Using OOTPB to Create a Fictitious Baseball Universe: The Story of the International Baseball Federation

Using OOTPB to Create a Fictitious Baseball Universe

The story of the International Baseball Federation

On March 15^th 2024 Out of the Park Baseball Out of the Park Baseball – Out of the Park Developments (ootpdevelopments.com) released its 25^th version of its animated computer baseball game.  For about $40, it offers gamers three major options: Real World Baseball that consists of real baseball players who are on major league teams today; Historical, which consists of real players in real leagues that played between 1871 and 2022 for those who want to replay an entire season managing their favorite team; and Fictional in which fictitious names, player profiles and individual statistics are generated by OOTPB. The game can be played solo or in leagues.

In the midst of the pandemic when I and millions of others were isolating themselves either alone or with loved ones, I chose to purchase the OOTPB 22 version and create my own fictitious baseball universe. The International Baseball Federation was born. What follows is the story of how my new universe was created, a description of its major components, and the lessons I learned as both the GM and field manager of the Bar Harbor Seagulls.

The Creation and Structure

After I selected the fictitious universe option, I was directed to a page of options that allowed me to create the International Baseball Federation (IBF). My design consisted of 16 teams divided into two leagues with each league consisting of two divisions of four teams each. I was then instructed to insert the names of the teams and their nicknames. Below is the structure of the International Baseball Federation that was established in 2021.

                             Eastern League                                                             Western League

The cities and nicknames selected for the 16 teams were not chosen randomly. Almost all of them are based on my travels over the years and my general knowledge of history.  For example, I placed a team in Bar Harbor Maine because it is a favorite vacation spot for my wife and me. I like the name Moose Jaw, I appreciate the good music coming out of Muscle Shoals, and I had an interesting experience in Cripple Creek, Colorado. Teams in Halifax and Havana contribute to  the international profile of the league.

Following the creation of the 16-team league, I then selected the option that enabled me to produce a minor league system consisting of five layers:  AAA (Atlantic-Pacific League), AA (Mississippi River League), A (Kansas Baseball Association), Short Season A (Mason-Dixon League) and the Southern Georgia Rookie League. My team, the Bar Harbor Seagulls, has minor league affiliates in Cape Cod, MA (AAA), Hanibal, MO (AA), Liberal KS (A), New Oxford, PA (SA), and Thomasville, GA (rookie ball). As an Orioles fan, I learned that Thomasville was one of the Orioles’ early spring training venues and, supposedly, the birthplace of “the Oriole way.” Just 5 miles away is Cairo, the birthplace of Jackie Robinson and the spring training site of the Selma Freedom Riders.

The Inaugural Draft

Rosters had to be filled out for 16 major league teams and 80 minor league clubs. Choosing “Auto Draft,” my entire fictitious baseball universe was created within a matter of seconds and the fun began. First, I evaluated the players assigned to my parent club and its five minor league affiliates and then I began to explore the talent on other clubs.

Each player has a photo and a personal profile that includes age, height and weight, birthdate and birthplace, college or high school affiliation, draft slot when selected, fielding positions, left or righthanded in hitting and pitching and both current and potential ratings in batting and hurling. Over time a statistical profile of each player will be constructed as will his history (trades, awards, and injuries). Sabermetric measures are applied to each player at all levels of play. Analyzing such data can be very time-consuming, but it is also tons of fun.

Also created OOTPB was a 30-game spring training schedule and a full 162-game schedule for the major league clubs. Similar schedules but with fewer games were created for the minor league teams.

Building and Naming Ballparks, Designing Uniforms, and Selecting Team Logos

 One of the many delightful tools of OOTPB is the Ballpark Construction Kit. As a graduate of the George Costanza School of Architecture, I designed and built 16 baseball parks, of which three are domes and one has a retractable roof while the others are outdoor parks. Gamers can select real grass or artificial turf, determine the height and distances of fences, the locations of bullpens, scoreboards and jumbo boards and either open bleachers or covered grandstands with light towers atop if you wish.

Open ballparks mean there are rain delays and postponements from time to time, and rainouts mean make-up doubleheaders that will surely challenge your pitching staff.  As for Bar Harbor Park where my team plays, I deliberately designed a short porch in right field which affects my decisions when drafting players and signing free agents.  Most games start at 7:05 but by the bottom of the 2^nd inning or so you notice that the sun is beginning to set and then the remainder of the game is played entirely under the lights. Also present is the background noise, including cheers and chants and vendors selling items in the stands. The sound of a loud foghorn blasting twice occurs whenever a home run is hit. There is also a play-by-play broadcast in the form of a transcript but no audio.

