), that inspired the unfashionable team to their second national title. Ciceron's was talked up as one for the future, but Abasto's put him in the starting line-up and look for him to be one of the breakout players of the tournament. A strong hitter late in the line-up, it may just be his lack of experience at this level that holds him back.

Pitcher or Designated Hitter, if DH: Jesus Carballo

BENCH (bats/throws):
#17: Jesus Carballo, 38, 1B (L/R), Urracas, third appearance (WBC 44, 45, 46)

Carballo is an experienced first baseman with Urracas, a reasonable power hitter who would likely start somewhere around 4th or 5th if it wasn't for the presence of the big hitters already there and starting first baseman Pinto's exceptional baserunning ability. He's taken up the designated hitter slot with Big Chris Gonzalez's retirement.

#18: Lorenzo Marti, 32, 2B (R/R), Hormigas de Fuego, third appearance (WBC 44, 45, 46)

A team mate of pitcher Juan Zoido domestically, Marti is a skilled second baseman, defence is coached relentlessly in Tierra de Castro until it is like clockwork and Marti is an example of this. Abasto's preference for a lefty batting second perhaps means he doesn't start ahead of Leguizamo as Marti is also a reasonable contact hitter. He's one of many examples in this squad of why the Castrollano team are likely to be considered quite dangerous in this edition of the WBC - there is a lot of experience in this team, even among the bench players and the depth of the team is something to be admired.

#15: Aaron Munoz, 36, 3B (R/R), Macacos,third appearance (WBC 44, 45, 46)

His hitting is rather hit-and-miss, if you would pardon the pun. Not always the best at reading a pitcher and can often pay for this, but if he does hit the ball it will go a long way as he is a powerful guy and this is where the danger lies for opposing pitchers - underestimate Munoz at your peril. A solid defensive player and baserunner, slightly unfortunate to have been dropped to a place on the bench, but Juan Esteban Capmany is just that level better than Munoz.

#27: Jerónimo Illescas, 24, SS (R/R), Industriales, second appearance (WBC 45, 46)

He's an excellent defensive player, with his instincts and his arm both being of the highest calibre. He's also a real danger at the plate, too, with his hitting talent still being a little raw but it's clear he's starting to fulfil his potential. He's a powerful hitter, but his plate intelligence isn't quite the same level as some of those in the starting line-up. Illescas can only get better though, given his youth and can learn from Tejeda ahead of him. He plays for Industriales, he knows what pressure is, so he's probably not too far from making the big step towards being a top contributor for the team.

#21: Mateo Lopez, 33, LF (R/R), Los Cubanos, third appearance (WBC 44, 45, 46)

A solid leadoff hitter, Lopez will often substitute in like-for-like with Facundo Mina. A strong arm and outstanding 'baseball intelligence' (something Coach Abasto loves), complete the picture with Lopez, who is fairly content with his place on the bench and is never a player that complains about his lack of on-field time with the national team and is a good voice in the locker room for this team.

#22: ‘JPP’ Juan Pablo Pareja, 33, CF, (L/L), Industriales, third appearance (WBC 44, 45, 46)

Pareja is a good contact hitter and baserunner. A lover of stealing bases, he may be employed occasionally as a pinch runner if Abasto is feeling particularly speculative, his speed is evident but he can often risk a little too much when attempting to steal.

#28: Santi Cazalla, 26, RF (R/R), Industriales, second appearance (WBC 45, 46)

A solid if unspectacular leadoff hitter, who still has a bit of work to do to be the standard that many expected he would be by this point in his career. There is a feeling around Cazalla that if he wasn't an Industriales player he may not have had the career - or the national team appearances - that he has had, but that's quite unfair on the outfielder as he is a sound defensive presence and the entire Industriales team has been poor over the past three seasons and he has been largely consistent in that time. He is often a bit of a pest for opposition pitchers, having a knack of extending his at-bat for a long time and this can make him useful - increasing the opposition pitcher's pitch count if nothing else! He's as good as any other Castrollano in the field, with that being a part of the game that is relentlessly drilled into kids from an early age, especially for those that attend the FCB's elite youth training programmes where the country's most promising young baseball talent is nurtured from little league right up until college.

#24: ‘Saint’ Valentin Aparicio, 34, C (R/R), Industriales, third appearance (WBC 44, 45, 46)

Abasto must be thankful that in Carita the national team have a catcher that can hit - and very, very well at that. Aparicio, whilst an excellent catcher, is not blessed with any particular ability when batting and that is why the younger man starts ahead of him. Aparicio is a slow baserunner too and is regularly substituted for a pinch runner domestically with Industriales. This means that Aparicio will only really be employed as a starter if Carita suffers an unfortunate injury or suspension.

HOME STADIUM: Centro Nacional de Béisbol (capacity: 38,000)

Both the ancestral home of Castrollano baseball and the future, the national stadium is a modern construction paid for by the government as a centrepiece of the country's sports programme (alongside a modern athletics stadium, football stadium and boxing arena), all shiny steel and glass it is an exceptional modern facility and one that will be used for years to come. The ethics of it being built are of course not in question at all and although the money spent on its construction could perhaps have been better spent in other ways, Castrollanos love their baseball and therefore this stadium is the jewel in the FCB's (and the government's) proverbial crown. Alongside the stadium are training facilities for the national team and all the age-group teams down to the little-league squads, with government funding of the FCB youth training programme increasing almost tenfold with the decision to finally send a team to the World Baseball Classic as they hope to prove the superiority of socialist sporting prowess above all else on the global stage.

NOTES:

Tierra de Castro is a communist state with a Caribbean climate and the government are determined to demonstrate the superiority of their chosen political system through sport, thus large swathes of government funds are funnelled towards baseball along with a few other sports (athletics and boxing mainly, with the proficiency of the Castrollano boxing being particularly worthy of praise).

The quality of life for citizens in Tierra de Castro is relatively good, but the majority of society will have very little in the way of disposable cash and some places will look a little rundown, although they will always be spotlessly clean at least. Public services are very good, healthcare and transport particularly. Tourism is the biggest industry for Tierra de Castro, with rich tourists from comparatively more prosperous nations spending their money vacationing on the sandy beaches that can be accessed straight from the government-run hotels right next to them. Castrollano cigars are exceptional and are regularly sold to tourists for an extremely high mark-up.

Sociolismo is rife, with friends often providing each other with certain black market goods that can be difficult to find, swapping one for another and saying little else about it. Anyone caught doing this will be imprisoned, something which is definitely a bad thing in Tierra de Castro. In short, citizens have a reasonable quality of life, with little to no political rights and a great love for baseball. Palm trees, communism and baseball - what's not to like?

Be careful, if your answer to that question is a negative one the secret police will send you to prison quicker than El Presidente can declare that manufacturing and agricultural production is up 150% in his next speech!

OOC STUFF:

Choose my runscorers: ¡Sí!
Choose my lineup: ¡No!
Follow my pitching rotation: Pick whichever you find the most interesting from the starting rotation.
Godmod scoring events: ¡Sí!
RP injuries to my players: ¡Sí! But I shall determine severity.
Godmod injuries to my players: ¡No!
Eject my players: ¡Sí!
Godmod other events: ¡Sí! No deaths though please.
Use DH at home: ¡Sí!

by **Newmanistan** » Fri May 31, 2019 6:51 pm

THE ROCKET REPORT

HOSTING AGAIN BUT WITH A TWIST

by Brianne Henry,

Newmanistan was once again elected to host the World Baseball Classic, showing the amount of trust that the Council has in our ability to put on a great show. Possibly, some of that is a lack of other bids, but since World Baseball Classic 38, this is the fourth Classic that will see the playoffs come to Newmanistan. This time, though, they won’t all come to Newmanistan. For the first time in our baseball history, the empire is co-hosting with another nation, doing so with The Sherpa Empire. It will be the first significant hosting of The Sherpa Empire, a nation that has become known to us in both prior baseball competitions, as well as in stock car racing.

