World Baseball Classic 50- Everything (IC)

by **The 189** » Fri Nov 06, 2020 2:47 am

Home Field: ----------- a.k.a. Reclamation Stadium, capacity 5,000

Team Manager: -----

Starting Line-up:
LF --------
Originally built as a sexbot, but not designed to service humans. She looks like a female --------, a little over 6 feet tall with long tentacles and a glossy shell on her back. Her skin is very realistic, so she can be easily mistaken for a living creature. Great dexterity with her tentacles, decent contact hitter, but not necessarily the best range as a fielder.

SS ----------
Originally a military medical robot designed to rescue wounded from combat zones and treat their injuries. Around 7 feet tall with a very chunky build. One of the fastest base-runners on the team. Hits for power, but might strike out sometimes because the heaviness of its arms makes it hard to respond quickly if a pitch breaks in an unexpected way. Grounds crews may be annoyed at how much it chews up the grass when it lumbers around the field on defense.

1B --------
Another sexbot similar to --------.

C ----------
An autonomous earth-mover. It's not very fast, but it is very tough. Don't bother trying to knock it aside when you slide into home.

2B --------
Originally a fire-fighting robot, around 5 feet tall with a rough and rugged look. A versatile player that is decent across the board.

RF -------
A cleaning robot, short and squat with very long arms. It can chase pitches well outside the strike zone and still hit them, and its long reach is also useful in the field. However, it runs the bases like a floor polisher. Because it is a floor polisher.

CF --------
Originally built to work a customer service counter at a bank, it looks like an alien creature with tentacles -- similar to the sexbots, but a little shorter and stockier. Moves a bit faster than the sexbots. As a batter, it is very patient, not swinging at crap; but sometimes it makes only weak contact with the ball because it swung too late.

3B ------
A cute little robot about 3 feet tall with a shiny garnet-red casing, originally built to help excavate archaeological sites. The small strike zone and the agility of this machine leave pitchers no room for error. However, its small size makes it ineffectual as a fielder. Sometimes it just can't reach the ball.

P --------
A piece of machinery from a car factory, around 6 feet tall and mounted on wheels. Throws hard, usually keeps it in the zone, but has not grasped the finer points of how to confuse batters with off-speed pitches. A little clumsy batting, fielding, and base-running.

Additional Notes:
All players can switch hit, and they are about equally good (or bad) from both sides of the plate. There is no bench, pitching rotation, or bullpen because the 189 are durable enough to play without substitutions. There are no jersey numbers because the 189 do not wear jerseys. Your nation's fans or media can make up their own nicknames for the players if they find the color sequences too awkward.

The home plate umpire is a 3 foot tall robot named -----. Like most of the 189, it is easily confused by human speech, so it may be more confused than offended if you start yelling at it to argue a call.

The food delivery drone ------ will be selling snacks for any spectators who get hungry during the game.

Most of the 189 do not have the ability to detect sound. They rely exclusively on visual communication, or human-made devices with dictation software.

RP Permissions:
Choose my run-scorers: Yes
Choose my lineup: You can change the batting order, but please use the fielding positions that I have given
Follow my Pitching Rotation: N/A
Godmod scoring events: Yes
RP injuries to my players: You can RP them getting scuffed up or having parts knocked loose, but only things they can repair easily
Godmod injuries to my players: No
Eject my players: Maximum of 1 per game. The manager or the food delivery bot can replace ejected players. The 189 are not aggressive, but they could get ejected due to misunderstandings.
DH used at home: No
Godmod other events: No

by **Rwekazaland** » Fri Nov 06, 2020 7:24 am

Choose my run-scorers: Yes
Choose my lineup: No
Follow my Pitching Rotation: Yes
Godmod scoring events: No
RP injuries to my players: No
Godmod injuries to my players: No
Eject my players: Yes
DH used at home: Yes
Godmod other events: No
Other Info: Will come soon. Don't have time right now.

works? · by **Abanhfleft** » Fri Nov 06, 2020 8:27 am

ABANHFLEFT REVOLUTION
Abanhfleft men's national baseball team

They managed to make it to the golden edition of the World Baseball Classic. That's got to count for something, right?

Basic Information
Name of nation: Democratic Republic of Abanhfleft
Demonym: Fleftic
Team name: Abanhfleft Revolution
Nickname: Revolutionaries (common), Revolters (derogatory)
Official history: This will be Abanhfleft's thirteenth time participating in the World Baseball Classic. It's the golden edition of the WBC, lads. At least try to look good.
Team colors: Blue, orange, and green
Style modifier: +3
Park factor: 110 (disregard if we're not doing park factors)

PITCHERS
Key: (Shirt number, pitches/bats, age)

1 - Bertram Benedetto (#19, R/R, 30)
2 - Guillermo Rodriguez (#54, S/R, 34)
3 - Sanford Capuano (#95, L/L, 34)
4 - Yakub Petrenko (#13, R/R, 33)
5 - Joffrey Yedlin (#24, S/R, 33)

Long Reliever - Dan Lesesne (#66, L/S, 30)
Middle Reliever - Collin Olea (#43, L/L, 32)
Middle Reliever - Damon Simmer (#42, S/L, 33)
Setup Receiver - Olivier Savanier (#39, L/L, 33)
Closer - Peter Langford (#90, R/R, 32)

INFIELD
Catcher - Doyle Rotz (#51, R/L, 32, Starter)
Catcher - Gaston Panek (#83, L/S, 30)
First Base - Elroy Combs (#5, L/L, 28, Starter)
First Base - Ernest Douthit (#89, R/L, 30)
Second Base - Yorge Freyas (#29, R/R, 30, Starter)
Second Base - Jorge Day (#30, L/S, 31)
Third Base - Kristopher Hine, (#97, S/R, 29, Starter)
Third Base - Rhett Ricker (#41, L/L, 31)
Short Stop - Giovanni Perkinson (#20, R/R, 26, Starter)
Short Stop - Delbert Ridge (#05, S/R, 26)

OUTFIELD
Left Fielder - Hashim Khateb Bansamun (#66, R/R, 28, Starter)
Left Fielder - Conrad Mason (#14, L/R, 29)
Center Fielder - Jarred Hardwick (#3, L/L, 27, Starter)
Center Fielder - Booker Draves (#64, R/S, 25)
Right Fielder - Aedan Soto (#7, L/R, 26, Starter)
Right Fielder - Eldridge Soucy III (#52, R/R, 25)

BATTING ORDER
1 - Y. FREYAS (2B, R)
2 - H. K. BANSAMUN (LF, R)
3 - A. SOTO (RF, R)
4 - J. HARDWICK (CF, L)
5 - G. PERKINSON (SS, R)
6 - E. COMBS (1B, L)
7 - D. ROTZ (C, L)
8 - K. HINE (3B, R)
DH - B. DRAVES (CF, S)

In the event that a DH is not allowed, the starting pitcher takes the DH's place.

STADIA
The Abanhfleft Baseball Federation has announced that it will be using two baseball stadia as venues for the Abanhfleft Revolution's home matches.

Official name: National Baseball Stadium
Capacity: est. 60,000
Record attendance: 65,233 (Effelenendro Islanders vs. Pilken Blue Sox, 19 October 2022)
Operators: Abanhfleft Baseball Federation, Effelenendro Islanders (for games against big teams)

Official name: Stadion Memoriam de December 27
Capacity: est. 26,500
Record attendance: 37,084 (Verbergerkinnh Cubs vs. Copper Cuprum Miners; October 5, 2022)
Operators: Verbergerkinnh Cubs[/spoiler]

RP PERMISSIONS
My opponent, if they RP first, may do the following:
Choose my runscorers: Yes, within reason
Choose my lineup: No, please stick to the starters as much as possible
Follow my pitching rotation: Yes, you must follow it to the letter
Godmod scoring events: No
RP injuries to my players: Yes, but TG me first
Godmod injuries to my players: No
Eject my players: No
Godmod other events: Yes, except killing my players or coaching staff, and please TG me before doing this
Use DH at home: If I can use a DH at your home then you can use a DH at mine. If I can't use a DH at your home then you can't use a DH at mine.

by **Kriegiersien** » Fri Nov 06, 2020 1:13 pm

World Baseball Classic 50 – Kriegiersien in the golden edition

Lucky number 13? That is the group the team was drawn to (or in?).

With Abanhfleft the nation that thwarted Kriegiersiens success in numerous events is the Top of the group, number 11 of the ranking and certainly more successfull and experienced in Baseball than Kriegiersien.

Liventia is mostly known to us for clashes at the Olympics, we will play at their home stadium in the second match. Hopes for winning against the ranking number 15: Small.

Our first match will be against Npc West Florida, another unranked team. They will visit Schoenwetter for the first match. A win is a must if we want more.

The same goes for Cransia, where our third match will end our first tour.

Lisander is the number 35 and another dark horse for us, but still the clear favourite.

Time to ready the ball cannons.

by **Super-Llamaland** » Fri Nov 06, 2020 3:49 pm

THE WBC50 25
An LBC-LSN Collaboration

WBC50 marks an incredibly special year for international baseball. Not only is it the 100th anniversary of international baseball, but it also marks the fiftieth anniversary of Llamanean participation in that sport. It's hard to believe that we've been competing for championships for half of the WBC's total existence, but thanks to our consistency and five trips to the top of the baseball world, we've established ourselves as one of the great historical nations of the WBC in the past half-century.

To mark this occasion, LBC Sports, as well as LlamaSportsNet, have come together (along with some independent writers from across the blogosphere) to select an all-time roster of the best twenty-five players Super-Llamaland has offered the world. From Cameron or Masorka to Kastner and Strauss, our team will leave no player unconsidered as we travel through the twenty-two teams that we've sent to this competition. How will we decide on the best players? We have a few ground rules:

1. Full WBC Careers Only

Remember when Alex Kirk was good? If you were alive in his heyday and not living under a rock, you would've heard great things about the wünderkind Wizards shortstop who could do it all. After making a big splash in his rookie year before WBC31, Kirk proceeded to justify the hype by winning five MVPs, hitting .400 on two separate occasions, and taking the Wizards to a President's Cup in his long, storied career. Yet not only will Kirk not be in our starting nine, but he won't even be particularly close. Although Kirk was solid at WBC31, his forgettable WBC32 (and the disaster that was WBC32 in general) meant that he never played particularly well or often for the national team.

This illustrates two guiding principles that we must keep in mind. First, we only care about what players did at the WBC. This is specifically a WBC commemoration series, so not only will domestic careers not be important, but they won't even be considered. Secondly, we'll be looking at full bodies of work, not just peaks. While Isak Gunnlaugson was arguably the second-best hitter on a championship team, his very short career means he'll ultimately miss out here, while longer-tenured but possibly lower-peak players, like Tanya Ericsson, will have a better shot.

2. Fit, not Talent

This isn't the "top 25 WBC Llamaneans of all time". We're trying to build a complete roster here - one that could, hypothetically, win games against similar opposition. This means we'll be keeping players in their original positions whenever possible, instead of sliding them around to fill gaps. Is this biased against historically strong positions like right field (where Jake Earnest, Owen Duffy, Lucien Russo, and Tanya Ericsson are all legitimately all-time greats) while letting comparatively weak players trickle through in places like first base? Yes. Do we care? No.

That being said, we will also have some room on the bench to accommodate anyone who was snubbed from the starting nine. But we'll also be considering fit and specific roles here. We don't just want the top five sluggers who couldn't make it to the starting nine - we want a well-balanced bench and bullpen, to best highlight the variety of different talents the Tigers have had over the years.

With that, it's time to look at the starting nine. Starting with the first Tigers great...

#7: Alex Cameron, 3B
Jason Stone, LBC Baseball

Signature Moment: “The delivery from Lonma'ao...it's a line drive into left-center, that's gonna do it! Mills rounds third, he's heading home! The throw is...not in time! Cameron advances to second on the play! The Tigers have taken the lead in the top of the tenth - and are just three outs away from their first quarterfinals appearance in national history!” -WBC28 Ro16 Game Three, Yzerberg, Vaugania

No player better represents the first decade of Llamanean international baseball than Alex Cameron, a do-it-all third baseman who carried the Tigers through their early years before overcoming addiction problems, constant injuries, and an international slump to win a championship at WBC28.

A former benchwarmer for Apple Valley, Cameron underwent an improbable transformation into a legitimate five-tool third baseman before Super-Llamaland entered the international scene. Although already in his late twenties when the Tigers entered WBC23, their first-ever international tournament, Cameron would go on to appear in six Classics as the team’s starting third baseman, before managing for four more. Cameron was the team’s third hitter at WBC23, and although the team was unable to advance to the playoffs, finishing just one game behind Maklohi Vai, he hit well over .300 in his debut Classic.

WBC25 was Cameron’s international coming-out party, as he hit five home runs and drove in thirteen runs during the ten-game group stage. The Tigers failed to advance by the slimmest of margins, but Alex Cameron truly cemented himself as a world-class hitter and third baseman. This run continued with a scorching-hot WBC26 with four more home runs and a .455 tournament batting average, as well as multiple clutch hits, to deliver the Tigers to their first-ever knockouts appearance.

The wheels began to fall off a bit after WBC26, as Cameron struggled through a series of injuries that shortened his WBC27 campaign and gradually sapped his speed and athleticism between WBC27 and WBC28. The once-superstar was included on the WBC28 roster (although manager Joe McKenzie opted to slide him to seventh in the batting lineup, a far cry from his days of batting in the heart of the order) despite injuries and addiction troubles which would ultimately prematurely end his WBC28. However, his clutch playoff hitting and fielding helped propel the Tigers to their first-ever WBC championship, and he retired from international play on the highest of notes.

by **Darmen** » Fri Nov 06, 2020 10:36 pm

The Ironmen
With the actual Darmeni national baseball team banned from competing in international tournaments (Olympics excepted), the Ironmen will represent Darmen instead. Home matches will be played at the 5,400 seat Carson Park stadium in Eau Claire. Although not Darmen's largest stadium, it is the spiritual home for baseball in Darmen.

There will be no defensive substitutions.

There will be no pitching changes... unless Oliver's heart acts up.

This is baseball... as it was meant to be.

Mostly.

Hilbert Herberts - 25 years old - Left Field - Bats: Right - Throws: Right
Would prefer to play Right Field due to his upbringing by parents who owned a bank.

Laurie Vincent - 22 years old - Center Field - Bats: Right - Throws: Right
Once attempted to unionize a bank. Decided a career in baseball was probably a better idea.

Nathanahel O'Sullivan - 24 years old - Right Field - Bats: Right - Throws: Right
Would prefer to play Left Field due to his upbringing by parents who belonged to unions.

