Growing Baseball II: World Baseball Association

[CivicEvo]

What the hell went wrong?




Remember these two guys? They are Milo Hoover and Aaron Klink, the two finest catchers to ever play ball in the International Baseball Federation. They got to know each other pretty well during the ten year run of the former ambitious association, and after the 2010 season when it looked like things were falling apart, they become good friends.

Hoover and Klink didn’t make a fortune playing baseball. Hoover, a pastor from Utah, played ball over the summer for fun. He was pretty good, but never got above AA ball with the Colorado Rockies. Of course, he thrived in the IBF from 28 to 38, winning a ton of awards and becoming somewhat of a name among hardcore baseball fans.

Klink was younger, and was more serious about his career. A troubled kid from Scottsboro, Alabama, Klink was drafted by the Toronto Blue Jays and was released in his first spring training due to insubordination. He was just an 18 year old kid at that time. He joined the IBF - Dallas, to be exact - at 24 and played 10 years with the club, also winning awards but never a championship. He was forced to retire right before the 2011 season due to a broken elbow, the final crushing blow for the league. On the side he was a high school guidance counselor, trying to help teenagers mature in a way he couldn’t as a kid himself.

Both players represented the United States in the IBF’s version of the Gold Cup. Both players saw the potential of baseball around the world - they had teammates from traditional places like Mexico, the Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, Cuba, Japan - but they also got to meet people from non-traditional countries: Trinidad & Tobago, Haiti, Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador.

They had saved their earnings from baseball, between them about $65,000. Not enough for anything meaningful, or so they thought.

After the 2011 Major League Baseball season, the players’ union and league had a massive falling out. Players took a stand and wanted a percentage of ownership over the clubs they were on. That was non-negotiable. The sides tried to find middle ground, but by the time 2012 came along, the league was on strike. And just like 1994, no one saw an end coming.

Unlike 1994, the strike continued through the entire season. There was little meaningful dialogue, and rumors started to swirl that baseball in the United States was dead. Players flocked to Japan, Korea, Mexico, and other Caribbean Islands to play. They weren’t paid much to move far from home. Many stars retired and became insurance brokers, businessmen, and teachers. After his re-election, President Obama even tried to step in and mediate, but the damage was far too great.

On February 17, 2013, Major League Baseball officially closed their doors. For good.

In a span of two years, baseball was gone in a flash. Americans were so into the NFL, they forgot about the sport that put sports on the map in the United States. People resented baseball - it was too slow, boring, greedy players, greedy owners, monstrosity stadiums that cost a mortgage in tickets and food. After the President, no one tried to save the game.

Over the summer of 2013, Hoover and Klink met up in Salt Lake City (where Hoover worked) as a bit of a reunion - just to catch up and see how things were. Except, Hoover brought a guest. Since his retirement after the 2010 season, Hoover had became close with former Major Leaguer George Theodore. Theodore was also a Utah native and connected Hoover with a Wall Street businessman named Chad Heydon. Heydon was the guest at this meet-up.

A little background on Heydon. Deemed “the next Warren Buffet” by TIME Magazine, Heydon was a 37-year-old Connecticut native who rose the ranks on the Street quickly through smart foreign investments and equity holdings. He was no joke. But he was also a huge baseball fan - a Yankee fan by trade. Heydon moved to a Hoboken, New Jersey luxury apartment after breaking in for no other reason than that it was where baseball was born. You can kind of see the type of guy he was: gregarious, passionate, had a ton of quiet intensity.

Devastated by the presumed end of baseball, Heydon would do anything to revive the sport. He had followed the IBF on the periphery. He’d heard of it, he knew it was a lower revenue operation at the time, and he saw some mistakes they had made that he knew he could fix. Fast.

So through Theodore (who he knew through his father, who was friends with him when Theodore had a cup of coffee with the Mets in the mid-70s), Heydon met up with Hoover, who then wanted to introduce him to Klink. They had one mission: Bring. Back. Baseball.

The problem, of course, was that there were a lot of people who *hated* baseball in the United States. So after the three of them talked, they knew they would need to start from a position of grass roots. Yes, the United States would be the World Headquarters of baseball, but it couldn’t *just* be the United States, and it couldn’t *just* be about money, 40,000 seat stadiums, and billions of dollars in revenue. Not yet, anyway.

