World Baseball Classic 48 [Everything Thread]

by **Inner AginanaUsordia** » Thu Mar 26, 2020 11:51 pm

An interview with the pitching corps of the Inner AginanaUsordia Lions
Chad Rozelle, Micalov Monthly

CR: So, today, I'm sitting here in the training center in the Banija NCR. Our pitchers are scheduled for a training session in an hour, so we'll keep this quick. Here we have Saturday's starters, Martin Slatek, NJ Dublin, and Vincent DeClair, the other starters, Kyle San Bracero, and Carlos Sagan. Also, the bullpen, with Gio Antanar--Antananarivo, Tyler Barwind, Don Van Epps, Lane Rahoveca, and the incredible closer Erik Ferrasen.
(Producer's Note: Gio Antananarivo's and Erik Ferrasen's responses are translated for ease of listening.)
CR: So, how are you all doing? Those of you in the IACL are 30 games in to your season, but taking a break, and the IABML started last week without you.
VD: I love the team, and all that, but I'd rather be here. This is wonderful.
LR: This is wah-ld! This is mah first tahm out of Innah, much less as far away as Bah-nija!
MS: The facilities here are so nice. I'm sure we're not sparing too many expenses, but still, this beats some of the places back home.
DE: Meaning Poctorise.
MS: Yeah, sure.
CR: Alright, down to the business side. Who can pull off a good game against the Banija team?
MS: I'm not sure there's a style of play they haven't beat yet.
EF: Us. They didn't beat us.
DE: Not yet, you mean.
CS: Well certainly with that attitude! I think we'll do great.
CR: I like the enthusiasm. How do you feel about throwing three lefties in a row to them?
ND: There isn't a whole lot of similarity between us. Honestly, Vin's changeup is about as fast as my fastball, you know?
MS: And Vin's pitches come from a way different spot.
VD: I got my release spot measured at 9 feet 1 inch above ground. *laughs* And Erik's a solid 3 foot 8?
EF: And that is not a problem, is it?
CS: Of course not! We're all here for a reason!
GA: If we were all as happy as Sagan, we'd all fail the drug tests.
DE: All of us failing, just so Niko and Erik wouldn't feel left out.
EF: I heard they didn't test Epps' negative (self) because you need to throw 10 innings in a season to be relevant.
CR: Uhh, you know, you are both on the team now? I guess this'll be some of yours' biggest challenge.
MS: We'll figure it out. Thanks for having us, Chad.
CR: Thank you all, good luck, and go Lions!

by **Democratic Publicity Stunts** » Thu Mar 26, 2020 11:55 pm

DEMOCRATIC PUBLICITY STUNT BASEBALL TEAM
* * * Managed by Nancy Pelosi, Chuck Schumer, and Tom Perez * * *

Roster:
Joe Biden
Bernie Sanders
Elizabeth Warren
Cory Booker
Amy Klobuchar
Pete Buttigieg
Jay Inslee
Michael Bloomberg
Beto O'Rourke
John Delaney
Andrew Yang
Marianne Williamson
Kamala Harris
Tom Steyer
Tulsi Gabbard
Tim Ryan
Eric Swalwell
Bill DeBlasio
Kirsten Gillibrand
Julian Castro
John Hickenlooper
Michael Bennett
Deval Patrick
Joe Sestak
Seth Moulton

RP Permissions: This is a silly team, so go ahead and have fun with it. You can RP any player in any position, any batting order, any pitching rotation. None of them are professional ballplayers anyway.

There are only two things I ask that you DON'T do: Please do not push the limits of the PG-13 rule, and please do not RP revenge fantasies if you have an RL axe to grind against some Democratic politician. You can poke fun at them with comical mishaps and occasional injuries or health problems -- just don't turn it into a big-time hatefest.

by **West Phoenicia** » Fri Mar 27, 2020 1:01 pm

WP||The West Phoenicia Times

Sports || Health || Technology || Gossip || Domestic Politics || International Politics || Entertainment || World || Religion || Weather

The call out for greater diversity for West Phoenician sporting teams who engage in international sporting events which do not include a male and female categories, such as the Olympic Games; has been heard loud and clear.

The West Phoenician Baseball Federation proudly announced the Confederates who are taking part in the World Baseball Classic; now have four women on their roster. A small step in the right direction, many in the media have stated.

The call for mixed teams on an international level, when only one team is sent to participate, was first ignited by The Socialist Party and the Diversity, Love & Rainbow Party. Two left leaning political parties in the West Phoenician Parliament.

Senator Gabrielle Pascoe, chairwoman and President of the Feminist Party before it's merger with the Diversity, Love and Rainbow Party, and who now currently site as that parties deputy leader. Was one of the more vocal supporters calling for mixed teams when two gender sports is not an option.
The news of four women on the Confederate roster, received mixed reactions from many people. Even from within their own parties, some said it was a step in the right direction. While others like Senator Pascoe, still believe it's not enough.

" Other colleagues and myself are happy to see that West Phoenician international baseball is no longer dominated by a solely male team.
However, only four of the twenty-eight members on the team are female.
25% would have been at least seven, a much more acceptable number in the pursuit of West Phoenicia attempting diversity at every level of life within the nation. As it stands we have only reached 15%, well below what is acceptable. We are lagging behind, there are other nations who are embracing diversity with at least 50% of the roster being female. That is what we need to reach. I pray a day will come when we don't have to have quotas, that simply the best players will be chosen with no thought of gender. Hopefully we will become gender blind and select the best player's for the team. Until then I will keep up the good fight of having more women appointed to sporting teams."

Other members of the Diversity, Love & Rainbow Party voiced and raised similar concerns. However Amanda Tunn; deputy leader of the West Phoenician Socialist Party and many within the party who are more centre-left then there far left Diversity, Love & Rainbow Party allies applauded the progress of The Confederate and sees them as a guiding light that will lead other teams to make similar choices.

" Instead of berating our international baseball team, we should be applauding them for their progressive move. 15% is better than nothing. As a fan of the Confederate, I was thrilled to see Abigail Wittman join their ranks last season as a catcher. Now we have three amazing additions Carmen Nguyen, an outstanding pitcher who was signed on. As well as Lisa Roma and Violet Baroda; both infielders who also signed contracts. I'm quite sure they will be a positive aspect to the team. They are joining some pretty awesome guys who are going to play hard in the World Baseball Classic, and hopefully bring us home another title. So instead of complaining that there are only four, we should be happy we have four new additions to an amazing skilled team. And hopefully in the near future we can see many more women join their ranks. We want the best player's possible. We can't say, we demand 50% and send an under performing team. We want the best men and women signed up! Given time, I'm positive the team will better reflect the gender gap. And extra positive news, female players on the Confederates are earning the same as men. That is positive news. I'm sure once other teams see how amazing mixed gender teams are, at an international level, we will see more teams follow. This is a great change, it should be celebrated with a round of applause, not with eye rolls and talks that 15% is not enough."

While a recent poll showed that 40% of West Phoenicians support the baseball team transforming to a mixed team and hopefully that percentage will increase once the season officially starts, there were still those in the community who feel it is a wrong move.

The Anti-Feminist League President Lady Olivia Flinders, called the move ridiculous, saying there is nothing wrong with men and women playing their own sports. And merging a successful team was diversity gone mad. She further said, women and men have different skills, it was time feminists and lesbians understood the sexes are not equal. And that if they invested as much time in fielding women's teams in international events instead of trying to force mixed teams on the public then our women teams wod be on par with the men's teams. There was no need for a mixed team, most nations sending teams to the World Baseball Classic were mainly men. If they want women to play then start up a Women World Baseball Classic league. It's madness, what next mixed rugby teams, and what happens when a beefy rugby player tackles a female. They will cry, assault or sue for damages. No, we need to keep the gender separate in sports.

While Samuel De'Robbs, a bank clerk by trade who was interviewed by a word from the street reporter while they were heading to the bus stop, also called the move ridiculous, saying women needed to stay home and clean the house and ensure dinner was on the table for their husband and kids.

Either way, baseball fans are gearing up for a terrific season of baseball, where most fans are caring more about winning games than what gender people are on the team.

by **Nova Anglicana** » Fri Mar 27, 2020 1:08 pm

Nova Anglicana WBC 48 Preview

The Team

The Lions return almost all of the same players from WBC 47, but add a couple of defense-first guys who will shore up any deficiencies and give some rest to the main starters. Manager Orlando Murray has a roster lined up that can give guys rest who need it, while staying competitive. The Lions are in this for the long haul; they can't afford for their stars to get tired or injured early. Look for Jake Bryan and Luke Mills to lead the offense, while players like Tommy Moran, Marc Dufors, Casey Wheeler, and Matthew Gilbert lock things down defensively. The rotation runs five excellent pitchers deep, with an amazing 1-2 punch of Cory Sharpe and Wyatt Templeton at the top. Should they need more starters, long reliever Aaron Spencer and fireman Rex Boyd will slot in without a problem. This is a strong and deep team, but they will need to play up to their potential to really have success.

The Opponents

Kriegiersien

The Kriegiersiens are usually Olympic competitors, and quite skilled, but are not ranked coming into the WBC. But with baseball being a demonstration sport at the next Olympics, they have decided to participate. In the Lions' first-ever WBC, WBC 27, Kriegiersien advanced to the quarterfinals, the same as the Lions. Don't be fooled by their unranked status. They will be a tough team to beat.

Oscioru

Oscioru is a team with a decent history of participation, but not much to show for it. Their records were 11-13 in WBC 43 (debut), 11-19 in WBC 44, 14-10 in WBC 45, 12-18 in WBC 46, and they missed WBC 47. This is the kind of middling team that the Lions have to clean up against. Nothing special, but dropping a game here or there can be the difference between qualifying or not qualifying, or qualifying with a good seed or not. Don't be surprised if they finish bottom of the group, even being ranked.

Daskel

Newcomers to the WBC, Daskel are no newcomers to baseball, as it is their national sport. Curiously, they have elected to send a U23 team to this competition. Perhaps they can't interrupt their current pro season, maybe they are looking for the game's next stars, or maybe they're concerned that a bad result in their first ever WBC by professionals would reflect negatively on sport in Daskel, and so a U23 team comes in with lower expectations. Whatever the case, they can't be taken lightly. The Lions should win this series, but don't be surprised if it's 5-1 or 4-2 instead of the 6-0 one might expect for a typical unranked team.

West Phoenicia

The Lions have faced the mighty Confederates, seeded 2nd in this group, twice before, in WBC 44 and WBC 46. They lost both times. WBC 44 was a heartbreaker of a loss in the finals and WBC 46 was an elimination in the Round of 16. These two teams will be the overwhelming favorites to win the group and move on, so for them, it's really about who finishes first and who finishes second. The Lions will need to at least split their games with them, but the first and second seeds will be decided by who cleans up against the lower-seeded teams. These should be scintillating games.

Anthor

The Lions have taken on this nation once, in WBC 39. WBC 39 ended up being a great WBC for the Lions, finishing in second place, but it wasn't a great WBC against Anthor. The Lions finished 3-3 in their six matchups against them, where even one more win probably would have yielded a better seed. Anthor comes in ranked 20th, so they're no slouches. The Lions need to win their games against them, because this will be a team they will be competing against for a playoff spot.

The Prediction

The Lions should finish in first or second place in this group; anything else will be an embarrassment. If the Lions split with the Confederates of West Phoenicia, take both series with Anthor (4-2), and rack up five wins against Oscioru, they'll be 12-6 against their top three foes. That's a good result. Winning at least four games with both Kriegiersien and Daskel will put them at 20 wins. Will that be enough to win the group? Probably not. But it will likely be enough for second place. 20 wins is the baseline, 25 would almost certainly win the group, so anything in between is competitive. The key to winning this group will be cleaning up against the bottom half; any dropped wins down there will be the difference in this group. I like the Lions to win the group, by a nose, over West Phoenicia.

by **Daskel** » Fri Mar 27, 2020 4:25 pm

World Baseball Classic: Daskies Special
By Go Nakamura (@GomuraOfficial)

Good morning, fellow daskelians! Tomorrow is a very awaited day for our sports fans across the nation and, why not, the world. This is the first time playing on an international level, and Daskies and the AstorDai are ready for baseball! However, we understand Daskelian baseball is pretty unknown in the world. A young nation with asian and latin heritage, a mix of cultures made daskelian ballgame one of many tactics and deepness.

Baseball in Daskel is a phenomenon. Our current professional league host 18 teams across the country, where the fans fill the stands every evening and night, in every game. This craziness for Baseball started almost a century ago, when Baseball arrived to Kuji, prefecture in the west of Daskel. Kujians made baseball something personal, and many schools started to include it as a club afterschool activity. Today, high school diamonds are filled with white uniforms filled with dirt, but also with dreams. High School baseball turned into one of Daskel's traditions, and if not the most important baseball, even more than Pro Baseball in the country.

We talked with one of the most recent AstorDai Tournament winners, shortstop Sydo Goran, to talk with us about this new challenge for Team Daskel.

C: We're pleased to have you here in C8. You just came from winning the AstorDai with Kiten Gakuen.
SG:Good morning! I cannot believe we won the Astordai. Those were the most intense two weeks I´'ve ever had in my short life.

C:You won against one of the powerhouses in the nation, Tenren High.
SG: We have so much respect to Tenren. This school won the Astordai 9 times, and many players go to the school just for their baseball program. It was a difficult rival to play with. You know, the AstorDai is the field of dreams. We only have three years to reach this glory, and we lost last year. That was painful, but we resolved to come back, and we did, and we won it. It was very emotional for us third years. I hope our prefecture is happy to see us bringing the Flag back home.

C: Now you're sharing team with their ace pitcher, right?
Foresten was their number one pitcher, and now we're sharing team. It feels so crazy! No rivalries, though. We're now teammates, and we trust him a lot.

C:Were you surprised to be called for the WBC?
]SG: Of course I was! I'm here sharing a team with all these amazing players. I feel really honored to be the starting shortstop of the team.

C: Not only that, but you're currently batting 8.
SG: Yeah. I was surprised as well to have that role. In Kiten I batted fourth, but this is international level, and I was trusted with a cleanup spot. I will do my best for the team!

C: One thing to say to fans?
SG: Please cheer for us! You know how to be loud. High schools may make a big band with members of many prefectures, that would be cool! I bat with "Jounetsu Tairiku", I love that song, it gives me energy!

Daskies start against Oscioru in the AstorDai. Let's turn this tournament into a cheerful game!

Daskies Calendar: Group 4

March 28: Series 1 - Oscioru vs Daskel
March 29: Series 2 - Daskel vs Anthor
March 30: Series 3 - Nova Anglicana vs Daskel
March 31: Series 4 - Daskel vs Kriegiersien
April 1: Series 5 - West Phoenicia vs Daskel
April 2: Series 6 - Daskel vs Oscioru
April 3: Series 7 - Anthor vs Daskel
April 4: Series 8 - Daskel vs Nova Anglicana
April 5: Series 9 - Kriegiersien vs Daskel
April 6: Series 10 - Daskel vs West Phoenicia

*HOME

by **Hapilopper** » Fri Mar 27, 2020 7:55 pm

THE HAPILOPPER NATIONAL BASEBALL TEAM

Full Nation Name: The Dominion of Hapilopper
Short Nation Name: Hapilopper
Trigramme: HAP
Demonym: Hapiloppian
Team Nickname: The Thrashers
Manager: Dale Moss

Choose my runscorers: Yes
Choose my lineup: Use my lineup as a guide, but I've included a depth chart for each position for if you want to swap players out. I've platooned 2nd base, so #2 or #12 could work just as well.
Follow my pitching rotation: Yes. I will indicate if the emergency starter is needed.
Godmod scoring events: Yes, but keep in mind I do not consider pitchers hitting grand slams to be godmodding. My OOC favorite team had two pitchers hit grand slams in a one-week span two years ago IRL.
RP injuries to my players: Yes, but please don't kill my players. I'll do that if necessary
Godmod injuries to my players: TG me beforehand.
Eject my players: Yes, but again, TG me, let's have fun with it.
Godmod other events: Yes
Style Mod: 2.75
Use DH at home: Absolutely not.

Other: The pitchers are moody, the hitters like to steal, except for #1 and #7 who clog the bases a bit too much. I want to make a note of #38, Aaron Armstrong, a relief pitcher that I've set as a two-way player on the outfield depth chart. Think of Michael Lorenzen of the Cincinnati Reds, whose batting prowess is really good for a pitcher. If you want to use him as a designated hitter or an outfield replacement player, I'm cool with that.

Concerning the depth charts, I will indicate in RP if a player is at a point he should sit for a game, or serve as a late-inning replacement.

INTRODUCTION
For 137 years, the National League of Hapilopper has been one of the premier sports leagues in the nation, and baseball has long been the Dominion's national pastime. Children learn the basics and fundamentals of the "Dominion's Game" almost as soon as they're able to walk, and the elementary, middle and high schools of Hapilopper are filled with eager players looking to join the 16 teams that play in the NLH. The high schools around each of the major population centers hold baseball leagues that are just as intense, if not more so, than the major leagues, as players try to get spotted by NLH scouts looking for the next great player.

The NLH's games are regularly seen on each of Hapilopper's major broadcast networks - HTN, the Hapilopper Television Network, NBS, the National Broadcasting Service and VTV, the Venerable Television Network. All three networks boast huge ratings for baseball games, with HTN's concept, "The Series of the Week," featuring every game of a three-game set over a weekend, recently praised by industry insiders as "the most interesting idea to come to sports television in many years."

The NLH features a fast-paced, wild style of baseball. More often than not, those that can, steal bases like their life depends on it. A number of players run the belief that "chicks dig the long ball," and those players, such as Jerome Hayden and Terry Blanchard, are among the flashiest players in the sport. However, a good number of players - and teams - also believe in small ball tactics - manufacture runs at every instance. The West Hampton Royals, for instance, are well known for their insistence on bunting to generate baserunners and runs, famously winning the NLH Cup in 2016 with a walkoff suicide squeeze.

Last year, the NLH brought together a band of misfits and borderline personalities together for their first national team, a team that stunningly made the playoffs before getting knocked off by the Free Republics. This year, the HNBT vows to better that result and shock the world. Will it happen? Time will only tell.

TEAM FULL ROSTER
STARTING POSITION PLAYERS
#1 - Levi Berry | First Base | Hapilopper City Nationals
Age: 26 | Throws: Right | Bats: Right
--
A solid hitter, Berry is known for drawing walks - lots of them - while waiting for the right pitch for him. Berry had quite the season last year, hitting .305, including 34 home runs. Played every game last year in spite of nagging foot injuries.