Zohar "Big Zo" Robinson - 23 years old - Catcher - Bats: Right - Throws: Right
Doesn't know how to play small ball, thinks all baseballs are the same size. Will swing for the fences every... single... time.

Sìoltach Burke - 27 years old - Third Base - Bats: Left - Throws: Left
Is slightly confused about what being a third baseman means. Will run for a triple even when bunting.

Sextus McCormick - 23 years old - Second Base - Bats: Right - Throws: Right
Has the same confusion as Burke, but thinks in terms of the sexual meaning. Will likely need to be restrained... often.

Steenie Begbie - 29 years old - First Base - Bats: Left - Throws: Left
Steenie who?

Deforrest Núñez - 25 years old - Short Stop - Bats: Right - Throws: Right
Has a tendency to hesitate at around the 87 foot mark.

Aidan "Lion" Oliver - 26 years old - Right-handed Pitcher - Bats: Right - Throws: Right
Oliver does a sizeable amount of work in his local community; residents say he has the "heart of a lion." Has an as of yet undiagnosed congenital heart defect.

John "Duff" Lester - 23 years old - Left-handed Pitcher - Bats: Left - Throws: Left
If Aidan is a lion, Lester is a cub. Or so we're led to believe.

Cainneach Eliot - 31 years old - Benchwarmer/Team Dad - Eats: Peanuts - Throws: Obscenities - Drinks: Beer
Zero talent on field, absolutely brilliant off it... from a certain point of view. Has an uncanny knack of getting into opponents heads and riling them up. Might posses telepathic abilities. Unconfirmed.

My opponent, if they RP first (which you will), may do the following:
Choose my runscorers: Yes
Choose my lineup: Yes, in the sense that their is only one correct lineup and the only choice you're making is who is pitching on the day.
Follow my pitching rotation: Yes, see above.
Godmod scoring events: Yes
RP injuries to my players: No
Eject my players: Be gentle. Or not.
Godmod other events: Yes.
Use DH at home: No. HELL NO. And we won't be blaspheming on the road either... in the sense that we've only got 10 actual players so even if forced to use the DH, our DH will just be the other pitcher.
Style Modifier: 0

by **The Sherpa Empire** » Sat Nov 07, 2020 2:54 am

Sherpa National Baseball Team Roster

C: Pei Tan (Fuzhou Bats)
C: Nima Unnikrishnan (Bengal Tigers)
1B: Jayant Zia (Guiyang Grasshoppers)
2B: Yawei Qu (Hangzhou Brewers)
3B: Tandi Ojha (Islamabad Snow Leopards, switch hitter who can hit just about anything, even if he's just fouling it off)
SS: Kencha Qureshi (Islamabad Snow Leopards)
IF: Xiao Wen (Chengdu Pandas)
IF: Yu Qiong (Kunming Dragons)
IF: Yangzhi Yi (Nanjing Mandarins)
LF: Smanla Kumari (Lhasa Lamas)
RF: Geli Ananthan (Bengal Tigers)
CF: Tianling Qiao (Guilin Pangolins, a pesky left-handed hitter)
OF: Zhiku Tsongba Sherpa (Jaipur Jewelers, loves to swing for the fences)
OF: David Vanga (Chengdu Pandas)
RHP Wangdi Ai (Hangzhou Brewers, big-time fireballer)
LHP Weiyun Gan (Nanjing Mandarins, diligent about going over the scouting reports and exploiting batters' individual weaknesses)
RHP Kami Akunjee (Khumbu Icefall Doctors)
LHP Luochong Zhuang (Guangzhou Pirates)
RHP Daki Chuan (Guangzhou Pirates, knuckleballer, only female player on the WBC team)
LHP Karan Sangakkar (Darjeeling Green Sox)
RHP Sanjay Murthy (Bengal Tigers)
RHP Rajinder Pilgaonkar (Khumbu Icefall Doctors, long relief)
LHP Urkyen Bharadhwaj (Delhi Rajas, set-up)
RHP Jamil Roshan (Jaipur Jewelers, closer)
RHP Temba Karsang Sherpa (Changsha Turtles)

Starting Rotation:

Wangdi Ai
Weiyun Gan
Kami Akunjee
Luochong Zhuang
Daki Chuan

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

Manager: Chongba Lee

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 some of them may travel elsewhere.

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.

Many players from last year's championship team are returning, but there are also a few new faces. Regardless, the pressure is on for everyone.

Starting Line-Up

SS Qureshi
3B Ojha
2B Qu
CF Qiao
LF Kumari
RF Ananthan
1B Zia
C Tan
pitcher

At high altitude ballparks such as Syangboche, Zhiku Tsongba Sherpa will replace Tianling Qiao in center field.

Batting Order With DH

SS Qureshi
3B Ojha
2B Qu
CF Qiao
LF Kumari
DH Vanga
RF Ananthan
1B Zia
C Tan

Stadia

MD1 & 2 vs Georgia Tech & Silvedania, MD 24 vs Chromatika:
Jinnah Stadium
Islamabad Municipal District
Capacity 48,200
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.

MD 4 vs Chromatika, MD 20-22 vs Quintessence of Dust, Georgia Tech, Silvedania:
Eden Gardens
Kolkata, Bengal Province
Capacity 80,000
A park with a lot of room -- both on the field and in the stands -- and a lot of history. Built in 1864, it is the home stadium of the Bengal Tigers and it is also used for cricket and football. It's not the most picturesque stadium in the Empire, but it gets to host some big games because of its size.

MD 8 vs Xanneria:
Seven Star Stadium
Guilin, Au Viet Province
Capacity 27,322
A pretty little stadium in one of the Empire's most scenic cities. The stadium is part of a larger park complex which also includes a zoo and ancient caves.

MD 10-12 vs Quintessence of Dust, Georgia Tech, Silvedania
Mandarin Park
Nanjing, Jiangsu Territory
Capacity 61,443
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 a mix of typical ballpark fare like burgers and hotdogs, national specialties like kebabs, and regional specialties like Chinese dumplings.

MD 14 vs Chromatika, MD 28 vs Xanneria:
Chengdu Sports Centre
Chengdu, Sichuan Territory
Capacity 42,000
This sleek and modern multi-purpose stadium is known for the colorful Chinese opera skits during the 7th inning stretch, the spicy hot pot and chili at the concessions, and the goofy dancing panda mascot.

MD 18 vs Xanneria, MD 30 vs Quintessence of Dust:
Syangboche Athletic Complex
Namche, Khumbu Capital District
Capacity 43,800
Built on a mountaintop overlooking the national capital 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. In addition to the altitude, cold weather and high winds are common. Building a ballpark here was pure idiocy, but SIBA and the Ministry of Culture continue to use it anyway because it's the national capital. It is common for government officials or members of the royal family to attend games.

My opponent, if they RP first, may do the following::
Choose my run-scorers: Yes
Choose my lineup: Don't get totally nutty, but normal variations like putting in bench players are OK
Follow my Pitching Rotation: Follow what I have posted
Godmod scoring events: Yes
RP injuries to my players: Occasional minor injuries are OK, ask first if you want to do anything major
Godmod injuries to my players: No
Eject my players: If you eject a similar number of your own.
DH used at home: No
Godmod other events: No
Other Info: My team are conservative base-runners (not a lot of stealing or getting caught stealing) and they aren't too fixated on pitch counts. They usually plan on having the starter pitch 7 innings. This can vary depending on how the pitcher is doing, but pitch count doesn't play a big role in the decision.

by **Daskel** » Sat Nov 07, 2020 9:48 am

DAITO METROPOLIS

"Guys, the group draw just finished!"
"Please tell us is not Banija. Please no Banija"
"Well, there's no Banija"
"Oh, Thank go-"
"But there's one Cassadaigua"

Even the not-so-metaphoric fly stopped right in their tracks.

"Oh my God. Okay, it happening. Everybody stay calm" finally, Reizei managed to say something, walking in a wide oval. In the absence of Shintaro, Seijirō was the new captain of the team, and oh lord. It hadn't been that long since he was the captain of a team, but now it felt terribly away "What are the rest of the nations?"

Izo started to read the names one after the other, and as he advanced, the team flinched "...and finally Tikariot"

"We also got Tikariot??!!"

Now the room was a very real cage of chaos. An shouted, but the people would not stop talking. "We're doomed, man" was a trend.

"Guys, please stop!"

The unexpected voice of Kanao finally did silence the rest of his teammates. Everyone was looking at him with confused eyes.

"Please, do not panic. Look, I don't want to bring it here, but we went to the IBS with the U18 team as newcomers and you know what? we freaking did it! We did it and hell we were nervous. Nire almost fainted on game 6, believe me, Takaoka had to walk close to him when Nire went to the dugout just in case he collapsed. Now, this team has way more international experience than us, and I fully believe we can freaking win this if we stuck together"

"Tōru, seriously, wanna take the captaincy? I'm offering it"

Everyone laughed at that, making the atmosphere of the room a little bit lighter.

"Thanks, Kanao" An talked with his usual calm demeanor. He was accompanied by another man "This is Sakamoto Hiroshi. Mr Sakamoto led the Junior Daskies to victory in the last International Grand Slam, and he will be with us for this important feat, the WBC50, a very important edition of the tournament. He will be working with everyone, so please, hear his advice and put it to practice" A round of "yes!" resounded the small building. "Mr Sakamoto is a really good strategist. He came here with several footage for us to analyze. so please. get comfortable and be alert"

It was a long day, with tape analysis in the morning and a long training session in the evening. The team warmed quick to Sakamoto's words of wisdom. The clock was ticking, the race for the 50th edition of the WBC started.

by **Cassadaigua** » Sat Nov 07, 2020 5:06 pm

The Milestone Classic,
By Chelsea Dufresne, Concord Heights Times

When Cassadaigua was named host of the World Baseball Classic over our friends from Equestria, a nation that we have co-hosted the World Cup and Cup of Harmony alongside, a tremendous honor was bestowed upon the Matriarchy. The “Golden” Classic would be decided in Cassadaigua. With the World Baseball Classic reaching its 50th edition, it became the first tournament other than the World Cup (and not counting the other World Cup cycle events) to reach fifty. Maybe, it was only fitting for the nation that won the title of the only other “50”, that being the World Cup, to be able to host the World Baseball Classic. Either way, we are honored to be hosting the tournament once again, for the first time since #45.

Many nations have come out to celebrate the milestone classic, including the nations of Schiltzberg and Maklohi Vai. There have been talks that Schiltzberg’s appearance would be mainly cosmetic as some are not sure if their national baseball program is up to today’s standards. We are so happy that Maklohi Vai will be back. Even a nation like Valanora, known to us mostly for their immense World Cup history, is sending their baseball team to test their skills against the best in the World. Valanora, of course, does have plenty of other sporting, non-soccer history, to be proud of, with hockey being a big sport for them as well. We will see other first time nations in the tournament who have made a positive impression in other sports, and then we will have nations who want to make their first impression in a competition like this. In all, there will be 78 nations that take part, and they will be divided into thirteen groups of six.

The group was completed in Concord Heights two days ago, and one thing that can never be doubted is that we certainly did not rig it. Cassadaigua ended up in what is probably the Group of Death, Group 4, and will be challenged by two of the biggest up and coming nations out there right now, Daskel and Tikariot. Both of these nations have more then proven themselves in their initial campaigns, and have been very successful in the International Baseball Slam, another baseball competition that sees nations send a variety of different team styles. Now, for Cassadaigua, as the #1 team in the world, in a format where the top two sides will qualify per group and six wild cards, things should be okay. It would take a monumental choke job for the Fillies to not make it to the playoffs, and if they did choke like that, then they had bigger problems then the group. This is more of an issue for Daskel and Tikariot, as they will fight valiantly for the second position. That is a problem for us, because each of them will know that how they play against Cassadaigua can determine which of them gets the spot. We do also have Oscioru, Thea Liters, and Carung, the last two of which are making their first appearance, and we do not want to short change what they could potentially do. After all, everyone starts off as an unranked, and we have seen that if you have what it takes then you can make an impact as well. It will be a tougher road for them. For Cassadaigua, and even Daskel and Tikariot (whichever qualifies, if not both), this could be a blessing in disguise come playoff time, because there are softer groups out there, as the teams from our group that advance may be better prepared for playoff baseball.

In a format like this, you still want to do as good you can. There are thirteen groups, so a group winner could get a false sense of security with their group, then get one of the last first place seeds, which if they survived the first round, would give a potentially tough round of sixteen matchup. We will see how all of this goes. Let us just hope, it is great, because the 50th edition should be no less.

by **Hapilopper** » Sat Nov 07, 2020 9:59 pm

Capital Stadium, Hapilopper City
During the World Baseball Classic 50 Group Draw
As a recent affirmation to Capital Stadium’s future, the plush new clubhouse for the Hapilopper National Baseball Team very well might have been the nicest clubhouse in Hapiloppian baseball. There was a large meeting area, televisions, a buffet area, and an open bar, which typically opened up after games, or if a player or two got ejected, he could just go into a fridge and get a cold beverage. The new clubhouse was an affirmation of the National League of Hapilopper’s commitment to the national team, as well as proof that the Hap Thrashers had become one of the premier teams in international baseball.

On this day, the entire team had dropped everything and were hunched in front of a big screen television watching the group draw, when they would find out who they would be facing during the group stage of the 50th World Baseball Classic. Each of the players had their own wishlists for who they wanted to face during the group stage, as well as who they hoped they’d face in the playoffs, should they make it that far.

A number of players had Equestria on their wishlist. The Haps played the Equestrians during the last WBC and whooped up on them, giving off some kind of closure for the Manehattan Massacre several years back. Others had Terre Septentrionale on their minds, while some were thinking of, for whatever reason, a group of drunk people at a local tavern, who had entered the event.

“Drunk people at a local tavern?” Jerome Hayden asked. “So we’d be playing a beer league team?”

“No, I think they’re somewhat better than a beer league team,” replied Hot Sauce Gibbs. “I think they’ve been in a few of these events. But still, I think a group of drunk people at a local tavern would fit in very well here.”

“No kidding.”

There were others – former champions, returning nations, and some curiosities. A handful of players had computers up trying to look up information on a handful of nations, but couldn’t find a thing. There was that one nation, the 189, that had sent a representative to a Preston Autos test recently. And there were rumors of one nation that appeared to be a throwback to an earlier time, but nobody could find anything concrete. And there was also one nation that consisted of a bunch of ducks.

“Ducks?” Hot Sauce asked quizzically.

