#deadball: baseball with dice

[ninjakirby1322]

Quick update since I haven't posted in a while!

I've played a few sessions of Civilization 2, the last 5 hours of which will end up on my YouTube channel here soon. I'll be moving on to Civilization 3 this week!

As for the Outlandish Baseball League, I haven't forgotten about it! It's just been a bit of a lower priority at the moment. I plan on getting back to it next week after all the holidays are wrapped up. Previews are almost done, then we'll get to a brief introduction of the game system I use before going into the season!

[companionwolf]

Would you believe me if I said someone else in the Deadball server made this, not me? I screamed when I saw it LOL

(I see you random ass person. We are all love Blaseball. Also this is a positive meme; Deadball all by itself slaps.)

[sprintingowl]

Deadball

Deadball Second Edition is a platinum bestseller on DrivethruRPG. This means it's in the top 2% of all products on the site. Its back cover has an endorsement from Sports Illustrated Kids.

It's also not an rpg I'd heard about until I discovered all of these facts one after another.

I was raised in a profoundly anti-sports household. My father would say stuff like "sports is for people who can't think" and "there's no point in exercising, everything in your body goes away eventually." So I didn't learn really any of the rules of the more popular American sports until I was in my mid twenties, and I've been to two ballgames in my life. I appreciate the enthusiasm that people have for sports, but it's in the same way that I appreciate anyone talking about their specific fandom.

One of the things that struck me reading Deadball was its sense of reverence for the sport. Its language isn't flowery. It's plain and technical and smart. But its love for baseball radiates off of the pages. Not like a blind adoration. But like when a dog sits with you on the porch.

For folks familiar with indie rpgs, there's a tone throughout the book that feels OSR. Deadball doesn't claim to be a precise simulation or a baseball wargame or anything like that---instead it lays out a bunch of rules and then encourages you to treat them like a recipe, adjusting to your taste. And it does this *while* being a detailed simulation that skirts the line of wargaming, which is an extremely OSR thing to do.

For folks not familiar with baseball, Deadball starts off assuming you know nothing and it explains the core rules of the sport before trying to pin dice and mechanics onto anything. It also explains baseball notation (which I was not able to decipher) and it uses this notation to track a play-by-play report of each game. Following this is an example of play and---in a move I think more rpgs should steal from---it has you play out a few rounds of this example of play. Again, this is all before it's really had a section explaining its rules.

In terms of characters and stats, Deadball is a detailed game. You can play modern or early 1900s baseball, and players can be of any gender on the same team, so there's a sort of alt history flavor to the whole experience, but there's also an intricate dice roll for every at bat and a full list of complex baseball feats that any character can have alongside their normal baseball stats. Plus there's a full table for oddities (things not normally covered by the rules of baseball, such as a raccoon straying onto the field and attacking a pitcher,) and a whole fatigue system for pitchers that contributes a strong sense of momentum to the game.

Deadball is also as much about franchises as it is about individual games, and you can also scout players, trade players, track injuries, track aging, appoint managers of different temperaments, rest pitchers in between games, etc.

For fans of specific athletes, Deadball includes rules for creating players, for playing in different eras, for adapting historical greats into one massively achronological superteam, and for playing through two different campaigns---one in a 2020s that wasn't and one in the 1910s.

There's also thankfully a simplified single roll you can use to abstract an entire game, allowing you to speed through seasons and potentially take a franchise far into the future. Finances and concession sales and things like that aren't tracked, but Deadball has already had a few expansions and a second edition, so this might be its next frontier.

Overall, my takeaway from Deadball is that it's a heck of a game. It's a remarkably detailed single or multiplayer simulation that I think might work really well for play-by-post (you could get a few friends to form a league and have a whole discord about it,) and it could certainly be used to generate some Blaseball if you start tweaking the rules as you play and never stop.

It's also an interesting read from a purely rpg design perspective. Deadball recognizes that its rules have the potential to be a little overbearing and so it puts in lots of little checks against that. It also keeps its more complex systems from sprawling out of control by trying to pack as much information as possible into a single dice roll.

For someone like me who has zero background in baseball, I don't think I'd properly play Deadball unless I had a bunch of friends who were into it and I could ride along with that enthusiasm. However as a designer I like the book a lot, and I'm putting it on my shelf of rpgs that have been formative for me, alongside Into The Odd, Monsterhearts, Mausritter, and Transit.