#2 - Campbell Braxton | Second Base | Peoria Warriors
Age: 30 | Throws: Right | Bats: Right
--
A solid piece of the Sherman-Braxton-Hammond double play trio for the Peoria Warriors, Braxton is known more for his defensive prowess than his offensive prowess - or lack of it. Braxton is asked to bunt more than anything else, and typically hits in the 7 position. He hit .243 last year, highlighted by *that* triple he hit against the Washington Metropolitans in June, when the Metropolitan defense bumbled and fumbled with a line drive while Campbell ran like hell.

#3 - Leroy Hunnisett | Third Base | Free Agent
Age: 28 | Throws: Left | Bats: Switch
--
The older brother of Murray Hunnisett, Leroy's most recent highlight, unfortunately, came just prior to the World Cup Qualifiers, when a group of players from the Hapilopper National Football Team, including Murray, came out to Capital Stadium to check out a crowd of fans waiting for tickets. Unfortunately, their presence distracted from an HC Nationals game that was going on inside the stadium, and Leroy got the heat from the team's general manager. Angered, Leroy left the team. Before his departure, he hit .316 with 25 home runs.

#4 - Jerome Hayden | Shortstop | Washington Metropolitans
Age: 23 | Throws: Right | Bats: Right
--
Jerome Hayden of the Washington Metropolitans is the power hitter of the national staff, hitting 57 home runs last year. Hayden also led the NLH in having pitches thrown at him, largely due to the fact Hayden also likes to showboat. Disliked by Charlton Forest for this very reason. In a game against Kingsland last year, Jerome blasted one to the upper deck in right field in Kingsland, then watched it fly out of the park. Charlton screamed at him to "RUN IT OUT!" to which Jerome responded by bragging about the hit. The next time Charlton faced Jerome, he threw a 97 mph fastball at his head.

#5 - Dayton Rowe | Left Field | North Hampton Generals
Age: 21 | Throws: Left | Bats: Left
--
Dayton Rowe, the darling of the North Hampton Generals, hit .294 last year including a higher than average amount of extra-base hits. Rowe is loved by the fans in North Hampton for his on-the-field abilities and his off-the-field antics, including, but not limited to, viral videos where he impersonates various celebrities at fast food drive thrus, and his video game "Let's Play" series. Has recently gotten on the bad side of national team footballer Nate Ellis for one such impersonation in a "Let's Play" video, where Dayton sucker-punched a body pillow wearing a jersey of a player that Ellis had recently cheap-shotted.

#6 - Terry Blanchard | Center Field | Hapilopper City Nationals
Age: 25 | Throws: Left | Bats: Left
--
Terry Blanchard is known for his flashy play and his willingness to do anything, and I mean ANYTHING, to get the job done. Stunningly threw Ethan Abbey out at home from deep center field two years ago at Capital Stadium without the aid of a relay thrower. For the uninitiated, it means that Blanchard has a cannon of an arm. Hit .297 last year for the Hap City Nationals, and has been on a campaign to improve his hitting. Known for taking part in very lengthy batting practice sessions after ball games.

#7 - Wes Sawyer | Right Field | Hapilopper City Nationals
Age: 24 | Throws: Right | Bats: Right
--
Wes Sawyer of the HC Nationals is a great contact batter, hitting .321 last year, is unfortunately known for one of the most unusual injuries in the history of Hapiloppian sport. Two years ago, when he was on a date with his girlfriend, Wes apparently threw out his right arm throwing a tub of popcorn at a movie screen after the screening of a recently-released space opera movie encountered technical difficulties. He missed a month of action from this fit of anger. He is now known as "The Popcorn Guy" in clubhouses across Hapilopper.

#8 - Mo Beverly | Catcher | West Hampton Royals
Age: 25 | Throws: Right | Bats: Switch
--
Mo Beverly is considered the "meat and potatoes" of the West Hampton Royals and the Hapilopper National Baseball Team, taking a position as the de facto captain of the HNBT as it went through a period of roughness in the start of the season. Last year for West Hampton, he hit .273 with 16 home runs. Beverly is becoming known across Hapilopper for his commercials for Sharpe's Coffee, where he, and NSSCRA driver Taylor Henderson, try out various blends of coffee before becoming a little too wired.

PITCHING STAFF
#30 - Charlton Forest | Starting Pitcher | Kingsland Braves
Age: 28 | Throws: Left | Bats: Left
--
The ace of the Hapilopper national staff, Forest went 24-9 with a 3.02 ERA last year. His fastballs top out at 99. His arsenal also includes a circle change, a forkball and a slider. Unfortunately, Forest is also known for being rather moody, and infamously threw a fastball at Jerome Hayden's head in a game last year after Jerome stopped to watch a home run fly into the upper deck at the park in Kingsland. In his spare time, Forest has taken up microbrewing, and is reportedly in the process of perfecting his own craft beer. Watch this space, because it might be good.

#31 - Cale Waller | Starting Pitcher | Surrey Wolves
Age: 25 | Throws: Right | Bats: Left
--
Waller, named for a famous racing driver with a tendency to never give up, went 24-5 with a 2.61 ERA last year. His arsenal includes a 99 MPH fastball, a 12-6 curveball and a palmball. While Waller is a reasonably good hitter, hitting .203 last year, his baserunning prowess, described as "slapstick comedy" by HTN commentator Marty Miller, has led to the NLH seriously considering the designated hitter, largely on the "strength," if you want to call it that, of the infamous "Triple TOOTBLAN" from three years ago, when Waller's hilarious ineptitude on the basepaths got the other two baserunners in a bad spot.

#32 - Whit Dabney | Starting Pitcher | Peoria Warriors
Age: 27 | Throws: Right | Bats: Right
--
Whit Dabney, the no-nonsense knuckleballer for the Peoria Warriors, is projected to have a 20 plus year career throwing just the knuckleball. His no-nonsense attitude has fallen afoul of some unlikely targets, most notably "Ripper" the mascot of the Buckridge Blues. Between innings in a game late three years ago, "Ripper"'s antics offended Dabney, who charged at the mascot, leading to one of the wildest bench-clearing brawls in recent memory. Dabney was soon removed from the game as the fans at Buckridge's Raceway Park took to throwing garbage at the knuckleballer.

#33 - Victor Foster | Starting Pitcher | Hapilopper City Nationals
Age: 30 | Throws: Left | Bats: Left
--
Last year with the HC Nationals, Vic Foster went 18-9 with a 2.91 ERA using an arsenal including a 98-mph fastball, a 12-6 curveball, a circle change, a forkball and, it is believed, a spitball. Foster was caught in the act in a game against Oscioru, and was removed from the team for the playoffs as a result at the WBC a couple of years ago. This has not changed his demeanor, and on two occasions, batters have roared that Victor, well, went to the mouth pretty blatantly last year.

#34 - Milford Gibbs | Starting Pitcher | Washington Metropolitans
Age: 28 | Throws: Right | Bats: Left
--
Milford Gibbs, who, by the way, hates that first name, is the fifth of Hapilopper's pitchers. He had a 2.85 ERA last year and a 22-6 record, using a fastball exceeding 100 mph, a cutter, a straight changeup and a slurve. Gibbs has trouble with his endurance, however, and tends to fall off a proverbial cliff after reaching a pitch count of 95. Gibbs, for some reason, gained the name "Hot Sauce" after an unspecified incident involving a bottle of hot sauce in a team shower after a game in Garvinson last year.

#35 - Jordan Meadows | Relief Pitcher | Garvinson Trojans
Age: 26 | Throws: Left | Bats: Left
--
One of the two Meadows twins, Jordan Meadows is known as the resident LOOGY - left-handed one-out guy - of the Hapilopper team, but is also known for his alter-ego, Rodney DeRude, a mulleted redneck-looking throwback to the 90s that has made baseball fans in Garvinson double over with laughter - and on one occasion - sent Surrey Wolves announcer Jim Simpson into an apoplectic rage for something involving "respecting the sanctity of the game." Jordan wasn't even in the game at the time.

#36 - Martin Meadows | Relief Pitcher | Garvinson Trojans
Age: 26 | Throws: Left | Bats: Left
--
The other of the two Meadows twins, Martin Meadows is a fireballer, known for his fastball that has topped out at 103 mph. His control isn't always there, though, and batters have run for cover on several occasions. So did Garvinson announcer Robert McCall during one game two years ago. Martin threw a wild pitch that somehow made its way into the H-Sports/Garvinson announce booth. Fans watching the game on that channel heard McCall shout "Oh SHIT!" before ducking for his life.

#37 - Calvin Ware | Relief Pitcher | Buckridge Blues
Age: 31 | Throws: Left | Bats: Left
--
Calvin Ware, the Buckridge Blues' left-handed middle reliever, has several pitches in his arsenal including a forkball, a 12-6 curveball and a split-finger fastball that tops out at 95 mph. Ware is also known to be something of a hothead, having caused a bench-clearing brawl two years ago against Washington after Jerome Hayden admired a monstrous home run he hit. Ware is also known for destroying clubhouse phones and monitors after bad outings.

#38 - Aaron Armstrong | Relief Pitcher | Surrey Wolves
Age: 22 | Throws: Right | Bats: Right
--
Aaron Armstrong, the Surrey Wolves' middle reliever is known for his 22-inch biceps, his 101-mph fastball and his ability to hit monstrous home runs. Three years ago in a game against the HC Nationals, Armstrong blasted a tape measure home run that both exited BankTrust Park in Surrey AND ended up smashing a windshield of a car behind the stadium. Armstrong has received permission from the Hapilopper National Team and from the Surrey Wolves to cut the sleeves off of his jersey, allowing players and fans alike to marvel at his 22-inch guns.

#39 - Robert Stevens | Relief Pitcher | West Hampton Royals
Age: 25 | Throws: Right | Bats: Like a 45-year old drunk in a beer league game
--
Robert Stevens, who typically serves as the closer of the West Hampton Royals, has been asked to serve as the national team's mop-up man. Stevens, who had a 1.52 ERA last year, got West Hampton out of some real bad jams last year - twice against the Emporia Reds, striking out the side both times when the bases were loaded. Rather than let the issue get to him, Stevens chewed his gum and calmly sat Emporia's top hitters down one-by-one. The WHR won both of those games, too. To give you some kind of idea of how bad Robert's hitting is, last year, Stevens, attempting to hit in a 17-2 blowout in West Hampton's favor last year, fell on his ass trying to swing at a 2-0 pitch way outside the zone. The opposing pitcher, Martin Meadows, lost his composure laughing at the sorry attempt at a swing.

#40 - Darren Goodwin | Closer | Peoria Warriors
Age: 30 | Throws: Right | Bats: Right
--
Darren Goodwin, Peoria's intense closer, registered 47 saves last year with an ERA of 1.73, mainly using his fastball clocked at a whopping 107-mph. Goodwin's control is sometimes an issue, but what would you expect with pitches that fast. Goodwin is known for dancing on the roofs of moving minivans around Peoria to the tune of various 80s pop hits after registering a save. Don't ask us why, and he's been asked to stop, but who's to say he won't do the same thing on the streets of Drawkland should the Haps win the World Baseball Classic?

BACKUP POSITION PLAYERS
#11 - Carl Constable | First Base | Garvinson Trojans
Age: 28 | Throws: Right | Bats: Right
--
Carl Constable is a part of the HNBT for the second year in a row, beating out Ben Hammond for the backup first baseman spot again. Hit .309 last year with 31 home runs, and saw his stock rise even more in Garvinson. Became known for dressing up as dinosaurs in his spare time. When asked why, he said "What the hell, the kids love it, so why not?"

#12 - Ernest Brand | Second Base | Surrey Wolves
Age: 25 | Throws: Right | Bats: Right
--
A solid hitter but a questionable fielder, Ernest Brand will be platooning second base again with Campbell Braxton. Last year, he recovered from a pretty crappy season, hitting .276. Brand has been seeing a sports psychologist in a way to help him with his fielding incapabilities. Anger problems started to develop last year, manifesting itself when he threw a bucket of sunflower seeds on the field at BankTrust Park last year.

#13 - Chandler Harrell | Third Base | Washington Metropolitans
Age: 32 | Throws: Left | Bats: Left
--
Chandler Harrell is a solid hitter on the Washington Metropolitans team, hitting .294, but has a solid dislike for anything that would distract his team from the ultimate goal of victory. Unfortunately, he also has a short fuse, and the combination of those two things actually got him in big trouble recently, when an overactive dugout phone kept ringing. He took a teammate's bat and smashed the phone into bits, then throwing the remains onto the field.

#14 - Alvin Bannerman | Shortstop | Kingsland Braves
Age: 26 | Throws: Right | Bats: Right
--
Alvin Bannerman replaces Dalton Sadler on the HNBT after beating him out for the position, largely on the strength of a .301 season and three throwing errors all season, while Sadler sadly appeared to gain a case of "the yips" and couldn't properly make routine defensive plays. Bannerman is the president of the Kingsland chapter of the Team Blue Fan Club.

#15 - Marion Pound | Outfield | Garvinson Trojans
Age: 22 | Throws: Left | Bats: Left
--
Marion Pound, son of Richard Pound, a famous knuckleballer for the Garvinson Trojans, started as a two-way pitcher and outfielder, but an injury to his throwing arm convinced him to give up pitching. Pound is a solid outfielder, known for his acrobatic maneuvers in center field, most notably one day two years ago when Pound seemingly climbed a 15 foot wall to rob Levi Berry of a home run.

#16 - Brandt Williamson | Center Field | Buckridge Blues
Age: 25 | Throws: Right | Bats: Right
--
A real power hitter, Brandt Williamson is known for hitting the ball to the opposite field, leading to the Buckridge Blues installing a gigantic bell above the right-field suites at Raceway Park. The "Oppo Taco Bell," as it is known, is loved by Blues fans, reviled by baseball purists and hated by opposing pitchers, notably Charlton Forest, who reportedly put out a $10,000 bounty on any player who can destroy the bell with a home run (or any other means).

#17 - Ethan Abbey | Outfield/Designated Hitter | Buckridge Blues
Age: 31 | Throws: Left | Bats: Left
--
Ethan Abbey is a solid outfielder but was held back from the Hapilopper's starting lineup out of any need for a designated hitter, if necessary. Abbey hit .323 last year with 48 home runs and 131 RBIs. Ethan has seen a strange growth in the last couple of years, and some reporters are starting to put two and two together. In other words, he could be cultivating some mass in less-than-legal ways.

#18 - Grady Elliott | Catcher | Washington Metropolitans
Age: 21 | Throws: Right | Bats: Left
--
21-year old Grady Elliott is a Washington lifer, and in his rookie year last year with the Washington Metropolitans, he hit .243 with two home runs. Not expected to see much playing time, unless Mo Beverly gets hurt.

TYPICAL BATTING ORDER, PITCHING ROTATION, DEPTH CHARTS

BATTING ORDER, NO DH:
1: #2 - Braxton
2: #1 - Berry
3: #5 - Rowe
4: #4 - Hayden
5: #3 - Hunnisett
6: #8 - Beverly
7: #7 - Sawyer
8: #6 - Blanchard
9: (Pitcher)

BATTING ORDER, DH:
1: #2 - Braxton
2: #1 - Berry
3: #5 - Rowe
4: #4 - Hayden
5: #17 - Abbey (DH)
6: #3 - Hunnisett
7: #8 - Beverly
8: #7 - Sawyer
9: #6 - Blanchard

PITCHING ROTATION:
1: #30 - Forest
2: #31 - Waller
3: #32 - Dabney
4: #33 - Foster
5: #34 - Gibbs
E: #36 - M. Meadows (Emergency starter)

RELIEF:
1: #36 - M. Meadows (Middle reliever)
2: #38 - Armstrong (Middle reliever)
3: #35 - J. Meadows (Left-Handed One-Out Guy)
4: #37 - Ware (Late inning setup man)
5: #39 - Stevens (Mop-up man)

CLOSER:
1: #40 - Smith
2: #39 - Stevens (If Smith is tired or just blew a save)

DESIGNATED HITTER DEPTH CHART:
1: #17 - Abbey
2: #38 - Armstrong

POSITION DEPTH CHARTS:
1B: #1 - Berry, #11 - Constable (if #1 tired)
2B: #2 - Braxton/#12 - Brand (two players platooned)
3B: #3 - Hunnisett, #13 - Harrell (if #3 tired)
SS: #4 - Hayden, #14 - Bannerman (if #4 tired)
LF: #5 - Rowe, #16 - Blanchard, #17 - Abbey (if no DH)
CF: #6 - Williamson, #15 - Pound, #38 - Armstrong (if no DH and hasn't pitched)
RF: #7 - Sawyer, #17 - Abbey (if no DH), #15 - Pound
C: #8 - Beverly, #18 - Elliott (when #32 pitches)

STADIUM:
Capital Stadium, Hapilopper City, Hapilopper
Built: 1970 | Seating Capacity: 63,535 | Open-Air | Artificial Turf
Dimensions: 330 ft. Left Field, 375 ft. Left Center, 404 ft. Center, 375 ft. Right Center, 330 ft. Right

--
Capital Stadium, the home of the HC Nationals, is Hapilopper's largest baseball stadium, seating over 63,000 for baseball and 66,000 for gridiron football. The stadium, the last of Hapilopper's classic cookie-cutter venues, is located just off the West River and right in the heart of towntown Hapilopper City. As is custom with cookie-cutter stadiums, the park is completely symmetrical and is surrounded by multiple decks of stands, typically filled with screaming fans when the HC Nationals are doing well. Back in the 1970s, the HC Nationals, and their vaunted "National Machine" dominated Hapiloppian baseball, and brought over four million fans through the turnstiles on six occasions. Hapiloppian fans have vowed to come to Capital Stadium in force for HNBT games.

