North American Premier Baseball Association (NAPBA): The Story of Stephen Baratta

BrandonS · 10-30-2014, 04:27 AM

North American Premier Baseball Association: The Story of Stephen Baratta

Prologue

December 31st, 2013, Stephen Baratta awakes to the sound of his alarm clock tuning into a local radio station’s morning sports talk show.
“For those of you just joining us, we’ve been discussing the new professional baseball structure all morning! We’ve got Sports Analyst, Isaac Goodwin, from “Around the Diamond” here with us to elaborate on how this is all going down. Good morning Isaac and can you go ahead and explain what this new baseball league is all about?”

Goodwin answers,

“Hey good morning and thanks for having me. Well for starters, it appears the owners committee has decided on the name being the North American Premier Baseball Association, otherwise known as NAPBA. Now here’s what makes NAPBA so unique and interesting, it is a promotion and relegation style similar to that of European soccer. There are three leagues, the Ruth, Gehrig, and Premier League. Each league will consist of 10 teams, each representing a North American city, in one division battling for the top spot. The Gehrig league is considered the weakest league, with the Ruth league being the middle league and the Premier league hosting the best teams North America has to offer. Now the way this promotion and relegation will work is that the bottom three teams of the Premier League (PBL) and Ruth League (RBL) will participate in a playoff series known as the “Survivors Cup” in which the winner will remain in their current league and the two losers will be relegated to the next lowest league. On the opposite side of the spectrum, the #2-#4 teams of the Gehrig League (GBL) and RBL will compete in a playoff series known as the “Promotion Cup” where the winner is promoted and the losers are not. The #1 team will automatically be promoted to the next highest league. In the PBL, the top 3 teams will compete in a playoff known as the “Champions Cup” to determine the best of the best. Now if that isn’t enough excitement for you guys, there will be an interleague playoff featuring the top four teams from the PBL, the top two from the RBL, and the top team from the GBL! This is known as the NAPBA Cup. I don’t know about you guys but I can’t wait to see all of the added playoff competition brought to the sport of Baseball!”

Baratta dismisses his alarm and begins his morning routine of showering and eating a blueberry ego for breakfast. He continues on with his day by reading the local newspaper and watching television, specifically the Baseball talk show “Around the Diamond.” This is how he spends the majority of his days since he graduated from Boston College almost two years ago. At 25 years old, he spends his time staying in the house his father left him. Stephen’s father is the baseball hero Micah Baratta that passed away of a rare progressive degenerative neurological disorder, in which he lost the ability to control muscle movement. Fortunately, Micah became ill far after his playing career was over as he retired esteemed as the greatest baseball player to play the game.

Stephen was infatuated with Baseball, just as his father was. However, Stephen never came close to being the ballplayer that Micah was. His entire life was spent in the spotlight, with reporters consistently labeling him with potential that just was not actually there. The world was under an illusion that Stephen, under the tutelage of his father, would surpass the accomplishments of Micah Baratta and claim the title of “Greatest Baseball Player Ever”. Yet, that was just an illusion.
Stephen attended Boston College with a scholarship to play for the Baseball team, but he was cut before ever stepping on the field. He continued to attend the school and every year he auditioned for the team but was given the cold shoulder every time. At this point, he was labeled a bust and everyone had written him off of any professional career he might have in Baseball. This negativity never prevented Stephen from maintaining his grades in school as he majored in Mathematics at a premier level.

It was his junior year at Boston College that his father was diagnosed with the neurological disease. The world’s best doctors couldn’t find a cure, and they had no knowledge of how long Micah would live. Being his only son, Stephen was hurrying to graduate from Boston College just to give his father, and family, the privilege of watching a loved one complete a goal they worked so vigorously towards. Stephen desperately wanted his father to be there for his college graduation but with the doctors giving no timetable for Micah’s condition, he knew he couldn’t wait another 2 years to graduate so he changed his major to Sports Management. In doing so, he only needed one more semester to accumulate the required credits needed for the degree. Four months later, he graduated and Micah was able to attend. Two months later, Micah’s condition became fatal.

Now, two years later, it is December 31st, 2013, and Stephen struggles every day to cope with the loss of his father while facing the hardships of finding a job with only a Sports Management degree on his resume, until today.

Stephen receives a call.