Naming ballparks is also fun. The Muscle Shoals Swamp Jumpers play at the Band Box, the Tombstone Desert Ghosts call the Graveyard their home, the Hoboken Hoboes play at Maxwell House Field (the Maxwell House Coffee factory sits on a portion of what was once Elysian Fields), and the Cheyenne Wranglers play at the dreaded Rodeo Dome which sometimes smells of manure.

With respect to selecting team colors, uniform designs, and logos, there are many options. My team’s colors are blue and gold (white at, gray on the road) and the cap is blue with a gold visor and the letter B in gold inside a diamond sits on  the crown of the cap. OOTPB offers a large bank of logos that fit almost every team name that may be selected by the gamers. On the field animated figures run about in their team uniforms and their logos appear on their team pages and elsewhere.

Managing the Game

From the very beginning I decided to play out the 30 spring training games and the full 162-game schedule pitch-by-pitch. While I am constantly focusing on my personnel from the perspective of a GM, I also wanted to be directly engaged in making in-game decisions.

With respect to that point, I have to make smart decisions because the AI manager in the opposing dugout (each one has a name and personal profile) is very, very smart. At times I feel like Gary Kasparov playing chess against Big Blue. You win some you lose some. When to pull a pitcher and who should I bring in? When do I call for a pitch-out with a fleet-footed runner on first base? Do I hold the runner on first if a lefthanded batter is at the plate? How risky is a hit and run, a safety squeeze and do I have the right personnel in place at the time to execute such strategies?  When do I bring the infield in and when do I shift? Do I want my batter to take a 3-0 pitch or cut him loose?

The Role of the GM

As for my role as GM, I pay attention to the performances of players in the other 15 organizations, including those in their minor leagues. OOTBP offers several ways to formulate trade , and, on a regular basis, I entertain proposals that come to me from my opponents. But not only do I monitor the performances of players in my organization and those on the rosters of opposing teams, I also have to tend to my baseball academy in the Dominican Republic that continues to be populated by my head scout who signs talent as young as 16 years old. Furthermore, in the off-season, I manage the 30-game schedule (yes, pitch-by-pitch) of the San Juan Capistrano Swallows of the Pacific Coast Winter League which is modeled after the Arizona Fall league. The Swallows are a partnership between my club and the Havana Sugar Kings. I use this opportunity to scout young players on other teams and consider trading for them in the future.

In early March of each year and shortly after spring training opens, I receive the pool of players eligible for the amateur draft scheduled for early June in which each team has 20 picks.  Depending on my slot, I need to think about my needs and carefully analyze the profile of each player in the pool. Fortunately, OOTPB allows my head scout to advise me in making my selections. For example, when my team’s turn comes, I can indicate that I want the best pitcher still available on the draft board and my scout will provide the name and profile of that player. I can accept or reject his advice.

Also, as GM, I am responsible for making important financial decisions that keep team costs within the budget dictated by my owner, Donovan Boyd (yes, fictitious). I get to set my ticket prices and how much to pay the coaches and trainers throughout the organization. Attendance matters. A good team brings in revenue that can be spent on free agents. And a trip to the playoffs also brings in money. I have to decide on how much to spend when extending contracts, engaging in arbitration hearings (I usually lose half of them) and in signing free agents. I have a scout and an assistant GM (yes, both are fictitious) and an owner (also fictitious) whom I need to pay attention to. There have been times when my owner blocked a free agency signing because he claimed the club did not have enough money. In financial terms, I think my team is quite similar to the Tampa Bay Rays. The available money is limited and the margins for error are narrow.

Results and Lessons Learned

 I recently completed my fifth year as the GM and field manager of the Bar Harbor Seagulls. Although I had a losing season my first year and barely played above .500 in my second season, my team blossomed in the third year, thanks primarily to some timely and meaningful trades. After winning 100 games and the franchise’s first divisional title, we were swept in the first round of the playoffs. In the IBF there are three levels of playoffs (divisional, best of 5 and league and championship playoffs, best of 7).

In our fourth season we again won a divisional title with 95 wins and went on to take the IBF World Series Championship. That feat was repeated this past season, taking the championship trophy again after winning 111 games in the regular season. Meanwhile, I was named Manager of the Year twice and my sensational right fielder, Gary Stringer (yes, fictitious) who was traded for my mediocre starter Dan Vowles (think Milt Pappas for Frank Robinson here) has been named MVP two years in a row. As a reward, I signed him for eight years at about $30 million a year. Too risky? Maybe. We’ll see.