[oishiin]

The Crystal Cup: incredibly niche baseball

I visited Japan this year and one of the things that I did while in Tokyo was go to Meiji Jingu stadium to root for the Yakult Swallows vs. the Tokyo Giants. Despite my team ultimately losing on the day (I'm doing the whole "our", "us", "we", thing that sports fans do for the team that they support), we (my gf and I) had a really fun time. We had crammed the rules prior to attending so we could follow along.

What stood out to me was the vibe of the crowd, which is in a way particular to fans in Japan, but also that the overall vibe of it really reminded me of attending sports (hurling) when I was younger. I haven't really been into sports for the last 10+ years, so I was surprised to be coming away with an new adopted team to support in a game that I previously knew only Blaseball about (read nothing). I think a lot of it had to do with the determination of our underdog team. I'm all about that, and I'm pretty sure its directly related to supporting our local county team in hurling (usually the underdog).

Where am I going with this? Yes. My crash course was given to me by my cousin, who follows American baseball. So naturally the thing to do on my return was to get the rules for Deadball, a pen and paper baseball simulator. Long story short, we are working on 8 teams based on various towns (settlements more like) in our surrounding countryside and they will battle it out in a league. We have the intentions of making this a worldbuilding thing as much as it is fun sport themed dice thing, and want to put out game reports in character, along with player interviews/lore etc.

How will these things develop? How many odd irish-baseball names will we come up with? WHO WILL LIFT THE CRYSTAL CUP????

[kayawagner]

Deadball Complete Print [BUNDLE]

Publisher: W.M. Akers

This special bundle product contains the following titles.

Deadball: Baseball With Dice Regular price: $17.00 Bundle price: $14.00 Format: Softcover Color Book (Standard Heavyweight) "Breezy fun…. [Deadball] captures the spirit and feel of the sport." —Baseball Prospectus Deadball is a fast-paced baseball dice game for one or two players that uses real statistics to bring the ballpark to your tabletop. Its elegantly simple rules are intuitive to die-hards and casual fans alike, allowing you to simulate a game between real or imaginary teams in about twenty minutes. Download the free quick start guide to see how it works. Deadball uses real statistics that every fan knows and understands, like batting average and ERA, allowing new players to pick it up in minutes. Because the game is based directly on real, freely-available stats, you can play as any team you want. Any. Team. You. Want. Pit histo... Deadball: 1909 Regular price: $17.00 Bundle price: $13.00 Format: Softcover Color Book (Standard Heavyweight) "Breezy fun…. [Deadball] captures the spirit and feel of the sport." —Baseball Prospectus Inspired by the gritty baseball of the early 1900s, Deadball: 1909 is a lightning-fast game for one or two players that uses real stats to bring the ballpark to your tabletop. It is a standalone expansion to the bestselling Deadball: Baseball With Dice. You do not need the original game to play. This expansion takes Deadball back to an era when home runs were rare, scores were low, pitchers were demigods and the stolen base was king. Featuring new rules for the hit-and-run, the suicide squeeze, and environmental factors such as low light and bad balls, Deadball: 1909 is faster, dirtier and meaner than the original game. As always, Deadball uses r... Deadball: Year II Regular price: $17.00 Bundle price: $13.00 Format: Softcover Color Book (Standard Heavyweight) "Breezy fun…. [Deadball] captures the spirit and feel of the sport." —Baseball Prospectus Deadball: Year II is an expansion to the bestselling Deadball: Baseball With Dice. Featuring new rules, a franchise generator, hundreds of fictional players and a new game mode—Nine Game Pennant—that drops you into the thick of a title chase, it makes the simplest baseball game on the market even easier to enjoy. It requires either the original game or Deadball: 1909 to play. What Is Deadball?  Deadball is a fast-paced baseball dice game for one or two players that uses real statistics to bring the ballpark to your tabletop. Its elegantly simple rules are intuitive to die-hards and casual fans alike, allowi...

Total value: $51.00 Special bundle price: $40.00 Savings of: $11.00 (22%)

Price: $51.00 Deadball Complete Print [BUNDLE] published first on https://supergalaxyrom.tumblr.com

[flauntpage]

Terry Collins: Unshakeable Optimist, Longest-Tenured Mets Manager

The pitcher is finished. The whole ballpark can see it. His velocity's down; he's walking guys. Pull him, screams the crowd, before he blows the goddamn game!

"Nah," says the manager. "I bet he can go one more inning."