“Hello?” he answers the phone. An unfamiliar voice replies,
“Yes, am I speaking to Stephen Baratta?”
“This is him.”
“Hey, how are you? My name is Roy MacLeod, and I am the owner of the Orlando Platoon. I’m calling to offer you the position of Manager. Interested?”
Baratta is shocked. He stumbles for words,
“Uh, yes-----yeah I’d love to!”
“Good! Why don’t you come down to Orlando and we’ll discuss this more in person, I am looking forward to meeting you.”
“Yes sir, I can be there tomorrow. What time is good for you?”
“Really? Tomorrow? Okay! Let’s do------ 4 o’clock. Meet me at the ballpark.”
“Yes sir!”
“Safe travels, see you tomorrow.”

Stephen lives in New York and there are no flights available to Orlando on one day’s notice, so he immediately packs a bag and jumps in his car, embarking on an 18 hour drive to Orlando, Florida. After driving all night and not sleeping at all, Baratta arrives in Orlando at Platoon Stadium. He meets with MacLeod, who gives him a tour of the stadium and they discuss financial matters, including the relocation of Baratta from New York to Florida. The two agree to a three year contract, and Stephen Baratta goes from unemployed bum living off of his father’s trust fund to a professional baseball manager in a matter of 24 hours.

The Orlando Platoon are a member of the Gehrig League, the lowest league of the NAPBA. The power rankings also list them as the worst team in the league. This is the story of Stephen Baratta, Manager of the Orlando Platoon.

BrandonS · 10-30-2014, 04:29 AM

BrandonS · 10-30-2014, 04:33 AM

BrandonS · 10-30-2014, 04:36 AM

BrandonS · 10-30-2014, 04:47 AM

For those interested in the specific details of the league:

I modeled it after the Online league that I am an Admin in, http://www.ootpdevelopments.com/boar...eball-cbl.html

The teams are all different, players are different, etc. The only similarity is the setup.

Scouting Off
Coaching Off
League Evolution On
Storylines On
Actual Ratings None Displayed
Potential Ratings 1-5
DH On All Leagues
Rule 5 Draft Disabled

10-30-2014, 04:33 AM	#3
BrandonS Minors (Double A) Join Date: May 2014 Posts: 143	Ruth Baseball League (RBL) Last edited by BrandonS; 10-30-2014 at 04:35 AM.