Capital Stadium is considered a "neutral" park and does not favor hitters or pitchers per se, but the artificial turf, known as "HCNTurf", is seen as the HC Nationals' secret weapon. Balls bounce and fly like crazy off the turf, and the HC Nationals have commonly selected players that have been able to use that turf - and its unusual properties - to good use.

by **Banija** » Fri Mar 27, 2020 9:25 pm

Banija National Baseball Team

Coaching Staff
The current manager, Ousman Kakay, is in his 3rd tournament as the team's manager. He has been wildly successful at the helm, leading the team to a bronze medal his first tournament(WBC 46), and a championship his second tournament(WBC 47). He hopes to continue to build his legacy
Manager- Ousman Kakay. 57 years old. Starting managing the team at the beginning of WBC 46.
Bench Coach- Isaac Oladipo. 47 years old. Second Classic on staff.
Hitting Coach- Baluta Colley. 47 years old. Third Classic on staff.
Pitching Coach- Juma Nyo. 45 years old. 1st Classic on Staff. Likes big, tall, hard throwing pitchers. Bullpen coach for WBC 46 & 47, hired as pitching coach after retirement of old pitching coach at the end of the last tournament.
1st base Coach- Kitwana Badru. 51 years old. 1st Classic on staff. Formerly manager of Northern Moravica baseball.
3rd base Coach- Bamba Sanneh. 63 years old. Third Classic on staff. 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. They've largely kept the core of the teams that won the WBC 46 bronze medal and the WBC 47 gold medal. Players that are on their first international callup are italicized.

Batting Order with Designated Hitter
1 SS Obasey Mazzi. #30. 22 years old. Right-handed. Fresh Graduate of Northern Moravica University. Stout defensively, very aggressive and fast baserunner.
2 CF Duwa Sohna. #31. 32 years old. Switch-hitter(right-handed). Alumnus of Kizza I College. Has great defensive range.
3 RF Jonkong Sillah. #30. 30 years old. Right-handed. Easily the best hitter on the team. Can hit for power and average. Poor outfield range though he has a big arm. Alumnus of the University of Ankole.
4 1B Yakuba Kah. #5. 28 years old. Left-handed. Hits for power. Runs the base-paths poorly. Alumnus of the University of Moravica.
5 LF Cyper Kandeh. #19. 25 years old. Right-handed. He can throw baserunners out like nobody's business. Graduated from Golden Valley University.
6 DH Lama Ouattara. #12. 32 years old. Left-handed. Alumnus of the Islamic University of Busoga.
7 3B Lalo Diene. #3. 30 years old. Left-handed. Alumnus of the University of Ankole.
8 2B Chiki Uche. #4. 20 years old. Right-handed. Plays at Loyola-Istria.
9 C Xaaf Geele. #9. 23 years old. Right-handed. Alumnus of the University of Ankole.

Batting Order without Designated Hitter
1 SS Obasey Mazzi. #30. 22 years old. Right-handed. Fresh Graduate of Northern Moravica University. Stout defensively, very aggressive and fast baserunner.
2 CF Duwa Sohna. #31. 32 years old. Switch-hitter(right-handed). Alumnus of Kizza I College. Has great defensive range.
3 RF Jonkong Sillah. #30. 30 years old. Right-handed. Easily the best hitter on the team. Can hit for power and average. Poor outfield range though he has a big arm. Alumnus of the University of Ankole.
4 1B Yakuba Kah. #5. 28 years old. Left-handed. Hits for power. Runs the base-paths poorly. Alumnus of the University of Moravica.
5 LF Cyper Kandeh. #19. 25 years old. Right-handed. He can throw baserunners out like nobody's business. Graduated from Golden Valley University.
6 3B Lama Ouattara. #12. 32 years old. Left-handed. Alumnus of the Islamic University of Busoga.
7 2B Chiki Uche. #4. 20 years old. Right-handed. Plays at Loyola-Istria.
8 C Xaaf Geele. #9. 23 years old. Right-handed. Plays at the University of Ankole.
9 PITCHER.

Bench
*1B/3B Lalo Diene. #3. 30 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 Aman Teklu #22. 22 years old. Right-handed. Defensive utility player in the outfield. Plays at Northern Moravica.
1B/C Assefa Mulugeta. #25. 21 years old. Switch-hitter(right-handed). Plays at Northern Moravica.
2B/SS Ifeatu Chee. #2. Great baserunner, often pinch runs. Plays at Kizza I College.
OF Jabril Saidykhan. #14. 28 years old. Right-handed. Alumnus of the University of Loyola-Istria.
IF Odera Obea. #15. 24 years old. Right-handed. Team's first(And only) female player. Alumnus of Hangaza Tech.

Starting Pitcher Rotation
Entire WBC 46 & 47 rotation is returning for one more tournament.
1 Assan Condé. #6. 33 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. 32 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. 27 years old. Right-handed. Alumnus of Northern Moravica.
4 Suntukung Kandeh. #24. 26 years old. Left-handed. Alumnus of the University of Moravica.

Bullpen
LRP Ensa Suso. #33. 24 years old. Right-handed. Alumnus of Kizza I College. Starter during the group stages, moved into bullpen for the knockout stages.
LRP Tairu Sesay. #44. 28 years old. Right-handed. Alumnus of Wild Valley University.
MRP Jebel Darboe. #17. 27 years old. Right-handed. Alumnus of Northern Moravica.
MRP Mamadi Corr. #45. 26 years old. Left-Handed. Alumnus of University of Moravica.
MRP Bouba Kujabi. #13. 23 years old. Right-handed. Alumnus of University of Aksum.
SU Gibril Sowe. #48. 29 years old. Right-handed. Alumnus of the University of Ankole. Younger brother of former player and captain Jebel Sowe. Middle Reliever during WBC 46 & 47, national team Setup man for the first time.
CL Sarjo Touré. #41. 32 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. Setup man in WBC 46 & 47, national team closer for the first time.

Records(W-L, Win %):
All-Time Olympic Record: 7-8, 46.67%
All-Time WBC Group Stage Record: 140-115, 54.9%
All-Time WBC Knockout Stage Record: 29-20, 59.18%. (This includes Casaran Stage games from WBC 47)
All-Time WBC Record: 169-135, 55.59%
All-Time Record(All competitions): 176-143, 55.17%

Accomplishments
3rd place at XI Olympiad in Aeropag, Commerce Heights.
3rd place at 46th World Baseball Classic.
1st place at World Baseball Classic 47.

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 substitutions 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 pitching schedule is laid out to a T, matchday by matchday, 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, for each individual matchday. 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
Style Modifier: -3
Park Factor: 75
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. For the knockout stages, we'll have one starter in the 4 man rotation available every game for an inning or two out of the bullpen. That is listed in the rotation. If those guys are brought in, it is for an absolute maximum of 35 pitches, however many outs that takes.

Banijan Pitching Rotation For Round of 16 v. West Phoenicia
Game 1- SP: Assan Condé
Game 2- SP: Banta Jawara
Game 3- SP: Duta Condé
Game 4- SP: Suntukung Kandeh

Banijan Pitching Rotation For Quarterfinals v. Sherpa Empire
Game 1- SP: Assan Condé
Game 2- SP: Banta Jawara
Game 3- SP: Duta Condé
Game 4- SP: Assan Condé(pitching on short rest)
Game 5- SP: Banta Jawara

by **Newmanistan** » Sat Mar 28, 2020 7:24 am

NEWMANISTAN ROCKETS

“Home of the Six-Time Champions!”

Let’s start with the technicalities:
My opponent, if they RP first, may do the following:
Choose my runscorers: Yes
Choose my lineup: No, my lineup is listed here. Use that!
Follow my pitching rotation: Yes. I will normally include upcoming pitchers in my prior RP.
Godmod scoring events: Yes
RP injuries to my players: Yes, but only say they are hurt. I will determine the severity.
Godmod injuries to my players: No
Eject my players: Yes, on a basis of no more then one more then you eject from your own team.
Godmod other events: No
Use DH at home: Another “Hell no!” here

Additional Information that is very important to me: Newmanistan does not prescribe to the modern day concept of pitch counts determining how long a starting pitcher is kept in for. In fact, pitch counts are not even kept track of outside of curiosity sake. Such count is not displayed on the scoreboard, so if you want to track it for your pitcher, you must do it manually.

– If Newmanistan has given up 2 runs or less and WON, then the starting pitcher has gone all nine innings. No ifs, ands, or buts. This is true even if it would have been a save situation.

– Another Newmanistan trait is aggressive base stealing. Think back to the days of Vince Coleman and Ricky Henderson in their primes.

Head Coach: Jessica Hedstrom, 56, Southport Tigers
– Successfully led the Rockets to the final in her first year as coach of the Rockets. Do recall that she replaced the legendary Ashley Stevens prior to WBC 45, as Stevens retired. The entire coaching staff was turned over then, so they were brought back for WBC 46. Then the embarrassment happened. Due to the format of WBC 47, that Classic is considered a “throw out”. However, this Classic is do or die for her career as national team coach.

Hitting Coach:Emily Martin, 58, Southport Tigers
– Her third tour of duty in this role for WBC 48.

Pitching Coach:Rachel Cerullo, 61, Dover City Mountaineers
– Also in her third Classic.

STARTING ROTATION:
1A) Hannah Lee, 35, LHP, South Charlotte Condors (#25)
– In WBC 40 at 19, she was added to the roster to get the WBC experience, and was not used a ton. Made a spot start in qualifying for WBC 41, and tossed a shutout. Tossed another key shutout in the playoffs. Had a great WBC 42, and cannot be blamed for the Rockets premature exit in there. Moved to the top of the rotation of WBC 43, and was the starting pitcher for the Game 6 finale against Free Republics. Remained consistent in WBC 44 and 45, and was not the reason for our playoff choke in WBC 46. Sure, at her age, maybe WBC 47 should have been her last but I didn’t give her a proper “send off”. Plus, the age would be give me RP fodder if we struggled for some reason.

1B) Cassie Burke, 30, RHP, Dover City Mountaineers (#37)
– At just 19 years of age, Cassie made quite an impression with the small market Seminole Bay Gators, the coach Stevens continues with the theme of going with the hot hands from the most recent ENBL season. She’s a bit young to be given this role, not even Hannah Lee was handed a starting spot this young, but her 1.86 ERA and 246 K’s were very impressive. Due to playing with Seminole Bay, the win-loss record is not as impressive, but she’ll be happy to get more run support now. Was somewhat inconsistent in WBC 46 & 47, but she has been good at home still, so she gets a chance to redeem herself.

1C) Madison Sullivan, 31, LHP, South Tier Seagulls (#40)
– Was part of the WBC 44 roster out of the bullpen as a long reliever, but was seen as someone who would be strongly considered for a starting position. The hard thrower appeared as a starter for WBC 46, and is liked a lot. Consistent at home, not going to the lead the nation in complete game shutouts, but never really gets lit up, either.

1D) Paige Norwood, 26, LHP, North Charlotte Wildcats (#46)
– Had a strong rookie year with the Wildcats, impressing the coaching staff so much that she was made a part of this rotation. The timing was right for a player of her age to get this opportunity, and Paige was on the money in seizing the chance. She’s been good so far, and WBC 48 will be her second Classic.

1E) Kelsie Carmichael, 23, RHP, Pocono City Capitals (#29) (WBC Rookie)
– Drafted by Brighton out of college, the Capitals paid a huge price in terms of draft picks to acquire her. She did not immediately flourish prior to the trade, but did in her first year with Pocono City, impressing many. Now, the WBC rookie joins an older rotation hoping her fastball/cutter/sinker combination is as effective here as in the ENBL.

Bullpen:
Closer- Katrina Payne, 37, RHP, Dover City Mountaineers (#44)
– Katrina first appeared on the roster in WBC 42 as a short reliever. She was upgraded to the set up role for WBC 44, and now with yet another age-related retirement, she is the official closer of this team. That’s fine, as she is the regular closer in Dover City, and has been. I also typically have my closers be effective longer, so her age is not a big concern, though this is her last Classic.

Set-Up- Brittany Overton, 30, LHP, South Charlotte Condors (#30)
– Overton stepped in to the closer role with Condors, and was impressive thanks in part of her fastball and splitter combination. She’ll mix in a tricky changeup to go along with that, too. As is usually the case on our roster, the set up reliever is a closer domestically.

Kristen Phillips, 27, LHP, North Charlotte Wildcats (#31)
– The lone member of the entire of pitching staff that made her debut in WBC 46. The southpaw will be used in middle innings, but could be called upon first to join the rotation in the event of injuries to it.

Alyssa Wolcott, 33, RHP, Tundra Falls Mariners (#48)
– A middle reliever for the team that is a bit unusual for the roster because typically Stevens just uses transformed starters in these spots. Wolcott, however, is a middle reliever at home as well, and through an incredible work ethic, has been impressive to the point of inclusion on the roster.

Heather Doran, 32, LHP, Tundra Falls Mariners (#32)
– She will be used in short relief situations where a left hander would be particularly useful.

Morgan Timmerman, 33, RHP, Pocono City Capitals (#38)
– Capable of pitching several innings if need be, but the preference will likely be to use her in short relief where a righty is useful.

Tori Fuller, 24, LHP, South Tier Seagulls (#36)
– Usually young pitchers in Newmanistan with a ton of potential are starters, and they only go to the bullpen if they did not pan out as one, but still had the ability for relief work. Tori is an exception, as she has always been a short reliever, and no one tries to make her a starter. It’s worked out well as she is a closer with South Tier, and may be groomed for a similar spot here. Specializes in the fastball and cutter. Made her debut in WBC 47.

STARTING LINEUP (Throws/Bats)
1) Brooke Sauter- CF, 22 (R/S), Centralia Firebirds (#1) (WBC Rookie)
– The youngster joins the team for the first time, but don’t worry, she will be what you have come to expect for the Rockets in the leadoff role. Highly effective with getting on base, and then stealing at will. This means she will be just as willing to steal third as she is to steal second. Walking her can often become a three base walk.

2) Jenna Schuster- LF, 23 (R/S), Tundra Falls Mariners (#11) (WBC Rookie)
– Just like Schuster will be what you have come to expect from the top spot, Schuster is our typical #2 hitter: a clone of our typical #1 hitter. If you’re unfamiliar with Newmanistan lineups, this is something that we are known for; two absolute speedsters being willing to run at will at the top of our lineup.

3) Mikayla Larson- SS (R/R), 28, Loudon Leopards (#4)
– The team is used to having great shortstops. Kayla Carey for so many years nailed down this position, and last year Kenzie Magee made the most of her one chance, now she too has moved on from international play. Larson appears in her second Classic as a starter, but moves up in the lineup as her BA has steadily improved as she has aged.

4) Lexi Burrows- 3B (R/S), 21, South Tier Seagulls (#14) (WBC Rookie)
– A 21 year old batting in the clean up spot? This could be considered a reach if you compared it to other lineups, but after an amazing first two years with the Seagulls, slamming 53 and 51 HR’s in each season, she is getting this chance very quickly. Her BA’s of .315, then .321, show that she can do more then hit the long ball, too.

5) Nicole Larkin- RF (L/S), 25, Putnam Lake Eagles (#7) (First Time Starter)
– Larkin made her debut on the roster in WBC 46, and has been part of the bench for the first two Classics. Now, in a year with significant changeover in the batting lineup, she looks to impress in this role. She is most known for her BA, as her .356 clip was the highest in the entire ENBL. That was enough to get her into this spot, but she has pop in her bat as well and should a welcome addition for Classics to come.

6) Sierra McKinley- 2B (R/R), 23, Jessicaville Millionaires (#26) (WBC Rookie)
– McKinley is another who joins the roster for the first time after an impressive season in the ENBL saw her increase her BA from .294 as a rookie to .330 as a sophomore. She can hit the long ball to the tune of about 30 HR’s in a 162-game season, but also will steal bases. Not as aggressively as Sauter and Schuster, but don’t forget about her on the bases if you’re an opposing pitcher.

7) Chelsea Harlow- 1B (R/S), 21, Olympia Gladiators (#33) (WBC Rookie)
– Another young rookie in the lineup, Chelsea was a third round steal in the ENBL draft, impressing in her first season with Olympia, hitting .333 with 33 HR’s. RBI’s were five short as she only had 128, but is why she chose to wear #33 here. While her talent is undisputable, her maturity is questioned a little bit. That doesn’t mean work ethic, that’s great, but she’s been guilty of staring at HR’s far too long or some “arrogant” bat flips. In fact, she was famously beaned by Madison Sullivan in a game this year, but both players acknowledge that will put that aside in favor of playing for the Rockets and being teammates here.

8) Nicole Hoskins- C (R/R), 27, Loudon Leopards (#45) (First Time Starter)
– Hoskins made her debut on the team in WBC 46, and like her fellow Nicole, spent the first two Classics as a backup before now finally getting a chance a start. She can hit the long ball, averaging 31 HR’s per season, and is great behind the plate. The knock on her is she can have extended hot/cold stretches, so if she starts cold instead of hot, a change could be mafe.

9) Pitcher

Bench: (Newmanistan has more bench players then most because our bullpen is smaller then average).
Samantha Murphy- C, 22 (#34) (WBC Rookie)
Michelle Fraser- CI, 31 (#18)
Shelby Pritchett- CI, 26 (#19)
Sierra Davis- CI, 34 (#13)
Taylor Rethke- MI, 27 (#3)
Kelsey Hawke- MI, 29 (#8)
Stephanie Callahan- OF, 32 (#10)
Amy Coyle- OF, 23 (#12)
Ashley Sorenson- OF, 27 (#2) (Started in leadoff spot in WBC 46 and 47). Still a speedster.
Brianne McDowell- Utility, 22 (#21) (WBC Rookie)

(OOC) Why The Rockets are All-Female: From time to time, I get asked this. When we signed up for our first Classic, WBC 7, we anticipated that we would not be good right away. Therefore, for that Classic, I used a team of all women to provide an IC reason for why we might not have been as good. Then, we made it all the way to the championship series. Based on that, I just figured I would stick with it. As it continued to work, why mess with it?

Home Stadiums Used:
vs Teyniyji- Tundra Falls Proving Grounds, Tundra Falls
vs Chromatika- Emperor Michael I Stadium, Pocono City
vs Liventia- Keisler Stadium, Southport
vs Brooklyn and Queens- The Jungle, Loudon
vs South Covello- Empress Jessica I Stadium, Jessicaville

by **Newmanistan** » Sat Mar 28, 2020 8:07 am

THE ROCKET REPORT

INTERESTING ROSTER DECISIONS

by Brianne Henry,

As the 48th World Baseball Classic gets set to begin, the official Newmanistan roster that was submitted as got a lot of attention throughout the Empire, because manager Ashley Hedstrom has not just made some of the traditional decisions. That would be simply rolling over the same players from prior Classics into the new one. Let’s face it, for the last two Classics, Newmanistan has not been intimidating as we should be. There are people now who would probably say that Ko-oren and Banija are the most feared nations in the World Baseball Classic, and they would not be wrong. But that is not the way it should be, and not the way it used to be. Of course, the Rockets are still respected. They are still the top seed in their group, and are ranked #7 overall, which is low for our standards, but is something that other nations would love to get too.