Heydon liked the general model of the old IBF. They were lower revenue, but they were also lower cost. The problem wasn’t their financials, it was their overloaded expansion. It was making players go through a process of entry through an existing league rather than having leagues operate differently, even under the same overarching umbrella.

The point? Baseball still had a lot of world potential. Heydon wanted to uncover it. And in that meeting, with the buy-in of Hoover and Klink, the World Baseball Association was founded.

More to come...

[CivicEvo]

For the next year and a half, Chad Heydon, Milo Hoover, and Aaron Klink worked tirelessly to get the World Baseball Association (WBA) off the ground. Heydon was in it for the money; Hoover and Klink were not. Organizationally, Heydon took the time to register trademarks, get as many original owners for franchises as he could, and came up with an aggressive expansion plan that wouldn’t be so overboard that the league would derail.

Hoover and Klink were essentially baseball ambassadors. Both men made baseball their full-time jobs. They were compensated well by Heydon, who was willing to do anything to make them happy as they looked to market the sport across as many places as humanly possible.

The way the WBA works would be slightly different than the IBF: instead of countries having leagues, regions would have leagues. The team worked tirelessly with different scenarios, but landed on using the United Nations geopolitical organization as their guide.

As such, the initial plan was simple. Roll out with Northern America first (more on this league in the next post). It would consist of teams and players only from The United States, Canada, Bermuda, and Greenland. Yes, Greenland (kind of, it’s not exactly a well populated region).

In order to cut costs, international development facilities would be barred - players from those four nations would enter a draft, and it would be on the teams to develop them appropriately. Rosters would consist of a 25-man playable roster and a 25-man reserve roster. That’s it. Ultimately, players could move around the world if they wanted to, not until they reached free agency.


The goal was to launch in 2015 in four cities - almost the same as the IBF, with one change: New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, and San Francisco. These teams would have nicknames, unlike the IBF. Heydon felt that fans would have a connection to both city AND crest - similar to how from his experience, fans in New York aren’t just New York fans, they are fans of the Mets or the Yankees, the Giants or the Jets, the Islanders or the Rangers, the Knicks or the Nets - but never both.

Grass-roots was the key though. That means low salaries, a smaller amount of games, local TV contracts only, and commercial - not private - jets to travel. As such, the same financials the IBF used in 2000 would be used for the new WBA in 2015. This was all about smart - aggressive, but smart - growth.

In the United States and Canada, there was plenty of overflow from players who felt they could step into the MLB one day. So Heydon and his team decided that new leagues would accept players from the ages of 21-24 *only*. They wanted younger players to galvanize crowds, but would understand that they would need side jobs to support their financial needs. The league just couldn’t afford to pay Bryce Harper (playing in Japan) what he wanted. They weren’t going to compete with the Nippon League, in fact, they were in another universe entirely. Okay - back to North America...

Klink and Hoover reached out to Ben Willetts, a former pitcher from the Montreal Baseball Club of the Canadian league, and the best player to come out of Bermuda to become the Bermuda-Greenland WBA Ambassador. WIlletts, who was running a baseball academy of his own post-retirement, agreed. He felt if he could get any players to the mainland continent, his work would be a giant success.

Heydon was next focused on expansion: East Asia, Central America, the Caribbean, Western Europe were on the table. Ultimately, he realized that it shouldn’t be himself to make those determinations. That’s exactly how the IBF failed. It should be about raising funds through players and investors to prop those leagues up themselves.

So, with the WBA in North America about to launch, Heydon, Klink and Hoover began their quest to reach out to their former IBF friends, former Major League players, big time businessmen, and governments to raise the funds to truly grow baseball worldwide - and fast. Each year, they would all be accountable to each other to give a status update on the fastest growing areas, with timelines and expectations. International play was discussed, but would come later. It was an open book for now, but with that in mind, their North American efforts were tied to a successful launch of the NABL.

Tonight: introductions of the league, the four clubs, and we meet the key players.

[toxicavenger74]

Looks like a good start. Interested to see more.

[CivicEvo]

June 30, 2015
Los Angeles, CA

Chad Heydon, Aaron Klink, and Milo Hoover met in Beverly Hills the day before the inaugural day of the World Baseball Association's true existence. The three men could not believe what they had accomplished so quickly. They were lucky and able to use the same ballparks that former IBF predecessors used, striking mutually beneficial deals with local governments. They had just completed a small press tour - they didn't want to overload the public with "baseball" - but it was successful and they assumed that they would get a few thousand people per game in the four cities they were in.