“Ducks,” Mo Beverly, looking at a laptop, responded. “And if we get them, I’m gonna deck anyone that uses the term ‘ducks on the pond.’”

“Ducks,” Hot Sauce said to himself. “Huh.”

Since the Hap Thrashers were a Pot 1 team, they would have to wait until the end of the group draw to find out who they’d be facing. This was fine among the Haps, though – it meant they were one of the feared teams in international baseball, and had every plans to remain such for the near future.

“And in group 3… HAPILOPPER!” the television screamed.

“Group 3, which one is that?” players started calling out.

“Whose asses are we gonna kick?” one player shouted.

Mo turned around to figure out who asked that last question. That almost sounded like excessive confidence in his mind, bordering on arrogance, and he didn’t feel like that was appropriate for them at that present time.

“Guys, we just got to this level,” Mo said. “We can just as easily fall back, and that kind of arrogance isn’t going to help!”

“Still gonna kick some ass,” the person said. It was Dayton Rowe, the left fielder for the Hap Thrashers. “This is the best team we’ve ever been. And we’re gonna kick some ass. I believe it. I see it. There’s not a bad player on the bunch. We are the best of the best and we’re going to do it. So let me ask again, Mo. Whose asses are we going to kick?”

Mo breathed heavily, shook his head and looked towards the screen. Hapilopper would be joined in Group 3 by HUElavia (Ranked 25th), West Phoenicia (Ranked 40th) and the unranked teams from Sicoutimont, The Fortem and Bardney. Immediately, the Haps tried to figure out more about their group stage opponents. HUElavia seemed like a nation of great people. West Phoenicia had a significance to Hapiloppian sports history – a team from that nation faced the Hapilopper National Football Team in the final of the 70th Baptism of Fire.

Leroy Hunnisett and a handful of other players sat back and took notice when they saw West Phoenicia in their group. It was a nice reminder of one of the great moments in the history of Hapiloppian sport, several years before, and a nice reminder of some of the wildest celebrations in Hapilopper’s history. It was the first time a team from Hapilopper had competed in an international tournament, and they not only won the tournament, but they dominated the whole thing.

But that, to date, was the only international trophy that a Hapiloppian team had ever picked up. The Haps had competed in all varieties of sport over the last few years. They had competed in association football, and went everywhere from painfully close to qualifying for a World Cup, to getting drubbed by Equestria in the AOCAF and letting a crooked boss dictate a scheme of match fixing. They had competed in gridiron football and that went nowhere. They had competed in basketball, and almost nobody remembered it. Drivers from Hapilopper competed in international motorsport – the World Grand Prix Championship and the NSSCRA, and aside from a few race wins and some front-running performances, none of Hapilopper’s drivers had a lot to show for themselves.

Even the baseball team had encountered some frustrations. They made the playoffs in their first attempt, but were quickly swept by the Free Republics. The next two WBCs were exercises in frustration. Two underperforming teams did poorly and didn’t even make it to the playoffs. In fact, some wondered before the 49th World Baseball Classic whether it was even worth it to field a team at that year’s Classic. That year, as is well known now, was more than worth it. The Haps not only did well that Classic, but they came within a hair of winning it all. The fact they didn’t win it wasn’t all that much of a disappointment. It made them want to win it even more.

The general attitude among Hapiloppians was that the team was on the verge of making it as one of the top teams in international baseball, but they weren’t there yet. They needed sustained results to prove they were in that upper echelon, and the time to show those results was now. The time for the Haps to prove they belonged was now.

The World Baseball Classic was about to start. The Haps would play Sicoutimont in their game, in front of over 60,000 fans at Capital Stadium. Each of the old stadium’s 63,535 seats had been sold for the upcoming home opener, which would include a celebration of the team’s World Baseball Classic 49 finals appearance. A banner was set to be raised at the old concrete donut. The Haps hoped it wouldn’t be the last raised.

by **Quintessence of Dust** » Sat Nov 07, 2020 10:37 pm

See also: Amended playoff roster.

Nomenclature: Our nation is Quintessence of Dust. Acceptable short-hands are QoD or Quod. People from our country are generally referred to as Quodites. The formal adjective Quintessential is rarely used. The informal term Dusty is considered a derogatory slur. Our national baseball team is known as the Things, as chosen in a fan poll. “Sabermetrics” are known as “SYBRmetrics” in Quintessence of Dust, in reference to the Yaforite statisticians who first influenced Quintessence of Dust’s fledgling interest in the game. The national league is known as Minimal League Baseball, in reference to the very short season necessitated by the short summer, and the low standard of play. Most of the better Quodite players have gone on to play in foreign leagues, most notably through the posting system to play in the Free Austin Baseball League, and later the Hannasean Baseball League. [OOC: Both of these latter nations are my puppets.]

Chronology: Quintessence of Dust currently exists, relative to RL, in a mid-22nd century paradigm, and would be considered “PMT” or “low FT”. It is about one hundred twenty four years since the Things last competed in a World Baseball Classic (WBC 19). In our reality, about four years pass between every WBC. Things get a little complex when trying to relate this to WCC, Olympic, or other timelines. The Things were competitors in the WBC’s awkward teen years, debuting in WBC 11 and participating in seven of the next competitions (WBC 18, hosted by current hosts Cassadaigua, the exception). They co-hosted WBC 16, which would have been an embarrassing mess had it not been for WBC 17 being a much more embarrassing mess; reached the third-place playoff on one occasion (losing); and were at one time ranked 5th in the world. Baseball did not have a natural history in the country and the development of its popularity was heavily influenced by immigrant populations, especially Quintessential-Japanese, -Chinese and -Korean, and by foreign countries such as Vephrall, Yafor 2 and Zwangzug. Apparently you could only get our attention by coming really late in the encyclopedia.

Geography: Quintessence of Dust is the southernmost nation in the continent of Polarverta of the Green and Pleasant Region of Wysteria, and lies on the Antarctic Circle. (Note that the “Antarctic” here refers to another region, Antarctic Oasis – the real “AO” – with which Quintessence of Dust has historically enjoyed some minor diplomatic ties.) Quintessence of Dust formerly owned two terrestrial colonies, which have now been awarded independence, but it does maintain three space colonies: Moon Base Q, UNIBROW Station Alpha (Mars), and Deep Space 9¾ (Titan orbit). (These exist in the Wysterian Solar System, and the claims are made independently of the regions of Moon/Mars or of any other claimed territory.) Mainland Quintessence of Dust has historically been divided into five regions: Northern (mountainous, home of the Quintessential Alps); Western (the country’s cultural centre and home of the Liberal tradition); Eastern (the industrial centre, a working class area dominated by the Social Democratic Party); Central (featuring the capital, Highmark); and Southern (little inhabited, heavily industrial, and frigidly cold – this has now been massively redesigned into a spaceport and communications array for liaison with the space colonies).

Home stadiums:

MD 2, 15, 16, 28, 29: Frosty Dome, New Cleethorpes
Hitters’ park with a small outfield and very short left field. Favours right-handed batters.
MD 5, 6, 18, 19, 22: Raptor Park, Nowy Orpington
Large pitchers’ park. When Quodite batters hit a home run, a giant mechanical orange will rise from the stands.
MD 8, 9, 12: Dodger (Not That One) Stadium, Highmark
Average park, favours left-handed batters.
MD 25, 26: Alpha Park, Moon Base Q
Low gravity hitters’ park. Please assemble promptly in Eastling for free orbital shuttle connecting flight.

Cheerleaders: The official cheerleaders of the Things are “the Riot Squad”, so named for their raucous and lewd behaviour. They consist of two men, two women, and one gender-non-conforming individual, all dressed in shapeless grey outfits collar-to-toe. Their sole dance move consists of standing squarely in place in an exact line, unsmiling. In the event of a particularly brilliant play one member may hold up a sheet of A4 paper printed with a smilie :) in Arial, 10 pt., but this sort of extravagance is usually reserved for something truly special like back-to-back grand slams or unassisted triple plays to cap perfect games.

Fans: Baseball is the tenth most popular sport in Quintessence of Dust behind rugby union, ice hockey, alpine skiing, soccerball, field hockey, netball, swimming, judo, bandy, and synchronized Mornington Crescent (Jubilee Line rules). It enjoys a small but loyal following. Quodite fans are broadly divided into those who enjoy the theatre of the game but aren’t that knowledgeable about the particular rules (they’ll cheer foul balls as home runs and throw foul balls back into play) and those obsessed with SYBRmetric analysis to the point of visualising the game entirely as a set of numerical outcomes without much regard for the actual players involved. Fan loyalties are also fairly strong: even when cheering for the Things, Grey Sox fans won’t be seen rooting for players from the Republicans to do well, and vice versa. All Quodite fans regardless of their level of baseball knowledge are non-violent and will never engage in violence or hooliganism. Please do not RP my fans ever engaging in such acts. Outside the ballpark, Quodites are generally a little snooty and aloof, especially towards religious people whom they treat with anything from, at best, disdain, to outright persecution. They are pathologically intolerant of monarchies and similar hierarchies, of societies practising systemic racism or ethnic segregation, and of slavery – Quintessence of Dust hosts the headquarters of Anti-Slavery International, and will attempt to liberate any slaves brought into the country.

Doping: Quintessence of Dust has virtually no drug laws (other than a couple of obscure county statutes mandating drug use). When active in international sport, Quodite players frequently doped, with variable outcomes: widespread and systemic use of 10-minmaxin-93-lovisawinate was suspected of fuelling Quodite Olympic medal winners, while on the other hand rampant amphetamine abuse never managed to lead the ice hockey teams to much success on the rink. Many Quodite baseball players have indulged in drug use, most notably the country’s all-time greatest player, Momoko Koumura, whose use was strictly recreational (though still occasioning controversy, due mainly to its epic scale). While few Quodite players today engage in systematic doping, many will be seen using drugs in their social lives, such as smoking cannabis to relax between games, taking amphetamines and other uppers immediately prior to competition, or micro-dosing designer psychedelics. A newly popular stimulant “Q-Bomb” consists of waste effluence from jet packs on Moon Base Q, and produces a brief euphoric high followed by an intense period of self-reflection accompanied by visual stimuli; as it confers no advantage in being able to hit with power to the opposite field, it’s not banned as a PED. As such, don’t worry if you see people on Moon Base Q wearing breathing apparatus: the artificial air is perfectly breathable without apparatus, they’re just choosing to get high as balls.

Gender: Quodite baseball is unisex. The majority of players are male, although the majority of the Things’ greatest players have been female. Women have represented the Things in every position 1-9, although female catchers and overarm pitchers have been rarer, and no female catcher or overarm pitcher is currently active. Female pitchers are more likely to be sidearm or submarine pitchers using modified softball mechanics, or knuckleballers. Quodite society is nominally relatively gender-neutral and there is disdain for overtly sexist societies. In practice critics of Quodite gender norms still find plenty to complain about. There was a tradition that every WBC’s batgirl becomes a member of the team in the next Classic; this included some of Quintessence of Dust’s all-time greats, including Emily Sanderson, Natalia Kivistö, and Sakiko Wakabayashi, all three of whom are, slightly astonishingly, still alive. Ichiko Aikawa is unfortunately not: batgirl for WBC 19, she was robbed by the team’s non-participation in WBC 20 (and 120 subsequent years of neglect) and passed away a few years ago having never realized her dream, but her 81-year old granddaughter, Nikki, will be given the special honour of throwing out the first pitch at the Things’ first home game. And look out for young Isabella Gennarelli, batgirl at this Classic, to be a star of the future!

Ethnicity: Quintessence of Dust is sometimes referred to as “the melting point that did not melt”. The country had historically open borders (since closed) and an extremely variegated population that included an Anglo-French majority and substantial Fennoscandian immigrant groups. More recent arrivals include Icelandic, Irish, Japanese, Chinese (the country’s largest minority group), Korean, Balkan, Italian, Jewish, Latin American, and Polish immigrant groups. Despite this big mixture and a nominal commitment to absolute racial egalitarianism, ethnic mixing has remained the exception. It’s rare to find someone with forename and surnames from different cultures, and mixed-race relationships and families remain disturbingly uncommon. Essentially Quintessence of Dust isn’t so much one open, universal family, but a bunch of spiky little clans that don’t want much to do with one another. Quodite baseball has been dominated by Quintessential-Japanese players, but players of many ethnicities have represented the Things and are active in Minimal League Baseball. [OOC: Quintessence of Dust recognises the existence of RL ethnicities but not RL ethnic homelands. There are Quintessential-Japanese people, but the status of Japan itself is deeply unclear.] Quintessence of Dust’s population is almost entirely human and only one non-human, Toebacca the Wookiee, has played in Minimal League Baseball, but there is acknowledgement of non-human sapients including elves, bears, vulpines and robots, and respect for the rights of such.

Kits: The Things wear an all-grey kit including grey high socks. They will wear this for road and home alike. The exception is caps: each player is permitted to wear their own team’s cap. Usually this will be the cap of the team they currently play for, but some Things choose to wear their original MLB club cap rather than their current HBL cap while on international duty.

Coach: Bennett Arrighi has been influenced by LAZY League tactics and analysis (though he takes full responsibility for his own idiosyncratic interpretation thereof). As such, Quodite batters will look to take a lot of pitches and foul off anything they don’t like. Quodite batters rarely swing at the first pitch they see. TTO tendencies are very much in vogue. Sacrifice bunts are disdained. Lineup isn’t considered that important, but it will generally be: best on-base player first, best all-round hitter 2nd, and thereafter alternating based on handedness, with the pitcher batting 8th. Alternating handedness is considered more important than strictly ranking on quality. On the basepaths, Quodite batters display aggressive base running and conservative base stealing. Good defence is strongly prized. Minimal League Baseball games use robo-umps incorporating holographic strike zones. As such, the art of pitch framing has gone basically extinct among Quodite catchers. For home games electronic strike zones will be used, so please do not RP incorrectly called strikes (contact me if you consider this permission unfair); in road games you are free to RP my catchers being exceptionally poor at pitch framing. Pitchers are pulled aggressively. Relief pitchers are used according to leverage, not save situations or kept back for the ninth inning. (Which Quodites, inexplicably given the country’s lack of cricket history, will frequently and often mis-spell as “innings”.) Splits, especially left/left, are favoured. Minimal League Baseball does not use a designated hitter and the dislike of sacrifice bunting means most Quodite pitchers are above average hitters for their position. The defence will generally shift for left-handed pull hitters and not shift for right-handed pull hitters. Whether any of this actually works is largely besides the point. Also, paradoxically, these tendencies are more pronounced among players who’ve spent most of their career in Minimal League Baseball; those who’ve played in the Hannasean Baseball League may be open to weird, exotic strategies like hitting singles.