Before I get further into this article, let’s look at that ranking a little bit. Newmanistan is 7th in the World, something that is fair when considering their play in the last two Classics, and shows why this Classic is do-or-die if Ashley Hedstrom wishes to remain the head coach of the team. So, who is actually ahead of us? Banija, Cassadaigua, and Ko-oren are one, two and three. That’s perfectly fine, those nations have accomplished a lot recently and are the best in the world right now in my opinion as well. Fourth is Free Republics. Sure, if you want to look at recent Classics, then definitely they belong ahead of us, but I know a lot of you out there are going to scoff at the fact that they are better then us, in general. Short term, yes, they have had the better results. Fifth is a nation that knew they would not be able to live up to that ranking so they saved themselves the letdown by not signing up. Then, we get The Sherpa Empire in 6th. I like the Sherpalanders, but a show of hands out there on who thinks they are really better then us? That’s like saying Rockii Ezis is a better driver then Kai Qiang. There may be a race or two that Ezis finishes ahead of Qiang, but that does not make him the better driver. Statistically, we are behind them, though.

Back to that roster, it is night and day to compare the overall pitching staff and the batters. With the pitchers, we are seeing veterans all over the roster, including a couple people who you might have some concerns about given their age, but their play shows they still belong. However, offensively, the roster has five WBC Rookies in the starting lineup, plus two first time starters. Only shortstop Mikayla Larson returns to the starting lineup, and she was a first time starter in WBC 47. Those decisions were not necessitated by age. Players like Stephanie Reynolds or Joanne Collins could have been back and traditionally would have been, but Hedstrom is completely switching things up in favor of youth. This is a bit of a gamble, but this is a batting lineup that had become inconsistent, starting in the playoffs of WBC 46, and running through the unusual format of WBC 47. New faces now get their chances. That’s with the offense, though. The pitchers seem to be getting more of a mulligan as four of the five starters return, including 35-year old Hannah Lee. Hannah has done a lot, including win titles in WBC 41 and 43, and now returns for her eighth WBC. That’s a credit to how young she was when she first appeared and makes what she did for us in WBC 41 all the more impressive, but she has turned into a workhorse for this team as well.

It’s not Hannah Lee, though, that despite being 35 is the surprising carryover in the rotation. You could argue that maybe she should not be in the 1A spot, but Cassie Burke in the 1B spot is a little more surprising. Cassie made her mark initially in the last Classic but is now coming off two consecutive tournaments where she has been inconsistent. Perhaps you can make the argument that she was never truly consistent to begin with, but was given a pass on some of her earlier starts because she was younger. The 30-year old now is getting another chance, and she must make the most of it. Chances are if she flounders, the team will as well, and that would lead to a coaching change at the top, so Burke must step up. By the way, I have hinted at a coaching change being possible. Newmanistanian readers will know this, but for any foreigners reading, if Hedstrom was fired, it would be the first time that a Rockets baseball coach was ever fired from their position. Previous coaches all retired. Madison Sullivan and Paige Norwood are fine starts that might not amaze while they are on the mound, but they can get the job. Perhaps a youthful jolt in the rotation over them would have been nice, but we do get that with the 23-year old Pocono City Capital, Kelsie Carmichael. Carmichael flourished in her first year with the Capitals after the team saved her from the Brighton Bulls, giving Brighton four first-round draft picks over the next four years to get her. A huge price that could pay a long term benefit for the team. The bullpen does not see much change.

Moving to the offense, the faces here are strikingly different. It starts with a new 1-2 punch in Brooke Sauter and Jenna Schuster, two speedy outfielders who grew up within 40 miles of one another and have been close friends for the longest time. Now the 22 and 23 year olds could potentially be part of this team for quite some time, and that must be very exciting for them as individuals. They love to run, as we have found out, and having youth for that type of player is not a bad thing. Behind them is Mikayla Larson, the only returnee in the lineup, though the shortstop moves up from hitting the 7th to now being 3rd in the lineup. She has improved over the last couple of years, and is in the prime of her career. Therefore, she will be looking to make a name for herself at this level for the first time, instead of being that person that took over the spot that the great Kayla Carey once had. In the cleanup spot, 21-year old third-baseman Lexi Burrows makes her debut. Hitting 104 HR’s combined for her first two seasons in the ENBL will go a long way, but that seems like an awfully big spot to be putting a young player in so soon in their career, even with what they have shown at home. Burrows does a lot more then hit home runs and is highly regarded for her overall work ethic and composure, so it does seem as though she can thrive in this role.

Another interesting face in the starting lineup is the flamboyant Chelsea Harlow at first base. On talent alone, she belongs in the lineup, and she is a player that will work hard. However, she also likes to be in the spotlight, and is not afraid to speak her mind. This attitude was on display in an ENBL game between her Olympia Gladiators and the South Tier Seagulls. Chelsea hit a walk off HR in the bottom of the 10th to win a game for Olympia, but stared way too long at the home run, then had what some consider a disrespectful bat flip that landed within inches of the South Tier catcher. This set off some shouting during that game, but in the next game, Harlow was beaned by a Madison Sullivan fastball in her left shoulder, setting off a bench clearing brawl that saw Harlow and Sullivan exchange blows. Now, on the Rockets, they become teammates. Both Harlow and Sullivan have publicly stated that they will put the incident behind them for purposes of the Classic, but it could be something to watch, especially if things do not go according to expectations in the win/loss column.

Those expectations are high. Newmanistan must return to glory, and has what should be a friendly opening series against the unranked squad Teyniyji, but stronger opponents like Liventia, South Covello, and an underappreciated squad from Chromatika loom on the group schedule, too. Thankfully, we return to a format that is traditional. By the way, that’s Drawkland giving us the traditional format. It is their first time hosting the World Baseball Classic as they look to erase the memories of, well, you know.

by **Free Republics** » Sat Mar 28, 2020 10:15 am

Free Republics National Baseball Team

Manager - Kyle Thomas
Assistant Manager - Fitz Dupont
Bench Coach - Joseph Martensson
Batting Coach - Geoffrey Amato
Pitching Coach - Aimone Cremonesi
1st Base Coach - Blaze Kaminski
3rd Base Coach - Salomon Castro
Bullpen Coach - Yuusuke Heida
Colors: Blue and White
Demonym: Republican
Trigram: FFR

Roster

League Key

ABF - Acedonian Baseball Federation (Acedonia)
ENBL - Newmanistan Baseball League (Newmanistan)
IBL - Iodara Baseball League (Free Republics)
JBL - Jolarus Baseball League (Free Republics)
NBA - Nejax Baseball Association (Free Republics)
RABL - Republic of Amolotopia Baseball League (Free Republics)
RCAA - Republican Collegiate Athletic Association (Free Republics)
SPBAA - Shostistan Professional Baseball Players Association (Free Republics)
TPB - Taiyou Pro Baseball (Noburu Taiyou)
XBL - X Baseball League (Free Republics)
YBL - Yorkoba Baseball League (Free Republics)

Rotation

Slot #   Name                  Bats Throws Age  Club Team (League)                Selected Stats
1    88  "Wild" Ralph Fiedler    R     R    24  South Charlotte Condors (ENBL)     16-9, 211 K, 88 BB*
2    16  Rhys McIntyre           R     R    24  Republica Vipers (XBL)             19-7, 2.24 ERA, 281 K, 37 BB
3    72  Taryn Russell           R     R    27  Oldston Arsonists (XBL)            21-5, 1.94 ERA, 213 K, 19 BB
4    42  Gioacchino Arcuri       R     L    28  Mortonsville Monsters (XBL)        14-17, 2.67 ERA, 255 K, 49 BB
5    47  Ming Hsing              R     R    25  Petrograd Greed (XBL)              21-3, 2.11 ERA, 308 K, 24 BB

*Age 19 season (which is the most recent season that I'm aware of)

Bullpen

Role #    Name                  Bats Throws Age  Club Team (League)                Selected Stats
CL   91   Kiyosumi Takeuchi      L     L    27   Tohoko Giants (TPB)               9-3, 64 SV, 0.94 ERA, 127 K, 87.1 IP
SU   11   Luana Cremonesi        R     R    22   Oldston Arsonists (XBL)           5-3, 48 SV, 1.39 ERA, 98 K, 72.2 IP
SU   14   Gabrielle Jobin        R     R    25   Petrograd Greed (XBL)             9-2, 27 SV, 1.23 ERA, 144 K, 112 IP
MR   21   Kacie Munro            L     L    29   Republica Vipers (XBL)            11-4, 2.87 ERA, 129 K, 98 IP
MR   34   Avdei Kazantsev        R     R    34   Latroit Ligers (YBL)              7-1, 1.66 ERA, 17 K, 38 IP
MR   74   Ecio Saucedo           R     R    30   Borotia Riflemen (IBL)            9-3, 2.58 ERA, 37 SV, 59 K, 53.2 IP
LR   31   Sheamus O'Connor       R     R    33   Reco Purple Sox (JBL)             13-10, 3.08 ERA, 224 K
LR   23   Namo Busque            R     L    35   Republica Vipers (XBL)            20-4, 3.63 ERA, 257 K
LR   19   Zac Gatehouse          R     R    31   New City Time Bombs (XBL)         17-7, 2.36 ERA, 147 K, 33 BB

Starting Lineup (listed in order)

POS  #    Name                  Bats Throws Age  Club Team (League)                Selected Stats
RF    1   Philipp Schmitz        R     R    24   Republica Vipers (XBL)            .357 AVG, 11 HR, 98 SB, 38 2B, 17 3B
2B   69   Sarah Fuerst           R     R    20   Republica Patriots (RCAA)         .559 AVG, 27 2B, 13 3B, 12 HR, 48 SB
SS   20   Honomi Kamei           R     R    27   Republica Vipers (XBL)            .418 AVG, 44 HR, 47 SB, 31 2B, 27 3B, .432 OBP, 5 K
1B   33   Oskar Bjorgum          L     L    28   Petrograd Greed (XBL)             .322 AVG, 42 HR, 4 SB, 134 K, 138 BB, 487 AB
3B    7   Hollie Rogers          S     R    23   Baseton Bullies (XBL)             .355 AVG, 34 HR, 30 SB, 61 K
DH   24   Alexander Capon        L     R    31   Republica Vipers (XBL)            .277 AVG, 49 HR, 1 SB, 148 K
C    40   Teresa Mrazova         R     R    26   New City Time Bombs (XBL)         .258 AVG, 33 HR, 9 SB, 37.7% caught stealing percentage
LF    3   Evelin Norberg         L     L    29   Petrograd Greed (XBL)             .322 AVG, 51 HR, 17 SB
CF   89   Ferrau Bergeron        R     R    29   Baseton Bullies (XBL)             .308 AVG, 3 HR, 97 SB, .422 OBP

Bench

POS  #    Name                  Bats Throws Age  Club Team (League)                Selected Stats
C    13   Brock Shield           S     R    31   Republica Vipers (XBL)            .244 AVG, 24 HR, .364 OBP, 36.6% caught stealing percentage, 188 K
C    29   Shiori Tsuchida        R     R    23   Tohoko Giants (TPB)               .303 AVG, 8 HR, 11 SB, .374 OBP, 42.7% caught stealing percentage
IF   43   Ethan Joyner           S     R    28   Mortonsville Monsters (XBL)       .276 AVG, 31 HR, 13 SB
IF   27   Harald Amundsen        R     R    23   Falkamore Blackbirds (NBA)        .355 AVG, 48 HR, 17 SB
OF   38   Ella Abbott            L     L    20   Republica Patriots (RCAA)         .403 AVG, 4 HR, 56 SB
OF   44   Amber DeRose           S     R    25   New City Time Bombs (XBL)         .304 AVG, 21 HR, 19 SB, .413 OBP, 14 assists
UT   64   Julie Brodeur          S     R    29   Petrograd Greed (XBL)             .293 AVG, 11 HR, 22 SB, 24 2B, 7 positions played
PR   77   Rene Jager             R     R    27   Republica Vipers (XBL)            72 SB, 7 CS, 94 R, 0 AB, Games of XIII Olympiad Gold Medalist in Men's 100 m Dash

Stadiums

Series 1 vs TJUN-ia

Stadium: Nicholls Air Park
Stadium Location: Baseton, Amolotopia
Stadium Capacity: 47,321
Distance to Walls: 329 to left, 298 to right, 404 to center
Stadium Surface: Grass

Series 3 vs Swiaji

Stadium: Daniel Lemelin Memorial Park
Stadium Location: Republica, Republica District
Stadium Capacity: 51,378
Distance to Walls: 330 feet to left and right, 408 to center
Stadium Surface: RepubliTurf

Series 5 vs The Greater Nordics

Stadium: MingleDome
Stadium Location: Latroit, Yorkoba
Stadium Capacity: 73,203
Distance to Walls: 330 to left and right, 400 to center
Stadium Surface: RepuliTurf

Series 7 vs Terre Septentrionale

Stadium: General Milani Park
Stadium Location: East Point, Orlandiana
Stadium Capacity: 51,789
Distance to Walls: 325 to left, 323 to right, 380 to left-center, 377 to right-center, 407 to center
Stadium Surface: Grass

Series 9 vs Devonta

Stadium: Horn Field
Stadium Location: Goldberg, Nejax
Stadium Capacity: 84,201
Distance to Walls: 346 feet to left and right, 419 to left-center and right-center, 444 to center
Stadium Surface: Grass

Notes

After an embarrassing failure to even make the playoffs on home soil at WBC 42, the Republican National Baseball Team was completely revamped going into WBC 43. Republican National Baseball, LLC fired the entire coaching staff and carried on an extensive search to find a new manager. Eventually, they settled upon Kyle Thomas as the new manager. Thomas hired a completely new coaching staff, including former national team pitcher Aimone Cremonesi as the new pitching coach. The new coaching staff carried out an extensive scouting expedition to build a new team, eventually settling on a roster of 30, which was significantly smaller than previous Republican National Team rosters.

For the first time, the Free Republics sent a mixed-gender team to that WBC and the new women players made significant contributions to the team. The first woman selected to the team was Luana Cremonesi, the niece of the pitching coach. As a freshman, she won the closer job for the Nejax Horns, one of the elite college teams in the Free Republics and helped lead the team to a national championship by being virtually unhittable all season long. Honomi Kamei and Hollie Rogers started at shortstop and 3rd base, respectively. Kamei was the sole bright spot on a terrible Republica Vipers team, putting up numbers that would have likely won the MVP award on a better team. Hollie Rogers was the reigning RABL MVP after leading the Barkersville Titans to a surprise pennant (she has since won a second consecutive RABL MVP and led the Titans to another pennant). Teresa Mrazova's handling of the New City Time Bombs pitching staff was a major reason why the Time Bombs had won the XBL pennant, which won her a 3rd place finish in XBL Rookie of the Year voting. She served as Zac Gatehouse's personal catcher but otherwise backed up Brock Shield. Evelin Norberg and Julie Brodeur played key roles on a Petrograd Greed team that led the XBL in scoring but failed to repeat due to the implosion of their starting pitchers. Brodeur could fill in at any position in the event that a player is hurt or needs rest.

Kamei emerged as arguably the best player in the world with a dominant performance in WBC 43 and took another giant leap forward during the XBL season that saw her voted the unanimous MVP as she led a much better Republica Vipers team, including new signing Brock Shield, to a respectable 4th place finish. Kyle Thomas named Teresa Mrazova as the starting catcher for WBC 44 after she took the next step as a hitter during the XBL season, keeping the Time Bombs afloat in spite of Nicholas Fisher's down season. Taryn Russell takes Sheamus O'Connor's spot in the rotation while O'Connor remains on the roster as a long reliever in Leon Eichel's old spot. Eichel had an extremely bad season for the Oldston Arsonists at 39 and was dropped from the national team. Russell broke out for the Arsonists this year, emerging as the team's new ace. On the 5th matchday of this WBC's group stage, she will become the first female starting pitcher for the Republican National Team. The Republican rotation has been shuffled based on the results of last WBC and the recent domestic season. Namo Busque, who signed with the New City Time Bombs during the WBC, will now be the Republican National Team's ace while Gioacchino Arcuri, who was awarded the Platinum Arm award for best pitcher in the XBL, will start third because Kyle Thomas didn't want to start two lefties back-to-back. The fact that the two pitchers widely regarded as the best in the XBL would start against Liventia and Maklohi Vai, respectively, was surely just a coincidence.

After 2 WBCs of failing to return to the finals, even with the addition of pinch running specialist and Olympic 100 Meter Dash gold medalist Rene Jager during the WBC 45 playoffs, Kyle Thomas elected to retain the same roster for another WBC but shuffled the lineup a bit to reflect developments in domestic baseball. Ming Hsing replaced the aging Nemo Busque in the rotation, Kiyosumi Takeuchi replaced the aging Mario Rothschild as closer and Evelin Norberg won the starting job in left field after her breakout season for the Petrograd Greed (OOC: This resembles Christian Yelich's breakout in RL baseball last year). After several disappointing WBCs in a row, patience was running low among fans and the higher ups at Republican National Baseball, LLC. alike. Their hopes looked especially bleak when starting second baseman Ethan Joyner tore his ACL late in the group stage but Sarah Fuerst joined the team and played every bit like a younger version of Honami Kamei during their playoff run. Kyle Thomas abandoned the concept of a pitching rotation altogether during the WBC 46 playoffs, choosing to utilize openers for most games and to regularly change pitchers during games. This all paid off with a WBC title.

Last year, Thomas has once again elected to keep the same team to defend their title at home but he has made a number of changes to the lineup to reflect developments in Republican domestic baseball. It has been a really eventful season in the X Baseball League as the Republica Vipers ran away with the league title after buying several national team stars during the off season. They broke the league record for wins in a campaign even after failing to convince Sarah Fuerst, who lives rent-free in Kamei's house, to drop out of the University of Republica. Instead, Fuerst led the Patriots to an RCAA title while maintaining a perfect 4.0 grade point average in her computer science program. That campaign ended with a quarterfinals loss to Cassadaigua.

This year, the team has been revamped as several aging players have been left off the roster as Kyle Thomas has elected to give several new breakout stars a spot on the roster. The Vipers once again won the XBL but it was nowhere near as easy this year. The biggest surprise of the season was the New City Time Bombs, who remained in contention until fading down the stretch in large part due to the resurgence of Teresa Mrazova and the emergence of Amber DeRose. The emergence of Gabriel Jobin as a relief ace and the development of Ming Hsing helped the Petrograd Greed overcome the regression of Oskar Bjorgum to finish just 3 games back of the Vipers. Meanwhile, the University of Republica Patriots won the RCAA title again despite an injury to Fuerst during the RCAA tournament. That was in large part due to RCAA Tournament MVP Ella Abbott who went 4 for 4 in the final against University of Malifornia - Los Martires, scoring the winning run with a daring steal of home in the bottom of the 9th.