In terms of recruitment, it was pretty successful. They had 188 players come and try out - all former minor leaguers, zero with any real baseball experience. They had 165 players from the United States and 23 players from Canada. Willetts came up short in the Bermuda/Greenland region, but they all expected that would take time. Canada was just shy of a possible national team, but everyone expected that they could be ready as soon as 2016 to compete. If the fans wanted that, they would get it.

Plans were already underway to add a fifth team in the NABL (more on that later), and they expected to announce that later in the calendar year. Fundraising was underway across multiple areas of the world to prop up additional leagues. But for now, all focus was on the NABL and all of the primary information that fans could find was on their website, detailing the four teams with their starting lineups and pitching rotations. Here they are:

*At the start, all logos, jerseys, caps are from the amazing OOTP Nickname Project. Amazing work!*




Starting Lineup

1. Josh Zaremba (3B) - Apache Junction, AZ
2. Jon Crowley (2B) - West Monroe, LA
3. Oscar Barreto (C) - Highland Park, MI
4. Luis Serrano (CF) - Hudson, OH
5. Joel Trautner (RF) - Emeryville, CA
6. Nick Auten (LF) - Coatesville, PA
7. Jeff Lafferty (1B) - Petaluma, CA
8. Jim MacDougall (SS) - Oak Harbor, WA

Pitching Rotation

1. Chaz Brown - Fontana, CA
2. Jason Fehring - Pascoag, RI
3. Bill Blackston - Hendersonville, TN
4. Jason Combes - Albert Lea, MN
5. Bob Reader - Toronto, ON




Starting Lineup

1. Clark Falcone (2B) - Metairie, LA
2. Joe Dimich (CF) - Moultrie, GA
3. Sam Tagiyev (RF) - Spring Hill, FL
4. Terry Suda (LF) - Dothan, AL
5. Giovanni Slaughter (1B) - Pepperell, MA
6. Josh Jenkins (SS) - Brooklyn, NY
7. Bobby Parisse (3B) - Los Angeles, CA
8. Pedro Lopez (C) - Tampa, FL

Pitching Rotation

1. Jerry Mead - West Bridgewater, MA
2. Richard Acosta - Mountain Brook, AL
3. Jason Eccleston - Lexington, KY
4. Jim Dow - Medicine Hat, AB
5. Luis Herreva - Chesapeke, VA




Starting Lineup

1. Steve Beattie (CF) - Essex, VT
2. Eric Grace (SS) - South Euclid, OH
3. Dustin Werner (RF) - Broken Arrow, OK
4. Tyler Moffett (1B) - Lytle, TX
5. Bruce Sadler (LF) - Deltona, FL
6. Luis Martinez (3B) - National City, CA
7. Chris Cardwell (C) - Gulfport, MS
8. Eric Cowan (2B) - Montgomery, OH

Pitching Rotation

1. Logan Brandenburger - Denver, CO
2. Mark Dowell - Fernway, PA
3. Ben McDonald - Papillion, NE
4. Dave Stark - High Point, NC
5. Justin Arzate - Wyoming, MI




Starting Lineup

1. Chris Higgins (CF) - Mankato, MN
2. Dave Tidwell (RF) - New York, NY
3. Vince Garcia (C) - Thousand Oaks, CA
4. Jonathan Hood (SS) - Miami, FL
5. Gene Buschlen (1B) - Oshawa, ON
6. Justin Tynan (3B) - Los Angeles, CA
7. Seth Bruce (LF) - Santa Barbara, CA
8. Steven Blackwood (2B) - Minneapolis, MN

Pitching Rotation

1. Mark Griffith - Toronto, ON
2. Mike Hawkins - Lakewood, NJ
3. Mike Rufenacht - Lockport, NY
4. Steve Hallett - South Thomaston, ME
5. Jeremy Wittlin - Milwaukee, WI

Heydon saw these players as just names on a piece of paper, but Klink and Hoover wanted to get in and meet these players on a personal level. And that's why they were in Los Angeles - tomorrow, the Golden Knights would play the New York Guard, and the two former stars wanted to be right there in the action.