Pitchers: Pitchers can be expected to be kept on fairly tight pitch counts owing to concerns by HBL clubs about workload management, usually in the 70 – 90 range. Mayumi is the only pitcher who’ll be allowed a longer leash. Regardless of pitch count, relief pitchers will be used aggressively, especially to give splits. Given the unorthodox schedule, a strict 1 – 5 starting rotation would lead to the same SP starting against each opponent each time. Therefore the team will mix in use of openers to scramble the rotation.

Pitching stats: FIP / WHIP / K/9

#10 Jack Martin (R/R) Pearl City Purple Sox
Starting pitcher (MD1, MD7, MD13, MD19, MD25)
2.00 / 0.94 / 12.3
Four-seam fastball (97 – 99 mph), two-seam fastball, changeup, curveball
A gob-smacking pitching prospect, the strongest pitcher Quintessence of Dust have produced since Luke Moran. Martin stands an unprepossessing 6’1” with a relatively lean build, but on the mound he just leans back and throws. Varying arm positions and grips allow him to add variety, his power doesn’t come with a loss of control, and his off-speed stuff just falls straight off the plate. Not massive movement on his curve, but does he need it?

#32 Snorri Jökullsson (L/L) Angelwood Green Jaxx
Starting pitcher (MD2, MD8, MD14, MD20, MD26)
2.29 / 0.94 / 11.7
Four-seam fastball (97 – 99 mph), two-seam fastball (95 – 97 mph), forkball, circle change
6’5” lefties who can throw a circle change near as unhittable as his high-powered fastballs don’t grow on trees, except New Cleethorpes where they literally do. Snorri was a highly recruited prospect and created a bidding war when posted to the HBL. The Green Jackets won out and have benefited from his services as he powered them to a Universal Series title following a Galactic Series MVP showing. Control issues have depressed his numbers (and makes that WHIP rate even scarier). He has thrown three career no-hitters already, and has never posted a season with under 10 K/9.

#11 Hachirou Fujimori (R/R) Coral Coast Silver Sox
Starting pitcher (MD3, MD9, MD15, MD21, MD27)
2.73 / 1.06 / 11.6
Sinking fastball (97 – 99 mph), cut fastball (93 – 95 mph), changeup
Hachirou rarely throws the cutter: he’s built a 5-time All Star, 2-time Pitcher of the Year, 1-time MVP career throwing mainly just two pitches as a starter, a hard sinker and a Vulcan change. But he’s not a contact groundball pitcher, and the imposing 6’3” fireballer has amassed over 10 K/9 every season. He’s the most experienced and prolific pitcher in the side. Decent, if slap-ish, hitter at the plate.

#71 Mayumi Kawakami (f) (L/L) Greenfield Shamans
Starting pitcher (MD4, MD10, MD16, MD22, MD28)
3.00 / 1.11 / 8.3
Knuckleball, sidearm fastball (<80 mph), sidearm changeup
A diminutive leftie on the mound? Mayumi is never going to be another Masami Tamagotchi, but her own version of herself has been very successful. Primarily a knuckleballer using a low release point – when you’re 5’1” is there any other option? – and throwing in some sidearm stuff to keep batters honest. A good enough hitter that she’s been used as a pinch-hitter and even emergency outfield substitute on occasion.

#8 Kaito Nakajima (L/L) New Cleethorpes Republicans
Starting pitcher (MD5, MD11, MD17, MD23, MD29)
2.89 / 1.07 / 7.2
Fastball (89 – 91 mph), changeup, slider, curveball
If Kaito’s raw stuff isn’t unfathomably overpowering, his pin-point control and wicked break on his 12-6 curve has been enough to have batters swinging through all the same. One of the more experienced Minimal League pitchers not to have made the jump to the HBL, where he’s stayed at home and led the ever-dominant Republicans to multiple titles.

#37 Jiro Fujioka (R/R) Oak Park Iguanas
Opener (MD6, MD18, MD30) and short reliever
3.92 / 1.47 / 7.8
Fastball (93 – 95 mph), curveball, changeup
Jiro has been used in a variety of roles for the Iguanas: starter, long relief, set-up man, closer. He seems to have found his niche as an opener, throwing three hard innings to open a game before a long relief or spot starter is introduced. His very fluid pick-off move is well regarded in the HBL, but it remains to be seen whether international umpires consider it a little balk-ish. Decent bat and good fielder off the mound.

#76 Alexis Lacroix (f) (L/L) New Cleethorpes Grey Sox
Opener (MD12, MD24) and short reliever
2.60 / 1.06 / 7.9
Submarine fastball (80 – 83 mph), sidearm fastball, changeup
Using a variety of delivery mechanics, primarily a quick submarine wind-up that frequently sees her graze her knuckles in the dust, Alex’s idiosyncratic pitching style has been highly successful in MLB for the Grey Sox. HBL scouts are dubious so for now she’s staying at home. Primarily used as a short reliever or opener, the latter especially against lefty-heavy lineups. Given her small frame, durability doubts linger.

#67 Ryouichi Kubo (R/R) Butterfly City Super Hamsters
Long reliever
3.13 / 1.11 / 9.5
Four-seam fastball (98 mph), cut fastball (94 mph), changeup, slider, curveball
Another deceptively lightly built presence on the mound, Ryouichi relies on three pitches: a blazing four-seam fastball, a cut fastball that saws into lefties, and a very nasty slider. The control hasn’t been quite there.

#29 Justin Isaacson (L/L) West Chestnut Dragons
Long reliever
3.52 / 1.13 / 10.7
Fastball (93 – 95 mph), slider, changeup
Justin has three quality pitches. His career groundball percentage is just 41%, reflecting a tendency for his fastball to drift high in the zone, but his slider and changeup you’ll have to pick off your laces. Missed most of last season with a shoulder injury and will be kept on tight pitch counts throughout the tournament.

#79 Jules Béranger (R/R) Oakwood Whites
Long and short reliever
3.32 / 1.22 / 6.3
Four-seam fastball (96 – 98 mph), two-seam fastball (94 – 96 mph), changeup
Hard-throwing control pitcher who started his career as a reliever before being converted to starter. Here, he can be expected to mainly feature in relief. His strikeout numbers aren’t the equal of the others but Jules has posted consistently excellent walk rates – 1.7/9 this season – and a sub .300 BABIP every season despite mediocre groundball percentages. One of the few openly gay players in the HBL.

#42 Jonathan Reenberg (L/L) Upper Niedewe Gael
Short reliever, LOOGY
0.86 / 0.45 / 12.1
Cut fastball (95 – 97 mph), slider
Don’t get too excited, Jonathan has only recently made the jump to the HBL so those numbers probably won’t hold up. A tall man with a jerky throwing motion that worried scouts, so far he’s shrugged off any attempts at mechanical tinkering and just ripped through batting lineups with his vicious cutter and biting slider.

#19 Masahiko Nakamura (R/R) Pintook Saracens
Short reliever
2.54 / 1.64 / 12.9
Fastball (94 – 96 mph), curveball
Masahiko is a good pitcher without the glamorous back story of some of his gender-non-specific-bovine-pen-mates. He declared early for the HBL and spent longer than usual in the minors. Control issues and a propensity to leave his changeup up in the zone (he abandoned the pitch and now throws just two, a four-seam fastball and a slurve-ish curveball) held him back, as well as doubts about a slender physique.

#80 Huan Yeung (R/R) New Blopping Corsairs
Short reliever (highest leverage)
Cut fastball (96 – 98 mph), curveball
3.22 / 1.17 / 9.7
Huan has been one of the most consistent high-leverage relievers in the HBL for more than a decade. Concentrating on mainly throwing one pitch, a cutter that causes switch-hitters to generally bat right against him, with excellent disguise on a curve he seldom seems to need. He’s led the league in saves only twice because he often enters well before the 9th to put out fires. Despite being a reliever he’s not an incompetent hitter and hit a famous walk-off double as a pinch-hitter during last season’s play-offs.

#91 Zhong Tang (L/L) New Cleethorpes Dodgers
Short reliever (highest leverage)
3.07 / 1.15 / 11.2
Fastball (94 – 96 mph), curveball, changeup
Since entering the MLB, Zhong has been one of the pre-eminent relief pitchers. MLB manager prioritize leverage so his save numbers haven’t been super gaudy, but the numbers that actually tell the story that matters: career ERA+ of 154 and a season high K/9 of 14.3 against 0.3 HR/9. Naturally he’s been particularly effective against lefties, and has never surrendered more than one home run in a season to left handed batters faced.

Position players: The offensive is weaker than the pitcher and might particularly struggle for power against good lefties. Lineups may change but in general one of the better OBA players will leadoff (usually Kayley or Katenka), Naoko will bat second, and whoever is in RF fourth. There are platoons at 1B, LF, and RF. No player is designated designated hitter, if that makes sense, so the position will be used to experiment with different batters in the lineup. Defensive substitutions will be rare as most starters are fairly capable with the glove. Jun will start but Luke catch for Mayumi and in a few other games to give Jun some rest. Off the bench, Mayumi and Hachirou are good enough to be used as pinch-hitters.

Batting stats: wOBA / ISO / LD% / Speed Score

#25 Jun Jiang (R/R) West Chestnut Dragons
.345 / .156 / 18.4% / 2.2
Jun is a well-balanced catcher despite originally being seen as a defence-first prospect. He’s worked hard on his walk-to-strikeout ratio, going from 53 walks and 101 strikeouts as a rookie to 98 walks and 39 strikeouts a decade later. He hits for a decent average, and although he’s not a big extra base threat his 20ish home runs a season are still good for his position. A big-bodied catcher who covers the plate well and has a fair arm to second. Like most Quodite catchers his pitch-framing skills are, let’s charitably say, underdeveloped, but he has a good rapport with most of the pitchers.

#27 Luke Phelps (R/R) Greenfield Shamans
.338 / .157 / 22.6% / 2.8
Luke has been brought along to catch the knuckleball, reflecting his excellent all-round defense. He’s less offensively polished than Jun, strikes out a lot and doesn’t walk much, but hits doubles at a good clip. On defence he’s a prize. Despite being a big man he can get down low to block balls in dirt. His pick-offs are sharp. And he has a cannon, throwing out a career 45% of base runners against. If a defensive catcher seems a luxury in a limited roster, the DRS metrics suggest he’s worth his place.

#65 Hideaki Matsuoka (L/L) Pintook Saracens
.365 / .188 / 22.0% / 2.0
One of the most experienced hitters lineup, Hideaki is a big unit whose power doesn’t quite match his frame – he’s had just one 30+ HR season – but has been a remarkably consistent player for over a decade. Even power to all fields and a good eye. In his younger days he was an award-winning defensive asset; he still has the ability to dig out the throws in the dirt and has good range to his left. His splits to lefties are horrible and he’ll be subbed for, or sit against lefty starters.

#47 Thorsten Kaufer (R/R) Old Blopping Warlocks
.340 / .200 / 21.7% / 3.1
Leading the league in launch angle is the kind of thing only a Quodite could get excited about. Especially as it hasn’t (yet) led to the kind of HR totals that seem within his (long) reach. Once he puts all the moving parts together, he’ll definitely rake. A real TTO guy. Not a defensive wizard so takes his chances at DH when he can, but young enough to still be a regular first baseman for his club.

#33 Kosuke Tamura (R/R) Greenfield Shamans
.326 / .152 / 18.1% / 7.9
Small, scrappy, slap-hitter … uh, yes he does play second base, however did you guess!? Kosuke has led the league in steals (admittedly with the kinds of totals that Newmanistani players collect in a single afternoon) a couple of times and, more importantly, in walks a couple of times. Has a little pop, not a lot. Sprays it to all parts, .003 difference in his left/right splits – basically a very consistent lead-off guy who offers plus defence at a premium position.

#53 Kristoffer Ljung (S/R) Greschmeier MSC
.335 / .164 / 21.1% / 4.3
Consistent switch-hitters offering good infield defence are rare Quodite products, so despite not achieving any particular statistical highs, Kristoffer has his value. Not a major extra base hitter; from the left he hits it out of the screws a lot, whereas from the right he slaps it more. Primarily a third baseman but started out at short and has racked up a season’s worth of games at every infield position.

#66 Jeff Hoggard (R/R) West Chestnut Dragons
.319 / .135 / 20.0% / 2.9
Mediocre hitter, but offers +10 UZR defence at either position on the left side of the infield (coincidentally the side to which he pulls everything as a hitter). Jeff has a rocket arm and a slick glove, backed up by a big, athletic frame. Which hasn’t ever translated to all that much in terms of power despite the huge strikeout totals he racks up each season. At least he draws plenty of walks.

#7 Naoko Hisakawa (f) (S/R) Coral Coast Silver Sox
.390 / .230 / 23.5% / 7.2
In her brief career to date, the team’s unquestioned offensive star has already amassed enough black ink to fill a goth girl’s diary with ten thousand pages of dark scrawls. A smooth hitter from both sides of the plate (though there is a drop-off in power to lefties, partly because of her home park’s dimensions), Naoko is a sharp fielding shortstop proving a consistent threat to walk, hit, hit with power, and steal. She strikes out plenty, but grounds into few double plays. The team’s ultimate hopes rest pretty squarely on her small shoulders.

#74 Arielle Lacroix (f) (L/R) New Blopping Mountaineers
.294 / .143 / 18.0% / 6.9
Arielle has never produced outstanding offence and routinely posts sub-100 OPS+, made up for a little on the basepaths. However, she’s an outstanding defender. Her ill fate is to excel at the one position where a defensive substitution might not be made, because she’s behind Naoko in the depth chart at shortstop and they can’t afford to take out their best bat for the sake of some silky glovework. She’s probably bottom of the pinch hitting roster otherwise so this might be a Classic frustratingly light on playing time for Arielle.

#18 Kayley Symonds (f) (L/L) New Cleethorpes Dodgers
.368 / .171 / 22.6% / 6.2
Kayley owns one of the sweetest strokes in the MLB, though she doesn’t connect with significant power as often as that beautiful swing might suggest. She’s hit over .300 every season but never drawn more than 50 walks. She has great speed on the basepaths but lacks the range in the field to cover centre field, consigning her to corner outfield. These frustrations shouldn’t take away from the undoubted fact she’s a very good player – everyone just wishes she could step it up to become a great one, which she is, at present, not.