The pitcher is Johan Santana in 2012, throwing a no-hitter. Or he's Jacob deGrom in 2015, winning the Division Series. Or he's Matt Harvey, two weeks later, losing the World Series. He's any/every member of the 2017 Mets tattered pitching staff, struggling to get out of the fifth. The manager, in all these strikingly similar scenarios, is Terry Collins.

Tomorrow night, barring nuclear war, Collins will manage his 1,013th game for the Mets, passing Davey Johnson to become the team's longest-serving manager. To survive six years with a franchise as busily toxic as the Mets is no small accomplishment. Stranger still is that, as his team staggers towards the milestone, I've found myself liking Collins more than ever before.

In 23 years of managing, Collins has won 941 games and lost 948, giving him a perfectly mediocre winning percentage of .498. When his teams were bad—and for the first four years he was in New York, the teams the Mets gave him were very bad indeed—Collins generally pulled them up. Now, he's dragging them down. He may not last the summer, and even if firing him helps the team—since the real problem stems from the owner's box, it's hard to see how it would—I'll be sorry to see him go.

This is heresy, of course. The Mets are playing sloppy, hideous, near-unwatchable baseball; praising the manager is simply not done in such circumstances. And Collins tortures Met fans, in the same ways he always has. He leaves his starters in too long. He runs relievers into the ground. He starts a slumping veteran over and over and over again, hoping for a hot streak that never comes. No matter how bad things get, he never tries anything new. It drives Mets fans, who are forever on the edge of sanity to begin with, crazy. It drives me crazy. Terry Collins doesn't care about that.

Every infuriating decision that Collins makes stems from an unshakeable optimism, a hope that what didn't work yesterday might work today. So what if it almost never does? Many Met fans loathe Terry Collins at least in part because the mentality that has let him survive this job, that same stubborn and irrational belief, is the same that's required to be a fan of the Mets. You could call that crazy, or quixotic, or (if you're feeling particularly uncharitable) stupid. You could also call it divine.

"You just think in your heart he's going to break out, so you want him in there," Collins said this week of Curtis Granderson, who is presently—and it pains me to say this, because Curtis remains my favorite Met—one of the worst hitters in the National League.

"I let my heart get in the way of my gut," Collins said in 2015, after Harvey lost the World Series.

Terry Collins manages with his heart. Even when it doesn't work, there is something to admire in that. In real life, we are told, sentimentality will get you nowhere; the world serves us bitter proof of this every hour. But in baseball, heart wins almost half the time.

W.M. Akers is the creator of Deadball: Baseball With Dice. He is also, for some reason, on Twitter .

Terry Collins: Unshakeable Optimist, Longest-Tenured Mets Manager published first on http://ift.tt/2pLTmlv

[ninjakirby1322]

Quick update on my solo rpg stuff!

If you may recall, I had originally started this Tumblr blog to post solo rpg stories before my YouTube channel took over. Well, I'm hoping to start up solo rpg stories soon.

I'm still planning on doing Season 3 of my Deadball league, of course. I'm also planning on an Ironsworn: Starforged cyberpunk-lite story with a pair of characters I've been wanting to write for a while. Finally, I'd like to do a story using the Root RPG, but I'm figuring out the logistics on that still.

That said, I believe it may be better for me to post these on a separate site. I'm looking for a good place to post these on. Understandably, the visibility would likely be extremely low, but it's more an outlet for me to toss out into the void anyway. I'll post links to everything as I write them, though, so stay tuned!

[ninjakirby1322]

OBL Preview - Fire Emblems

Record: 26W - 22L - 2T

League: 3rd, Legend Division: 1st

Playoffs: Lost Championship Series

Season 2 for the Fire Emblems was a season to remember after their first season was one to forget. A founding member of the Outlandish Baseball League, their first season as the Emblem Bearers was a catastrophe, with the team finishing last in the 6-team league. The blame was squarely placed at the feet of captain and starting pitcher Alear, who never managed to win a game all season.

Instead of languishing in a division filled with familiar foes from season 1, the Emblems came into season 2 with a renewed purpose. Sigurd, Lucina, and Marth all finished in the top 20 of batting average in season 2 en route to winning their division.

This offensive spark helped Alear win 6 of their games during the season, finishing in the top 10 in wins. In addition, Soren and Eirika turned out to be solid relief pitchers for the Emblems, with Soren earning 5 saves during the season while Eirika gave up just 2 runs in her 25 innings pitched.