As for lessons learned from playing OOTPB I will emphasize at least six here. First, I better understand sabermetrics and how to apply various measure to evaluate players and predict their future performance. This comes into play both as the GM who is drafting young players and making trades for established veterans and as the field manager who needs to create lineups on a daily basis that will be most effective against particular pitchers on opposing teams. OOTPB provides such information for gamers.

Second, as in real baseball, I learned the game is merciless when it comes to player injures for which a GM must be prepared to deal with. For example, I lost two of my top starters to Tommy John surgery in one year. And a nagging sore thumb can keep your gifted shortstop on the bench for five or six days during which time you have to function with a 25-man squad. And not all injures occur on the field. Several years ago, I lost my star reliever who threw out his arm slamming a clock against the wall  in his hotel room after being awakened by a bad dream. He was out for two weeks.

Third, I better understand the dilemmas faced by real major league GMs when it comes to drafting and developing young talent. Do you pick the young, phenomenal kid coming out of high school or the one who just led his team to the College World Series? How much money do you want to spend and what if the high school kid jilts you and goes to Vanderbilt? If he was among your top picks, you will get a compensation slot in next year’s draft.

Fourth, I also better understand the workings of the Rule 5 Draft. On average, in the IBF only about 7 players are selected each year and as the GM of the Seagulls I have never selected one player via this draft option. However, what I need to pay attention to is how many players within my organization are vulnerable to being picked off by my competitors. I will then protect such players by moving them to my 40-man roster. However, that is not the end of my strategy. I will also spend time combing through the names of players on opposing teams who will be eligible for a Rule 5 selection. If they look good and worth the risk of keeping them on the 26-man roster for an entire season as is required, I may trade for them, put them on my 40-man roster, assign them to my AAA club and not worry about them being required to spend the entire season on the 26-man roster. Such decisions have to be made with much care.

Fifth, I have learned how to manage a 40-man roster by grasping the importance of the word “options” – a word that former manager Buck Showalter used frequently when signing players, and particularly relivers, A player with options can be easily shuttled back and forth between the AAA team and the parent club. If a reliever with options just tossed three full innings and is exhausted, he can be exchanged for the fully rested reliever at Cape Cod. I do this frequently.

And sixth, in acquiring players either via the draft or through trades, I put high priority on two types of players in particular: Hitters who don’t strike out very much and put the ball in play at a high rate and good relievers. In free agency signings I will spend most of my money fortifying my bullpen because I am convinced my relievers, and particularly my incredible closer, Zach Butler (yes, fictitious) have been the secret to my success so far.  And I am not afraid to bring in my closer in the 8^th inning instead of the 9^th if the heart of the lineup on the opposing team is coming to bat.

In closing, I want to emphasize how much pleasure and pure joy playing OOTPB has brought me over the past five years or so. And it is within that vein that I frequently think of a quote from the late Jim Bouton.  He said that when we’re young we spend a lot of time gripping a baseball, but in the end, we learn that it’s been the other way around all along. Baseball has a grip on us. Now, as I am about to enter the 8^th inning of my life, I can feel that grip tightening on me even more and that is perfectly fine with me.

About the author: Steven Wisensale is a SABR member and a retired professor from the University of Connecticut where he taught a course on baseball and society. He would like to hear from anyone who plays OOTPB and particularly from those who have created a fictitious baseball universe similar to the one described here. He can be reached at steven.wisensale@uconn.edu

Steven Wisensale

A lifelong Orioles fan and co-founder of the Baltimore Orioles Diaspora of Greater New England, I recently retired from the University of Connecticut where I spent 35 years teaching courses in public policy, with specialties in family law and aging policy. During my last ten years at UConn, I also taught "Baseball and Society: Politics, Economics, Race and Gender." I have published several articles and book chapters for SABR, and I have also presented papers at the Cooperstown Symposium on Baseball and American Culture multiple times. While living in Japan in 2017 I visited every major league ballpark, Babe Ruth's statue in a Japanese zoo, and two noodle museums. Currently, I am the GM and field manager of the Bar Harbor Seagulls of the International Baseball Federation (IBF), a fictitious baseball universe that I created through Out of the Park Baseball (OOTPB) software. My residence is in Essex, CT which is about halfway between New York and Boston and 317 miles from my boyhood home in Hanover, PA, famous for Utz Potato Chips, Snyder’s Pretzels and Kuhn Auto Sales, sponsor of my very first little league team in 1954 – the same year the St. Louis Browns moved to Baltimore and became the Orioles. I am praying for a long rain delay as I am about to enter the 8th inning of my life.

This author does not have any more posts.