10-30-2014, 04:27 AM	#1
BrandonS Minors (Double A) Join Date: May 2014 Posts: 143	North American Premier Baseball Association (NAPBA): The Story of Stephen Baratta North American Premier Baseball Association: The Story of Stephen Baratta Prologue December 31st, 2013, Stephen Baratta awakes to the sound of his alarm clock tuning into a local radio station’s morning sports talk show. “For those of you just joining us, we’ve been discussing the new professional baseball structure all morning! We’ve got Sports Analyst, Isaac Goodwin, from “Around the Diamond” here with us to elaborate on how this is all going down. Good morning Isaac and can you go ahead and explain what this new baseball league is all about?” Goodwin answers, “Hey good morning and thanks for having me. Well for starters, it appears the owners committee has decided on the name being the North American Premier Baseball Association, otherwise known as NAPBA. Now here’s what makes NAPBA so unique and interesting, it is a promotion and relegation style similar to that of European soccer. There are three leagues, the Ruth, Gehrig, and Premier League. Each league will consist of 10 teams, each representing a North American city, in one division battling for the top spot. The Gehrig league is considered the weakest league, with the Ruth league being the middle league and the Premier league hosting the best teams North America has to offer. Now the way this promotion and relegation will work is that the bottom three teams of the Premier League (PBL) and Ruth League (RBL) will participate in a playoff series known as the “Survivors Cup” in which the winner will remain in their current league and the two losers will be relegated to the next lowest league. On the opposite side of the spectrum, the #2-#4 teams of the Gehrig League (GBL) and RBL will compete in a playoff series known as the “Promotion Cup” where the winner is promoted and the losers are not. The #1 team will automatically be promoted to the next highest league. In the PBL, the top 3 teams will compete in a playoff known as the “Champions Cup” to determine the best of the best. Now if that isn’t enough excitement for you guys, there will be an interleague playoff featuring the top four teams from the PBL, the top two from the RBL, and the top team from the GBL! This is known as the NAPBA Cup. I don’t know about you guys but I can’t wait to see all of the added playoff competition brought to the sport of Baseball!” Baratta dismisses his alarm and begins his morning routine of showering and eating a blueberry ego for breakfast. He continues on with his day by reading the local newspaper and watching television, specifically the Baseball talk show “Around the Diamond.” This is how he spends the majority of his days since he graduated from Boston College almost two years ago. At 25 years old, he spends his time staying in the house his father left him. Stephen’s father is the baseball hero Micah Baratta that passed away of a rare progressive degenerative neurological disorder, in which he lost the ability to control muscle movement. Fortunately, Micah became ill far after his playing career was over as he retired esteemed as the greatest baseball player to play the game. Stephen was infatuated with Baseball, just as his father was. However, Stephen never came close to being the ballplayer that Micah was. His entire life was spent in the spotlight, with reporters consistently labeling him with potential that just was not actually there. The world was under an illusion that Stephen, under the tutelage of his father, would surpass the accomplishments of Micah Baratta and claim the title of “Greatest Baseball Player Ever”. Yet, that was just an illusion. Stephen attended Boston College with a scholarship to play for the Baseball team, but he was cut before ever stepping on the field. He continued to attend the school and every year he auditioned for the team but was given the cold shoulder every time. At this point, he was labeled a bust and everyone had written him off of any professional career he might have in Baseball. This negativity never prevented Stephen from maintaining his grades in school as he majored in Mathematics at a premier level. It was his junior year at Boston College that his father was diagnosed with the neurological disease. The world’s best doctors couldn’t find a cure, and they had no knowledge of how long Micah would live. Being his only son, Stephen was hurrying to graduate from Boston College just to give his father, and family, the privilege of watching a loved one complete a goal they worked so vigorously towards. Stephen desperately wanted his father to be there for his college graduation but with the doctors giving no timetable for Micah’s condition, he knew he couldn’t wait another 2 years to graduate so he changed his major to Sports Management. In doing so, he only needed one more semester to accumulate the required credits needed for the degree. Four months later, he graduated and Micah was able to attend. Two months later, Micah’s condition became fatal. Now, two years later, it is December 31st, 2013, and Stephen struggles every day to cope with the loss of his father while facing the hardships of finding a job with only a Sports Management degree on his resume, until today. Stephen receives a call. “Hello?” he answers the phone. An unfamiliar voice replies, “Yes, am I speaking to Stephen Baratta?” “This is him.” “Hey, how are you? My name is Roy MacLeod, and I am the owner of the Orlando Platoon. I’m calling to offer you the position of Manager. Interested?” Baratta is shocked. He stumbles for words, “Uh, yes-----yeah I’d love to!” “Good! Why don’t you come down to Orlando and we’ll discuss this more in person, I am looking forward to meeting you.” “Yes sir, I can be there tomorrow. What time is good for you?” “Really? Tomorrow? Okay! Let’s do------ 4 o’clock. Meet me at the ballpark.” “Yes sir!” “Safe travels, see you tomorrow.” Stephen lives in New York and there are no flights available to Orlando on one day’s notice, so he immediately packs a bag and jumps in his car, embarking on an 18 hour drive to Orlando, Florida. After driving all night and not sleeping at all, Baratta arrives in Orlando at Platoon Stadium. He meets with MacLeod, who gives him a tour of the stadium and they discuss financial matters, including the relocation of Baratta from New York to Florida. The two agree to a three year contract, and Stephen Baratta goes from unemployed bum living off of his father’s trust fund to a professional baseball manager in a matter of 24 hours. The Orlando Platoon are a member of the Gehrig League, the lowest league of the NAPBA. The power rankings also list them as the worst team in the league. This is the story of Stephen Baratta, Manager of the Orlando Platoon.

10-30-2014, 04:29 AM	#2
BrandonS Minors (Double A) Join Date: May 2014 Posts: 143	Premier Baseball League (PBL)

10-30-2014, 04:36 AM	#4
BrandonS Minors (Double A) Join Date: May 2014 Posts: 143	Gehrig Baseball League (GBL) Last edited by BrandonS; 10-30-2014 at 04:43 AM.

10-30-2014, 04:47 AM	#5
BrandonS Minors (Double A) Join Date: May 2014 Posts: 143	For those interested in the specific details of the league: I modeled it after the Online league that I am an Admin in, http://www.ootpdevelopments.com/boar...eball-cbl.html The teams are all different, players are different, etc. The only similarity is the setup. Scouting Off Coaching Off League Evolution On Storylines On Actual Ratings None Displayed Potential Ratings 1-5 DH On All Leagues Rule 5 Draft Disabled