The Emblems then went on to defeat Midgar Station in the first playoff round 2 games to 1, with all 3 games being low scoring affairs. The team then had to turn their attention to season 1 champions Shards United (more on them later), where the Emblems offense sprang to life like never before. The Emblems won their semifinal series 3 games to 1, outscoring the defending champions 23-15 across the 4 games.

They then fought valiantly in the championship series, ultimately losing to the Crystal Braves 4 games to 2. When the offense was working, the Emblems could not be beat, winning their 2 games by scores of 7-2 and 5-0. However, the Crystal Braves were able to shut down that offense for the rest of the series, only allowing the Emblems to score 2 runs in the other 4 games of the series.

The Emblems now turn to season 3 ready to prove they are still the best of their division. The top 3 of their lineup are ready to repeat as top-20 batters, while Alear is prepared to maintain their season 2 form. Consistency will be key for the Emblems, though, as the rest of the league now knows what to expect from them going forward.

Lineup

Sigurd Chalphy, 2B

Lucina Ylisse, LF

Marth Lowell, 1B

Roy Pherae, DH

Leif Claus, CF

Anna Feh, 3B

Ephraim Renais, SS

Lyn Hausen, RF

Vander Jagen, C

Bench

Camilla Nohr, IF

Hector Ostia, IF

Corrin Hoshido-Nohr, OF

Ike O'Greil, C

Starting Pitchers

Alear Leuer

Celica da Zofia

Micaiah Dawn

Robin Reflet

Relief Pitchers

Soren Daein

Byleth Eisner

Clanne Steward

Framme Steward

Eirika Renais

[ninjakirby1322]

OBL Preview - Octopath Travelers

Record: 22W - 24L - 4T

League: 7th, Legend Division: 2nd

Another of the founding members of the Outlandish Baseball League, the Octopath Travelers have had a constant case of the also-rans. In Season 1, they finished in 4th out of 6 teams with a record of 14W - 16L, just 1 game away from a 50% win percentage. Season 2 was more of the same, finishing once again just 1 game away from a 50% win percentage, and just barely missing the playoffs with a 7th place finish overall, and a 2nd place finish in their division.

Led by the bats of third baseman Tressa Colzione (whose batting average of 0.292 was 6th best in the league) and outfielder Hikari Ku (who finished 11th in the league with 24 RBIs), the team's offense is one focused on getting the ball in play. Unfortunately for the Travelers, their luck after doing so has not been great. This was increasingly felt by outfielder Throné Anguis, who was only able to get 6 hits despite having nearly 60 balls in play. This was, in part, what led the team to replace her with Therion de Ravus just a quarter of the way through the season.

Add to that the perfectly average pitching of all of their pitchers, with all 4 starting pitchers having ERAs ranking in the middle of the league, and you have the recipe for a team that feels like it has nowhere to go despite its name. Osvald Vanstein did have the 6th most strikeouts in the league last season, though, and being so tantalizingly close in both seasons so far may stir the Travelers to go above and beyond as the competition gets tougher here in Season 3.

Lineup

Therion de Ravus, DH

Tressa Colzione, 3B

Hikari Ku, RF

Olberic Eisenberg, 1B

Partitio Yellowil, 2B

Castti Florenz, C

Ochette, CF

Agnea Bristani, SS

Throné Anguis, LF

Bench

Primrose Azelhart, IF

Graham Crossford, IF

H'aanit S'warkii, OF

Crick Wellsley, C

Starting Pitchers

Cyrus Albright

Osvald Vanstein

Ophilia Clement

Temenos Mistral

Relief Pitchers

Kazan

Roque Brilliante

Eliza Woodward

Lianna Clement

Alfyn Greengrass

[ninjakirby1322]

OBL Preview - Camelot Aces

Record: 22W - 27L - 1T

League: Tied 9th, Myth Division: Tied 3rd

Another one of the founding members of the Outlandish Baseball League, the Camelot Aces have had some bad luck across the board. In both Season 1 and Season 2, they have finished near the bottom of the league in the standings, mostly due to being unable to win close games.

It certainly hasn't been an issue of offense. In fact, this past season, the Camelot Aces had the most runs scored among the 4 teams in their division. Isaac and Felix were both in the top 20 in the league for batting average, while Isaac was joined by Garet in the top 20 for runs batted in. Mia was also a fantastic pitcher last season, with 7 wins out of her 13 starts.