The big question is, why? We’ve hosted these successfully on our own so many times, and have proven ourselves as both a host and a competitor. Surely, we could have just done so again. Co-hostings are more common in the soccer community, and we’ve had our share of that, such as in World Cup 49 with The Babbage Islands, or a couple Cup of Harmony ventures. Baseball has seen nations co-host, but it has been more the exception then the rule, and seemed to happen more during our hiatus rather then the period where we were active. Ashley Stevens, the former baseball coach, and now an advisor to Newmanistan baseball summed it up, “This is not about us, it’s about giving the opportunity for other nations to host. Recent years have seen two common hosts, us and Cassadaigua, and there has clearly become a need for more nations to step and be able to host. From what I understand, the bids have not been there. There are many nations that have done and would continue to do a great job hosting the competition, but we have not seen bids from them lately. That’s just fine, but we still need to spread the wealth. A lot of us are high on The Sherpa Empire, and respect them as a nation. They are a great candidate for not only co-hosting now, but hosting more down the road.”

Emperor Michael V endorsed the idea, saying of The Sherpa Empire, “Different cultures, but we have nothing against them. They are good people, and we speak the universal language of baseball. We have been friendly in the past, and this can continue to grow relations between the nations in all areas, not just in sports.”

by **Newmanistan** » Fri May 31, 2019 7:08 pm

Matchday 1:

Group 1
Liventia                     0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1  2
Vangaziland                  0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  1

The Sherpa Empire            1 2 0 4 3 1 0 1 0 12
The Holy Athonite State      1 0 1 0 0 2 0 0 0  4

Lisander                     0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1  1
Saintland                    1 1 4 0 1 2 0 0 X  9


  Group 1                     Pld    W   L    RF   RA   RD   Pts 
1 The Sherpa Empire             1    1   0    12    4   +8     3
2 Saintland                     1    1   0     9    1   +8     3
3 Liventia                      1    1   0     2    1   +1     3
4 Vangaziland                   1    0   1     1    2   −1     0
5 The Holy Athonite State       1    0   1     4   12   −8     0
6 Lisander                      1    0   1     1    9   −8     0

Group 2
Free Republics               5 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 1  9
Hapilopper                   2 0 0 0 0 1 2 0 0  5

Oscioru                      0 0 0 0 0 0 0 5 0  5
Hampton Island               1 1 0 0 0 0 0 2 0  4

Trastamar                    0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  0
Tierra de Castro             0 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 X  2


  Group 2                     Pld    W   L    RF   RA   RD   Pts 
1 Free Republics                1    1   0     9    5   +4     3
2 Tierra de Castro              1    1   0     2    0   +2     3
3 Oscioru                       1    1   0     5    4   +1     3
4 Hampton Island                1    0   1     4    5   −1     0
5 Trastamar                     1    0   1     0    2   −2     0
6 Hapilopper                    1    0   1     5    9   −4     0

Group 3
Lycrabon                     0 0 1 2 0 1 0 3 0  7
Cosumar                      0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0  2

Drawkland                    1 0 2 0 0 0 4 4 0 11
Tornado Queendom             1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0  3

Cassadaigua                  0 1 0 0 2 0 0 4 1  8
St Saratoga                  0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0  2


  Group 3                     Pld    W   L    RF   RA   RD   Pts 
1 Drawkland                     1    1   0    11    3   +8     3
2 Cassadaigua                   1    1   0     8    2   +6     3
3 Lycrabon                      1    1   0     7    2   +5     3
4 Cosumar                       1    0   1     2    7   −5     0
5 St Saratoga                   1    0   1     2    8   −6     0
6 Tornado Queendom              1    0   1     3   11   −8     0

Matchday 2:

Group 1
Vangaziland                  0 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 0  2
Saintland                    0 2 2 0 1 1 0 2 X  8

The Holy Athonite State      0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  0
Lisander                     0 3 0 2 1 0 0 1 X  7

Liventia                     1 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 0  3
The Sherpa Empire            0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0  1


  Group 1                     Pld    W   L    RF   RA   RD   Pts 
1 Saintland                     2    2   0    17    3  +14     6
2 Liventia                      2    2   0     5    2   +3     6
3 The Sherpa Empire             2    1   1    13    7   +6     3
4 Lisander                      2    1   1     8    9   −1     3
5 Vangaziland                   2    0   2     3   10   −7     0
6 The Holy Athonite State       2    0   2     4   19  −15     0

Group 2
Hapilopper                   0 1 1 0 0 0 0 1 1  4
Tierra de Castro             0 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 0  2

Hampton Island               0 0 2 0 3 0 1 0 2  8
Trastamar                    0 0 0 5 0 1 0 0 0  6

Free Republics               0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0  2
Oscioru                      0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0  1


  Group 2                     Pld    W   L    RF   RA   RD   Pts 
1 Free Republics                2    2   0    11    6   +5     6
2 Hampton Island                2    1   1    12   11   +1     3
3 Oscioru                       2    1   1     6    6    0     3
4 Tierra de Castro              2    1   1     4    4    0     3
5 Hapilopper                    2    1   1     9   11   −2     3
6 Trastamar                     2    0   2     6   10   −4     0

Group 3
Cosumar                      0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0  1
St Saratoga                  0 0 1 0 0 0 3 0 X  4

Tornado Queendom             0 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 0  2
Cassadaigua                  4 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 X  5

Lycrabon                     1 1 0 0 0 1 0 3 2  8
Drawkland                    0 0 0 0 0 1 0 2 0  3


  Group 3                     Pld    W   L    RF   RA   RD   Pts 
1 Lycrabon                      2    2   0    15    5  +10     6
2 Cassadaigua                   2    2   0    13    4   +9     6
3 Drawkland                     2    1   1    14   11   +3     3
4 St Saratoga                   2    1   1     6    9   −3     3
5 Cosumar                       2    0   2     3   11   −8     0
6 Tornado Queendom              2    0   2     5   16  −11     0

Matchday 3:

Group 1
The Sherpa Empire            6 1 0 0 0 3 1 2 0 13
Vangaziland                  0 2 1 0 1 0 0 0 1  5

Lisander                     0 0 0 0 3 2 2 0 0  7
Liventia                     0 1 0 1 0 0 0 2 0  4

Saintland                    1 3 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0  5
The Holy Athonite State      0 1 0 0 1 2 0 0 1 1  6


  Group 1                     Pld    W   L    RF   RA   RD   Pts 
1 The Sherpa Empire             3    2   1    26   12  +14     6
2 Saintland                     3    2   1    22    9  +13     6
3 Lisander                      3    2   1    15   13   +2     6
4 Liventia                      3    2   1     9    9    0     6
5 The Holy Athonite State       3    1   2    10   24  −14     3
6 Vangaziland                   3    0   3     8   23  −15     0

Group 2
Oscioru                      0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0  1
Hapilopper                   0 0 0 0 0 1 2 0 X  3

Trastamar                    2 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 0  4
Free Republics               2 3 1 0 0 0 2 0 X  8

Tierra de Castro             2 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0  3
Hampton Island               0 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0  2


  Group 2                     Pld    W   L    RF   RA   RD   Pts 
1 Free Republics                3    3   0    19   10   +9     9
2 Tierra de Castro              3    2   1     7    6   +1     6
3 Hapilopper                    3    2   1    12   12    0     6
4 Hampton Island                3    1   2    14   14    0     3
5 Oscioru                       3    1   2     7    9   −2     3
6 Trastamar                     3    0   3    10   18   −8     0

Group 3
Drawkland                    1 1 4 1 1 0 1 1 0 10
Cosumar                      0 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 0  2