#62 Ben Wilson (R/R) Silver Creek Samurai
.351 / .200 / 22.9% / 5.4
Ben is a great prospect who still strikes out a ton at present, but is already good for power and speed. He has a powerful throwing arm and is pretty reliable under the flyball. He’s working on his patience. Taking the young ballplayer to the WBC is a bit of a gamble, exposing him to international class pitching, but there’s hopes of great things and no better stage for those hopes to be realized.

#26 Katenka Andreeva (f) (S/R) Kent Oranges
.360 / .174 / 23.9% / 7.3
Katenka’s good stolen percentages and poor base-on-balls percentages have prompted many bad jokes about being able to run before she could walk. She’s a speedy centre fielder without a particularly strong arm, and her bat’s pop owes as much to her legs turning singles into doubles as to any great power. Nonetheless she’s a solid hitter from left and right and plays plus defence at the wall.

#11 Johannes Steinnsson (L/L) Pearl City Purple Sox
.391 / .242 / 21.9% / 2.7
The 34 year old Johannes is more of a lumbering giant than he was in his younger, speedier days now, but he’s still a well rounded player. His chief weaknesses with the bat are extreme pull tendencies and terrible left splits; otherwise, he’s a smooth stroker of the ball, regular 100+ BB man who’s led the league in unadjusted OBP five times, and launcher of immense, accurate throws from deep right field. He’ll take some chances to play DH, less because his defence is tailing off – he’s still pretty good – and more to give his aging, aching knees a rest.

#9 Rokuro Tanaka (R/R) Oakwood Whites
.366 / .222 / 19.1% / 8.0
Rokuro made his name as a flier on the basepaths, and then remade his name last season by slamming a wholly unexpected 40 home runs from the leadoff position for the Whites. He does everything with gusto: charges into second, pulls to left field, strikes out often. A little old for the raw unrefined talent tag, instead he’s a player whose development has been inconsistent but whose latest lurches into maturity have definitely strengthened his all-round offensive game. An inconsistent and some would say unenthusiastic outfielder.

RP permissions:

You may choose run-scorers and otherwise assign statistics for my players. You may RP baseball events. You may choose my lineup and RP substitutions, in line with my roster. You may assign injuries. You may RP ejections. You may RP any story elements you like. We will waive our right to determine DH preference at home and will use at home whatever the DH preference of the visiting team (unless the team has no stated preference or has a similar permission, in which case to avoid getting stuck in a causality loop we will not use DH). If you consider any of my RP lore wank you may ignore it.

You may not:

choose my starting pitchers: please follow the listed pitcher
godmode unusual statistical events taking place (specifically, no no-hitters without asking)
RP any of my players or fans being involved in violence
use RL photographs and say they represent my players, fans, ballparks, or nation

Style modifier: e^iπ + 1

by **Oscioru** » Sun Nov 08, 2020 2:01 am

THE OSCIORU SAINTS

...presented by the Republican Batting Sports Association

Baseball is a sport with huge popularity within the newly-reformed United Republic of Oscioru. However the team's tradition in this competition is nothing short of poor, after sending a few nameless delegations to previous tournaments, the Republican Batting Sports Association has decided to send the exact same delegation as in their first participation to the tournament, in hopes of improvement in the ranks and proper development of the national team.

Starters:
C:Ciriaco Royer
1B:Onésime Aldebrandi
2B:Rinaldo Duchamps
3B:Arnaldo Granger
SS:Candide Viola
LF:Ghislain Albrici
CF:Grégoire Selmone
RF:Salvatore Croce
DH:Frédéric D'onofrio

Benchmen:
C:Hippolyte Terranova
IF:Dante Marchand
IF:Flavien Pavesi
IF:Cyril Ughi
IF:Fausto Dupond
IF:Grégoire Carrara
OF:Théodore Nani
OF:Aubert De Fiore
OF:Raoul Napoletani

Pitching:
RRHP:Nicolò Milani
LHP:Fausto Leclair
RHP:Marcellin Barsotti
RHP:Valère Esposito
LHP:Gregorio Rousseau
RP:Nicodemo St Martin
RP:Felice De Santis
RP:Côme Boerio
CP:Aurélien Grillo
CP:Artemio Boucher

Manager:Eleuterio Daniau
Assistant manager:Tiziano Nave

RP Permissions:
Choose my run-scorers: Yes
Choose my lineup: Yes
Follow my Pitching Rotation: Yes
Godmod scoring events: TG first
RP injuries to my players: Yes, but nothing too serious please
Godmod injuries to my players: No
Eject my players: Yes
DH used at home: Yes
Godmod other events: Depends
Other Info: Super aggressive style. Style +3.

by **TJUN-ia** » Sun Nov 08, 2020 7:59 am

Full Name: TJUN-ia
Organisation Name: TJUN-ia Baseball
Trigram: TJU
Nicknames: Jaguars (Formal)/Battin' Jags (Informal/Sport Specific)
Home Colours: Blue Unis With Orange Trim/Blue and Orange Hat
Away Colours: Orange Unis with Blue Trim/Blue and Orange Hat
Alternate Colours: Black Unis with Dark Orange Trim/Black and Dark Orange Hat

Baseball and TJUN-ia first met in WBC48 with mixed success, but an eye towards the future. Many a TJUN-ian fell in love with "America's Pastime" and it was clear to see why: their team, their Battin' Jags, was youthful and ready to take on the world. They returned in WBC49 with one more ballpark but even greater success, making the playoffs in Newmanistan for the first time with some great baseball. Phillip Hellas-Verona and his legion did eventually fall in three games to Cassadiagua, but the seeds of hops had been sown. Now comes WBC50, the golden jubilee of international baseball in U3, and our playoffs opponents, the best team in baseball according to the rankings, will be the gracious hosts for this edition of both past and present. Many former champions and pioneers of the sport have returned to play ball, the top seeds are ready to fight once again and some newbies have arrived ready to stake their claim to baseball fame. With an expanded playoff format (32 teams, top 2 in each group plus the best 6 3rd-placed teams) and no 3-game series in the groups, this Classic may turn into one before the final pitch is thrown.

THE TEAM
(Number: Name (Age, Batting/Pitching arm))

COACHING STAFF
Manager: Phillip Hellas-Verona (43)
Assistant Manager: Pedro Volcoron (34)
Pitching Coach: Jack Helstrom-Satanique (35)
Batting Coach: Enrique Lopez (36)
1st Base Coach: Shigeru Moyatawa (39)
3rd Base Coach: Pierre Greziére (38)

POSITION STARTERS
1B: #95 Steven Fulmer (25, R)
2B: #78 Matoko Kagawa (24, R)
3B: #19 Bryce Calhoun (24, R)
SS: #17 Ki Yung-son (25, R)
RF: #14 Pedro Moires (27, L)
LF: #46 Angel Enrique (25, R)
CF: #23 Rafael Llorente (26, L)
C: #67 Joe Gregory (22, R)

STARTING PITCHERS
P: #1 Chris Harris (25, R)
P: #2 Davis Johnson (26, R)
P: #3 Gene Almac (24, L)
P: #4 Jose Almas (27, L)
P: #5 Kyle McNash (26, R)

BULLPEN
RP: #6 Shin Suzuki (25, R)
RP: #7 Harrison Kyle (24, L)
RP: #8 F. G. Greenwood (27, R)
RP: #9 Kim Tsu-Ka (23, L)
RP: #10 Liam "LCL" Christoper-Lee (26, L)
CP: #11 Carlos Buena (25, R)

BACKUPS
C: #97 Leonidas Hall (21, L)
1B/PH: #69 Metsu Hoshikawa (28, L [both batting and pitching])
3B/2B: #68 Hunter Jakes (25, R)
RF/CF: #65 Kupe Lamale (27, R)
LF/DH: #44 Killian O'Mally (24, L [both batting and pitching])

STARTING LINEUPS
Without DH
1. Moires
2. Ki
3. Fulmer
4. Calhoun
5. Enrique
6. Llorente
7. Kagawa
8. Gregory
9. Pitcher Spot

With DH
1. Moires
2. Ki
3. Fulmer
4. Calhoun
5. O'Mally (DH)
6. Enrique
7. Llorente
8. Kagawa
9. Gregory

BALLPARKS
Rounders Field, Portside, JB TJUN-ia (40,000)

Named after an English (U1) game similar to Baseball, Rounders Field is considered by many to be the home of TJUN-ian baseball. It has a retractable roof if the threat of rain is present, while also containing modern amenities. Don't worry about the "artwork" near centre field - that is a tribute to the varied wildlife of both Portside and TJUN-ia. The away changing rooms will still be looked at by a jaguar with the following message:

YOU ARE ENTERING THE JUNGLE
FAIR PLAY SHALL BE OBSERVED HERE AT ALL TIMES
IF NOT, THE CROWD SHALL EAT YOU ALIVE

The crowd here are known for not taking foul play lightly, and this message gives warning of that to any opposition. TJUN-ia wants to play fairly and the message hopes that the opponent plays fairly too.

The Diamond in The Gardens, New Washington, NAU Zone (42,000)

The Diamond in The Gardens is located in "The Gardens" - a major sporting complex in the NAU Zone capital of New Washington. Just down the road from Gridiron Football's Field of Dreams, it has the traditional ivy as part of the entire back wall - a sign that you are in The Gardens. Built based on classic ballparks in U1 and U2, modern amenities are present within this old-style park. It has 2 modern scoreboards and 1 manual one, which will be used to display the scores across the tournament. Unlike their counterparts in Portside, fans here don't really care about "fairness" and "sporting equality" - they just want to watch some baseball. These confines are certainly friendly and the fans are known for enjoying the game no matter if the home team is winning or not.

PERMISSIONS

My opponent, if they RP first, may do the following:
Choose my runscorers: Yes
Choose my lineup: Yes
Follow my pitching rotation: Yes
Godmod scoring events: No
RP injuries to my players: Yes
Godmod injuries to my players: No
Eject my players: Yes
Godmod other events: No
Use DH at home: No
Style Modifier: +0.5

by **Tikariot** » Sun Nov 08, 2020 9:11 am

Tikariot Roster
Trigramme: TKT
Nickname: The Owls
Group stage record: 18-12
Playoff record: 1-3
Team info: After winning the International Baseball Slam XI with their senior team in their first ever international outing and then reaching the Round of 16 of the World Baseball Classic 49, Tikariot are ready to give their all in the anniversary edition of this prestigious tournament.

COACH
Manager: Graham McCrory, 51 - Very experienced with young players after having been a journeyman 2B man during his career.

ROSTER
Starters
LF #12 Michael Romanov, 28, R - Avanaroch Nightwatch
Tikariot's biggest offensive threat, Romanov has been the runaway home run leader of the TBL. With an incredibly powerful swing he has been dubbed the 'Romanov Rocket' that also has resulted in several doubles and even triples as well as a few injuries in opposing players when hit by the ball. Defensively he is less reliable, mostly due to his lack of speed, even though his arm is very capable. He proved himself as the team leader with his experience and competitive fire smouldering inside him.

RF #33 Yosvani Fernandez, 25, L - Alcassar Eagles
Also called the Iceman, Fernandez is one player that will not crack under pressure, even if he is one strike away from the team losing the game. His composure has unnerved opposing pitchers many times and while he is not the most powerful of hitters, his aim is uncanny and he can spot holes in the opponent's defense easily. He rose to prominence with his incredible catch in the third game of the semis of the International Baseball Slam XI, where he stole a surefire homerun and sealed his team's road to the finals.

3B #26 Foster Fleming, 18, L - Avanaroch Nightwatch
Foster Fleming has been one of the budding stars of the TBL, but he surpassed even the most optimistic expectations. He promises to grow into an all-rounder, who can contribute both offensively and defensively. Blessed with a strong arm he can cross the diamond with ease and precision also is always good for a home run, unfortunately he is not the most disciplined player and tends to get distracted more than he should. Despite his young age he is, however, the league leader in stolen bases.

C #22 William Carruthers, 27, R - Tikariot Thunderforge
One of the biggest enigmas of the Tikariotian team, Carruthers personifies genius and insanity like no other. He calls the game with the best of them, being one of the TBL's base stealers' nightmares, if it was not for some inexplicable easy errors that some attribute to a few too many stray balls hitting him where they shouldn't. Same goes for his offensive game, which can either be magnificent or go horribly wrong.

CF #67 JJ Bernardetti, 21, R - Port Rhovanyon Paladins
Has a cannon of an arm being able to reach any of the bases from almost anywhere on the outfield, but still has some issues with the precision of his aim. Spotty hitter, often either scoring the homer or going for the strike out.

1B #88 Bronson Ghirardello, 24, R - Tovaca Tigers
Possesses incredible reflexes, which serve him very well on first base, however his arm is his biggest weakness. He will get the ball where it has to go, but lacks the power to go for the quick throws. His reflexes also help him at the plate being able to adjust to the opposing pitcher very well.

2B #7 Vincent Pelmore, 23, L - Oriannor Mountaineers
A rock solid player both offensively and defensively. He will get the job done very unspectacularly and rarely will excite the crowd, but he is as dependable as they come.

SS #2 Carlton Baines, 25, L - Emerald Coast Phantoms
If there is something Baines excels in, it is speed. He reads the game extremely well and manages to to reach balls (and sometimes bases) that he rationally should not be able to. On the plate he is sketchy at best, adopting an all or nothing attitude that so far has not been to his advantage. When he does make it to a base, though, he uses his speed to steal them very efficiently.

Reserves
OF #20 Steven Marangoudakis, 26, R - Baraldhur Behemoths
Marangoudakis is the designated hitter of the Tikariot Thunderforge, but has excelled offensively as one of the biggest surprises in the team. With a good eye for the ball and a powerful swing, he can hit with the best of them. The defensive side is his biggest weakness so far, where is average speed has gotten the better of him more than once, but he has been running extra shifts with the fitness coaches to improve in this sector.

OF #52 Kieran Fletcher, 19, L - Tikariot Thunderforge
Fletcher is somewhat the opposite of Marangoudakis, being blessed with speed and amazing catching skills, however his offensive play is sketchy and has so far kept him out of regular first team action.

OF #33 Søren Christensen, 22, R - Morannon Militia
Christensen is a solid outfield allrounder who, while not known for any particularly outstanding skills, will get the job done wherever the coaches stick him, making him a very dependable squad player, something that might be worth gold in an event as big and long as the WBC.

OF #4 Blair Consigliere, 27, L - Silicon Triangle Wizards
Blair Consigliere is somewhat of a dark horse in the Tikariotian baseball scene. He has incredible talent both offensively and defensively, but has trouble channelling this talent into consistent performances on the field. He also is known for sometimes hitting up the bar a little too much after a win, which has been a thorn in his coaches' side for a long time now.