It wasn't just the stalwarts from Weyard, either. Many members of the Camelot Aces said Azalea, one of the players they had recruited from a golfing academy to play on the team, was their most valuable player, having to step in for an injured Nina early in the season. Azalea ended up being one of the better batters on the team, and as the team transitions to Season 3, her absence will be missed.

Becoming the Golden Suns

Azalea isn't the only player leaving the team in Season 3. After lengthy discussions between players, the members of the team that had been tennis and golf students have decided to return to their academies and focus on their future careers.

In order to fill the numerous gaps, Isaac, Felix, and Matthew have recruited as many willing players as possible from among their friends and compatriots, making a team entirely from Weyard. To align with their new identity, they have changed their team name to the Golden Suns with the Commissioner's approval.

Lineup

Amiti, DH

Isaac, 1B

Felix, SS

Garet, C

Tyrell, 3B

Feizhi, RF

Jenna, CF

Sveta, LF

Matthew, 2B

Bench

Briggs, IF

Hama, IF

Susa, OF

Eoleo, C

Starting Pitchers

Ivan

Mia

Piers

Kraden

Relief Pitchers

Sheba

Karis

Alex

Rief

Himi

[ninjakirby1322]

OBL Preview - Ivalice Alliance

Record: 14W - 32L - 4T

League: 12th, Fantasy Division: 4th

To say that nothing went well for the Ivalice Alliance in their first season would be mostly accurate. Only 2 batters hit above the league's average of .226: outfielder Ritz Malheur (.250) and catcher Basch fon Ronsenburg (.259). They replaced 2 pitchers over the course of the season as well due to poor performance, replacing starter Babus Swain with Llednar Twem and relief pitcher Montblanc with his brother Hurdy.

But there was some life in the team as well in their hard-throwing pair of gunslingers: Balthier and Mustadio Bunansa. Both pitchers nearly won as many games as they lost, keeping games close in each of their starts. Balthier in particular played a very convincing leading man for the Alliance, finishing 2nd in the league with 103 strikeouts over the course of the season, and with an Earned Run Average of 1.62, quite a bit lower than the league average of 2.54.

Now, the team looks to bounce back in Season 3. Hurdy has decided to step away from the field and act as a cheerleader for the team, necessitating a new player. Under the direction of captain Ramza Beoulve, the team has decided to move Cidolfus Orlandeau to a relief pitcher, and Ramza has convinced Delita Heiral to join the team, hoping the power in his swing will provide a needed spark for the Alliance offense.

Lineup

Adelle, 2B

Luso Clemens, LF

Frimelda Lotice, 1B

Basch fon Ronsenburg, C

Delita Heiral, DH

Ramza Beoulve, SS

Ritz Malheur, CF

Marche Radiuju, 3B

Vaan, RF

Bench

Cid Revgaji, IF

Fran, OF

Ashelia Dalmasca, OF

Agrias Oaks, C

Starting Pitchers

Balthier

Llednar Twem

Mustadio Bunansa

Cid Randell

Relief Pitchers

Mewt Randell

Penelo

Cidolfus Orlandeau

Ezel Berbier

Ovelia Atkascha

[ninjakirby1322]

Outlandish Baseball League: A Brief History

Hello, those of you who I hope will be future Outlandish Baseball League fans. I am The Commissioner. Allow me a few moments of your time to introduce you to the Outlandish Baseball League.

Our first season was intended to be a friendly competition at SNK Stadium, home of the Baseball Stars league. I was commissioned to create a fun baseball league by my friends and their acquaintances, and had originally sought to find 5 other teams to participate.

Thankfully, 5 team captains did appear interested: Alear Leuer (Emblem Bearers), Simon Belmont (Belmont Curse), Cecil Harvey (Fantasy Alliance), Olberic Eisenberg (Octopath Travelers), and Isaac (Camelot Aces) all decided to join my friends, Shards United, for a 30-game round robin.

Having been expecting to play baseball longer than the other teams, it came as no surprise that my friends in Shards United ended up winning Season 1. What we had not anticipated, however, was how adamantly the others wanted another chance, and how many others would join.

Season 2 had 12 teams, with all 6 returning from Season 1. Thanks to the efforts of Fantasy Alliance, three other teams joined from similar worlds: the Fantasy Alliance rebranded to the Baron Red Wings, allowing the Ivalice Alliance (captained by Ramza Beoulve) to take their name.