Cassadaigua                  0 0 0 3 0 0 0 0 0  3
Lycrabon                     0 0 1 3 0 0 1 0 X  5

St Saratoga                  1 1 0 0 0 4 1 0 0  7
Tornado Queendom             0 0 4 0 3 0 0 0 1  8


  Group 3                     Pld    W   L    RF   RA   RD   Pts 
1 Lycrabon                      3    3   0    20    8  +12     9
2 Drawkland                     3    2   1    24   13  +11     6
3 Cassadaigua                   3    2   1    16    9   +7     6
4 St Saratoga                   3    1   2    13   17   −4     3
5 Tornado Queendom              3    1   2    13   23  −10     3
6 Cosumar                       3    0   3     5   21  −16     0

by **Tornado Queendom** » Fri May 31, 2019 8:48 pm

During one of the events, a fan pulls out a gun after learning that we lost. This causes chaos to happen, but we are firm believers in the motto "the show must go on".

by **The Sherpa Empire** » Fri May 31, 2019 9:01 pm

Matchday 1

Group 4
Ethane                   0 0 0 1 0 1 2 0 1  5
Ancherion                0 0 0 1 0 0 1 1 0  3

Devonta                  2 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  3
The Greater Nordics      0 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1  4

Newmanistan              3 0 1 1 0 1 0 0 0  6
Scootalove City          1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0  2


  Group 4                 Pld    W   L    RF   RA   RD   Pts 
1 Newmanistan               1    1   0     6    2   +4     3
2 Ethane                    1    1   0     5    3   +2     3
3 The Greater Nordics       1    1   0     4    3   +1     3
4 Devonta                   1    0   1     3    4   −1     0
5 Ancherion                 1    0   1     3    5   −2     0
6 Scootalove City           1    0   1     2    6   −4     0

Group 5
Schiltzberg              0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0  2
Abanhfleft               0 0 0 1 0 4 0 0 X  5

Ko-Oren                  0 4 0 2 1 0 0 1 0  8
Anthor                   0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0  1

Pratapgadh               2 0 1 0 0 0 0 2 0  5
Banija                   0 2 0 1 0 1 0 1 2  7


  Group 5                 Pld    W   L    RF   RA   RD   Pts 
1 Ko-Oren                   1    1   0     8    1   +7     3
2 Abanhfleft                1    1   0     5    2   +3     3
3 Banija                    1    1   0     7    5   +2     3
4 Pratapgadh                1    0   1     5    7   −2     0
5 Schiltzberg               1    0   1     2    5   −3     0
6 Anthor                    1    0   1     1    8   −7     0

Group 6
Equestrian States        0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1  2
Nova Anglicana           3 0 2 1 0 0 0 0 X  6

West Phoenicia           0 2 0 0 0 3 0 3 0  8
Xanneria                 0 0 0 0 2 0 1 0 0  3

Alpine Union             0 1 1 2 4 1 2 3 1 15
The Aurian Plains        4 0 1 0 1 1 0 0 2  9


  Group 6                 Pld    W   L    RF   RA   RD   Pts 
1 Alpine Union              1    1   0    15    9   +6     3
2 West Phoenicia            1    1   0     8    3   +5     3
3 Nova Anglicana            1    1   0     6    2   +4     3
4 Equestrian States         1    0   1     2    6   −4     0
5 Xanneria                  1    0   1     3    8   −5     0
6 The Aurian Plains         1    0   1     9   15   −6     0

Matchday 2

Group 4
Ancherion                0 0 0 1 0 0 0 6 0  7
Scootalove City          0 2 0 0 0 0 1 1 1  5

The Greater Nordics      0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  0
Newmanistan              0 0 2 0 3 0 0 0 X  5

Ethane                   0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0  2
Devonta                  0 1 0 0 3 0 0 1 X  5


  Group 4                 Pld    W   L    RF   RA   RD   Pts 
1 Newmanistan               2    2   0    11    2   +9     6
2 The Greater Nordics       2    1   1     4    8   −4     3
3 Devonta                   2    1   1     8    6   +2     3
4 Ethane                    2    1   1     7    8   −1     3
5 Ancherion                 2    1   1    10   10    0     3
6 Scootalove City           2    0   2     7   13   −6     0

Group 5
Abanhfleft               0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  0
Banija                   0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 X  1

Anthor                   1 1 0 0 0 1 0 2 0  5
Pratapgadh               1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0  2

Schiltzberg              0 1 0 0 2 0 0 0 0  3
Ko-Oren                  0 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 2  4


  Group 5                 Pld    W   L    RF   RA   RD   Pts 
1 Ko-Oren                   2    2   0    12    4   +8     6
2 Banija                    2    2   0     8    5   +3     6
3 Abanhfleft                2    1   1     5    3   +2     3
4 Anthor                    2    1   1     6   10   −4     3
5 Schiltzberg               2    0   2     5    9   −4     0
6 Pratapgadh                2    0   2     7   12   −5     0

Group 6
Nova Anglicana           1 0 0 0 1 0 0 2 0 1  5
The Aurian Plains        0 0 0 0 1 0 3 0 0 0  4

Xanneria                 0 1 0 2 0 0 0 0 0  3
Alpine Union             2 1 1 1 0 0 1 0 X  6

Equestrian States        0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1  2
West Phoenicia           0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  0


  Group 6                 Pld    W   L    RF   RA   RD   Pts 
1 Alpine Union              2    2   0    21   12   +9     6
2 Nova Anglicana            2    2   0    11    6   +5     6
3 Equestrian States         2    1   1     4    6   −2     3
4 West Phoenicia            2    1   1     8    5   +3     3
5 The Aurian Plains         2    0   2    13   20   −7     0
6 Xanneria                  2    0   2     6   14   −8     0

Matchday 3

Group 4
Devonta                  0 0 0 2 0 0 0 2 0  4
Ancherion                0 0 0 2 0 0 3 0 X  5

Newmanistan              0 3 0 0 5 3 0 0 2 13
Ethane                   0 1 1 0 0 2 0 1 0  5

Scootalove City          2 0 1 0 3 0 2 0 0  8
The Greater Nordics      0 2 0 0 0 0 0 2 0  4


  Group 4                 Pld    W   L    RF   RA   RD   Pts 
1 Newmanistan               3    3   0    24    7  +17     9
2 Ancherion                 3    2   1    15   14   +1     6
3 Scootalove City           3    1   2    15   17   −2     3
4 The Greater Nordics       3    1   2     8   16   −8     3
5 Devonta                   3    1   2    12   11   +1     3
6 Ethane                    3    1   2    12   21   −9     3

Group 5
Ko-Oren                  0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0  1
Abanhfleft               3 2 0 0 0 0 0 1 X  6

Pratapgadh               0 0 0 1 0 0 2 0 0  3
Schiltzberg              1 1 0 0 0 0 1 2 X  5

Banija                   1 1 1 0 1 0 0 0 0  4
Anthor                   1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0  2


  Group 5                 Pld    W   L    RF   RA   RD   Pts 
1 Banija                    3    3   0    12    7   +5     9
2 Abanhfleft                3    2   1    11    4   +7     6
3 Ko-Oren                   3    2   1    13   10   +3     6
4 Schiltzberg               3    1   2    10   12   −2     3
5 Anthor                    3    1   2     8   14   −6     3
6 Pratapgadh                3    0   3    10   17   −7     0

Group 6
West Phoenicia           0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1  1
Nova Anglicana           1 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 X  3

Alpine Union             0 0 0 0 5 1 2 0 0  8
Equestrian States        0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0  1

The Aurian Plains        1 0 2 0 1 0 0 0 1  5
Xanneria                 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 2  4


  Group 6                 Pld    W   L    RF   RA   RD   Pts 
1 Alpine Union              3    3   0    29   13  +16     9
2 Nova Anglicana            3    3   0    14    7   +7     9
3 Equestrian States         3    1   2     5   14   −9     3
4 West Phoenicia            3    1   2     9    8   +1     3
5 The Aurian Plains         3    1   2    18   24   −6     3
6 Xanneria                  3    0   3    10   19   −9     0

by **West Phoenicia** » Sat Jun 01, 2019 1:27 am

The West Phoenician Confederates have made a brazen and progressive move this season with selecting Abigail Whittman to join the team as a catcher. She is the first female to join the team since the Confederates went international.