The only outlet who was covering these games was a new upstart baseball focused site called "The Baseball Way." They found a way to publish who they felt the top-10 players in the league were, based on previous performances in the MLB system, and they created an algorithm to predict the 2015 season. They are both below:





After three years and a ton of heartache, baseball was finally ready to return.

As an aside, this dynasty will be a lot faster paced than the last one. I want to move this along to start getting into the associations and international play quicker than the IBF, and I noticed how high level my reports were towards the end of the last one. That will generally still be the same, especially since we're watching in the eyes of Chad Heydon - a billionaire who likely doesn't care about a write-up of a 3 week backup's oblique injury. So figure each update will be about a week - each year, playoffs, extra competition, off-season about 10-12 days to start. Here we go...

[royalflush]

I am so excited for this! Thank you for rebooting this!

[Sizeman21]

Enjoying the reboot very much!

[CivicEvo]

Dear Mr. Heydon,

This will be the first of seven regular season updates.

The early results of the league have been phenomenal. Crowds are to our expectation. Players seem to be enjoying themselves, and all teams look to turn a profit. We should circle back on that conversation about adding a fifth team to the league next year. It's early, but we need to get those wheels in motion soon.

See below for the materials you requested via The Baseball Way.

Klinks and Hooves

Standings: July 5, 2015



League Leaders



Injuries & Transactions

Los Angeles placed RF Sam Tagiyev (USA) on the 15DL with a 5-week herniated disc injury.

Player of the Week



All-Stars of the Week

C: Oscar Barreto (USA) - Chicago
1B: Tyler Moffett (USA) - New York
2B: Jon Crowley (USA) - Chicago
3B: Bobby Parisse (USA) - Los Angeles
SS: Jonathan Hood (USA) - San Francisco
LF: Nick Auten (USA) - Chicago
CF: Joe Dimich (USA) - Los Angeles
RF: Tyler Doss (USA) - Los Angeles
SP: Jason Eccleston (USA) - Los Angeles
RP: Travis Harding (USA) - San Francisco

[CivicEvo]

Aaron and Milo,

Thanks for the update last week. It's been fantastic to see the league get off to such a strong start. I've already been in touch with a few representatives around the world with regards to our next move. Nothing is finalized, but it appears some rounds of funding will get under way soon. Hoping we can move forward with our second league within five seasons.

Also, call me next week to get some further details about a new team in the Northern America region.

PS: Got your attached update on the week that was for Week 2, looks like we have at least one team breaking away from the crowd already.

Best,
Chad

Standings: July 12, 2015



Playoff Odds

Chicago: 99.1%
San Francisco: 61.3%
--
Los Angeles: 25.9%
New York: 13.8%

League Leaders



Injuries & Transactions

None.

Player of the Week



All-Stars of the Week

C: Oscar Barreto (USA) - Chicago
1B: Jeff Lafferty (USA) - Chicago
2B: Jon Crowley (USA) - Chicago
3B: Bobby Parisse (USA) - Los Angeles
SS: Josh Jenkins (USA) - Los Angeles
LF: Nick Auten (USA) - Chicago
CF: Joe Dimich (USA) - Los Angeles
RF: Dave Tidwell (USA) - San Francisco
SP: Jason Fehring (USA) - Chicago
RP: Alan Price (CAN) - Chicago

It's the Chicago and LA show...

[CivicEvo]

Dear Chad,

Big things are happening in the league right now. New York is making a huge push after a 4 game winning streak, and Chicago has completely fallen off after losing every game this week. Every team in the league is separated by just two games as we hit the halfway mark. You wanted drama, I think you got it!

I spoke to our representative with regards to the expansion process, and I think all systems are a go there. We should have some progress to report by month's end. At that point, we may be ready to go live with an announcement. Very exciting!

Looking forward to hearing about funding when we meet next month. Hope all is well in New York - report is attached below. Talk soon.

Milo

Standings: July 19, 2015



Playoff Odds

Los Angeles: 74.0%
Chicago: 63.2%
--
San Francisco: 38.9%
New York: 23.9%

League Leaders



Injuries & Transactions

- San Francisco has placed SS Jonathan Hood (USA) on the 15DL with a 1-week injury. Sergio Cardenas (USA) will start in his place.

- Chicago has placed 1B Jeff Lafferty (USA) on the 15DL with a 2-week injury. Steve Jackson (USA) will start in his place.