IF #6 Corey Allen, 25, L - Paladon Citadels
Allen is small, but quick, making up for his lack in size with speed. Given his stature he has had problems with high balls in the past, but if any ground balls come his way, he's your man. Offensively he has a strong swing, just lacks a bit of precision.

IF #16 Stuart Hernandez, 23, R - Fort Viljan Northmen
Dependable allrounder with a strong arm and precise throw. He is known to mar excellent performances with sometimes very avoidable errors, but if he is on par, he can double play with the best of them. A solid hitter he is not known for many home runs, but his precise swing has him high in the double statistics in the league.

IF #26 Faitalia Letutusa, 21 R - Alcassar Eagles
One of the few new faces in the Owls' roster for the WBC 50, Letutusa is the only professional player from the Cardannon Archipelago to date. He is not great in his defensive play outside of his speed, but there are very few players in the nation with a harder swing than Letutusa. With him it is either homerun or at least extra base hit or nothing.

IF #71 Hamish Shawcross, 20, L - Port Rhovanyon Paladins
One of Tikariot's most promising young players, Shawcross' career has been hampered by injuries, with his right knee being his achilles heel. Having had to undergo two surgeries so far, both coaches and fans are hoping that his knee will finally hold, also thanks to extra fitness sessions with fitness coach Tiffany McFadden. If that is the case, he has the potential to be a starter in pretty much every game.

C #27 Rutger Heidenfeld, 27, L - Soharr Scimitars
Heidenfeld is the almost polar opposite to William Carruthers. Where Carruthers is quirky and unique, Heidenfeld is the grey mouse that nobody hardly notices. He is not known for any flamboyant plays, but while he does not show the flashes of brilliance the starting catcher is capable of, he does not have any of the defensive liabilities either.

Starting pitchers
RHP #4 De'Andre Stevens, 32 - Paladon Citadels
The oldest player on the team, Stevens was instrumental in the establishment of the Tikariotian Baseball League, having played abroad in the past. Equipped with a lethal fastball and wicked slurve, he can mix things up with a good changeup here and there, but lacks consistency in them. Some experts expect him to announce his retirement after the WBC50.

RHP #37 Patrick Lundgren, 22 - Tikariot Thunderforge
Lundgren has the hardest pitch on the team, but while his fastballs should require a gun licence, he is prone to wild pitches that have spelled trouble for his catcher more than the coaches would like to admit. He has been improving his curveball over the last season and is also quite capable with his slider.

LHP #72 Graham Pettersson, 29 - Avanaroch Nightwatch
While not excelling in any of his pitches, Pettersson is a wylie veteran that is very unpredictable with which kind of throw he'll come up with next. He works extremely well with Carruthers in calling the game and this unpredictability is his biggest asset.

LHP #18 Garrett Yarbrough, 26 - Baraldhur Behemoths
Yarbrough has the potential to become the team's top pitcher with a very strong fastball and excellent ball control with both slider and curveball, with the occasional sinker, but his biggest weakness are his nerves. Whereas Pettersson is unpredictable for opponents, Yarbrough can become unpredictable for his own team once things begin to go sideways. He has been working on it under the tutelage of Stevens, but it definitely still is a work in progress.

RHP #9 Jayson Carfield, 21 - Xanark Sluggers
Originally a long reliever, Carfield has been promoted to starting pitcher after Anthony Garcia had shown major inconsistencies in his play. A versatile pitcher he has a strong curveball and slider and passable palmball. Despite his age he has has a very calm demeanor, which has helped him during high pressure situations.

Bullpen
Long reliever: RHP #11 Anthony Garcia, 28 - Fastball, curveball. - Oriannor Mountaineers
Long reliever: LHP #1 Santiago Mantillo, 25 - Cutter, screwball. - Emerald Coast Phantoms
Left-handed specialist: LHP #17 Randall McCarthy, 23 - Splitter, slider, palmball. Tikariot Thunderforge
Middle reliever: RHP #41 Devon Cargill, 20 - Sinker, curveball, changeup. - Paladon Citadels
Set up reliever: RHP #13 Flint Carmona, 22 - Knuckle curveball, sinker, changeup. Tovaca Tigers
Closer: LHP #3 Rory McElhinney, 23 - Fastball, sinker-slider. Very precise. - Silicon Valley Wizards

Starting lineup (with DH)
1. LF Michael Romanov (R)
2. 1B Bronson Ghirardello (R)
3. RF Yosvani Fernandez (L)
4. 3B Foster Fleming (L)
5. 2B Vincent Pelmore (L)
6. SS Carlton Baines (L)
7. DH Steven Marangoudakis (R)
8. CF JJ Bernardetti (R)
9. C William Carruthers (R)

Starting lineup (without DH)
1. LF Michael Romanov (R)
2. 1B Bronson Ghirardello (R)
3. RF Yosvani Fernandez (L)
4. 3B Foster Fleming (L)
5. 2B Vincent Pelmore (L)
6. SS Carlton Baines (L)
7. CF JJ Bernardetti (R)
8. C William Carruthers (R)
9. Pitcher

Stadium:
Oceanview Park is part of Port Rhovanyon's Sports City, a large area close to the ocean front, where several sports facilities are centrally located. The proximity of the 36,000 seater stadium to the ocean front has proven to be a challenge for both pitchers and hitters with a tendency for unpredictable wind currents to interfere with play, leading to a Park Factor of 125.

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

by **Newmanistan** » Sun Nov 08, 2020 9:18 am

THE ROCKET REPORT

A CLASSIC CLASSIC

By Taylor Larson,

Good morning, Newmanistan! It’s a great day in the Empire because soon the historic 50th World Baseball Classic will be underway. I could not be any more excited for this amazing competition, and hope that the players of today are able to capture this extra special title. If we are able too, it would be our seventh championship, further cementing ourselves as the greatest nation in the history of this tournament. During this Classic, I am going to be taking you down memory lane. For many of you, these will be Classic that you have only read about, and that goes for me as well. But I have been able to talk to people who either played or were close to the people that did play to bring a little perspective on each of the Classics that we have played in, with the emphasis being on the period from World Baseball Classic 7 to 19. Hopefully, you will enjoy them, and hopefully, we can help others understand Newmanistanian history in this competition. The 50th World Baseball Classic is the perfect place to do it, and I am delighted to be the one that can bring it to you.

As we take this trip down memory lane, we’re not going to be recapping the box scores as specifically in the Rocket Report as you might have been accustomed to during this Classic, but there will be plenty of other material to follow on this website if you are looking for the detailed game reports. This current team will be interesting to follow with all of the new blood in the starting rotation. Three starting pitchers: Megan Reardon, Brianna Fitch, and Julia Donaldson will be making their debut with the team. Obviously, we are very familiar with their accomplishments at home, so it will be exciting for us to watch and see how they are able to translate that into international play. This has led many to believe that Jessica Hedstrom will be more like other nations in terms of the amount of innings that the starters throw, and we might see more emphasis on the bullpen. That is not how we typically do things, but it might be best for this one. While the starting rotation is inexperienced from 1C on down, the batting lineup is very experienced so we hope that can carry the team if the pitching is not able to be as good as we are used to seeing. We will be in Group 11, and opposed by Equestria, Falisiand, Marigred, Silver Beach, and Indusse. That’s not a walk in the park, but if we play like we should then we should come out on top of the group over the long haul.

by **Tha Great Pond** » Sun Nov 08, 2020 9:25 am

THA POND NEWS

Get ready, because World Baseball Classic 50 is about to begin! For the first time (although some might think it is our second time), we are excited to show the world that sentient ducks can play the game just as good as humans. Humans always get all the fun in big sporting competitions and it is about time that changed! We have been inspired by watch other life forms achieve greatness, with the World Cup being a tournament where we see it often. There were even teams of sentient appliances that took part. Even bears! Actually bears scare me incredibly so I am glad that we will not have to play any teams with live bears. Hampton Island has had one and I guess they now have more then one, but we did not get drawn with them.

Teams we were drawn against include The Greater Nordics, TJUN-ia, Ranoria, Sangti, and Rwekazaland. Of them, they say that The Greater Nordics is the best of the group, but I think in the long run that TJUN-ia will be better. That is because I am a smart duck.

Let's play spoiler!!

by **The Fortem** » Sun Nov 08, 2020 9:44 am

Tears of young children and fans alike have been going on all day as the Fortem's mascot, Frederick the Falcon, has suddenly gone missing from his animal sanctuary in the forest town of Follum. The peregrine was reported missing at around 11:43 EST on November 7th. "We've been looking all around for Frederick," said Frederick;s caretaker, who was also in tears. "I don't understand how he could just fly... fly a-away from.." before sobbing. Search efforts are currently still on as many are looking for Fortem's famous falcon.

by **Norrhem** » Sun Nov 08, 2020 9:49 am

Norrhem Roster
Trigramme: NRH
Nickname: Drakkar
Group stage record: 0-0
Playoff record: 0-0
Team info: The World Baseball Classic 50 is the first ever international event for Norrhem. Baseball is not a big sport in the country, where the sports landscape is dominated by football and bandy. Due to the rough climate of Norrhem most venues are indoors.

COACH
Manager: Frithjof Hammarsson, 63 - Stoic coach of the team, puts great emphasis on discipline and has one facial expression: none.

ROSTER
Starters
LF #12 Sture Holmgard, 23, R - Skalaholt Northmen
RF #33 Adrian Lestander, 28, L - Jarnsvik Eagles
3B #26 Andreas Rosenblad, 31, L - Lagarfors Ravens
C #22 Kim Saugstad, 21, R - Svartstrand Swords
CF #67 Zackarias Andreasson, 21, R - Brattsjö Bears
1B #88 Birger Huselius, 18, R - Jarnsvik Eagles
2B #7 Jacob Bjarnstad, 23, L - Arlsfara Vipers
SS #2 Samuel Olvegard, 25, L - Arnarfell Lions

Reserves
OF #20 Kristoffer Wahlin, 26, R - Bergsvall Wolves
OF #52 Johan Wahlgren, 19, L - Svartstrand Swords
OF #33 Sebastian Lindberg, 22, R - Skarrsholm Panthers
OF #4 Chrille Andren, 27, L - Skalaholt Northmen
IF #6 Pontus Johansson, 25, L - Jarnsvik Eagles
IF #16 Olof Skarp, 23, R - Skarrsholm Panthers
IF #26 Theodor Westerholm, 21 R - Varnsryd Swallows
IF #71 Casper Widner, 20, L - Lagarfors Ravens
C #27 Andreas Rambin, 27, L - Stefansberg Hummingbirds

Starting pitchers
RHP #4 Ingvar Hallingström, 32 - Brattsjö Bears
RHP #37 Otto Almgren, 22 - Arlsfara Vipers
LHP #72 Håkan Swärdh, 29 - Arnarfell Lions
LHP #18 Erik Fredheim, 26 - Skalaholt Northmen
RHP #9 Per-Olof Nordahl, 21 - Skarrsholm Panthers

Bullpen
Long reliever: RHP #11 Arnar Skogsgard, 28 - Varnsryd Swallows
Long reliever: LHP #1 Bo Ravelli, 25 - Bergsvall Wolves
Left-handed specialist: LHP #17 Bertil Axberg, 23 - Jarnsvik Eagles
Middle reliever: RHP #41 Andreas Borkesson, 20 - Svartstrand Swords
Set up reliever: RHP #13 Christian Björknesjö, 22 - Hervanger Trouts
Closer: LHP #3 Hans Arnesson, 23 - Korfholm Breakers

Starting lineup (with DH)
1. LF Sture Holmgard (R)
2. 1B Birger Huselius (R)
3. RF Adrian Lestander (L)
4. 3B Andreas Rosenblad (L)
5. 2B Jacob Bjarnstad (L)
6. SS Samuel Olvegard (L)
7. DH Sebastian Lindberg (R)
8. CF Zackarias Andreasson (R)
9. C Kim Saugstad (R)

Starting lineup (without DH)
1. LF Sture Holmgard (R)
2. 1B Birger Huselius (R)
3. RF Adrian Lestander (L)
4. 3B Andreas Rosenblad (L)
5. 2B Jacob Bjarnstad (L)
6. SS Samuel Olvegard (L)
7. CF Zackarias Andreasson (R)
8. C Kim Saugstad (R)
9. Pitcher

Stadium
The home games will be played in the Brattholts Globen, an indoor venue in the Norrhemian capital Brattholt. It seats 17,000 people and is a very modern facility.

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

by **Nova Anglicana** » Sun Nov 08, 2020 9:54 am

2nd Londinium Challenge Invitational

The Londinium Challenge Invitational was conceived by the sub-ministry of Sport following the Lions' first-ever WBC championship. It was thought of as a small tournament pitting the best of the best against Nova Anglicana, both as a warmup for the WBC team and a way to whet fans' appetite for the upcoming tournament. The tournament, as conceived of, would see the two finals participants and the best debut team visiting Nova Anglicana. For the second LCI, the participants were: The Sherpa Empire, Hapilopper, Tikariot, and Nova Anglicana. The format would be: a single round-robin group stage consisting of three games and then a three-game championship series and a three-game third-place series. All games would take place at Archbishop Stadium in Londinium. All told, the tournament would take about a week.

Going into the LCI, Mark Singleton, Lions manager, saw it as a key warmup for the WBC. The Lions had lost in the semis and the third place series, and getting a chance for potential revenge against Hapilopper and a look at potential playoff or semifinal/final opponents in Tikariot and The Sherpa Empire were important. He'd be easing a new starter into the rotation, Rex Boyd, and dealing with a couple of new starters in the lineup in Erik Austin and Kelvin Hill. The team's performance was important, but more important was their chance to jell as a team. In his pre-tournament press conferences, Singleton repeatedly emphasized the small sample size, the strength of the opponents, and the opportunity to learn and grow. He said he'd be looking forward to it and how his new players and team would work together.