Abigail Whittman is a 22 year old woman from the city-state Herodias Valley in ccentral West Phoenicia. She was drafted out of high school to play for the Savannah Grove Peaches in the West Phoenicia Women's Baseball League. And has built up a good portfolio as being one of the best catchers in the league.

She was one of 80 hopefuls who took part in try outs to replace a number of the seasoned players who were retiring.
Head Coach Julian Pancretè believes Miss Whitman will be a good asset to the team and stated she was hired for her skill and not her gender.

Senator Gabrielle Pascoe of the West Phoenician Feminist Party applauded the move, but said more needed to be done. If international rules, allow mixed teams that West Phoenicia needed to step up and aim for 25% intake of women players within the next three years for all international sports.

Team Manager Jacob Prosper, rejected the idea saying it was based on skill and the person person for the job and not based on gender. He said the door would always be open for any man or woman to try out, but only the best would be chosen.

by **Free Republics** » Sat Jun 01, 2019 7:14 am

Republica, Free Republics

Elio Lucchese and Sarah Fuerst were relieved when they got the response from Honomi Kamei shortly before the WBC opener. While still waiting for Elio's father to respond, they sat down to watch the WBC game together. Charlton Forest took the mound for Hapilopper to open the WBC. The Free Republics, perhaps angered by Hapilopper's refusal to use the designated hitter, jumped all over the debuting team's ace. Ferrau Bergeron blasted Forest's first pitch to deep right-center eventually ending up on third base with a triple. Ethan Joyner was up next and the second baseman worked his way on base by fouling off Forest's strikes until he finally made a mistake and offered up a ball 4. That put runners on first and third for Kamei who sent a rocket into shallow center field, right over the head of Jerome Hayden. The ball bounced around wildly on Hapilopper's turf as Campbell Braxton chased after it. In seemingly the blink of an eye, Kamei was on second and 2 runs had scored.

Elio Lucchese - Honomi is on top of her game.

Sarah Fuerst - Hapilopper's pitcher is supposed to be really good. This may be their first WBC game but they're supposed to be a good team. This is a country with lots of information. Their league is even included in this year's Front Office Baseball.

Oskar Bjorgum struck out on 3 pitches. The strike 3 pitch was miles outside of the strike zone and Bjorgum had attempted to check his swing.

Elio Lucchese - Come on ump. That wasn't a swing!

Sarah Fuerst - He shouldn't have chased that first pitch in the dirt. Looks like nerves are getting to Oskar right now.

Hollie Rogers would advance Kamei to 3rd with a long sac fly off Forest's very first pitch. It would have been a home run in many Republican parks. Teresa Mrazova stepped up next and was hit on the side by the 3rd pitch after Forest fell behind 2-0. The Republican catcher walked unphased to first base.

Sarah Fuerst - I love how tough Teresa is. Even when you hit her with a pitch, it doesn't phase her in the slightest. There's no way I could be so stoic after getting beaned by a fastball that looked to be in the high 90s.

Elio Lucchese - But I like you just the way you are. There's nothing wrong with showing a little vulnerability at times. Its kind of hot, actually!

Sarah Fuerst - Whatever you say. Come on Evelin. Show us why you beat out Randy for the starting job.

Evelin Norberg took ball 1 before launching Forest's second pitch to the upper deck in right.

Sarah Fuerst - I'll take a 5-0 start.

At that moment, an alert flashed on Elio's phone. He checked it, thinking it was a message from his dad. It was actually a news alert from Googol's news app.

Elio Lucchese - Sister Maria Polus will be holding a rally outside the Supreme Court Building 4 days from now.

Sarah Fuerst - Hasn't she fucked off back to Saintland yet?

Elio Lucchese - Unfortunately, no. She's going to be out there right after the Court announces its ruling on the birth control case.

Sarah Fuerst - You mean Doe v. Malifornia Charter Society?

Elio Lucchese - I'm the one studying to be a lawyer and yet you're the one reminding me of the names of court cases?

Sarah Fuerst - Isn't that the morning after pill case?

Elio Lucchese - Yeah, it is. "Mary Doe" is a pseudonym used by a woman who alleges that the Salvation Circle has violated her constitutional rights by prohibiting the morning after pill in Malifornia. The Circle argues that the morning after pill is a form of abortion and that they have the right to ban it because a) each Republic has the right to make its own laws regarding abortion and b) constitutional rights do not apply to charter societies so Doe has no standing to sue over violations of her non-existent rights.

Sarah Fuerst - So this could be a very consequential case then?

Elio Lucchese - Yes. Most legal experts expect it to be a landmark case.

Sarah Fuerst - By any chance, do we have some apples that we'd need to throw out anyway?

Elio Lucchese - I can check. If not, I can always ask around campus though I suspect we won't be the only ones to toss apples at Sister Polus.

Sarah Fuerst - I want to make sure we don't miss.

Elio Lucchese - The only thing we have to be worried about is the possibility that we could be arrested.

Sarah Fuerst - Why would we be arrested for exercising our right to throw apples at reactionary bigots?

Elio Lucchese - Because there is no right to toss shit at reactionaries. We'd be relying on the government to do the right thing and let us get away with it.

Sarah Fuerst - And we can't? Last I checked, Scarlett Nicholls is consul.

Elio Lucchese - She may be but that doesn't mean we can be reckless. Besides, some of Sister Polus's followers might be armed.

Sarah Fuerst - I hadn't thought about that. Isn't there some way we can toss apples at that bitch without getting caught?

Elio Lucchese - I'll think of something.

Sarah Fuerst - How about he pie her in the face with an apple pie instead?

Elio Lucchese - And how do you think we could get close enough to do that?

Sarah Fuerst - We are Salvation Circle members, right? Couldn't you get a local minister to have us on stage with Sister Polus?

Elio Lucchese - That could be arranged, now that I think about it. She usually surrounds herself with young Christians of the various fundamentalist denominations when she's speaking. That would mean we'd have to wear "church clothes" on a day where it could be 90 out, though.

Sarah Fuerst - That's fine with me. Its not like I haven't worn the stupid head covering in the summer heat before!

Elio Lucchese - One benefit is that its easy to have a dress tailored with a pocket big enough to hold a pie.

Sarah Fuerst - That sounds good to me. Then I can be the one to pull it out and stick it on Sister Polus's face as she walks by me!

Elio Lucchese - Fortunately, pieing somebody in the face is not considered anywhere near as severe as throwing an apple at somebody. Odds are they won't even bother to prosecute because they hate Sister Polus.

Sarah Fuerst - So all of her frivolous reports during the Olympics didn't endear her to the RPD?

Elio Lucchese - Of course not. They were required by law to waste a ton of police resources on her bullshit which made it difficult for them to catch actual criminals who were murdering Olympic athletes.

Sarah Fuerst - Fuck Sister Polus!

Elio Lucchese - Why would I want to do that? She's old, she's ugly as fuck and she's even uglier on the inside!