Alexander Capon, who replaced former cleanup hitter Nicholas Fisher as the starting DH last year, is capable of playing the field and will sometimes play first base to give Oskar Bjorgum a day off from playing the field.

All of the players on the bench are likely to see playing time over the course of the WBC and Kyle Thomas will not hesitate to pull a pitcher who is obviously tired. Strategic substitutions and defensive shifts should be expected at appropriate times. Thomas has also been known to use openers in the past but got away from that strategy last year.

The various leagues in which these players compete domestically vary greatly in terms of caliber of play. The ENBL in Newmanistan is obviously vastly superior to any of the domestic leagues in the FFR but among those domestic leagues the XBL and the TPB are the best leagues with the RABL and SPBAA on a slightly lower tier. The RCAA is college baseball and therefore plays only a 60 game regular season with a much lower level of play.

RP Permissions

My opponent, if they RP first, may do the following:
Choose my runscorers: Yes (but don't do anything that would be impossible under the rules of the sport)
Choose my lineup: Yes (please read the notes section first)
Follow my pitching rotation: Yes (if the team is using an opener, I'll mention it in my RP)
Godmod scoring events: Yes
RP injuries to my players: Yes
Godmod injuries to my players: Yes
Eject my players: Yes (unlimited)
Godmod other events: Yes (except pandemics that affect my nation or my characters)
Use DH at home: Yes

by **Banija** » Sat Mar 28, 2020 3:57 pm

Banijans back for more as they look to defend their World Baseball Classic championship at WBC 48

Banijan baseball fans

ISTRIA, MORAVICA- World Baseball Classic 47- this was probably the brightest moment in Banijan sporting history. Overcoming the odds, over the course of two tournaments creating a team that was generally average, and an also-ran, into an all-out juggernaut- and in the process, world champions. It's not easy to win a championship at a sport's major senior international championship. In fact, this country's national teams have only done it once. We've had all sorts of success in things like the NSCF, and have some smaller tournaments, but have never won the IBCs, never won the World Bowl, never won the World Cup, anything like that. We've never won any Olympic goals in a team sport. But baseball- the one sport where we've climbed to the very top.

It was an incredible moment. A dream come true. And for a sport that was never really that popular in Banija, it has exploded with popularity over the past decade or so. Not only feeling competitive teams, but some of the best. And now, of course, it's been 3 years. It's time for the next World Baseball Classic. Time to defend the trophy. This team, of course, is going for more. 21 players from the 25 man WBC 47 roster are returning, looking for a second ring. That may be a good thing, that may be a bad thing. Everyone's got experience. But will they have the hunger? Will they have the drive, knowing that they've already created a legacy?

We'll have to see. This is certainly going to shape up to be an interesting World Baseball Classic. Beginning after the start of a successful Western Banijan Baseball League(WBBL) season(we'll have more on that later), it is the dawn of a new era for the sport in this country. What teams will the Banijans be facing in group play for our title defense? There are a pair of unranked teams in our group- Drunk People at a Local Tavern, alongside Inner AginanaUsordia. The latter team will be visiting Banija on Matchday 1, where we'll raise our banner. We, of course, don't know much about them. But Banijan scouts have praised the talents of their opponents, and one even said that the Game 1 pitching matchup between Martin Slatek and Assan Condé could be a brilliant pitcher's duel.

Alongside them, we have HUElavia and Kita-Hinode. HUElavia, of course, the Banijans have not played a lot- but our countries did compete at World Cup 84, where the two teams and Farfadillis had a three way tie for first place in the group, and HUElavia did not advance because of goal differential. Their soccer team, of course, is the last team to have beaten the present world champions, Farfadillis. Fun fact. Kita-Hinode is an intriguing prospect as well, ranked in the top 30. Neither of their rosters have been released yet to the general public at the time of publishing, however, so there isn't much for us to say.

Lastly, we'll face off against the hosts, Drawkland. Of course, our two nations have battled it out in big-time sporting events many times- quite a few World Bowl knockout stage matchups, or games in the International Basketball Championships, and certainly both in college football and college baskebtall. It's a serious rivalry- certainly, in general, probably Banija's biggest non-AO rival. Just behind Ko-oren and Equestria, of course. But they've yet to play high stakes baseball games- until now. Banija's Pot 1, Drawkland is Pot 2 and the tournament host. And because our last three games will be in Drawkland against Drawkland, we'll have a little more time to adjust to the country before the knockout stages begin. We'll see if that's an advantage that actually counts.

It also means that we're one of two teams guaranteed to play our last game in Drawkland- no matter when we get eliminated(the other, of course, being Drawkland themselves). Fun facts all around. It will be a fun tournament. The Banijans have been on fire in these last two tournaments, and will look for a strong start in this one to try and get back to the knockout stages for a third straight tournament. The Istria City Baseball Diamond will surely be packed to the brim. As always, go Banija!

by **Saintland** » Sat Mar 28, 2020 6:22 pm

Saintland National Baseball Team

Captain: King Paulus XVI
Colors: Red and White
Demonym: Sanctii
Trigram: SNT
Stadium: Royal Park
Stadium Location: St. Petrus
Stadium Capacity: 51,773
Distance to Walls: 325 feet to left and right, 405 to center
Stadium Surface: SaintTurf
Style Modifier: -3
Park Factor: 94

Roster (Bats/Throws/Age)

Rotation

1: King Paulus XVI (S/R/43)
2: Nicolaus Tuccius (R/R/27)
3: Andreas Volusenus (R/R/30)

Bullpen

CL: Ioannes Accius (R/R/32)
MR: Lucius Saufeius (L/L/34)
LR: Josephus Fulcinius (R/R/25)

Starting Lineup (listed in order)

SS: Paulus Pinarus (R/R/26)
LF: Lucas Flavia (L/R/28)
DH: King Paulus XVI (S/R/43)
3B: Nicolaus Maccius (R/R/27)
RF: Georgius Manlius (R/R/32)
1B: Andreas Aufidius (L/L/26)
2B: Lucas Salvius (R/R/25)
C: Thomas Arminius (L/L/27)
CF: Josephus Modius (R/R/33)

Bench

C: Davidus Delluius (R/R/26)
IF: Paulus Fundanus (R/R/28)
OF: Silvester Titius (R/R/25)

Notes

The newly reunited Kingdom of Saintland sent a male team to WBC 43, the first time they had done so since WBC 31. Feministvs Sanctvsterra, which sponsored Sanctii National Baseball Teams for many years, is no more having been disbanded by order of King Paulus XVI. The son of King Andreas, King Paulus XVI ascended to the throne of East Saintland a few months prior to that WBC following his father's death from natural causes. Weeks later, King Petrus XX of West Saintland also died of natural causes, without a male heir. Although West Sanctii succession law had been changed to permit a female heir to ascend to the throne, Paulus XVI did not recognize the legitimacy of this law, choosing instead to recognize the old law under which he was the legitimate heir to the western throne. When the western prime minister refused to recognize Paulus's claim to the throne, his armies marched across the St. Paulus Wall and set out to claim his throne by force. Eventually, with covert assistance from the Salvation Circle, a secret front for the Church of Saintland that runs the Malifornia Charter Society in the Free Republics, he conquered West Saintland and claimed both thrones after his cousin "Queen" Gloria renounced her claim to the western throne.

In the weeks following his military triumph, King Paulus XVI decided to pursue his lifelong dream of playing in the World Baseball Classic, a tournament that a team from Saintland had not participated in since World Baseball Classic 40, prior to the second time warp. King Paulus selected 16 of the best male baseball players from Saintland to join him on this team. While most of the players are from the eastern portion, due to the Feministvs Sanctvsterra regime's policies that discriminated against male athletes, Andreas Volusenus and Lucas Flavia are from the western part of the Kingdom. King Paulus was hoping for success in the WBC in order to help heal the lingering division in Sanctii society and show the remaining followers of the goddess heresy that the God of their ancestors is real. However, they failed to make the playoffs in WBC 43 or 44 and did not enter WBC 45. At WBC 46, Saintland finally broke into the playoffs with a 17-13 record and were knocked out of the Round of 16 in 4 by The Sherpa Empire. In WBC 47, Saintland finished 17-15 in the Casaran stage and would miss the playoffs after losing a tiebreaker game to Newmanistan by a score of 4 to 3.

King Paulus XVI has a reputation as a dominant pitcher and hitter in Sanctii domestic baseball, who has led the league in wins on 10 occasions, ERA on 12 occasions, strikeouts pitched on 8 occasions, batting average on 6 occasions, home runs on 14 consecutive occasions and RBIs on 11 occasions. Although he is starting to show the signs of age, he remains one of the best pitchers and one of the best hitters in Saintland today and has been the MVP of East Saintland's league 15 times, which is more than twice as many MVP awards as any other Sanctii baseball player has ever won.

RP Permissions

My opponent, if they RP first, may do the following:
Choose my runscorers: Yes (be realistic)
Choose my lineup: No (King Paulus XVI should be the DH, if a DH is used and he's not pitching. If he is pitching and a DH is used, Saintland will forego use of the DH for that game. If he is not pitching and a DH is not being used, he will play at first base. Regardless, he should always hit 3rd.)
Follow my pitching rotation: Yes
Godmod scoring events: Yes
RP injuries to my players: No
Godmod injuries to my players: No
Eject my players: No
Godmod other events: Yes
Use DH at home: Yes (unless King Paulus XVI is pitching)

by **The Sherpa Empire** » Sat Mar 28, 2020 7:22 pm

Sherpa National Baseball Team Roster

C: Pei Tan (Fuzhou Bats)
C: Rita Katiyar (Lhasa Lamas)
1B: Tukti Sahu (Lhasa Lamas)
2B: Yawei Qu (Hangzhou Brewers)
3B: Tandi Ojha (Islamabad Snow Leopards)
SS: Kencha Qureshi (Islamabad Snow Leopards)
IF: Xiao Wen (Chengdu Pandas)
IF: Yu Qiong (Kunming Dragons)
IF: Yangzhi Yi (Nanjing Mandarins)
LF: Wangchu Namkha Qiang (Darjeeling Green Sox)
RF: Geli Ananthan (Bengal Tigers)
CF: Tianling Qiao (Guilin Pangolins)
OF: Zhiku Tsongba Sherpa (Jaipur Jewelers)
OF: Changmin Le (Changsha Turtles)

Starting Rotation:

Kami Akunjee (Khumbu Icefall Doctors)
Luochong Zhuang (Guangzhou Pirates)
Weiyun Gan (Nanjing Mandarins)
Tsheri Pham (Guangzhou Pirates)
Jian Zhang (Guiyang Grasshoppers)

Bullpen:

Kaixiang Chang (Hangzhou Brewers)
Karan Sangakkar (Darjeeling Green Sox)
Sanjay Murthy (Bengal Tigers)
Samde Wu (Guilin Pangolins)
Rajinder Pilgaonkar (Khumbu Icefall Doctors, long relief)
Urkyen Bharadhwaj (Delhi Rajas, closer)

Coaches: Phurwa Thapa, Apa Shah, Ayappan Banerjee, Finjhok Chang

Manager: Karan Bhansali

The Sherpa Empire's style of baseball tends to be conservative on the base paths, so not a ton of stolen bases, but there usually aren't a lot of people getting caught stealing or picked off.

All players are male, even when that's not obvious from the names. The teams listed after each player's name are where they play during the regular season. The "Bats" in "Fuzhou Bats" refers to the winged animal, not a baseball bat. The meaning of the name is clearer in the local languages.

The Khumbu Icefall Doctors are named after the people who prepare the path for mountain climbers up the Khumbu Icefall every year at the start of climbing season, and the team's logo is a pair of picks for rock-climbing -- but the name is often shortened to "Doctors" or "Docs" and there are some pun-loving fans that wear lab coats and stethoscopes to show their support. These people are most commonly found at Syangboche, but you might find one or two at other ballparks when Akunjee is pitching.

It's also common to find fans using prayer wheels to cheer on the team. Some people find the practice tacky and disrespectful toward religion, but people still do it. There are even special prayer wheels made for this purpose, which are about as classy as those foam hands with the pointy fingers that you sometimes see sports fans waving around.

The Sherpa Empire uses dark blue uniforms for many sports teams that represent the Empire in international competition, including the WBC teams. If you see a Sherpa sports fan wandering around with dyed blue hair, that's a clue that they're going to be really noisy and patriotic to the point where it gets annoying. Brightly-colored hair dye is not popular as an everyday fashion statement, so blue hair is probably a patriotic thing to support the team.

Normal Batting Order

1. Qureshi
2. Ojha
3. Qu
4. Qiao
5. Qiang
6. Ananthan
7. Sahu
8. Tan
9. pitcher

Due to the high altitude at Syangboche, Zhiku Tsongba Sherpa will replace Tianling Qiao in center field for that entire series, and this batting order will be used:

1. Qureshi
2. Ojha
3. Sahu
4. Qiang
5. Sherpa
6. Ananthan
7. Qu
8. Tan
9. pitcher

Batting Order With DH

1. Qureshi
2. Ojha
3. Qu
4. Qiao
5. Qiang
6. Le
7. Ananthan
8. Sahu
9. Tan

Stadia

Series 1 vs. St. Saratoga: Chengdu Sports Centre
Capacity 42,000, located in Chengdu, Sichuan Territory. This stadium is known for the colorful Chinese opera skits during the 7th inning stretch.

Series 3 vs. Lisander: Feroz Shah Kotla Ground
Capacity 41,820, located in Delhi Municipal District. Built in 1883, this park has a long history hosting both cricket and baseball games. Some of that history is not particularly glamorous, as the previous owners of the Delhi Rajas were Hindu fundamentalists and advocates of caste-based eugenics. However, the current owners have done a lot to clean up the team's image.

Series 5 vs. Cascom: Mandarin Park
Capacity 61,443, located in Nanjing, Jiangsu Territory. This park has a large outfield and does not get many home runs. It is known for having some of the best food of any ballpark in the Empire, with both typical ballpark fare like burgers and hotdogs and regional specialties like Chinese dumplings.

Series 7 vs. Sarzonia: Jinnah Stadium
Capacity 48,200, located in Islamabad Municipal District. This is a heavily Islamic part of the Empire, and as such day games will include a break for afternoon prayers. All food in the concession stands is halal, though there are a couple of places that sell alcoholic beverages like beer and chang.

Series 9 vs. Bolgano: Syangboche Athletic Complex
Capacity 43,800, located in Namche, Capital District, at an elevation of 3780m (12,402ft) this is one of the most extreme hitter's parks in the world because of the high altitude and the short left field. It occasionally has absolutely terrible weather such as snow or high winds. Games will only be postponed due to weather under the most extreme circumstances because bad weather is so common.

Imperial Health Service Travel Advisory: SARS-2 (a.k.a. Hankou Coronavirus)

The Imperial Health Service is currently monitoring an outbreak of SARS-2 in northwestern Jiangxi Territory. There are no reported cases in any of the provinces or territories where WBC games are being hosted. However, domestic travel within the Sherpa Empire may be disrupted due to quarantine measures in the vicinity of Wuchang. International visitors are advised to avoid traveling through northwestern Jiangxi Territory, particularly the city of Wuchang, and practice good personal hygiene.

Northern Chinese claims that the virus originated in a Sherpa bioweapons lab are false. Sherpa bioweapons labs employ stringent security measures to prevent pathogens from escaping into the general public. The virus is believed to be the result of a natural mutation originating in North China.

(OOC: This is here for anyone that wants to do virus RPs. IRL, Wuchang and Hankou are the two cities that were merged to create Wuhan. ICly, they were never merged because Wuchang is Sherpa and Hankou is Chinese. Both governments are trying to claim the virus originated on the other side of the border, so Sherpa media are calling it "Hankou coronavirus" and North Chinese media are calling it "Wuchang coronavirus."

You can RP it spreading to your nation even if you're not playing me, or even if you're not in the WBC at all. Or you can ignore it if you don't want a stupid virus in your nation.)

RP Permissions
My opponent, if they RP first, may do the following:
Choose my runscorers: Yes
Choose my lineup: You can put in bench players, but don't do anything too whacky
Follow my pitching rotation: Yes
Godmod scoring events: As long as they're somewhat believable
RP injuries to my players: Minor injuries OK, ask permission for anything that would cause a player to miss more than that game
Godmod injuries to my players: as above
Eject my players: Yes if you eject a similar number of your own
Godmod other events: Ask first if it's really out-there
Use DH at home: No
Style Modifier: +1

by **Free Republics** » Sat Mar 28, 2020 8:35 pm

A few months earlier

Sarah Fuerst sat in the dugout. Due to a concussion suffered as a result of a University of Malifornia - San Fierro player stomping on her head after she slid head first into third base for a triple, Fuerst was unable to play in the RCAA tournament finals. The game was tied 3-3 in the bottom of the 9th. Ella Abbott had doubled with one out and had advanced to third on a sac fly. With a knuckleball pitcher on the mound for University of Malifornia - Los Martires, Ella decided the best course of action would be to steal home if an opportunity arose. While manager Pearl Chamberlin knew nothing of the plan, Abbott had planned it in advance with Sarah Fuerst who was sending her signals from the dugout. With the help of camera footage, some of it filmed by University of Republica students, and a computer program written by Fuerst, the University of Republica Patriots had deciphered the signs of every other team in the tournament. Knowing that the Malifornian pitcher was able to throw a knuckler, Fuerst gave the signal to Abbott to steal home. Ella Abbott was gone as the pitcher entered his throwing motion and would slide into home for the winning run before the catcher knew what was happening. The University of Republica had repeated as RCAA champions.

Home Locker Room, Nicholls Air Park, Baseton

The WBC opener against TJUN-ia would soon be underway and the Republicans waited in the locker room. For the first game of the tournament, the Republicans would not have the benefit of knowing the opposing team's signs. Sarah Fuerst's sign deciphering software had first been used by the National Team during their WBC title run and was now being used by the Republica Vipers of the XBL and by the University of Republica Patriots. Both the Vipers and the Patriots had won back to back titles since its introduction. In fact, a large part of the reason why the Vipers did not run away with their second consecutive pennant was due to other teams creating their own versions of Fuerst's software. The filming of signs and the widespread use of high tech image recognition software to decipher them was now an open secret in Republican baseball.