Player of the Week



All-Stars of the Week

C: Oscar Barreto (USA) - Chicago
1B: Giovanni Slaughter (USA) - Los Angeles
2B: Jon Crowley (USA) - Chicago
3B: Tom DiNardo (USA) - New York
SS: Eric Grace (USA) - New York
LF: Terry Suda (USA) - Los Angeles
CF: Luis Serrano (USA) - Chicago
RF: Dave Tidwell (USA) - San Francisco
SP: Richard Acosta (USA) - Los Angeles
RP: Travis Harding (USA) - San Francisco

[CivicEvo]

Dear Milo and Aaron,

The city has started to gain some traction with the surge of the Guard, it's been really exciting here!

Appreciate the attached report, I'll see you guys next week for the monthly update.

Best,
Chad

Standings: July 26, 2015



Playoff Odds

New York: 71.5%
San Francisco: 68.2%
--
Los Angeles: 46.1%
Chicago: 14.1%

League Leaders



Injuries & Transactions

None this week.

Player of the Week



All-Stars of the Week

C: Vince Garcia (USA) - San Francisco
1B: Tyler Moffett (USA) - New York
2B: Eric Cowan (USA) - New York
3B: Justin Tynan (USA) - San Francisco
SS: Eric Grace (USA) - New York
LF: Terry Suda (USA) - Los Angeles
CF: Steve Beattie (USA) - New York
RF: Dustin Werner (USA) - New York
SP: Jason Eccleston (USA) - Los Angeles
RP: Adam Pehle (USA) - New York

[CivicEvo]

Dear Chad and Aaron,

Looking forward to seeing you next week. What has happened to Chicago? What a brutal stretch they are on - looks like they will miss out on the playoffs after looking so strong early on.

Brutal news for Los Angeles as well - their star outfielder Terry Suda will have to miss the rest of the regular season. Ouch!

San Francisco got their star SS Jonathan Hood back, and they look very strong and likely to get into the championship series.

We have the team here working on a monthly report - it should be ready before next week's update. Will include some financial pieces and players of the month.

Keep us updated on fundraising. Really happy with how things are going so far!

Milo

Standings: August 2, 2015



Playoff Odds

San Francisco: 84.7%
New York: 71.0%
--
Los Angeles: 44.2%
Chicago: 0.1%

League Leaders



Injuries & Transactions

San Francisco activated SS Jonathan Hood (USA) from the 15DL.

Chicago activated 1B Jeff Lafferty (USA) from the 15DL.

New York placed RF Dustin Wener (USA) on the 15DL with back soreness. He will miss 3-4 weeks. Jaime Rosario (USA) will start in his place.

Los Angeles placed LF Terry Suda (USA) on the 15DL with shoulder tendinitis. He will miss 3 weeks. Chris Carty (USA) will start in his place.

Player of the Week



All-Stars of the Week

C: Vince Garcia (USA) - San Francisco
1B: Giovanni Slaughter (USA) - Los Angeles
2B: Jon Crowley (USA) - Chicago
3B: Luis Martinez (USA) - New York
SS: Mark Benton (USA) - Los Angeles
LF: Terry Suda (USA) - Los Angeles
CF: Alan Knight (USA) - San Francisco
RF: Tyler Doss (USA) - Los Angeles
SP: Jerry Mead (USA) - Los Angeles
RP: Adam Pehle (USA) - New York

[CivicEvo]

Dear Chad,

Looking forward to our meeting next week. Please see below for the monthly report you requested.

Thanks,
Milo

"The Baseball Way" Players of the Month





Player of the Week Recap



Team Financial Recap





Current Injury List



All-Stars of the Month
As voted by Aaron Klink and Milo Hoover



C: Vince Garcia (USA) - San Francisco
1B: Gene Buschlen (CAN) - San Francisco
2B: Jon Crowley (USA) - Chicago
3B: Bobby Parisse (USA) - Los Angeles
SS: Eric Grace (USA) - New York
LF: Terry Suda (USA) - Los Angeles
CF: Joe Dimich (USA) - Los Angeles
RF: Dave Tidwell (USA) - San Francisco
SP: Richard Acosta (USA) - Los Angeles
RP: Adam Pehle (USA) - New York

Current Standings: August 2, 2015



Current Playoff Odds

San Francisco: 84.7%
New York: 71.0%
--
Los Angeles: 44.2%
Chicago: 0.1%

Total Players by Country

United States: 165
Canada: 21