As they talked about Sister Polus, the Republican National Team remained in firm control of the game against Hapilopper who never really came close to leading in that game. "Wild" Ralph Fiedler did not pitch particularly well but he didn't need to as the Republicans pulled out a 9 to 5 win. The Free Republics would jump out to a 3-0 start by also beating Oscioru and Trastamur to open the WBC.

by **Xanneria** » Sat Jun 01, 2019 8:24 am

OOC: Retconning my Rosters from WBC 45

Xanneria Maroons Baseball

COACHES (Age / Team)
MANAGER: Craig Congressor (53, York Seahawks)
HITTING COACH: Robby Young (49, York Seahawks)
PITCHING COACH: Orel Burbank (41, Allendowa, Arrows)
BASE RUNNING COACH: Marlon DuQuoin (44, Pearlham Reds)

PITCHING (# / Name / Age / Team / Throwing hand)

SP #22 John Harley / 30 / Hawthorne Meteors / Left
SP #41 Pete Sagades / 28 / Dominica City Breakers / Left
SP #33 Dale Coyle / 26 / York Seahawks / Right
SP #55 Max Chen / 20 / Delano Crimson* / Left
SU #59 Jensen Freybruer / 33 / Hawthorne Meteors/ Left
SU #62 Hector Rome / 24 / Pearlham Reds / Right
SU #49 Bill Blaze / 31 / East Anclare Eagles / Left
LRP #58 Rory Green-Jenkins / 27 / Nortonshaw Norties / Right
SRP #29 Charlton Braun / 34 / Dominica City Breakers / Left

SP = Starter
SU = Set Up
LRP = Long Relief Pitcher
SRP = Relief Pitcher

HITTERS (# / Name / Age / Team / Bats)

C #36 Justin Faust / 35 / East End Gold Sox / L
C #33 Mark Perrier / 22 / York Seahawks* / R
1B #21 Nevelle Brighton-Speers / 30 / Chellias Navigators / L
1B #5 Boyd Buchannohan / 25 / Hawthorne Meteors / R
1B-2B-3B #57 A.J. Bodine / 31 / Middlebrook Globetrotters / L
2B #4 Marvellius Chow / 20 / Pealham Reds / L
SS #51 Shane Hitchcox / 25 / Pearlham Reds / R
SS #10 Lance Sutton / 25 / Loy City Ranchands / L
3B-OF Charlie Smith / 22 / Pearlham Reds / R
3B #15 Thorton Stallings / 28 / Gardinia Stars / R
3B-2B #22 Justing Howe / 27 / Pearlham Reds / L
RF #50 Carlos Haddock / 29 / Denali Dukes / R
RF/DH #33 Paul Prestonbacher / 38 / Dominica City Breakers / R
CF-RF-LF #90 Roy Hawkins / 20 / Vanosdale Orbits* / L
CF #4 Jerry Lee Luwendyke / 29 / York Seahawks / L
LF #31 Thrill Stevenson / 23 / York Seahawks / R
LF #6 Matt Macklyniwicz / 27 / Delano Crimson / L

STARTERS IN BOLD

BATTING ORDER
1. Hitchcox
2. Buchannohan
3. Hawkins
4. Stevenson
5. Stallings
6. DH / Pitcher
7. Faust
8. Haddock
9. Bodine

Choose my run-scorers: Yes
Choose my lineup: No
Follow my Pitching Rotation: Yes
Godmod scoring events: No
RP injuries to my players: Yes
Godmod injuries to my players: No
Eject my players: Yes
DH used at home: No
Godmod other events: No
Other Info:

STADIUMS

Instant Success Loans Field at Krazinsky Park - Dominica City, Xannerian Capital Territory (Xanneria vs Bauscland ) A noted stadium in the capital of Xanneria, Krazinsky field has been home of the Dominica City Breakers since 1952. Although the Breakers haven't had much on the field success lately they did when a title in 2013. Stadium capicity is 45,000 and the (controversial) Stadium sponsor is Instant Success Loans. Dominica City is the capital and one of two major cities in the province known as "Xannerian Capital Territory". You can see a lot of history here, several old commondantian style mansions dot the landscape and it's also home to several hiking trails.

L. Andy Dodge Stadium - Hawthorne, Denali Home of the defending X-League champions, L. Andy Dodge Stadium is one of the oldest and finest venues on the West coast of Xanneria. This is where our Starting pitcher, John Harley made his name, pitching to an amazing 48-15 record with a 2.25 ERA over the last 3 seasons for the Hawthorne Meteors. This payed off with a Series X win over the Pearlham Reds 4-2 in 2028. Hawthorne is also the center of the Xannerian TV & Film industry. Capacity of this stadium is 38,250

ShorTrack Stores Diamond - Palace City, Gould One of the newest and smallest stadiums in X-League, ShorTrack Stores Diamond is located in Palace City and is home to one of the newest teams in X-League, the Palace City Red Tide. It's unique in the fact that controversially it's one of the few stadiums that gave up full naming rights to a company. (In the case here, ShorTrack convenience stores). Also be careful when playing here!, What happens in Palace City, stays in Palace City. (Seriously legalized gambling and prostitution exist here)

Buckner Memorial Field - Pearlham, Hastings The crown jewel of X-League Stadiums, no stadium can boast the heritage and history that The Buck the does..Buckner Memorial is home to one of the most famous teams from Xanneria, the Pearlham Reds. The Reds have been the hot team as of late winning 2026,and 2027 Series X championships. Teams will be visited by the Big Green Wall, a noted large wall on the left field area of the stadium used to protect the urban streets behind the stadium from dingers.

by **Lycrabon** » Sat Jun 01, 2019 9:40 am

Three games, three wins, three gems

ST. CATHERINE - If this is the theme, it could be celebrating at the end.

Lycrabon started the WBC with three wins, two dominating, along with a 5-3 nail biter against the Cassadaiguans. The pitching staff did their best Rockets impression, throwing three complete games in doing it.

Game 1 - 7 H, 2 R, 13 K, 3 BB.
Game 2 - 10 H, 3 R, 6 K, 2 BB.
Game 3 - 10 H, 3 R, 4 K, 6 BB.

Garry Barnett, Jr put it simply: "Amazing. I did not expect that dominance. Cassadaigua is tough, so allowing 3 I can live with. It's early though, so this means nothing right now. We sweep the group, and especially twice? Then maybe we can talk about title."

Barnett did display a show of respect prior to the Dagans game, delivering a bouquet of roses to the team as a show of respect.

by **Hampton Island** » Sat Jun 01, 2019 12:53 pm

Scene: Stafford City Speedway

Marketing Exec: Pretty soon, the roar of the engine will be heard in NSSCRA again. We launched one career, can we do it again?

CEO: We hardly had to pay her anything, also. Jebslund actually thinks Lexi Patterson can do something productive for them.

Marketing Exec: She wasn’t half bad though.

CEO: She’s no Midnight though. That’s been a successful gimmick. The bear can play baseball well, and everyone is just waiting for that one time where he will actually snap.

Marketing Exec: I still remember that Schiltzberg game. Man, were they scared.

CEO: World Baseball Classic ratings seem to be pretty steady, but steady is never good enough. Who’s hosting it this year?

Marketing Exec: Newmanistan.

CEO: Do they host everything? I swear it’s either them or Cassadaigua.

Marketing Exec: The Sherpa Empire is a co-host.

CEO: Sherpa? You mean that country with that bitch driver, Liangmei Li?

Marketing Exec: Yes, but she’s not driving.

CEO: No ride for Li. A ride for Lexi. Li is such an ex.

Marketing Exec: The deaf girl isn’t coming back either.

CEO: The deaf girl could be a gimmick driver, you think they would let us sign her for a race?

Marketing Exec: Doubt it. She’s probably got other things going on.

CEO: Anyway, back to Midnight. He needs to snap.

Marketing Exec: I have no control over what he does.