In addition, the Crystal Braves (captained by Alphinaud Leveilleur) and Midgar Station (begrudgingly captained by Cloud Strife) joined the league, though a last-minute change forced Midgar Station to play in Balamb Gardens instead.

The other 3 teams to join were the Pelican Stars (captained by Lewis Alderman), UA Heroes (captained by Izuku Midoriya), and Tohjo Trainers (captained by Lance). In future posts, I will go into more detail on what happened in Season 2 as the lead-up to Season 3 continues.

Until then,

The Commissioner

[ninjakirby1322]

OBL Challengers - Chaos Emeralds

Challenge Series Record: 28W - 14L

The first of four teams joining the Outlandish Baseball League this season, the Chaos Emeralds are a team built entirely on taking risks. The combination of Sonic's unrivaled speed, Knuckles's incredible defense, and Tails's steady pitching looks to be able to carry the team far this upcoming season, as the Emeralds were early qualifiers for the first spot in the Challenger Division.

That does not mean they're invulnerable, however. Shadow and Vector, who bat in the key 2nd and 3rd slots in the lineup, show some impatience at the plate, creating outs in key spots and leaving more runners on base than the team would like.

In addition, though the starting pitching looks to be above average for the league, relief pitching looks to be a concern. Sticks in particular can be a very wild pitcher, and has had meltdowns that have given opponents a chance to catch up to the Emeralds when they could otherwise be putting the game away.

That said, the formula worked extremely well despite these flaws in the Challenger Series. It will be interesting to see if this success translates to the much longer OBL season.

Starting Lineup

Sonic the Hedgehog, CF

Shadow the Hedgehog, LF

Vector the Crocodile, 3B

Knuckles the Echidna, SS

Rouge the Bat, RF

Mighty the Armadillo, 1B

Storm the Albatross, C

Tangle the Lemur, DH

Amy Rose, 2B

Bench

Ray the Flying Squirrel, IF

Espio the Chameleon, IF

Jet the Hawk, OF

Big the Cat, C

Starting Pitchers

Miles "Tails" Prower

Silver the Hedgehog

Whisper the Wolf

E-123 Omega

Relief Pitchers

Blaze the Cat

Sally Acorn

Wave the Swallow

Cream the Rabbit

Sticks the Badger

[ninjakirby1322]

OBL Preview - Crystal Braves

Record: 27W - 19L - 4T

League: 4th, Fantasy Division: 2nd

Playoffs: Won Championship

Nothing came easy for the Crystal Braves in their first season with the Outlandish Baseball League. Their longest winning streak all season was just 4 games. Between their 4 ties and 19 one-run games, nearly half of their games were too close for comfort. And yet, they triumphed, winning the championship series against the Fire Emblems 4 games to 2.

Three players in particular stood out from the rest for the Braves. First was team captain Alphinaud Leveilleur: as a starting pitcher, Alphinaud won 8 of his starts this season, though he did end up picking up 1 loss to blemish his otherwise stellar record.

Second was relief pitcher Coultenet Dailebaure, who consistently pitched well for the team in relief. The Braves would end up winning 8 close games that Coultenet pitched in, as he totaled 2 wins of his own as well as 6 saves, which led the league.

Third was infielder Hien Rijin, who was in the top 10 of the league in Home Runs and Runs Batted in. His 26 RBIs, in paricular, were instrumental to the team's success. Despite not even having the most Home Runs on the team (that would be Estinien Varlineau's 11), Hien's timely at-bats were a reliable source of offense for the team.

Now, it's time to turn the page to next season. No one will be surprised by the Crystal Braves this year, and the target is firmly affixed to their back. Will Alphinaud and the rest of the Braves manage to win another championship? Or will the rest of the league catch up with them?

Lineup

Yugiri Mistwalker, SS

G'raha Tia, LF

Raubahn Aldynn, C

Aymeric de Borel, DH

Estinien Varlineau, RF

M'naago Rhaz, CF

Hien Rijin, 3B

Pipin Tarupin, 1B

Alisaie Leveilleur, 2B

Bench

Hoary Boulder, IF

Lyse Hext, OF

Thancred Waters, OF

Nero tol Scaeva, C

Starting Pitchers

Y'shtola Rhul

Urianger Augurelt

Raya-O-Senna

Alphinaud Leveilleur

Relief Pitchers

Coultenet Dailebaure

Erenville

Cid Garlond

Merlwyb Bloefhiswyn

Cirina Mol

[ninjakirby1322]

OBL Preview - Baron Red Wings

Record: 30W - 17L - 3T

League: 1st, Fantasy Division: 1st

The best team in the Outlandish Baseball League during the season, the Baron Red Wings had everything going for them after their rebranding from the Fantasy Alliance in Season 1. Their defense and pitching, led by the stellar Terra Branford, held opponents to a league low 2.1 runs per game, beating the next best team by 0.54: an extra 27 runs during the season.