The one thing that kept Fuerst up at night had been her epic failure a year ago in the quarterfinal series against Cassadaigua. Her software had misunderstood various Dagan signs, which meant the National Team had misinterpreted their signs. She was determined, above all else, to fix the bugs and ensure that never happened again. The FFR had to be #1 by any means necessary and failing to defend their title on home soil had been quite an embarrassment for the Republicans.

Now, however, they had to prepare for TJUN-ia, a newcomer who had no pre-existing footage from which to steal their signs. This meant the 2 teams were on even footing. As Fuerst and her roommate Honomi Kamei attempted to find whatever information they could about starting pitcher Chris Harris, Kyle Thomas spoke with "Wild" Ralph Fiedler:

Kyle Thomas - Ralph, I'm counting on you today.

Ralph Fiedler - Thank you for another opportunity to start a WBC opener. I promise I won't let you down.

Kyle Thomas - That's exactly what I want to hear.

Ralph Fiedler - Do you know anything about these TJUN-ia hitters?

Kyle Thomas - Other than their names, there's not really much information about them. We don't even know if they're any good.

Ralph Fiedler - Well, I guess I'm going into this blind them. I'll try my best.

Kyle Thomas - At least we're actually going to play baseball. I was reading this story about a fictional world where the start of baseball season was delayed due to a virus sweeping the globe.

Ralph Fiedler - That's the most absurd premise for a story I've ever heard. Like that could ever happen in reality!

Kyle Thomas - In this world, the virus is spreading at an exponential rate while people ignore the government's stay at home orders and the leader of the country, who bares a striking resemblance to Caleb O'Reilly, holds daily briefings on TV where he says things that are absurdly optimistic.

Ralph Fiedler - What strange fiction you're reading. I can't imagine a virus emerging that would be dangerous enough that everybody would have to stay at home.

Kyle Thomas - Its absurd but its also a thrilling story. Its also a reminder that we should be grateful for what we have. Sports are still happening on schedule in our world and its up to you to enthrall the fans by pitching well.

Ralph Fiedler - You can count on me, coach.

Soon, it would be time for the Republicans to take the field for batting practice. They weren't worried about the opposition other than the fact that their team was a complete unknown...

by **Liventia** » Sun Mar 29, 2020 7:29 am

The Baseball Federation of Liventia is proud to announce its 25-man roster for the 48th World Baseball Classic as it seeks to maintain its playoff streak since returning to international baseball.

This past Liventian Baseball Championship season has seen major changes to the league, which has also resulted in different players coming to the fore to be considered for the national team. It is still made up of 24 teams in two conferences – 12 in the National League and 12 in the Challenge League. However, this year the National League switched from three divisions of four to two divisions of six, while each team's schedule was expanded from 104 games to 144. Accordingly, the playoff format was changed: while in the Challenge League the three division winners and next five best teams still qualify, in the National League the top two teams from each division plus the next four qualify. Additionally, teams are now seeded by record, and in the first round of the playoffs teams are drawn into two groups of four within each conference playing a double round-robin, with the top two teams per group qualifying for the Division Series.

Additionally, it has been announced that effective immediately, all AAA teams will form a Division Two of the Championship, with promotion and relegation to take effect. The bottom team in each LBC conference will be relegated, while the top team in each Division Two conference will be promoted. All players assigned to the AAA teams now become employees of those teams and can no longer be called up. The first relegated teams from the top tier are the Lox Land Talons and Bede Swordfish, while the promoted teams are the Weston East Misfits and Cittin Bashers.

Permissions:
Choose my run-scorers: Yes
Choose my lineup: *Please follow my line-ups below unless one of my players has been RPed as injured, in which case you may select a replacement player if I have not already designated one.
Follow my Pitching Rotation: Yes
Godmod scoring events: Yes
RP injuries to my players: Yes – please, no season- or career-ending injuries.
Godmod injuries to my players: Yes
Eject my players: Yes – but only if you eject one or more from your own team.
DH used at home: Yes, including in 'home' playoff games
Godmod other events: Yes
Other info: The team will rely on sabermetric splits and substitutions, especially in innings 7 to 9 (or if behind early).
Style mod +3

Home stadium
Port Cartfort Park, capacity 24,100; DH used
Home ground of The Saboteurs Baseball Club Port Cartfort (CBL), average home attendance 22,100
Dimensions:
Left foul pole 317 ft; left field 349 ft; left-centre 397 ft; centre field 429 ft; right-centre 402 ft; right field 366 ft; right foul pole 322 ft; wall height 7 ft in left/left-centre; 13 ft in centre; 15 ft in right/right-centre
Right-handed hitters have far more joy at PCP than left-handed hitters. There are also a high number of triples and thanks to the dimensions, inside-the-park home runs are not uncommon at PCP.

The team is colloquially known as the Red-and-Gold, after the colours of the Liventian flag (and their uniforms).

Rotation
1. Ashley Lutley (#4), age 23, R/RHP, Wakeford Capitols
Season: 28 GS, 16–5, 1.52 ERA*, 11.2 K/9*, 1.8 BB/9, 0.75 WHIP*, 7.6 WAR*, NBL Pitcher of the Year, All-Star
Throws: Four-seamer 99-101 mph, splitter, forkball, slider, curveball
First WBC selection

2. Tyler Newitt (#15), age 33, L/LHP, Colver Steamrollers
Season: 28 GS, 20*–2, 1.60 ERA*, 6.4 K/9, 1.5 BB/9*, 0.91 WHIP, 5.8 WAR*, CBL Pitcher of the Year, All-Star
Throws: Changeup, four-seamer 91-93 mph, curveball
Extreme groundball pitcher

3. Fraser Mansell (#27), age 23, L/RHP, Colver Steamrollers
Season: 28 GS, 11–5, 1.86 ERA, 9.9 K/9, 1.6 BB/9, 0.83 WHIP*, 5.2 WAR, All-Star, CBL Outstanding Defence Award (P)
Throws: Changeup, four-seamer 92-94 mph, slider

4. Henry Bates (#26), age 23, R/RHP, Talbott South Hilltops
Season: 30 GS*, 17*–8, 2.04 ERA, 7.7 K/9, 2.4 BB/9, 0.97 WHIP, 4.3 WAR, All-Star
Throws: Cutter, four-seamer 95-97 mph, forkball, changeup
Groundball pitcher
First WBC selection

5. Bertrand Henley (#13), age 22, R/LHP, Bosting Blue Birds
Season: 29 G (28 GS), 15–3, 2.42 ERA, 10.4 K/9, 3.6 BB/9, 1.21 WHIP, 5.9 WAR, All-Star
Throws: Four-seamer 97-99 mph, changeup, cutter, curveball
Extreme groundball pitcher (0.2 HR/9*)
First WBC selection

Bullpen
Denzel Mortimore (#67), age 22, L/LHP, Orean Inner Hawkeyes
Season: 60 G, 2–5, 3.48 ERA, 14.5 K/9, 4.0 BB/9, 1.09 WHIP, 1.4 WAR
Throws: Four-seamer 98-100 mph, two-seamer, slider
High stamina, usage: long relief
First WBC selection

Kieron Arderne (#16), age 31, R/RHP, Olympton Rapiers
Season: 55 G, 4–3 1SV, 2.43 ERA, 9.5 K/9, 3.4 BB/9, 1.19 WHIP, 2.3 WAR
Throws: Four-seamer 92-94 mph, two-seamer, splitter
Groundball pitcher (allowed 3 HR in 100 IP), usage: long/middle relief
First WBC selection

Mitch Henshaw (#3), age 17, R/RHP, Schimpol Redbirds
Season: 62 G, 4–0 2SV, 2.18 ERA, 11.3 K/9, 4.1 BB/9, 1.18 WHIP, 1.4 WAR, LBC Champion
Throws: Four-seamer 99-101 mph, slider, changeup
Groundball pitcher, usage: middle relief
First WBC selection

Gabriel Mumford (#31), age 21, L/LHP, City Centre Keys
Season: 58 G, 2–1 2SV, 0.79 ERA, 11.5 K/9, 1.8 BB/9, 0.74 WHIP, 2.7 WAR, All-Star
Throws: Sinker 99-101 mph, changeup, two-seamer
Extreme groundball pitcher, usage: middle relief

Jake Dominey (#9), age 31, R/RHP, free agent (Orean Outer Oysters)
Season: 56 G, 4–3 32SV, 1.04 ERA, 16.2 K/9, 1.2 BB/9, 0.54 WHIP, 4.5 WAR, NBL Bullpen Arm of the Year
Throws: Four-seamer 95-97 mph, sinker, curveball
Extreme groundball pitcher, usage: middle relief/set-up
First WBC selection

Frank Kenley (#19), age 22, L/LHP, Talbott South Hilltops
Season: 52 G, 6–2 33SV, 1.77 ERA, 13.5 K/9, 2.2 BB/9, 0.96 WHIP, 3.1 WAR, All-Star
Throws: Four-seamer 93-95 mph, two-seamer, splitter
Usage: Set-up/closer

Mark Staite (#33), age 22, R/RHP, Neverend Gunslingers
Season: 55 G, 4–3 37SV, 0.92 ERA, 11.8 K/9, 3.2 BB/9, 0.90 WHIP, 3.2 WAR, All-Star
Throws: Four-seamer 97-99 mph, sinker, curveball
Did not allow a single home run in 58.2 IP, usage: closer

Catchers
Frank Hughes (#21), age 21, R/R, Dover Outer South Bills
Season: .346/.367/.431, 2 HR, 62 RBI, 16 BB, 71 SO, 4.5 WAR, CBL Outstanding Defence Award (C)
First WBC selection

Oscar Gauntlett (#12), age 30, L/R, Olympton Rapiers
Season: .304/.373/.503, 20 HR, 88 RBI, 53 BB, 42 SO, 5.7 WAR, CBL Swing Batter Swing Award (C)

Infielders
Ronald Patchett (#7), age 32, L/L, Port Cartfort Saboteurs
Season: .348*/.444/.675*, 39 HR, 108 RBI, 84 BB, 106 SO, 8.8 WAR*, CBL Player of the Year, All-Star, CBL Swing Batter Swing Award (1B)
Plays: 1B
First WBC selection

Chris Phippen (#34), age 28, L/R, Colver Steamrollers
Season: .283/.450/.457, 16 3B*, 9 HR, 82 RBI, 149 BB*, 33 SO, 3 SB, 7.1 WAR, All-Star, CBL Swing Batter Swing Award (2B)
Plays: 2B, 3B, 1B, SS
First WBC selection

David Stelfox (#25), age 28, R/R, Bede Swordfish
Season: .315/.376/.459, 13 HR, 66 RBI, 41 BB, 135 SO, 33 SB, 6.7 WAR, All-Star, CBL Outstanding Defence Award (3B)
Plays: 3B/SS/1B

Kian Sergeant (#18), age 32, R/R, Colver Steamrollers
Season: .274/.424/.340, 2 HR, 62 RBI, 134 BB, 59 SO, 18 SB, 5.9 WAR, All-Star, CBL Swing Batter Swing Award (SS), CBL Outstanding Defence Award (SS)
Plays: SS/2B/3B/1B

Reece Raymont (#29), age 21, R/R, Pardbo Bisons
Season: .318/.357/.548, 27 HR, 104 RBI, 33 BB, 137 SO, 31 SB, 5.8 WAR
Plays: 3B
First WBC selection

Outfielders
Hughie Hollis (#22), age 22, L/R, Schimpol Redbirds
Season: .318/.417/.459, 9 HR, 56 RBI, 82 BB, 98 SO, 55 SB, 8.0 WAR, Grand Final MVP, LBC Champion, All-Star
Plays: CF/LF
First WBC selection

Danny Hugill (#14), age 22, S/L, City Centre Keys
Season: .295/.392/.484, 23 HR, 70 RBI, 86 BB, 50 SO, 79 SB*, 7.9 WAR
Plays: LF/RF
First WBC selection

Jude Angrove (#35), age 23, R/R, Talbott North Sting Rays
Season: .293/.431/.559, 28 HR, 74 RBI, 105 BB, 23 SO, 1 SB, 6.0 WAR, All-Star
Plays: RF/CF
First WBC selection

Chris Abley (#17), age 22, R/R, Dover Outer South Bills
Season: .294/.363/.456, 17 HR, 75 RBI, 55 BB, 76 SO, 53 SB*, 5.3 WAR, CBL Outstanding Defence Award (RF)
Plays: RF
First WBC selection

Dermot Rowntree (#57), age 22, Port Cartfort Saboteurs
Season: .263/.321/.605, 43 HR, 112 RBI, 40 BB, 111 SO, 25 SB, 4.3 WAR, All-Star, CBL Swing Batter Swing Award (CF)
Plays: CF/RF

*Denotes led conference in stat

Starting lineup without DH
1. 2B Chris Phippen
2. CF Hughie Hollis
3. 3B Reece Raymont
4. RF Dermot Rowntree
5. 1B Ronald Patchett
6. LF Danny Hugill
7. C Oscar Gauntlett
8. SS Kian Sergeant
9. Pitcher's spot

Starting lineup with DH
1. 2B Chris Phippen
2. CF Hughie Hollis
3. RF Jude Angrove
4. DH Dermot Rowntree
5. 1B Ronald Patchett
6. LF Danny Hugill
7. 3B David Stelfox
8. C Frank Hughes
9. SS Kian Sergeant

by **Sarzonia** » Sun Mar 29, 2020 6:11 pm

The final exhibition match between the Stars and the Sarzonian Major League all stars was postponed because of an unexpected snowstorm that hit Woodstock three days before the opening series of the 48th World Baseball Classic against fellow unranked side Cascom.

The Stars would return to international baseball with two series at Fleetwood Park in Woodstock, and Manager Geoff Yancey stared at the red bricks that made up the outside of the stadium. He asked about painting the bricks Navy blue to match the colour of the Sarzonian flag. However, the Woodstock Mountaineers objected, pointing out that the team's colours included the red that adorned the walls of their oversized retro ballpark.

Yancey didn't get too involved with that minutiae. He was too busy getting his team prepared for the Classic. It was an exhilarating feeling. He was finally feeling the competitive juices flowing once again. Helping children get into baseball when they otherwise wouldn't have had the opportunity was a great feeling.

Nothing compared to the tangible results measured by wins and losses. Nothing compared to the crucible of deciding whether to pinch hit or send in a relief pitcher. Nothing compared with arguing with umpires.

And yet, Yancey realised there was one thing that was missing from what he knew should be one of the happiest moments of his life. He'd reached the pinnacle, but he did so without the man he knew gave him the opportunity in the first place.

Unbeknownst to Yancey, another man walked up to him and saw the faraway look in his eyes.

"Everything all right?" came the voice, shattering Yancey's reverie. He looked, then offered a wan smile and said "yeah."

Brad Howland gave his boss a look that Yancey quickly understood to mean the bench coach wasn't buying that answer.

"You look like you've got something on your mind," Howland said.

"You could say that," Yancey said. He looked at Howland and saw a look of barely concealed irritation, as if Howland was a reporter insisting on an answer about an early hook for a starting pitcher. Yancey thought for a moment, debating whether to tell Howland what was bothering him. Howland didn't wait.

"Are you still thinking about Khalil?" Howland asked. Yancey looked at his right hand man with an expression of startled recognition, then finally dropped the charade.

"Yes," Yancey said. "He was my best friend on the team. He was like a little brother to me."

"What happened?"

Life happened, he thought. He decided not to use that term, but he said, "things got busy. I started the academy and Khalil was busy managing the Fighting Doves and he had his wedding."

Which I didn't attend because my wife didn't want me to go, he thought as a glare crossed his face. Her sudden homophobia caused a chasm between her and Yancey and resulted in a rancorous divorce. He stopped speaking to her entirely once his youngest son Paul graduated from uni. She got the kids in the divorce proceedings, but neither of the boys were on speaking terms with her.

He apologised profusely to Khalil and Calen,and while Khalil understood, Calen was hurt. It took a few months and word traveling across the southern border for Calen to realise that Yancey wasn't absent from the wedding as a deliberate snub. All of that poured out as Yancey began to choke back tears.

He looked at Howland apologetically, sure his bench coach wasn't expecting the depth of emotion and detail. However, Howland looked at Yancey and put his right hand on his manager's shoulder.

"I get it. Things got busy and they started their lives together. You threw yourself into the academy. Why don't you go in your office and pick up the phone and call Khalil?"

Yancey hesitated. "Uh," he said before Howland put his hand up.

"You never know until you call," Howland said. "Besides, there are no guarantees in life. Don't let time be the one opponent that you can't beat." Howland then looked at Yancey and arched his eyebrows and widened his eyes a little. The implication was clear. Howland wasn't going to leave until Yancey picked up the phone.

He wasn't going to let Yancey leave either. Yancey quickly figured that out and started a slower than usual walk back to his office. He looked and saw Howland walking back with him.

That fucker's going to watch me make that phone call, Yancey thought. When they got to Yancey's office, he reached slowly for the receiver on his desk. He looked and saw Howland giving another insistent look. He finally picked up the phone and dialed.

"Hello?" came the voice on the other end.

"Calen?"

"Who's this?" the voice on the other end replied, and Yancey's heart dropped. It had been so long that Calen forgot the sound of Yancey's voice.

"It's Geoff," he began, but before he could get out "Geoff Yancey," he heard Calen say "Oh!"

"Geoff! It's great to hear from you again! What's going on?"

"I'm managing the Stars," he said. "I don't know if you heard."

"Of course I knew that!" Calen said. "Khalil and I were both happy for you when you got the job. Did you want to talk to him now? He should be back from the studio."

"Yes," Yancey said as a smile crossed his face. Pretty soon, he would have a chance to catch up with his longtime friend about both their lives. Even if the Stars somehow went 0-30, it felt like the biggest victory of Yancey's life would take place before the first time an umpire called out, "Play ball!"

by **Drawkland** » Sun Mar 29, 2020 10:46 pm

DRAWKLAND'S WORLD BASEBALL CLASSIC 48
GROUP STAGE - SERIES 1
Cutoff Time! It may be a day late, but let's Rock and Roll!