CEO: Get control. Preferably for a game against Free Republics.

by **The Sherpa Empire** » Sat Jun 01, 2019 1:06 pm

The World Baseball Classic was off to a good start. The Sherpa national team's offense had snoozed through their first home game against Liventia, but they made up for it with double-digit scores in both of their first two away games. The game in Vangaziland started with a bang as Qiu hit the first pitch over the outfield wall. Ojha, Qu, Qiao, and Qiang all reached base, though Qu was tagged out in a fielder's choice. Kusang Banerjee hit a bases-clearing double, and Nawang Gurung hit the game's 2nd home run. After that, things slowed down. Pei Tan grounded out and Tsheri Pham did what pitchers usually do when asked to use a bat, but the Sherpas still held the lead for the entire game.

The Sherpas' pitching had been consistently decent, although Sarang Oli was not happy about Luochong Zhuang attempting to educate him about the migratory habits of buffalo during a conversation on the mound. (Zhuang had a long history of boring people by running his mouth about subjects nobody else cared about, but he seemed to be getting worse.)

Meanwhile, at the Ministry of Culture, the final preparations for the playoffs were being made. Everything was more or less coming together on schedule, but Xue Gong was still worried that Kencha Adhikari would find some way to mess it up. Adhikari had recently announced that he was cutting the Sports Department's budget so that more funds could be diverted to museums and religious institutions. A prized yeti scalp had been stolen from a reliquary in Khumjung a couple of months before the election, and Adhikari cited this as evidence that the museums needed more funding to help them protect their collections.

So far, he hadn't directly interfered with the plans for the World Baseball Classic, but Gong wouldn't put it past him.

Lakpa Fang and Debashish of Gorkhaland were definitely on Adhikari's shitlist of athletes he thought were a bad influence, and both of them had been on the national baseball team for the last 4 years. Fang offended Adhikari's sensibilities because was bisexual and he was active in the LGBT rights movement. Debashish of Gorkhaland was half-English, he had been born to middle class parents, and he was courting the crown princess of the Empire.

Princess Yahia had put in an appearance at game 2 in Chengdu. She met with the Liventians to welcome them to the Sherpa Empire, but everyone knew the real reason she was there was to cheer on her love, Debashish. They had kept their relationship quiet for the first few years, but now it was out in the open. The imperial family had even arranged to have Debashish traded from Darjeeling to Khumbu in a deal that was controversial among baseball fans because it did not make a lot of sense from a strategic point of view. Green Sox fans were especially angry about it, since they had lost one of their best hitters -- but there were also some Icefall Doctors fans who didn't feel that Debashish was a good fit for the team or worried that he would retire from baseball while the two young prospects that had gone to Darjeeling were just coming into their prime.

The Darjeeling-Khumbu trade deal was equally controversial among social conservatives who didn't approve of Yahia's relationship with Debashish and didn't think it should be tolerated or enabled. The trade had happened months ago, early in the regular season, and people were still arguing about it.

by **Saintland** » Sat Jun 01, 2019 1:36 pm

Royal Park, St. Petrus, Saintland

Saintland's opening game against Lisander had begun. King Paulus XVI was on the mound for Saintland. Since he was pitching at home, Saintland had elected to play without their usual DH for this home game. In the crowd were Patriarch Innocentius IV and his guests Father Delmar Lavallee and Samuel Lucchese. As they were in the open seated nor other fans, including some Lisander fans, they had to restrict their discussions to matters that did not need to remain secret.

The game started well enough as King Paulus retired the side on 3 quick outs forcing Toji Akagi to ground out to short, Alex Itosugi to pop up in the infield and Martin Hansen to hit a long foul ball right into Lucas Flavia's glove. Tiago Porter started things off for Lisander by striking out both Paulus Pinarus and Lucas Flavia to bring the King up to the plate. King Paulus XVI timed his swing perfectly, sending Porter's fastball flying down the line. Akagi ran back to the wall as fast as he could and scaled the right field fence but he just missed the catch as the ball fell into the stands for a home run.

As the game continued, Saintland would expand its lead, eventually reaching 9-0 after the 6th inning. At that point, King Paulus XVI still had a no hitter, with the only blemish being a walk to Rei Yokoyama to lead off the top of the second inning. Sports news apps throughout the multiverse fired off alerts informing fans that Saintland pitcher King Paulus XVI had a no hitter through 5 innings, through 6 innings, through 7 innings, through 8 innings. Finally Adrian Solis stepped up to the plate to lead off the 9th. King Paulus XVI, visibly tiring by this point, tossed a curveball that didn't break very much. Solis got his bat on the bad pitch but didn't get all of it. Nicolaus Maccius ran back into shallow left to catch the popup but the ball appeared to slip out of his glove. Solis would reach first. The play was ruled an error by the scorer. Next, pitcher Rafael Inoue, who is also Lisander's DH when the DH is used, stepped up to bat. A wild fastball from King Paulus hit Inoue on the thigh, for which he was awarded first base by the umpire. After a prolonged battle with Toji Akagi ended in a strikeout, Alex Itosugi laid down an infield hit. Paulus fielded it but hesitated before throwing and all 3 runners were safe to load the bases as King Paulus XVI's no hitter was no more. After walking Martin Hansen to give Lisander a run, King Paulus XVI took himself out of the game, sending Ioannes Accius in to finish it out. On Accius's first pitch, Rei Yokoyama would hit a line drive straight to Andreas Aufidius who caught it and stepped on first to retire the side.

As the game ended, the Patriarch and his guests remained in the park, waiting for King Paulus XVI to join them to continue their meeting. At this time, Samuel Lucchese showed the picture his son had sent him to the Patriarch and to Father Lavallee.

Delmar Lavallee - Samuel, why is your son sending you a picture of some girl in a baseball uniform?

Samuel Lucchese - That's not just any girl, Father. That's my son's girlfriend!

Father Lavallee immediately remembered the girl from past dinners at Mr. Lucchese's place. She had seemed like a devout Christian girl, an example of what the Salvation Circle wanted from the young women of Malifornia.

Delmar Lavallee - Well, its a shame that she's playing at being a man. Are you sure it was a good idea to send your son and his girlfriend off to a secular school in Republica?

Samuel Lucchese - I wasn't a fan of it but Elio's getting a better education there which will serve him well when he goes to law school and I sent the girlfriend along to protect him from temptation.

Delmar Lavallee - It is true that temptations are plentiful in secular universities. I remember a number of misguided college parties from my own sinful youth. All of them before I was saved, of course.

Patriarch Innocentius IV - It seems like it was a mistake to allow them to go to Republica unsupervised. We generally don't send Sanctii kids abroad to attend a secular university but when we do, we make sure they are properly supervised if they want their education to be funded by the state.

Samuel Lucchese - It seems like it would be a good idea to develop a program like that for Malifornian kids to attend schools outside of Malifornia while ensuring that they do not neglect their studies or engage in immorality. Maybe we can even open up the program to kids from outside the Circle.

Patriarch Innocentius IV - That sounds like a very good idea, Mr. Lucchese. I imagine many parents, even unbelieving parents, would like to know that their kids are not wasting their education on the kind of wicked debauchery that routinely takes place on college campuses in your country.

Delmar Lavallee - We need to implement that in time for the next school year. Maybe it'd make sense to pick a few pilot universities first for the program and see how much participation from outside the Circle we get. If we get significant buy-in from secular parents, maybe we can bring their kids to Christ in the process. Samuel, there's still the matter of addressing the situation within your family.

Samuel Lucchese - I think it might be wise to pretend that I didn't see that photo and that the message was lost in transmission because I was abroad.

Delmar Lavallee - What would be the reasoning behind that?

Samuel Lucchese - I believe the objective here of putting a stop to my future daughter-in-law's backsliding needs to be achieved using, shall we say, rather delicate methods. I don't think it'd be wise to intervene right now but once the new school year starts, I'll enroll them in our new program to protect the innocence of college students. They would not be able to object without admitting openly to immoral conduct which would prove the need for them to join the program. If they don't need the extra guidance then surely they wouldn't object to being held accountable to rules that they're following anyway. If they need the extra guidance then surely they should get it.