Terra in particular was incredible, and it was just a continuation of what she showed in Season 1. After finishing the season as the best pitcher with at least 1 inning per game despite being a relief pitcher, she was moved into a starting role in Season 2. Terra proceeded to become the best pitcher in the league again, allowing less than 1 run a game, and never losing a game, both of which were clearly league-leading marks.

The relief pitchers for the Red Wings were also great, with the two standouts being Cid Pollendina and Krile Baldesion, who combined only gave up 3 runs over 42 innings. Rosa Farrell and Relm Arrowny were also great, holding leads in close games when the team needed them most.

Unfortunately for the Red Wings, their main weakness was their average batting. The team was 6th in runs scored over the season, but not for lack of trying. Outfielder Faris Scherwiz was the most consistent of the group, finding herself in the top 25 of three separate categories. However, a distinct lack of home runs and a lot of runners left on base for the team would doom them in the playoffs, where they lost in the semifinal to their division rival, the Crystal Braves.

Hoping to lean on the success of their pitching once again, the Red Wings are aiming for another playoff run. This time, they hope to bring an improved offense along for the ride.

Lineup

Locke Cole, CF

Cecil Harvey, C

Cyan Garamonde, RF

Sabin Figaro, 3B

Edgar Figaro, 2B

Faris Scherwiz, DH

Yang Leiden, SS

Kain Highwind, LF

Bartz Klauser, 1B

Bench

Gau, IF

Galuf Baldesion, IF

Lenna Tycoon, OF

Celes Chere, C

Starting Pitchers

Setzer Gabbiani

Edward von Muir

Edge Geraldine

Terra Branford

Relief Pitchers

Relm Arrowny

Cid Pollendina

Krile Baldesion

Rydia

Rosa Farrell

[ninjakirby1322]

OBL Preview - Pelican Stars

Record: 27W - 20L - 3T

League: 5th, Myth Division: 2nd

By all indications, the Pelican Stars were supposed to be the team to beat in the Outlandish Baseball League last season. Though they didn't have the super powerful bats or otherworldly arms of the other teams in the league, these humble players from Stardew Valley had the fundamentals and team chemistry to make a championship run.

Despite a strong 6W - 0L - 2T start to the season, though, they would eventually get caught by their division rival Shards United due to a collapse in pitching as they lost 6 of their last 8 games. They would be eliminated from the playoffs in the first round along with Midgar Station, ending their postseason earlier than any had expected.

The collapse was surprising and sudden, as nearly all of the seemingly strong array of pitchers found themselves unable to keep a lead. Harvey Myers in particular struggled in the second half of the season, giving up 10 runs in just 4 starts, and the team giving up 30 runs in that horrid 8 game stretch.

It wasn't for lack of trying on the offensive side. The team batted well throughout the season, with Caroline Hawker and Alex Picker being in the top 10 in the league in nearly every category. Caroline, in particular, finished just 1 home run and 7 RBI behind Cloud Strife of Midgar Station. And it would be negligent to place all the troubles at the feet of the pitchers: team captain Lewis Alderman was strong throughout the season, earning 6 wins and consistently pitching into the 7th inning with a lead.

The team now hopes to face a new season stronger than ever, with fundamentals still being the focus. With the least changes to the lineup in the league, the Stars hope consistency will be key to another playoff appearance and a run to the championship.

Lineup

Jodi Warden, CF

Marnie Stott, C

Gus Cooke, 1B

Alex Picker, LF

Robin Carpenter, DH

Caroline Hawker, RF

Emily Taylor, 2B

Abigail Hawker, 3B

Haley Taylor, SS

Bench

Penny Courier, IF

Sam Warden, OF

Leah Carver, OF

Clint Forger, C

Starting Pitchers

Lewis Alderman

Sebastian Carpenter

Harvey Myers

Shane Cooper

Relief Pitchers

Demetrius Schuler

Gunther Clevenger

Willy Fischer

Elliott Scriven

Maru Schuler