The results were as follows:

Hapilopper             0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 3  4
Sherpa Empire          0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0  1

Tikariot               0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0  2
Nova Anglicana         3 2 0 0 0 2 0 0 X  7

Sherpa Empire          0 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  2
Nova Anglicana         0 0 3 1 0 1 0 0 X  5

Hapilopper             1 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 0  3
Tikariot               8 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 X 10

Tikariot               0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 4  7
Sherpa Empire          0 0 2 0 0 1 0 2 0  5

Nova Anglicana         0 0 0 1 0 0 4 0 0  5
Hapilopper             0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0  1

                       Pld   W  L   RF  RA  RD   Pts
1 Nova Anglicana         3   3  0   17   5 +12    9
2 Tikariot               3   2  1   19  15  +4    6
3 Hapilopper             3   1  2    8  16  −8    3
4 Sherpa Empire          3   0  3    8  16  −8    0

LCI Championship
Tikariot               0 0 2 0 0 0 0 2 0  4
Nova Anglicana         4 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 X  5

Nova Anglicana leads series 1-0

LCI Championship
Nova Anglicana         0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  0
Tikariot               1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 X  2

Series tied 1-1

Tikariot               0 0 2 0 1 0 1 0 0  4
Nova Anglicana         1 4 1 0 0 1 0 1 X  8

Nova Anglicana wins series 2-1

LCI 3rd Place
Hapilopper             0 0 2 0 1 0 1 0 0  4
Sherpa Empire          0 2 0 2 0 0 0 0 1  5

Sherpa Empire leads series 1-0

Sherpa Empire          0 1 0 1 0 2 0 2 0  6
Hapilopper             1 1 1 0 0 0 0 2 0  5

Sherpa Empire wins series 2-0

The reaction in the press was incredible. 5-1 and a championship? This was a cause for celebration, and even a sign that the Lions were certain to win the WBC this year. Singleton had redeemed himself in the eyes of the nation after having gone 1-4 in the inaugural LCI. People were ecstatic with the pitching that had allowed just five runs in the group stage and fifteen runs across the six games overall. They were gaga over the 20 runs the Lions scored in the first four innings, showcasing the powerful offense and how they jumped on their opponents. Never mind getting shut out by Tikariot, the need for a late rally against Hapilopper, or the nail-biting finish against Tikariot in the championship series game one. The Lions were it, as far as the nation was concerned. Plus, the ticket sales and TV numbers were up from last year, which made the sports establishment happy. The Lions' success and the inclusion of the exciting Tikariot team plus the dynamic Sherpas and Hapilopper national team made the buzz even greater.

Meanwhile, Mark Singleton remained cool as a cucumber, repeating the small sample size, exhibition nature of the games, and player development-focus of his approach to the LCI. Yes, they had won the whole thing. But they hadn't been perfect, and it was only six games, nothing worth getting worked up about. He was happy with the way his team had played, but they faced a grueling 30-game gauntlet with more travel than before, then a playoff system that was likely to be bigger than last time, requiring more wins, and a more fired-up multiversal baseball atmosphere. The Lions had targets on their backs from being champions and the #2 team in the world. Now they had one more from showing their quality pre-WBC and they weren't the only team excited about this year's WBC. A lot of old-time WBC nations had come out of the woodwork to celebrate the 50th anniversary, and they were surely interested in showing the new kids on the block (and old rivals) how they did it back in the day. It was going to be a tough WBC. It was going to be a tough WBC.

OOC: Xkoranate with adjusted NSFS formula, max rank was Cassadaigua's rank of 4.72. Slight home team bonus of 3% of own rank was given to Nova Anglicana. I view the results mainly through the small sample size lens, you are free to interpret them however you like. Again, this takes place ICly before the WBC.

by **Kohnhead** » Sun Nov 08, 2020 11:08 am

It's Baseball Time Baby

The team has been training hard for their second appearance in a WBC

In World Baseball Classic 49, The Pandas from Kohnhead put up a decent performance finishing with a record of 14-16 as an unranked team participating for the first time. However we had a tied record with 4th place Liventia and were one win behind 3rd place Daskel showing we were a lot better than our 5th place finish indicated. Because of this performance we are now ranked 34th in the Multiverse for baseball and come in as a upper pot 3 team.

Now let's talk about our group for this World Baseball Classic with expectations for a 2nd place finish or a very close 3rd place that gets us into the Round of 32. The pot 1 team in our group is the number six in the World Ko-oren who our gridiron team just went 0-2 against in the most recent World Bowl. It's a better draw than number two Banjia last Classic but with 13 groups this not an ideal draw. The pot 2 team in our group is Terre Septentrionale and this is definitely not a good thing. The pot 2 team is the team that we should be competing with if we want to advance and we get the 3rd best team pot 2 has to awful. TS are ranked 17th in the World and should be a very difficult team for us to get ahead of.

The pot 3 team is obviously us in Kohnhead as the 6th team from that pot, ranked 34th in the World. Considering how highly ranked us, Ko-oren, and Terre Septentrionale are in terms of our respective pots this will make it almost impossible for lower ranked teams to advance out of this group. Five out of the thirteen pot 4 teams were unranked due to the amount of unranked teams who signed up for the 50th WBC. Unfortunately we received one of those five ranked teams, the third best in pot 4 Inner AngianaUsordia who have a very interesting name. Our pot 5 and pot 6 teams are obviously both unranked so we will have to see what Velarland and Philamer Isle have to offer.

Now let's talk about the team itself, led by star player Lucca Hahn who was busy between WBC 49 and 50 signing a deal with the Rüsselsheim Blue Sox in South Newlandia becoming the first Kohnhead player to sign a proffessional deal. He looked really good in training and will be reporting out to Rüsselsheim after the Classic for his first season. In terms of the rest of our batting order we have some talent especially in terms of power but our depth and back of the lineup leaves a lot to be desired.

In terms of the rotation unlike last year we will be going with a 5 person rotation which adds Allan Fox from our U-21 team that competed at the 12th IBS. Bloggs and Crouch who are our top two arms are both very young not yet in their primes, and add Allan Fox the young 20 year old and our rotation can become a great thing in the years to come. Murray Marshall and Mclellan are fine arms to have and will do their job at the back of the rotation.

The bullpen is definitely a weakness led by Jasime Millington. However they have a good core with Millington, Berger, Arroyo, and Maddy Lane who are all 25 or under and can definitely grow. However this bullpen will be very hit or miss and I have serious questions of whether Maddy Lane is ready to be the closer on this team considering she didn't play well during the IBS as the main closer. Yes she is the closer of the future but we will see how she does this year.

Our first series will be against unranked Velarland at Real Kohnhead Dressing Park and expects to be filled to the brink with all 15,000 fans. It's important to start this out with a good result and an expected sweep would definitely go a long way in showing that beating out a nation like Terre Septentrionale is possible.

by **Quintessence of Dust** » Sun Nov 08, 2020 11:28 am

Juliana Colón reached out and gently touched the shoulder of the old woman, noting with some relief that she warm: she’d been so still that Juliana had briefly feared…

“Mmm?” A pair of sharp eyes squinted up at her. Juliana spotted the movement of micro-lenses in the irises. That kind of surgery terrified her, but she supposed it beat having to pull on a pair of coke-bottle glasses.

“Excuse me, the ballpark is closed.”

“I’m here for the game,” the old woman said defiantly. Her thin voice was positively ancient, crackling with notes of the Quintessential Alps. Swedish or Danish or Norwegian, probably, to judge by the spun white gold her once-blonde hair had turned, and those sharp features.

“The game isn’t until tomorrow,” Juliana explained patiently.

“Here for the game.” The old woman waved a hand.

“Tonight’s game?” Juliana arched an eyebrow, her tone of kindly, patronizing explanation growing steadily less kindly as the old woman tested her patience. “Tonight’s game in Xanneria. The Things are – they’re in another country, ma’am.” Juliana had worked long enough in costumer service roles to perfect the acidity of the word. “They’re not playing here.”

The old woman didn’t even respond with words, just proved that cybernetically enhanced eyes could roll just as dismissively as biological ones.

Fine. Juliana set her teeth on edge to bite off saying something she’d regret. Let the old bag freeze to death out here in an empty ballpark, what did it matter to her. She made a point of fastening up her warm jacket with deliberate slowness – the old woman was dressed in just a thin coat – before she turned to leave, striding down through the bleachers towards the exit, where she’d asked her daughter to wait. At the sound of voices, she quickened her pace, her alarm rising as she heard Adriana’s voice saying “yes” to some shadowy figure moving slowly towards her.

She skipped down to the gate and was confronted by the vision of something out of some sort of horror movie. Old people! Three of them, two women and a man, moving towards her at a glacial pace. Between them they needed three canes. White wispy hair, knuckles bulging with arthritis, one of them attached to some portable machine that seemed to be pushing oxygen, beeping softly with every rattling breath that shook the ancient woman’s slender frame.

“Adriana,” she began guardedly.

“Look mum!” Her daughter skipped up and held out her fingerpad. From it sprouted a holo-image of the three elderly figures.

“Adriana,” Juliana cut off the explanation sharply. “You don’t take holos of other people without their permission. I want you to delete that now.”

“But mum, Mr Isaachar said I could,” whined Adriana.

“And you don’t talk to strangers, so I don’t know how you could have got this Mr Isaachar’s permission in the first place.” Juliana glanced up. The old people were about a foot closer in the time the conversation had taken. “I’m very sorry,” she said, speaking in the same tone as she’d used up in the stands. “But the park is closed tonight. You’ll have to go home. Can I call a robo-taxi for you?” she offered, unnecessarily calling it a ‘robo-taxi’ purely for the purposes of exposition when obviously they would simply call it a ‘taxi’. The cold wind blew sharp, banging against the fourth wall.

“Mum!” hissed Adriana indignantly in the ‘oh my QoD I’m dying of embarrassment’ tone that Juliana could already tell was going to be a regular accompaniment to these tween years.

“Don’t mind us, missy, we’re here for the game.” The voice that spoke emanated from the man – clearly the oldest and most infirm of the three, hobbling on two canes, leaning on the woman to his left, dragging some breathing apparatus that wouldn’t have looked out of place in a 19th century TB sanitorium – was like something from the crypt, all rattling consonants and whispers of vowels like spiders scuttling in dust.

“This is getting ridiculous.”

“Mum!”

“There is no game here tonight. The game is being played in Xanneria. It’s being streamed so I’m sure we can find you a place to watch it, but first why don’t we get you out of the cold. And your friend, I assume you’re with her.”

“Friend?” The smaller woman, who looked Quintessential-Japanese, and suffered from a faint tremble that caused her cane to rattle against the rings on her fingers with every step she took, looked up with a hawk-like keenness quite at odds with her seeming infirmity.

“Mum!”

“Not now Adriana, shh. Yes, there’s someone up in the stands already, I tried to explain to them the game wasn’t on tonight.”

The elderly man gave what Juliana took for a death rattle, until she realized it was laughter. The small old woman tried to shake her head with mirth, but this was a bit much for her.

“Emily did always insist on getting the best seat.”

“Yes, but as I tried to explain, the game isn’t until tomorrow. Shall I call your home and see whether someone can pick you up, so you’ll be back in time to watch it on your screen.”

Light blasted forth and the whine of massive speakers woofing to life crackled around the park. The light splashed over the elderly throuple. The third, she realized, was very familiar looking. Familiar looking because she was President of the Democratic States. High cheekbones, keen dark eyes, a knowing smile. Juliana turned round and stared at the massive display screen, normally used during the game to display commercials, instant replays, and fan contests. It was now displaying a feed of the game from Xanneria.

“I think we’ll just watch from here, if it’s all the same,” said President Kivistö, her Quin-Finn accent flattened long ago. Her official biography said she was in her 140s. “But thank you for your concern!”

While Juliana floundered around for words that weren’t huh? and hrrnk?? and wtf???, President Kivistö turned to Adriana, who was staring at the big screen with wide eyes.

“Do you like baseball?” she asked gently.

Adriana nodded enthusiastically.

“I suppose you must be a Republicans fan, what with your mother working here?”

“I used to be, but now I support the Silver Sox.”

“In Hannasea? Oh, that’s exciting!”

Adriana nodded very seriously. “My favourite player is Naoko Hisakawa. She plays for the Silver Sox and she’s the best! She can do everything really well. I got a holo with her last year when we went to the Federation on holiday!”

She proudly showed off the holo to the President, who looked down at the image, the small Quintessential-Japanese shortstop in dust-smeared baseball kit, a bundle of electric blue hair emerging from the back of a Silver Sox cap, smiling next to the girl whom she was barely taller than. The President’s two elderly friends finally caught up with her, clustering shoulder to shoulder to look down at the flickering image sprouting from the girl’s palm.

“She reminds me a little of her,” said the smaller woman, and the unspeaking response of the other two nonetheless somehow communicated absolute agreement. They were very still.

A voice from afar broke the silence. “You’re late!” came a distant cry. Juliana glanced up; the old woman in the stands was waving her stick in the air.

“Thank you so much for showing me your holo,” President Kivistö said to Adriana. “But my friends and I must be getting to our seats now.” She gave Juliana a smile, and then Natalia Kivistö, President of the Democratic States of Quintessence of Dust, began leading Tal Isaachar and Sakiko Wakabayashi up into the bleachers of the Frosty Dome to join Emily Sanderson and watch the game live from Xanneria.

by **Hampton Island** » Sun Nov 08, 2020 12:30 pm

(Setting: Stafford City Stadium)

CEO: The training of these new bears is complete, and we are sure they are ready to be revealed to the public, right.

John Miller (Wildlife Expert): I can only speak of their behaviors, and not whether or not they will be able to hit a curveball effectively, but I have been observing the training, and it does appear as though they will have acceptable demeanor on the field to the level of Midnight. Remember, though, that they are young.

CEO: What does that mean, exactly?

Miller: They may be more prone to mistakes, such as not going after a ball hit near them when they are in the outfield. Perhaps if they get a hit and not a homerun and they have to stand on a base, they may forget the situation and wander off of it.

CEO: Those were things that Midnight would do in his first Classic or so.

Miller: Yes, and we need to realize that they might happen again. There were growing pains with Midnight, and there will be with these three. However, they all do seem to be following in Midnight’s lead.

CEO: So, safe to say that our breeding program has been a success.

Miller: I am a little surprised by this, but in school they never had a program about training bears to play baseball. It does seem as though there has been a level of success, to a degree.

CEO: As for the bears that do not exhibit any baseball ability, and seem to just be normal bears, what do we do with them? They still have Midnight’s genes.

Miller: I am sure that playing baseball effectively is a highly recessive genetic trait. But, you never know really, two recessives can create a dominant. I would much prefer to see those bears released into the wild, because that is where they belong, but I know that you are not going to do that. Though, I am obligated to at least say that.

CEO: Absolutely I will not do that. So, we can sell those bears then. Maybe, there will be people interested in them, given the possibility of two recessives becoming a dominant gene.

Miller: I am sure there are many gene patterns that must come up in the perfect capacity for this to happen. Be aware that Midnight eventually is not going to keep being able to impregnate females, so you’ll want to create a larger operation, much like a horse racing stable would do.

CEO: And they sell horses, for great profits.

Miller: Yes, yes they do.