Delmar Lavallee - That is most ingenious! Either way, they aren't going to be able to argue their way out. But what are you going to do if they admit they're being bad and refuse to be held accountable for their actions?

Samuel Lucchese - In that case, I'd just cut the both of them off and let them take a minimum wage job. I'm sure Pizza Slut is hiring.

The 2 ordained priests of the True Church laughed as King Paulus arrived to speak with his cousin and his guests. (OOC: Pizza Slut is a chain of pizza restaurants in the Free Republics that is sort of a cross between the RL restaurants Hooters and Pizza Hut.)

King Paulus XVI - What's so funny?

Patriarch Innocentius IV - Its a long story but Mr. Lucchese has a family problem that came up earlier.

Samuel Lucchese - Yes, Your Majesty, my son sent me a picture of his girlfriend in a baseball uniform. Specifically, the baseball uniform of the university they both attend.

King Paulus XV - I imagine that wasn't supposed to be sent to you.

Samuel Lucchese - Of course not.

King Paulus XV - Why is your son's girlfriend crossdressing, Mr. Lucchese?

Samuel Lucchese - I don't know. She didn't seem like that kind of girl when I got to know her.

King Paulus XV - Sounds to me like both of them are rebelling against the Truth now that they're away from home.

Samuel Lucchese - I'm pretty sure of it. That photo looked like it was from some kind of a college party.

King Paulus XV - Maybe you shouldn't be sending your son to a secular university, Mr. Lucchese. Aren't there universities under the control of the Salvation Circle in the Free Republics?

Samuel Lucchese - There are, Your Majesty, but it was best for my son's career as a lawyer that we send him to the University of Republica.

Delmar Lavallee - But worry not for this inspired Samuel to come up with a new program that will not only solve his family problem but also make it safe for us to send kids to secular universities.

They explained their ingenious idea to the King of Saintland, who approved of it. The summit between the Church of Saintland and its Salvation Circle front continued for a few days until after the Saintland-Vangaziland game, which saw Saintland win again to improve to 2-0. A loss to The Holy Athonite State followed after Accius blew a save in the bottom of the 9th before managing to lose the game in the bottom of the 10th. For both the Church of Saintland and its front, this meeting over a couple WBC games had proved very fruitful. Both of them now sought to implement the new ideas they'd come up with to bring more souls to the True Church and retain every soul currently controlled by the Church...

by **Cassadaigua** » Sat Jun 01, 2019 3:39 pm

The day has arrived,
by Macy Hamel- 3B

After months of build up, we finally took the field for the opening game of World Baseball Classic 46. This was an away game, taking place in the nation of St Saratoga. We arrived in the city of Rogerbei, and took in some of the sights. Manager Maddie Polanco made sure that we did. I love the level of confidence that she has for this team, as I tell you with any other team we would be worried about scouting the opponent, and figuring out strengths and weaknesses and all of that fun stuff, but that was not the case here. Maddie had a simple message, and it is a message that the veterans on this team have heard before. For me, though, it was very different then what I am used too. The message: “We are the favorites. When we take the field during the group stage, we are the team to beat. Opponents prepare for us. Opponents adapt to us. We just do our thing.” She does go to say, “The coaching staff has studied the opponent. We will use the knowledge we have to have you in the right positions when need be.” Very different then what I am used to hearing.

My first at bat came in the top of the first inning, with two outs and no one on. Both Jenna (Bailey) and Julie (Sherman) had good at bats before me, but were not able to get on base. Off of Nick Novak, I made good contact on a pitch, but lined out to third. Put it in the books. In the fifth, I came up in a pressure situation, with two outs and two on. This time, I got the job done, hitting a single to left center that was able to score both of them. In the ninth, with us leading 7-2, I’d get my first home run at this level. It didn’t mean much for the game, but personally, it means quite a bit.

In the second game, we enjoyed our home opener at Dagan Airways Stadium, and it was nice to be cheered by the fans in Concord Heights so much. We got to them early, and I had an RBI double in the first as part of it. Unfortunately, we lost game 3 to Lycrabon, who is the next best team in the group. Prior to the game, Garry Barnett, Jr of the Blue Jays delivered a bouquet of roses to our locker room as a measure of gratitude and respect since in the past there has been some animosity, mostly by a certain former pitcher of theirs towards our nation. We appreciated this gift, and hope that any past issues can be put behind us.

Plenty more games to go!

by **Hapilopper** » Sat Jun 01, 2019 7:00 pm

MIXED BLESSINGS FOR THE HAPILOPPIANS - TWO WINS, ONE CRUSHING LOSS
By Cassandra Jennings
Hapilopper Television Network

HAPILOPPER CITY - Charlton Forest was hoping for a great showing on opening night at Capital Stadium. That hope went out the window as soon as he let the ball go for the first pitch.

Ferrau Bergeron would nail a shot to deep-right center, getting Hapilopper's hopes off on the wrong foot right off the bat. Ethan Joyner came up, and after a 16-pitch at-bat where he fouled pitch after pitch into the stands behind him, took his base for ball four.

Honomi Kamei then fired one above Campbell Braxton's head, and the Republicans led 2-0. By the time the inning ended, the Republicans had scored five runs.

Hapilopper tried to come back when Levi Berry walked in the first inning, Campbell Braxton singled between Kamei's legs, and Leroy Hunnisett slammed a ball that, two feet higher, would have been a three-run home run, but instead was a double.

It would have been a triple, had Hunnisett not admired it, thinking it was a home run. Regardless, Hunnisett brought in both Berry and Braxton. Hunnisett's antics raised the ire of manager Carl Gardner, who grabbed Hunnisett by the shirt collar after getting called out at home the very next inning.

"Next time, if he wants to hotdog like that, that ball had better clear the fence," Gardner said. "I'm not going to tolerate it."

While it had been a good start, the fact of the matter was that the HNBT was chasing the Republicans all game. Runs scored in the 3rd, 5th, 7th and 9th innings put the game out of reach for Hapilopper, and a two-out solo shot courtesy of Oskar Bjorgum ran Forest from the game after 2.2 innings.

Forest refused to talk to reporters after the game and reportedly apologized to every single player individually for "letting the whole team down," as Terry Blanchard said.

"I feel bad for him," Blanchard said. "He was so high for this game, so excited for the first game, and he didn't even make it to the end of the 3rd. He came to each of us and apologized for letting us down. He just had an off game. All of us have had off games."

What became a topic of discussion after the game were reports from the Republican side that the team had reportedly wanted to run up the score on Hapilopper due to the HNBT's not using the designated hitter. While it had not been confirmed by the Republicans, Hapilopper's players took offense at the thought.

"If it's true, we'll throw one at their DH's head," Gardner said. "If they're going to run up the score because we don't use the DH, we'll correct their DH problem with 98 to the face."

The next day, Gardner was summoned to the WBC offices, and was asked to walk back his comments.

The second day, Forest and the rest of the HNBT appeared to be more fired up than usual.

"We're going to win this game because damn it, we're NOT going to be eliminated in the group stage!" shouted Cale Waller before heading out on the field for game two against Tierra de Castro.

In the top of the 2nd, Jerome Hayden nailed the first pitch he saw from Cesar de la Cavalleria and enjoyed the view. The ball cleared the fence in left field and breathed a sigh of relief.

One inning later, Brandt Williamson did the same thing, and the fans across Hapilopper watching on HTN sounded off their own little "Oppo-Taco Bells" across the country. Hapilopper never trailed in the game.

Waller got the win, while relief performances from Aaron Armstrong and Darren Goodwin sealed the deal for the HNBT.