Group 1

Game 1
Democratic Publicity Stunts        1 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0  2
Hampton Island                     0 1 0 0 4 0 0 1 X  6

Hapilopper                         0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 1  2
Pripet Socialist Republic          0 0 0 0 2 0 1 0 X  3

Abanhfleft                         0 2 1 0 0 0 0 0 0  3
Nooooooooooooooo                   0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0  1

Game 2
Democratic Publicity Stunts        0 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 0  2
Hampton Island                     0 2 1 0 0 1 0 0 X  4

Hapilopper                         0 0 1 1 1 0 2 0 0 0 1  6
Pripet Socialist Republic          0 1 1 0 0 1 1 1 0 0 0  5

Abanhfleft                         1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 7  9
Nooooooooooooooo                   0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0  2

Game 3
Democratic Publicity Stunts        0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 0  2
Hampton Island                     0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0  1

Hapilopper                         0 0 0 0 1 1 0 2 0 0  4
Pripet Socialist Republic          0 0 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 1  5

Abanhfleft                         0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 2  4
Nooooooooooooooo                   2 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0  3

  Group 1                      Pld    W   L    RF   RA   RD 
1 Abanhfleft                     3    3   0    16    6  +10
2 Hampton Island                 3    2   1    11    6   +5
3 Pripet Socialist Republic      3    2   1    13   12   +1
4 Hapilopper                     3    1   2    12   13   −1
5 Democratic Publicity Stunts    3    1   2     6   11   −5
6 Nooooooooooooooo               3    0   3     6   16  −10

Group 2

Game 1
TJUN-ia                            1 0 1 0 0 0 2 0 0  4
Free Republics                     0 0 1 0 0 2 1 1 X  5

Swiaji                             0 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 2 0 1  5
Devonta                            0 0 0 1 1 0 0 1 1 0 0  4

The Greater Nordics                0 1 0 0 1 1 0 0 2  5
Terre Septentrionale               0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0  2

Game 2
TJUN-ia                            0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  1
Free Republics                     2 0 0 0 1 0 2 0 X  5

Swiaji                             0 0 0 0 0 2 3 0 0  5
Devonta                            0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  0

The Greater Nordics                1 0 0 0 0 0 2 1 2 0 2  8
Terre Septentrionale               1 1 0 2 0 0 1 1 0 0 0  6

Game 3
TJUN-ia                            1 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 1  3
Free Republics                     0 0 2 0 0 4 0 0 X  6

Swiaji                             0 0 0 3 0 0 3 0 0  6
Devonta                            0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 0  2

The Greater Nordics                0 2 1 0 3 0 0 4 0 10
Terre Septentrionale               4 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  5

  Group 2               Pld    W   L    RF   RA   RD 
1 Swiaji                  3    3   0    16    6  +10
  The Greater Nordics     3    3   0    23   13  +10
3 Free Republics          3    3   0    16    8   +8
4 TJUN-ia                 3    0   3     8   16   −8
5 Devonta                 3    0   3     6   16  −10
  Terre Septentrionale    3    0   3    13   23  −10

Group 3

Game 1
The Royal Kingdom of Quebec        0 2 1 0 0 1 1 0 0  5
Ko-oren                            2 1 0 3 0 1 0 2 X  9

Equestrian States                  0 1 0 1 0 0 1 2 0  5
Northwest Kalactin                 0 2 3 0 1 0 2 0 X  8

South Newlandia                    0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  0
Xanneria                           0 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 X  2

Game 2
The Royal Kingdom of Quebec        0 1 0 0 3 1 2 0 0  7
Ko-oren                            1 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 0  3

Equestrian States                  1 0 0 5 0 0 0 0 0  6
Northwest Kalactin                 0 3 0 0 0 0 2 0 0  5

South Newlandia                    1 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0  3
Xanneria                           0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0  2

Game 3
The Royal Kingdom of Quebec        0 1 0 2 0 2 0 1 2  8
Ko-oren                            0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2  2

Equestrian States                  0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0  1
Northwest Kalactin                 0 0 0 6 1 0 0 0 X  7

South Newlandia                    0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0  1
Xanneria                           0 1 1 0 0 1 0 0 X  3

  Group 3                      Pld    W   L    RF   RA   RD 
1 Northwest Kalactin             3    2   1    20   12   +8
2 The Royal Kingdom of Quebec    3    2   1    20   14   +6
3 Xanneria                       3    2   1     7    4   +3
4 South Newlandia                3    1   2     4    7   −3
5 Ko-oren                        3    1   2    14   20   −6
6 Equestrian States              3    1   2    12   20   −8

Group 4

Game 1
Oscioru                            1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3  5
Daskel                             0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 0  2

Nova Anglicana                     0 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 0  2
Kriegiersien                       1 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 X  3

West Phoenicia                     0 0 0 0 3 0 0 0 0  3
Anthor                             0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  1

Game 2
Oscioru                            4 0 0 0 0 0 4 3 1 12
Daskel                             0 0 5 0 1 4 0 0 0 10

Nova Anglicana                     1 0 3 0 0 0 1 0 0  5
Kriegiersien                       0 0 2 1 3 0 0 1 X  7

West Phoenicia                     0 1 0 0 0 3 2 0 0 0 0 0  6
Anthor                             1 0 1 1 1 0 0 0 2 0 0 4 10

Game 3
Oscioru                            0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 2  3
Daskel                             4 1 2 0 0 0 0 0 X  7

Nova Anglicana                     0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0  1
Kriegiersien                       3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 X  3

West Phoenicia                     0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0  1
Anthor                             0 0 0 0 0 2 2 0 X  4

  Group 4               Pld    W   L    RF   RA   RD 
1 Kriegiersien            3    3   0    13    8   +5
2 Anthor                  3    2   1    15   10   +5
3 Oscioru                 3    2   1    20   19   +1
4 Daskel                  3    1   2    19   20   −1
5 West Phoenicia          3    1   2    10   15   −5
6 Nova Anglicana          3    0   3     8   13   −5

Group 5

Game 1
St. Saratoga                       1 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1  4
The Sherpa Empire                  0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 0 0 0 0  3

Lisander                           0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 3  5
Bolgano                            1 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 4  6

Cascom                             0 1 1 0 1 0 0 0 0  3
Sarzonia                           1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  1

Game 2
St. Saratoga                       1 0 3 1 0 0 0 0 1  6
The Sherpa Empire                  0 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 1  3

Lisander                           2 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 1  5
Bolgano                            3 0 0 0 2 0 1 1 X  7

Cascom                             1 2 1 0 0 0 0 0 5  9
Sarzonia                           0 0 0 0 0 0 2 1 4  7

Game 3
St. Saratoga                       2 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 1  5
The Sherpa Empire                  0 0 2 0 0 0 2 0 0 0  4

Lisander                           0 0 0 1 2 1 1 0 0  5
Bolgano                            0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1  1

Cascom                             0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  0
Sarzonia                           0 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 X  2

  Group 5               Pld    W   L    RF   RA   RD 
1 St. Saratoga            3    3   0    15   10   +5
2 Cascom                  3    2   1    12   10   +2
3 Bolgano                 3    2   1    14   15   −1
4 Lisander                3    1   2    15   14   +1
5 Sarzonia                3    1   2    10   12   −2
6 The Sherpa Empire       3    0   3    10   15   −5

Group 6

Game 1
Gekkeom                            1 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  3
Mushroom Kingdom                   3 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 X  5

Saintland                          0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 0  2
The Sarian                         0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1  3

Cassadaigua                        2 0 0 2 0 1 1 0 0  6
Imperial Joseon                    0 0 1 0 1 0 0 4 1  7

Game 2
Gekkeom                            1 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 2  5
Mushroom Kingdom                   0 0 5 0 0 0 1 0 X  6

Saintland                          1 0 1 0 2 2 1 0 0  7
The Sarian                         0 0 0 0 1 0 1 2 0  4

Cassadaigua                        0 1 3 0 1 0 1 0 0  6
Imperial Joseon                    0 0 2 0 0 0 0 1 0  3

Game 3
Gekkeom                            0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  1
Mushroom Kingdom                   0 6 0 0 0 0 0 1 X  7

Saintland                          1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0  3
The Sarian                         0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 1  2

Cassadaigua                        0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 6  7
Imperial Joseon                    0 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 0  2

  Group 6               Pld    W   L    RF   RA   RD 
1 Mushroom Kingdom        3    3   0    18    9   +9
2 Cassadaigua             3    2   1    19   12   +7
3 Saintland               3    2   1    12    9   +3
4 The Sarian              3    1   2     9   12   −3
5 Imperial Joseon         3    1   2    12   19   −7
6 Gekkeom                 3    0   3     9   18   −9

Group 7

Game 1
Teyniyji                           0 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 0  2
Newmanistan                        0 3 0 1 0 1 0 1 X  6

Chromatika                         0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0  2
South Covello                      1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2  3

Liventia                           0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3  3
Brooklyn and Queens                0 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  2

Game 2
Teyniyji                           0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0  1
Newmanistan                        0 1 0 0 0 0 3 1 X  5

Chromatika                         0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  1
South Covello                      0 0 1 1 0 1 1 0 X  4

Liventia                           0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0  2
Brooklyn and Queens                1 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 X  3

Game 3
Teyniyji                           0 0 7 0 0 0 0 2 0  9
Newmanistan                        1 9 1 0 0 1 0 0 X 12

Chromatika                         0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1  2
South Covello                      0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0  1

Liventia                           0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  0
Brooklyn and Queens                0 0 0 0 0 5 0 3 X  8

  Group 7               Pld    W   L    RF   RA   RD 
1 Newmanistan             3    3   0    23   12  +11
2 Brooklyn and Queens     3    2   1    13    5   +8
3 South Covello           3    2   1     8    5   +3
4 Chromatika              3    1   2     5    8   −3
5 Liventia                3    1   2     5   13   −8
6 Teyniyji                3    0   3    12   23  −11

Group 8

Game 1
Inner AginanaUsordia               0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  0
Banija                             0 0 0 6 0 0 0 1 X  7

Drunk People at the Local Tavern   0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0  1
HUElavia                           1 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 X  2

Drawkland                          2 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 3  6
Kita-Hinode                        0 0 0 4 0 1 0 0 0  5

Game 2
Inner AginanaUsordia               0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0  2
Banija                             0 1 2 0 1 2 0 0 X  6

Drunk People at the Local Tavern   0 4 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1  7
HUElavia                           1 0 3 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0  6

Drawkland                          0 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 1  3
Kita-Hinode                        0 0 0 0 0 0 1 3 X  4

Game 3
Inner AginanaUsordia               0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 1  2
Banija                             1 0 0 0 0 2 1 0 X  4

Drunk People at the Local Tavern   0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 2  5
HUElavia                           0 0 0 5 1 0 0 0 X  6

Drawkland                          3 0 0 0 0 0 2 1 1  7
Kita-Hinode                        0 2 0 1 0 0 0 0 1  4

  Group 8                           Pld    W   L    RF   RA   RD 
1 Banija                              3    3   0    17    4  +13
2 Drawkland                           3    2   1    16   13   +3
3 HUElavia                            3    2   1    14   13   +1
4 Drunk People at the Local Tavern    3    1   2    13   14   −1
5 Kita-Hinode                         3    1   2    13   16   −3
6 Inner AginanaUsordia                3    0   3     4   17  −13

by **TJUN-ia** » Mon Mar 30, 2020 7:02 am

So, TJUN-ia is in Baseball now? Neat.

Our first series was against the Free Republics, a nation we seemingly keep on playing against in the world of sports. Nicholls Air Park in Baseton was the site of our first ever swings and pitches against the team known for sign-stealing. It seems they interpreted our signs very quickly.

GAME 1
We actually scored 1st, a good double-play from Steven Fulmer allowing Pedro Moires to score our first ever run. Our first homer came in top of the 3rd, this time from Ki Yung-son. The Republicans then took the lead. We scored 2 in the 7th to keep the game alive, but FFR had this in the bag. 5-4 final. not a bad start to our baseball history.

GAME 2
We only scored 1 in the 2nd game, Bryce Calhoun this time bringing it home. We didn't do that again, as "Wild" Ralph Fiedler turned us inside out. 5-1 final. The series lost (of course), but we still had game 3.

GAME 3
Only 3 runs from us. Moires in the 1st, Ki in the 5th, O'Mally in the 9th. FFR scored 6, including 4 in the 6th. 6-4 final.

So 3 losses (as expected when you play the 4th ranked team in your first ever series), but still a lot to play for. Swiaji is up next, a team who swept the United States of Devonta....in Devonta. Tape certainly needs to be studied and fast! GO JAGS!

SCHEDULE
S1 (G1/G2/G3): @Free Republics (4) - Nicholls Air Park, Baseton L 0-3 (4th [Run Differential])
S2 (G4/G5/G6): @Swiaji (UR)
S3 (G7/G8/G9): vs The Greater Nordics (12) - Rounders Field, Portside
S4 (G10/G11/G12): @Terre Septentrionale (29) - Park Filipowicz, Trzeszczyn
S5 (G13/G14/G15): vs United States of Devonta (24) - Rounders Field, Portside
S6 (G16/G17/G18): vs Free Republics (4) - Rounders Field, Portside
S7 (G19/G20/G21): vs Swiaji (UR) - Rounders Field, Portside
S8 (G22/G23/G24): @The Greater Nordics (12) - National Baseball Stadium, Copenhagen
S9 (G25/G26/G27): vs Terre Spetentrionale (29) - Rounders Field, Portside
S10 (G28/G29/G30): @United States of Devonta (24)

by **Daskel** » Mon Mar 30, 2020 8:13 am

WBC: Daskel Sitting 4th
By Go Nakamura (@GomuraOfficial)

Good morning, fellow daskelians!

World Baseball classic just started, and with it, we have new scores to analyze! Daskies currently places fourth on the group. What will happen in the next games? Let's make a review of the series.

Game 1

Oscioru                            1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3  5
Daskel                             0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 0  2

First game of the series was a thriller. Oscioru scored two runs in first and third inning, putting the Daskies on a hard place. The catch-up arrived in the 7th inning, the "balloon ritual" inning of Daskelian fans. After million balloons flew in the sky, the team scored two runs with their trademark smallball strategy. Leonel reached the first base with a single hit. Kishimoto was K'ed, but Leonel stole the second in that time. Shintaro also made the first base, giving Daskies the opportunity to score. Cho bunted safely to score the first run for the Daskies. Shintaro also stole the third, scoring with a single hit from Baeza. Bad luck Sumner batted a fly, ending the bright bottom of the seventh.

The game turned into a battle of pitchers since the top of the eight, none giving a run to the contender. Rokauveru was replaced by Nakamura in the mound from the eighth inning. After the regulation time, the score was still a 2-2 tie. Extra innings were intense, with runners in the first two bases. Team Oscioru scored a HR in the top of the 12th, bringing their three players back home, but Daskies couldn't catch up, pressure getting into the batters. 5-2 Oscioru.

Game 2

Oscioru                            4 0 0 0 0 0 4 3 1 12
Daskel                             0 0 5 0 1 4 0 0 0 10

Game two in the Dai was all high scoring from both times. Team Oscioru made an statement in the top of the 1st, scoring four consecutive runs to Falkus Ken, starting pitcher of this match. Coach Quentaro gave him the opportunity though, and he delivered, securing the next four innings. Team Daskel attacked strong on the bottom of the 3rd, 5th and 6th, with a two runner HR by Shintaro, the cleanup batter,on the third inning- Sadly, things didn't turn good for reliever Lozano, who lost the battle from the seventh inning onwards, replaced by Izo on the eight before giving up 3 runs. 12-10 Oscioru.

Game 3

Oscioru                            0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 2  3
Daskel                             4 1 2 0 0 0 0 0 X  7

Third game in the Dai was all Daskel from the beginning. Bottom of the first was truly important for momentum, after loading the bases and Shintaro hitting a grand slam Homerun! Oscioru tried to come back in the next innings, but couldn't erase Daskies' lead. Last inning was scary through, when Tama, gave two runs on infield errors, but closed masterfully after that. 3-7 Daskel!

Group 4                  Pld   W   L    RF   RA   RD 
1 Kriegiersien            3    3   0    13    8   +5
2 Anthor                  3    2   1    15   10   +5
3 Oscioru                 3    2   1    20   19   +1
4 Daskel                  3    1   2    19   20   −1
5 West Phoenicia          3    1   2    10   15   −5
6 Nova Anglicana          3    0   3     8   13   −5

Next series is against Anthor, on the road! Please support the Daskies. Let's make some noise!

Daskies Calendar: Group 4

March 28: Series 1 - Oscioru vs Daskel: 1W - L2
March 29: Series 2 - Daskel vs Anthor
March 30: Series 3 - Nova Anglicana vs Daskel
March 31: Series 4 - Daskel vs Kriegiersien
April 1: Series 5 - West Phoenicia vs Daskel
April 2: Series 6 - Daskel vs Oscioru
April 3: Series 7 - Anthor vs Daskel
April 4: Series 8 - Daskel vs Nova Anglicana
April 5: Series 9 - Kriegiersien vs Daskel
April 6: Series 10 - Daskel vs West Phoenicia

*HOME

by **Northwest Kalactin** » Mon Mar 30, 2020 8:26 am

Game 1

Equestrian States                  0 1 0 1 0 0 1 2 0  5
Northwest Kalactin                 0 2 3 0 1 0 2 0 X  8

Game 2

Equestrian States                  1 0 0 5 0 0 0 0 0  6
Northwest Kalactin                 0 3 0 0 0 0 2 0 0  5

Game 3

Equestrian States                  0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0  1
Northwest Kalactin                 0 0 0 6 1 0 0 0 X  7

Game 1
In game 1 after a quiet first inning, the Equestrian states struck first with a RBI single to center field following a double that got a player to second. In the bottom half of the second inning Nate Johnson got an easy single to Left Field while Charles Hernandez drove him in with a RBI double. Adam Felix was up to bat next and he blasted one into right-center field it bounced of the wall and Charles Hernandez came around Third and he started heading for home the throw was late and Felix ended up with a RBI double. After that pitcher Jimmy Bennett ended up holding the equestrian states to 1 hit and no runs. Later in the inning the Kalactanian started hitting real well with Jake Brown hitting a double that got him into scoring position and then David Carter driving him in on a hit to center field. Then Chris Howard came in and hit a 2 run homer that put the Kalactanians up by 4. The next half inning Jimmy Bennett gave up a run on a changeup hit over the wall in right field but got them out pretty quickly after that. Then nothing really happened until the eighth inning except for a solo home run by Mike Harnabo. At the start of the eight inning the equestrian states batted first and slowly drove in a man on a single with 2 outs, after that the Kalactanian team scored 2 runs off of a 2 run homer by Adam Felix. Then the equestrian states scored 2 runs off a double and then got out. Nobody scored after that and the Kalactanians handled the Equestrian States pretty easily.
Game 2
In game 2 the Equestrian States got off to a fast start after 2 doubles but ended up blowing it with guys left on second and third at the end of the inning. The next inning the Kalactanians got struck out twice and hit a easy ground ball to second base where the equestrian states easily got it. Then on the next at-bat for the equestrian states they started doing good by hitting a double, and it looked like they would easily score. But they struck out twice and when they did hit it was a easy pop up behind home plate. Then the next half inning with guys on First and Third Jake Bannon hit a Tape-measure hit into Right Center field and the kalactanians went up 5-1. After an inning with no hits the equestrian states were up to bat and they got 5 runs on 4 hits and 2 walks to easily go ahead 6-3. Then there was not much the rest of the game except for a RBI double that got 2 guys home for the kalactanians, in their final at bat the Kalactanians with guys on second and third missed on a Curveball and lost the game 6-5.
Game 3
In game 3 of the series it started out very quiet the Kalactanians didn’t have much offense during the first 3 innings only getting 2 hits out of the first couple innings. But then in the fourth inning of the game they started scoring a lot. First, it was a double by Jake Bannon after that, Chris Howard hit a single that sent Bannon home, after that Nate Johnson had a solo homer they put the kalactanians up 3-0. And then, they put guys on first and second with power hitter Adam Felix up to bat. Felix blasted a shot into the stands in Left Field that had the kalactanian team up 6-0. Later in the next inning after blanking the Equestrian States again they got a couple hits that turned into a RBI single by Jake Brown. Then for a couple innings there was only one hit which was a single by equestrian states with 2 outs. Then the equestrian states finally scored on a Solo Home Run by a power hitter with one out. For 3 half innings there was only 1 hit, a Texas Leaguer with 2 outs the kalactanians ended up winning easily 7-1.

by **Hampton Island** » Mon Mar 30, 2020 8:28 am

Setting: Stafford City Stadium, during batting practice prior to Game 1
CEO and Manager John Morton have conversation from dugout

CEO: Midnight looks sluggish, what’s wrong?

