Welcome to the Professional Baseball Circuit (PBC) — a daily fictional online Out of the Park Baseball league.
The PBC features eighteen teams, divided into three leagues: North, West, and South. A full season unfolds over twenty-two simulations, each representing a four-game series. Teams play two four-game series against every opponent in their league and one four-game series against each team in the other leagues. Each team is managed by a human GM, with Slack serving as our primary communication platform
¶ Distinctive Features
The Professional Baseball Circuit aims to stand out among online leagues. Remember, this is a distinct, fictional league in a fictional baseball world. Avoid making assumptions based on the MLB. While the core of the game remains, elements like finance, schedules, and roster regulations might diverge from the MLB.
Our league has four defining characteristics:
- League Structure: In the PBC, each team plays a total of 88 games throughout the season, facing every league rival in two separate 4-game series, one at home and one away, and one 4-game series against teams from the opposite league. Each daily simulation covers a single 4-game series plus an off day, offering a deep immersion into your team's day-to-day activities. Despite each simulation handling only one series, the entire regular season is completed in just 22 simulations.
- Free Agency: Instead of standard extensions, players will normally enter free agency to negotiate new contracts. Trust us, this is a lot of fun! However, home grown players may be tagged as a “Face of the Franchise” to retain them throughout their career. (see the Unique Rules & Customization section)
- Draft Mechanics: The PBC uses a unique method to determine the draft order each season. We use a draft lottery, but we don't simply give weaker teams better odds. League activity such as exporting and voting for awards/all-stars account for half of the lottery odds. Additionally, all teams are included in the lottery.
- Financial Fairness: We've established a salary cap and balanced finances to ensure fairness. This levels the playing field, preventing any one team from gaining an edge just through financial strength. Every GM in the PBC has the power to determine their team's path.
¶ History of baseball prior to the PBC formation
Throughout the 20th century, baseball was largely a regional sport, with players participating in amateur and semi-pro leagues. Notable leagues during this era included the Northeastern Diamond League (NDL), Atlantic Coast Baseball Alliance (ACBA), Midwest Majors Baseball Association (MMBA), Lone Star Baseball Confederation (LSBC), and Sunset Coastal Baseball League (SCBL).
By the late 1980s, major cities like New York and Boston from the NDL, Washington and Philadelphia from the ACBA, Chicago and Detroit from the MMBA, Dallas and Houston from the LSBC, and Los Angeles and San Francisco from the SCBL transitioned to be fully professional teams. Consequently, these pro teams greatly overshadowed their amateur and semi-pro counterparts, primarily due to financial advantages.
In the 1990s, as the digital age dawned with the rise of the internet, whispers of a new fully professional super league grew louder. By spring 1999, these whispers materialized into the Professional Baseball Circuit, which boasted teams from cities including New York, Boston, Washington, Philadelphia, Chicago, Detroit, St. Louis, Denver, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Dallas, and Houston. The inaugural season began on June 7th, 2000.
In the wake of this baseball landscape transformation, many teams from the established amateur and semi-pro leagues sought affiliation with the new pro teams, aiming to serve as reserve and developmental squads. This shift resulted in the modern minor league system. Consequently, non-affiliated regional leagues faded into obscurity, as aspiring professional baseball players now primarily set their sights on the pro circuit.