CEO: And we could even let them capture females and bring them here and we can charge a fee for Midnight’s service, much like a horse racing stable.

Miller: Yes, yes you could. I don’t really care for this because bears should not be treated in this manner, but since profit is your only motivation, then I do think this can work out well for you.

CEO: Excellent. So, before our first game, a PR piece will come out offering cubs or breeding services.

Miller: Yeah, well, as long my name is not attached to any of this work, or to that piece, I again think that there will be interest, odd as it may be.

by **Zwangzug** » Sun Nov 08, 2020 1:03 pm

In the mountains of Super-Llamaland, far from the city lights, where the air was thin, all sorts of stars and planets could be seen. The faint smear of the galactic arm. The craters of the moon as it rotated through its phases, or turned a dull red in an eclipse. Planets in conjunction. And then, one night, low on the western horizon, something new.

Buck Fuchs sent out many carrier pigeons to corroborate his vision. Most of them got lost somewhere over the main Esportivan continent. A few went for a swim in the Lojal Sound and the other waters of eastern Esportiva. Still others flew farther beyond, to Rushmore or Atlantian Oceania, annoying cartographers who hoped to build interregional maps by flatly refusing to indicate their flight path and biting people's fingers once they landed. Sending out a swarm of carrier pigeons in the hopes that one or two of them might reach their destination was how Fuchs preferred to communicate with the rest of the world. He was eighty-seven years old, and that was far too old for anyone to make him use their new-fangled technologies. The Super-Llamaland baseball association wasn't thrilled about this intransigence, but that was their problem.

And in the distant West Pacific, one of those pigeons reached its destination.

Reçueçn's mountains were somewhat more densely populated, but they also featured several more modern technologies. Alfred Gasparin carefully estimated how much time had passed since Fuchs sent the letter. What part of the sky could he have seen from Esportiva? What was the airspeed velocity of a message-laden pigeon? What time of the night would he have been observing? Gasparin had his own memories, of course, signs and forebodings he'd seen. But the risk of confirmation bias was too high. He couldn't just scan through a digital archive in the hopes of finding something similar; he had to know what area to search, and if it didn't match, give up.

But the first file he clicked, if he zoomed in, rotated--there. That streak, gold and blurry and ill-defined. It was real.

*

Registering as tourists in Zwangzug wasn't particularly difficult, it was just tedious. Alfred was mostly annoyed that they hadn't let him bring any of his own wine. Buck had other concerns.

"The Composite Minister doesn't need to meet us, does she?" he asked the bored-looking customs officer.

"I don't see why she would," said the officer. "I mean, we get a lot of tourists. Especially when there's a sports tournament starting up. She has better things to do than meet with everyone individually."

"I quite agree!" said Fuchs. "We don't want to be any trouble. Not at all. It's just...I wrote ahead to get permission to come through. So I wondered if she needed to talk to us, or something."

"Nope."

"You guys did get my pigeon, didn't you?"

"Pigeon?"

"Ignore him," said Alfred. "Can you just tell us where we can rent a car?"

"A what?" said the increasingly-confused customs officer.

"It's fine," said Buck. "We'll just navigate by compass and keep track of the stars' direction."

"Good idea," said Alfred. "I have a compass app on my phone."

"Oh, phones, schmones. Next thing you'll be telling me that you want to keep everyone posted and write little internet-logs about our quest."

"It might be fun," Alfred ventured.

"It might tip off the government," said Buck, hustling onward, "as to our itinerary."

"Is that bad? We might be here for a while."

"It could be. Something about these people just doesn't sit right with me."

by **-Anthor-** » Sun Nov 08, 2020 1:25 pm

Anthoran National Baseball Team
"The Thunderheads"

The Thunder are looking to return after taking their second "year off" break in the last five years from international play, and Aarron Cannon is anxious to get this team back on the field and prove that the time away from the World Classic has not diminished their skill or ability level in any shape or fashion, and will assuredly instead look to transform it into a positive advantage instead of the obstacle many teams have to overcome.

The Thunder that take the field for the historic 50th World Classic will look extremely different than the teams of the past, as many long-time regulars have retired from professional play or were simply disinvited as a consequence for declining performance in the domestic ABL; the large quantity of openings as allowed a large number of exciting youth that have sold headlines and jerseys across the kingdom for their hype back home in the major league will now get the ultimate chance to prove their skill and represent their country, and hopefully help Cannon and their team achieve playoff success.

Home Stadium: Marblerose Park(72,000), Summercliff, Anthor
Manager: Aarron Cannon
Bench Coach(Takes over in case of ejection): Sinjin Phillips
Hitting Coach: Sophie Falconer
Pitching Coach: Easton Harmon
Jerseys: Home Away

Full Roster (Please note that ratings are on a true 20/80 scale):

Starting Pitchers
[RHP] Ben "Snake" Gibson (Sherborne) - #4, Aged 31
Mov: 75 Con: 65 Vel: 60
Repertoire: Cutter, Slider, Changeup
Last Full Season Stats(Last Season): 25-4, 1.48 ERA, .80 WHIP, 371 K's, 267 IP

[RHP] Francis "Meloy" Reed (East Kilbride) - #8, Aged 33
Mov: 65 Con: 60 Vel: 75
Repertoire: Fastball, 12-6 Curveball, Changeup, Sinker, Splitter
Last Full Season Stats(Last Season): 14-7, 2.33 ERA, .98 WHIP, 259 K's, 231.1 IP

[RHP] Daniel Robertson (Tharsius) - #50, Aged 25
Mov: 50 Con: 60 Vel: 80
Repertoire: Fastball, Circle Changeup, Slurveball, Splitter
Last Full Season Stats(Last Season): 19-5, 1.89 ERA, .80 WHIP, 266 K's, 224.1 IP

[RHP] Travis "Danger" Killian (Sherborne) - #42, Aged 35
Mov: 70 Con: 65 Vel: 65
Repertoire: Fastball, Changeup, Cutter, Forkball
Last Full Season Stats(Last Season): 22-7, 1.78 ERA, .91 WHIP, 213 K's, 252.2 IP

[RHP] Wayne McDonald (Bristol) - #7, Aged 30
Mov: 60 Con: 60 Vel: 65
Repertoire: Knuckleball, Slider, Splitter
Last Full Season Stats(Last Season): 14-12, 2.49 ERA, 1.04 WHIP, 213 K's, 244.3 IP

Relievers
[RHP/CL] John Kelsey (Sherbourne) - #19 , Aged 28
Last Full Season Stats(Last Season): 2-0, 43 SV's, 86.4 IP, .80 WHIP, .64 ERA, 12.8 K/9 (120 K's)
[RHP/CL] Mike Lighell - #61 , Aged 33
Last Full Season Stats(Last Season): 6-6, 46 SV's, 85.1 IP, 1.05 WHIP, 1.69 ERA, 10.8 K/9 (102 K's)
[RHP/RP] Jude Cooke (Bristol) - Setup #13, Aged 32
Last Full Season Stats(Last Season): 2-0, 1 SV's, 77 IP, 10.4 K/9, 2.49 ERA, 0.97 WHIP
[LHP/RP] Elliot Dougherty (Warwick) - Setup #44, Aged 30
Last Full Season Stats(Last Season): 1-3, 1 SV's, 57.2 IP, 11.9 K/9(76 K's), .92 WHIP, 1.25 ERA
[RHP/RP] Logan Grange (Nottingham) - Setup/Middle Relief #51, Aged 34
Last Full Season Stats(Last Season): 2-1, 18 SV's, 55.1 IP, .69 WHIP, 9.1 K/9(87 K's), .98 ERA
[RHP/RP] Julian Arscott (Warwick)- Mid Reliever #55, Aged 35
Last Full Season Stats(Last Season): 3-6, 28 SV's, 77.2 IP, .98 WHIP, 12.6 K/9(109 K's), 1.62 ERA
[RHP/RP] Bryan Richardson (Luton) - Middle Relief #34, Aged 32
Last Full Season Stats(Last Season): 5-5, 1 SV's, 54.2 IP, 1.35 WHIP, 14.7 K/9(89 K's), 4.28 ERA
[RHP/RP] Clyde Cherry (Coventry) - Middle Relief #31, Aged 35
Last Full Season Stats(Last Season): 2-1, 1 SV's, 60.1 IP, 0.86 WHIP, 9 K/9 (60 K's), 0.90 ERA
[RHP/RP] Steve Millar (East Kilbride) - Long Relief/Stopper #69, Aged 31
Last Full Season Stats(Last Season): 12-1, 1 SV's, 74.2 IP, .79 WHIP, 12.7 K/9(105 K's), 1.57 ERA

Catcher
(R) Brandon Lyr (Wayford) - #54, Aged 29
Last Full Season Stats(Last Season): .285 AVG, .522 SLG, .377 OPS, 494 AB, 141 H, 29 HR, 79 RBI, 92 R
(R) Jason "Steady" MacKey (East Kilbride)* - #12, Aged 35
Last Full Season Stats(Last Season): .286 AVG, .571 SLG, .382 OPS, 483 AB, 138 H, 37 HR, 97 RBI, 88 R

First Base
(R) Peter Eaves (Alnwick)* - #90, Aged 30
Last Full Season Stats(Last Season): .333 AVG, .640 SLG, 1.035 OPS, 633 AB, 211 H, 49 HR, 122 RBI, 115 R
(R) Eddie Sissons (Sherbourne) - #19 Aged 28
Last Full Season Stats(Last Season): .311 AVG, .556 SLG, .458 OBP, 1.078 OPS, 548 AB, 184 H, 33 HR, 87 RBI, 98 R, 126 BB

Second Base
(L) Tony Russell (East Kilbridge) - #31, Aged 37*
Last Full Season Stats(Last Season): .376 AVG, .548 SLG, 1.040 OPS, 551 AB, 207 H, 18 HR, 79 RBI, 92 R, 59 XBH
(S) Gael "Bronco" Luke (Holywell) - #33, Aged 31
Last Full Season Stats(Last Season): .340 AVG, .670 SLG, 1.102 OPS, 470 AB, 160 H, 40 HR, 94 RBI, 78 R
(R) Taylor "Slap" Townsend (Bradford) - #2, Aged 36
Last Full Season Stats(Last Season): .315 AVG, .681 SLG, 1.107 OPS, 492 AB, 155 H, 51 HR, 109 RBI, 115 R

Shortstop
(L/R) Brad "Buck" Green (Sherbourne)- #21, Aged 30
Last Full Season Stats(Last Season): .336 AVG, .570 SLG, .433 OBP, 589 AB, 198 H, 33 HR, 12 RBI, 96 R, 38 XBH

Third Base
(R) Ryan Hardy (Alnwick) - #11, Aged 35
Last Full Season Stats(Last Season): .273 AVG, .410 SLG, .377 OBP, 227 AB, 62 H, 7 HR, 21 RBI, 35 R
(R) Bill Jacobs (Buckfast)* - #1, Aged 33
Last Full Season Stats(Last Season): .303 AVG, .515 SLG, .391 OBP, 585 AB, 177 H, 26 HR, 84 RBI, 87 R, 43 XBH

Left Field
(L) Clive Harness (Plymouth) - #4, Aged 26
Last Full Season Stats(Last Season): .341 AVG, .590 SLG, .384 OBP, 580 AB, 198 H, 33 HR, 84 RBI, 96 R, 44 XBH
(L) John Kirby (Bournemouth)* - #26, Aged 26
Last Full Season Stats(Last Season): .330 AVG, .585 SLG, .410 OBP, 610 AB, 201 H, 41 HR, 95 RBI, 106 R, 32 XBH

Center Field
(L) Christopher "Broadway" Rogers (Morecombe)* - #7, Aged 28
Last Full Season Stats(Last Season): .350 AVG, .772 SLG, .455 OBP, 391 AB, 137 H, 42 HR, 94 RBI, 91 R, 24 SB, 34 XBH
(R) John Neary (Sherborne) - #40, Aged 31
Last Full Season Stats(Last Season): .335 AVG, .521 SLG, .397 OBP, 641 AB, 215 H, 18 HR, 65 RBI, 115 R, 57 XBH, 62 BB, 24 SB

Right Field
(L) Shane Kennedy (Luton)- #16, Aged 28
Last Full Season Stats(Last Season): .315 AVG, .480 SLG, .362 OBP, 537 AB, 169 H, 12 HR, 60 RBI, 75 R, 45 XBH
(R) Kyle Patterson (Nottingham) - #17, Aged 36
Last Full Season Stats(Last Season): .272 AVG, .699 SLG, .378 OBP, 541 AB, 147 H, 69 HR, 138 RBI, 117 R, 24 XBH

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

by **Chromatika** » Sun Nov 08, 2020 2:34 pm

Chromatika National Baseball Team - The Amateurs
Baseball is starting to gain some traction, with the second season of the CBL having drawn to a close. As the Umbar Corsairs won, they have the most number of players on the team.

Starting Lineup
1. 1B Mattieu Gammond (R/R/25) Umbar Corsairs
2. 3B Yera Amonde (R/L/26) Deprí Lanar Rangers
3. SS Alisen Moyamoto (L/L/24) Felswyr Fire
4. LF Isabella Mont Blanc (L/R/24) Urrheddiao Knights
5. 2B Otto Vali (R/R/23) Chromia Diamonds
6. CF Kendra Annovar (L/L/23) Deprí Sanar Vipers
7. RF Nevin Ingalls (R/R/26) Shantarr Scorpions
8. C Laure Valle (R/L/24) Chromia Comets
9. DH Polly Potts (R/R/27) Umbar Corsairs

Pitching Staff
1. RHP Hillary Angelou (25) Umbar Corsairs
2. LHP Jason Higgsby (24) Deprí Lanar Rangers
3. RHP Miles Savey (25) Felswyr Fire

Bullpen
1. RHP Rachel Nox (26) Urrheddiao Knights - Reliever
2. LHP Vette Beux (24) Umbar Corsairs - Reliever
3. RHP Hine Salle (24) Umbar Corsairs - Closer

Home Stadium: National Stadium, Cap. 44,320 Chromatik City, Chromatika

RP Permissions: DH at Home, Nothing out of the ordinary.
Choose my runscorers: Yes
Choose my lineup: No
Follow my pitching rotation: Yes
Godmod scoring events: No
RP injuries to my players: Yes, within reason
Godmod injuries to my players: No
Eject my players: Yes, within reason
Godmod other events: No
Use DH at home: Yes

World Baseball Classic 50- Everything (IC)

Batter Up!: The Golden Jubilee Means Both Past and Future!

Fortem's "Frederick the Falcon" Gone Missing!

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