"We needed that win more than anything," Gardner said. "If we hadn't gotten that win, we might have ended up out in the group."

The next day, on the strength of a gem from Whit Dabney and timely hitting from Mo Beverly and Dayton Rowe, the HNBT beat Oscioru, 3-1.

Dabney's final stat line from the game included 126 pitches, 16 strikeouts, four hits and one run allowed.

"And it was just one run because our fielders kick ass," Dabney said with a smile. "We won because those guys can play some great defense."

Specifically, Brandt Williamson seemingly jumped 10 feet in the air to catch a sure Oscioru home run that appeared to clear the fence in left-center.

"I felt like a weight had been lifted off my shoulders when he made that catch," Whit said. "That probably helped us win the game right there."

by **Newmanistan** » Sat Jun 01, 2019 7:00 pm

Matchday 4:

Group 1
Vangaziland                  0 0 0 0 0 0 2 1 0  3
The Holy Athonite State      0 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 0  2

Liventia                     0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  0
Saintland                    1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 X  1

The Sherpa Empire            0 0 2 0 0 1 0 0 0  3
Lisander                     2 0 3 0 1 0 0 0 X  6


  Group 1                     Pld    W   L    RF   RA   RD   Pts 
1 Saintland                     4    3   1    23    9  +14     9
2 Lisander                      4    3   1    21   16   +5     9
3 The Sherpa Empire             4    2   2    29   18  +11     6
4 Liventia                      4    2   2     9   10   −1     6
5 Vangaziland                   4    1   3    11   25  −14     3
6 The Holy Athonite State       4    1   3    12   27  −15     3

Group 2
Hapilopper                   1 2 0 0 0 1 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 0  6
Hampton Island               2 0 1 0 2 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 1  7

Free Republics               3 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 0  5
Tierra de Castro             0 0 2 0 0 0 0 5 X  7

Oscioru                      0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0  1
Trastamar                    0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  0


  Group 2                     Pld    W   L    RF   RA   RD   Pts 
1 Free Republics                4    3   1    24   17   +7     9
2 Tierra de Castro              4    3   1    14   11   +3     9
3 Hampton Island                4    2   2    21   20   +1     6
4 Hapilopper                    4    2   2    18   19   −1     6
5 Oscioru                       4    2   2     8    9   −1     6
6 Trastamar                     4    0   4    10   19   −9     0

Group 3
Cosumar                      0 0 0 0 0 3 0 0 0  3
Tornado Queendom             0 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0  2

Lycrabon                     0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 4  5
St Saratoga                  0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  1

Drawkland                    0 0 0 0 0 0 3 0 0  3
Cassadaigua                  1 1 4 0 1 3 0 0 X 10


  Group 3                     Pld    W   L    RF   RA   RD   Pts 
1 Lycrabon                      4    4   0    25    9  +16    12
2 Cassadaigua                   4    3   1    26   12  +14     9
3 Drawkland                     4    2   2    27   23   +4     6
4 St Saratoga                   4    1   3    14   22   −8     3
5 Tornado Queendom              4    1   3    15   26  −11     3
6 Cosumar                       4    1   3     8   23  −15     3

Matchday 5:

Group 1
Lisander                     1 1 0 2 2 0 0 0 0  6
Vangaziland                  0 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0  2

Saintland                    0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1  1
The Sherpa Empire            3 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 X  5

The Holy Athonite State      1 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0  3
Liventia                     0 0 0 1 0 0 3 2 X  6


  Group 1                     Pld    W   L    RF   RA   RD   Pts 
1 Lisander                      5    4   1    27   18   +9    12
2 The Sherpa Empire             5    3   2    34   19  +15     9
3 Saintland                     5    3   2    24   14  +10     9
4 Liventia                      5    3   2    15   13   +2     9
5 The Holy Athonite State       5    1   4    15   33  −18     3
6 Vangaziland                   5    1   4    13   31  −18     3

Group 2
Trastamar                    0 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 0  2
Hapilopper                   0 0 1 4 2 0 0 0 X  7

Tierra de Castro             0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  0
Oscioru                      0 0 0 0 2 0 0 2 X  4

Hampton Island               0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  0
Free Republics               0 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 X  2


  Group 2                     Pld    W   L    RF   RA   RD   Pts 
1 Free Republics                5    4   1    26   17   +9    12
2 Hapilopper                    5    3   2    25   21   +4     9
3 Oscioru                       5    3   2    12    9   +3     9
4 Tierra de Castro              5    3   2    14   15   −1     9
5 Hampton Island                5    2   3    21   22   −1     6
6 Trastamar                     5    0   5    12   26  −14     0

Group 3
Cassadaigua                  0 0 1 0 0 0 2 1 1  5
Cosumar                      0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  1

St Saratoga                  0 1 0 0 0 1 0 1 0  3
Drawkland                    0 0 0 0 0 2 1 0 1  4

Tornado Queendom             0 0 0 1 0 0 2 0 1  4
Lycrabon                     2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  2


  Group 3                     Pld    W   L    RF   RA   RD   Pts 
1 Cassadaigua                   5    4   1    31   13  +18    12
2 Lycrabon                      5    4   1    27   13  +14    12
3 Drawkland                     5    3   2    31   26   +5     9
4 Tornado Queendom              5    2   3    19   28   −9     6
5 St Saratoga                   5    1   4    17   26   −9     3
6 Cosumar                       5    1   4     9   28  −19     3

Matchday 6:

Group 1
Vangaziland                  0 0 1 0 0 1 0 4 1  7
Liventia                     0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0  1

The Holy Athonite State      1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 2  4
The Sherpa Empire            0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 0  2

Saintland                    0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0  1
Lisander                     1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 X  2


  Group 1                     Pld    W   L    RF   RA   RD   Pts 
1 Lisander                      6    5   1    29   19  +10    15
2 The Sherpa Empire             6    3   3    36   23  +13     9
3 Saintland                     6    3   3    25   16   +9     9
4 Liventia                      6    3   3    16   20   −4     9
5 Vangaziland                   6    2   4    20   32  −12     6
6 The Holy Athonite State       6    2   4    19   35  −16     6

Group 2
Hapilopper                   1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0  2
Free Republics               0 0 0 0 1 0 1 2 X  4

Hampton Island               2 0 0 1 2 0 1 0 0  6
Oscioru                      2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  2

Tierra de Castro             1 0 0 1 0 1 1 0 1  5
Trastamar                    0 1 1 0 0 0 0 1 0  3


  Group 2                     Pld    W   L    RF   RA   RD   Pts 
1 Free Republics                6    5   1    30   19  +11    15
2 Tierra de Castro              6    4   2    19   18   +1    12
3 Hampton Island                6    3   3    27   24   +3     9
4 Hapilopper                    6    3   3    27   25   +2     9
5 Oscioru                       6    3   3    14   15   −1     9
6 Trastamar                     6    0   6    15   31  −16     0

Group 3
Cosumar                      1 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  3
Lycrabon                     0 0 3 1 0 0 1 0 X  5

Tornado Queendom             0 0 0 0 1 1 0 3 2  7
Drawkland                    1 1 0 0 0 0 6 0 X  8

St Saratoga                  0 0 0 2 0 3 0 0 0  5
Cassadaigua                  0 0 0 0 1 2 5 0 X  8


  Group 3                     Pld    W   L    RF   RA   RD   Pts 
1 Cassadaigua                   6    5   1    39   18  +21    15
2 Lycrabon                      6    5   1    32   16  +16    15
3 Drawkland                     6    4   2    39   33   +6    12
4 Tornado Queendom              6    2   4    26   36  −10     6
5 St Saratoga                   6    1   5    22   34  −12     3
6 Cosumar                       6    1   5    12   33  −21     3

World Baseball Classic 46- Everything Thread

Saratoga Saints Roster

Who is online