Morton: Not sure, he does seem completely uninterested in everything, yet he is not charging at people, so he was properly fed.

CEO: Does anyone know how old he is?

Morton: No, we have no idea. Nor do we know when a bear starts slowing down to the point of being an ineffective baseball player. We just kind of put him in the lineup still because he is still alive.

CEO: Well, he has to play. Look at all of the people coming into the stadium, they are mostly here to see Midnight play. They couldn’t care less about Phil Haggarty or Chris Tyson.

Morton: Tyson is 35, too. His velocity is down.

CEO: Then why is he still on the team? We could have changed him out. He’s not a bear!

Morton: He’s adapted himself. Throws the curveball and slide a little more. International players with scouting material on him may still feel he will throw the fastball more.

CEO: And after two starts, they’ll realize he is not. He better be effective.

Morton: I am pretty confident in Chris. Midnight, we might need to get some kind of expert in here to figure out how old he really is. I am more concerned with him in the outfield.

CEO: Obviously. But look at those kids. I suppose if he does start struggling we could have justification for taking him out of the lineup, but the people will want a new bear. Are there any new bears?

Morton: Midnight is unique. You can’t just go around interviewing bears on their baseball skills.

CEO: I got it!

Morton: What?

CEO: We do some TV reality show where we get some poor schmuck to go into the wilderness to find the heir apparent to Midnight!

Morton: That’s extremely dangerous!

CEO: I know, that’s why it’s a great idea! Besides, it wouldn’t be you.

Morton: It would be great if it worked, that’s all I will say.

CEO: Great! Glad for your approval! Maybe we will strike gold! Either way, we’ll have profits from a reality show!

by **Sarzonia** » Mon Mar 30, 2020 8:48 am

Yancey felt a strong mix of emotions whilst he waited for Khalil to pick up the phone.

He was excited. After all, the two men grew very close on Sarzonia's coaching staff. Yancey respected Dennis's decision to keep the coaching staff intact after Jim Paulsen left. It gave everyone the chance to become his guys.

For his part, Dennis admired Yancey's directness and his forceful protection of his players. After the Stars skipper came out and announced his relationship with actor Calen McSuthern, Dennis found out that Yancey would defend his boss in much the same way.

On the other hand, Yancey would be lying if he said he wasn't at least a little bit nervous. After all, the two men hadn't spoken very much since the wedding and had spoken only once since their honeymoon. Dennis was ready to build his own life and Yancey's was an exercise in picking up the pieces of a fractured marriage.

Finally, a familiar voice came on the other end.

"Geoff?"

"Yes, Khalil," Yancey said, feeling his voice caught in his nerves.

"It's great to hear from you again! How are you?" The voice on the other end was pleasant, disarming, and that brought Yancey enormous relief.

"I'm doing great!" Yancey said, trying not to make it too obvious that hearing from his old friend improved things that drastically. Then he thought, even if I failed, so fucking what? "The more important question is, how are you doing?"

Dennis let his voice impart a wide smile and said, "I'm doing great. I retired from managing after the Fighting Doves won the last championship and I've been a studio analyst for the past three years." He then thought for a moment and decided to broach the subject that operated as the elephant in the room.

"I, we hadn't heard from you since we got back from our honeymoon," Dennis said. I know you and Karen got a divorce. What happened?"

Yancey began to fidget a little bit, then he glanced over at Howland. Howland looked and realised that Yancey wanted privacy for this part of the conversation and quickly stepped out and headed to his own office.

"I didn't realise Karen was that homophobic," Yancey said After you came out, she didn't say anything to me about my defending you. When she refused to let me go to the wedding, she called you that word and we just lost it right there. She threatened to leave me. I said, 'fine. Leave!' She did and took the boys."

"Wow, Geoff. I'm sorry."

"Not half as sorry as I am that I didn't see that in her," Yancey said. He then told the story about the judge awarding custody of Kenneth and Paul to Karen because Geoff spent so much time at the academy. He told Khalil about paying child support and the mortgage on a house he was now persona non grata in.

On the bright side, he told Khalil about the "teenage rebellion" of both Kenneth and Paul keeping their distance from their mother as long as possible, culminating in Kenneth inviting Geoff to his wedding over Karen's objections. He told his mother, "It's my wedding. He's my father and I'm inviting him and you WILL be civil to him or you won't be invited."

The two men haven't spoken to Karen since Paul's graduation from university, and she had yet to meet Kenneth's first born, whom he named Khalil Calen. Meanwhile, KC, as Uncle Paul and Grandpa Geoff called him, was a constant presence at Fleetwood Park.

The conversation continued for another hour or so, and after Yancey finally put the receiver down, he exhaled in a combination of relief and joy. The chain that he thought was broken was merely frayed. It was still a powerful force. And with that, Yancey had the best night of sleep he'd had in years on the eve of his first game as manager.

After the three-game opening set, Sarzonia sat at 1-2 with the team salvaging the final game against fellow unranked side Capcom. It wasn't an ideal beginning with sixth ranked Sherpa Empire invading Fleetwood Park smarting from a three-game home sweep at the hands of a St. Saratoga team ranked 21st in the world.

Even so, Yancey was back to baseball. And that was a victory in itself.

by **South Newlandia** » Mon Mar 30, 2020 9:28 am

ELEPHANT VALLEY MAIL
Sports
South Newlandia steals win in WBC 48 as group favourites struggle
In their first ever WBC-Match, the South Newlandian squad was able to steal a win from the favourites from Xanneria (ranked 18th). Hero of the match was Jacob Conroy (21), who’s pitching was a real nightmare for Xannerias batters.

Game 1
SNL 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
XAN 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 X 2
Game one really showed the weaknesses of the young South Newlandian team, as they were not able to achieve a single run in the entire game. They came closest in the 5th inning, when RF Fabio Ventura (22) scored a triple as the first hitter, but the three hitters behind didn’t manage to convert this into a run. Jacob Conroy and the young Ryan Hunter (19) pitched fantastically in the first game, but Hunter slipped up in the 3rd inning once when he allowed a homerun by Xannerias Shortstop, which got them two runs. Those two runs were enough to make the end result of the first game 2-0 in favour of Xanneria.

Game 2
SNL 1 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 3
XAN 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 2
Game two was the surprising win for South Newlandia. Already in the first inning, Igor White (24) scored a double, which was converted into a run after Adam King (20) hit yet another double. South Newlandias pitchers had a fantastic game again, and in the 5th inning, Gregor Garner (22) hit a home run to score two runs, as Igor White (24) was already on first base, to make the score 3-0. Right after this, however, Blake Robbins (23) allowed two runs to Xanneria, which made the game close once more. Otherwise nearly flawless pitching secured the win for South Newlandia in game 2.

Game 3
SNL 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1
XAN 0 1 1 0 0 1 0 0 X 3
Game three was another close game, ultimately decided by the unlucky batting for South Newlandia. As early as the 2nd inning, Xanneria took the lead, but the score was even after Fabio Ventura secured the first run for himself, stealing the last base after a solid hit by Jake Davidson (26). Xanneria scored right after this again, making the score after 3 innings 1-2 against South Newlandia. As they were not able to secure another run, and Xanneria scored another run in the 6th inning, South Newlandia lost game 3 with an end score of 1-3.
South Newlandia was able to compete with the big favourite Xanneria, and especially their pitching proved worthy of participating in the world’s biggest baseball tournament. Especially Jacob Conroy seems to be in top form, only allowing 2 runs in the 11 innings he pitched. The batters, however, have to step up, as 4 runs in 27 innings is simply not enough to beat the top teams. Overall, the players can be really content with their performance in Xanneria, and Pitching Coach Damian Bolton will definitely be pleased as well.

All matches
Xanneria 2-1 South Newlandia (2-0; 2-3; 3-1)

Ko-oren 1-2 The Royal Kingdom of Quebec (9-5; 3-7; 2-8)
This was a massive surprise, as top seed Ko-oren was defeated in their own stadium by 4th seed Quebec. Specifically, the 20 (!) runs their batters allowed were really unusual. We also have to give credit to the squad from Quebec, they played a fantastic game.

Northwest Kalactin 2-1 Equestrian States (8-5; 5-6; 7-1)
This was another surprise, as the 2nd seed also took an upset against a team everyone thought to be inferior. Northwest Kalactin, ranked 69th, got this win thanks to their batters scoring 20 runs in total.

Current Standings
Group 3 Pld W L RF RA RD
1 Northwest Kalactin 3 2 1 20 12 +8
2 The Royal Kingdom of Quebec 3 2 1 20 14 +6
3 Xanneria 3 2 1 7 4 +3
4 South Newlandia 3 1 2 4 7 −3
5 Ko-oren 3 1 2 14 20 −6
6 Equestrian States 3 1 2 12 20 −8

Schedule:
Northwest Kalactin @ South Newlandia
Xanneria @ Ko-oren
The Royal Kingdom of Quebec @ Equestrian States

The next matchup will be a home game for South Newlandia, against Northwest Kalactin. It remains to be seen if they will be able to repeat their successes in the upcoming game. We all hope for an interesting match in southern Elephant Valley.

by **Cassadaigua** » Mon Mar 30, 2020 11:15 am

Recapping The Start,
by Chelsea Dufresne, Concord Heights Times

The 48th World Baseball Classic kicked off recently, and the Fillies found themselves in the nation of Imperial Joseon, a nation that made itself known when they had success in the Sporting World Cup. This would be a lot different for them, however, as this a different sport against known veterans. We expected that they would be successful, and they did get something to make the home fans happy in their first game. However, you can win out of three against us, but taking the series is a different matter. Cassadaigua bounced back in the next two games, and are 2-1 after the first three games of the series. Let’s take a closer look at how all of this played.

In the opener, Samantha Owens took the mound and immediately began shutting down the bats of the opposition, a group of players who have not been publicly revealed to the world. She had run support before she threw a pitch, as a two run double by Cassie Daniels gave the Fillies a 2-0 lead. Owens struck out two of three batters in each of the first two innings, and was simply on fire. After allowing a run in the third, Cassadaigua got two more in the top of the fourth when Macy Hamel drove in two with a two-out bases loaded single, and things simply seemed to be in control. After seven innings, Cassadaigua lead 6-2, and Owens was sent out to pitch the eighth inning. Why not, after all. However, things got really weird. She retired the first batter, but would not get the call on a checked swing that would have, and should have been strike three, and she walked the batter on the next pitch. Samantha said something to the umpire, who was not having it, and ejected her from the ball game. That set Samantha off, and Maddie Polanco needed to come in and restrain Owens, before having some words to the umpire herself. This umpire was more patient with Maddie, and would not eject her. However, Cassadaigua needed to get a reliever in cold turkey, and Tara McGuinness was ineffective. The game some snowballed into a 7-6 loss, and Owens knows exactly why, “All I (expletive) said to the umpire was ‘come on do better!’. That was going to be the extent of it, and I can’t believe I was ejected. That is the most (expletive) ejection I have ever had in my career.” Polanco agreed that, “Samantha did not deserve to be ejected from the ballgame.”

In the second game, the Fillies again jumped out to the early lead, taking a 4-2 lead after three innings. Taylor Bryant had the big hit, driving in three with a third inning double to put our team in front. Katia Tavarez was a little off in the third, as the first base umpire that ejected Owens was now behind the plate, and it seemed like Katia was a little hesitant to work the corners, and it showed in the third inning. This same umpire did not give her a close call either in the third, and after a long glare at the umpire, she elected not to say anything. However, after the inning, the umpire seemed to seek out Tavarez as Katia walked back to the dugout, saying “Don’t stare at me like that again!”. Tavarez wisely continued walking, and seemed to settle down as the game went on. Cassadaigua won the game 6-3, but even after this game, Polanco criticized the umpire, “If it were an internet forum, the umpire would have gotten a warning for flamebait. Absolutely (expletive) that he tried to provoke Katia while she was walking back to the dugout. I get that he has to be a part of the game tomorrow (Game three), but after this, I would like for the organizers to ensure that he does not umpire any more of our qualifying games.”

The rubber game of the series played out differently, with Cassadaigua unable to generate anything. It did not help in the third inning that Rachel Kessler was called out at third when trying to stretch a double into a triple, by you guessed it, that very same umpire. This was a bang-bang play, however, and replays did show that Kessler was out. Regardless, it got some people on the Cassadagan bench a little fired up once again, and it seemed as though Maddie Polanco advised players to avoid potentially close calls at third base for the remainder of the game. The team trailed 2-1 going into the ninth, and with the opposing closer now in the game to shut down the doors, defeat seemed inevitable. Danielle Trufant struck out to lead off the inning, and then Avery Kallner, pinch hitting in the nine hole, flew out. Down to their last out, and eventually down to their last strike, the home fans stood up and clapped on the 0-2 pitch hoping it would be strike three. Ball one. They start clapping again. Ball two. Clapping again. Foul ball. Clapping again. Another foul. More clapping, before Katelyn Martini blooped a single into left. Martini stole second, and with Kessler down to their last strike, the cycle of clapping and a pitch lasted three pitches before Rachel singled into left as well, scoring Martini, tying the game at two. Well, at least the fans would not have to keep getting up and clapping for strike three anymore. Macy Hamel doubled, scoring Kessler, making it 3-2, but it didn’t stop there! Cassie Daniels singled, scoring Hamel, making it 4-2. Then Taylor Bryant singled. All that led to Jordyn Prosser saying goodnight to the hopes of the fans with a three run blast over the center field fence, making it all of the sudden a 7-2 advantage in the Fillies. Imperial Joseon got nothing going in the bottom of the ninth, giving the win to the ladies in pink and black.

The Classic now heads to Cassadaigua, with The Sarian traveling to the Dagan Airways Stadium. Hope to see you there!

by **The Sherpa Empire** » Mon Mar 30, 2020 11:34 am

Urkyen Bharadhwaj was at his hotel in Chengdu unwinding with a beer after a frustrating outing in Game 3. He hadn't pitched in the first two games of the World Baseball Classic.

In Game 1, when it was tied 3-3 going into the 9th, Bhansali had brought in Sanjay Murthy to pitch. Murthy was okay for a couple of innings, but then he got tired, he got pulled, and Samde Wu gave up the game-winning run in the top of the 12th. In Game 2, Luochong Zhuang had a bad outing and there was no reason to waste Bharadhwaj's time. With most pitchers, if they babbled about the genetics of bananas all through warm-ups, that might be a clue that their head was not in the game. With Zhuang, that was normal, and it wasn't until he got on the mound and started throwing balls that it was obvious something was wrong. Zhuang threw hard, but on this particular day, the placement of his pitches left something to be desired.

In Game 3, Bhansali brought Bharadhwaj in to pitch the 9th even though it wasn't a save situation because he did not want to see a repeat of Game 1. The Sherpas had been favored to beat the Saratogans, and Bhansali did not want to get swept. It would be embarrassing. Bharadhwaj got out of the 9th without that much trouble, but the bats were quiet in the bottom of the inning and the game went into extra innings. Bharadhwaj thought he was okay to stay in for the 10th, but he wasn't. A couple of Saratogan batters got on base, and then one of them hit an RBI single. The Sherpas couldn't answer it in the bottom of the inning and St. Saratoga won 5-4.

In the locker room after the game, Bhansali had tried to lift everyone's spirits telling them tomorrow was a new day and they could beat Sarzonia -- but Bharadhwaj was still annoyed and embarrassed. He sipped his beer and put the TV on. He knew SISN would be talking about the game and it would be depressing, but somehow he couldn't resist putting it on.

It was every bit as bad as Bharadhwaj had imagined. Some doctor on the frontlines of the SARS outbreak had written in to SISN and they put his comments on the screen: "Every day I bust my ass at a hospital in Wuchang and when I finally have some time to myself, all I want to do is watch some good baseball. Instead I put on SISN and all they have is us getting swept by St. Saratoga. What gives?"

One of the pundits read the comment out loud. "I'm not sure that's fair," the other said. "These were close games that could have gone either way, and we just weren't catching the breaks."

Bharadhwaj wanted to know why the doctor had time to get worked up about baseball when he was supposed to be out there saving lives, but he sort of knew he wasn't being fair. Doctors were people too, and everyone had their silly obsessions. Bharadhwaj changed the channel and something came on the screen that looked like a group of NSSCRA drivers having a lip syncing contest. It was actually a Feather Girls video. The Feather Girls were a girl band -- three young women named Sarki, Saron, and Tsamji -- but Tsamji was masculine enough to do passable impression of Kai Qiang. She could also do a mean bagpipe solo.

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