Er...

Exactly!

Nat needs to hire you to write these news stories! :D

I have merged the leagues, first through a test league, which went well. Now, I have done it here. Let's hope things go well.

Knock on petrified wood it all works. The league is saved as a backup for both December 31 and January 1 in case something went awry.

He couldn't afford me! 😁

January 2298 - January 1-4
 

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Today in the CBO

News and Notes - Reports from around the Commonwealth

by Nat Wright-Kowalski

1 January 2298 - New League Year Begins

The third year of the Commonwealth Baseball Organization is officially underway, with some previously announced changes taking place.

The biggest move is that the CBO is now all under one umbrella instead of four different entities. The North Charles Association will now host the Brotherhood and Institute Leagues, while the South Charles Association will now host the Minutemen and Railroad Leagues. While the Sole Survivor Series will continue, it will now be a competition between the winners of the NCA and SCA. That means a championship rematch between Finch Farm and The Slog, division mates in the Brotherhood League, cannot take place.

Also, name and logo changes have now taken effect. In the CBO, the former Egret Scrappers are now the Egret Ninjas, the former Shaw HS Knuckle Punchers are now the Roxbury Knuckle Punchers, and the former Fairline Hill Estates Yao Guai are now the FHE Yao Guai.

In the Boston Minor Union, there are also several name changes and one relocation. Poseidon Reservoir moved to Somerville Place, where they will be known as the Somerville Place Sentrybots. The Breakheart Banks Wasteland Whisperers changed their team name to the Breakheart Banks Behemoths. Six other teams shortened their location name: General Atomics Galleria is now Galleria, Union Hope Cathedral is now Union Hope, Corvega Assembly Plant is now Corvega, Charles View Ampitheater is now Charles View, Forest Grove Marsh is now Forest Grove, and Mass Pike Interchange is now just Mass Pike with allowable use of MPI.

There are a few rules changes. The first of those changes is related to the Rookie Draft. Starting January 1, teams are allowed to trade away draft picks before the draft. Though the draft order will still follow the worse-to-first order, teams are no longer bound to that order based on potential trades. The draft has also been moved back to November to accomodate playoff teams that may not be able to fully prepare for the draft.

Another change is in the schedule, which also now affects the active roster. The number of games has increased from 60 to 108 with the same 60-game format among the six teams in each league, 6 home games and 6 away games for a total of 12 versus each division opponent. Teams will now add an additional 48 games versus the other division in their associations with 4 home games and 4 away games for a total of 8 games versus each interassociation opponent.

With the increase in games played, Commissioner Nate Howard has also mandated that each team must name at least four starting pitchers in their rotation. Some believe the change will benefit the offense-heavy teams.

"We're ready to score more runs than what we know what to do with," Concord Radstags manager Mark Gourdroot said. "

A team considered to have a good starting pitching staff, the Warwick Mirelurks are not afraid of the added pressure on a new starter.

"Oh, we'll be all right," Mirelurks manager Old Man Langford said. "We'll probably move [Justin] Sphinx or [Dave] Kovalenko in that slot just to guarantee a win every fourth game. I think we pitching squads will be just fine."

Whatever these changes bring, we here at Publick Occurrences look forward to another exciting year of baseball.

3 January 2297 - Quincy-Warwick Trade: Morrison for Hickory

You can't always get what you want, but sometimes you find a deal anyway. The Baseball News Network is reporting that Quincy and Warwick have made a swap with 19-year-old minor league 1B Matt Morrison being shipped to the Mirelurks and in return the Gunners would get 19-year-old minor league RHP Andrew Hickory.

Quincy general manager Gunner Sprague said the two sides were close to a blockbuster trade before agreeing upon a smaller scale transaction.

"This is just a bit of housekeeping compared to what we wanted to do," he said. "I won't name names, but the potential deal we were close to making would have certainly grabbed some headlines."

A source inside the Quincy organization said the two sides might not be done dealing, and another transaction could be in the works.

Morrison, a 10th-round pick in the 2296 Inaugural Draft, has been a disappointment for the Gunners. Still, he had a good year in the 2297 with the minor league Postal Square Action Boys. In 50 games, he was 65 for 197 (.330) with 15 doubles, two triples, 12 home runs, 36 runs, and 49 RBI. He also won the Downtown Boston League's Great Glove Award.

"Yeah, we were ready to move on and see what else we could get," Sprague said when asked if this was a value trade. "Apparently, that wasn't as much as we hoped. Still, we're excited to see what Hickory can do to help us win ball games."

3 January 2297 - Party Boys Reliever Adds Third Pitch

Stating a desire to be the "fourth starter," Nordhagen Beach Party Boys reliever Chet Arthur has been working diligently to master a third pitch, the circle change.

"Day and night, night and day," he said. "I have been doing nothing but working on the circle change. I just hope I remember how to pitch my fastball and curveball.

Already possessing good movement in his pitches, Nordhagen Beach pitching coach Trevor Bayless likes the progress. "Chet has been a pleasure to work with. He is pretty good at moving the ball side-to-side and up-and-down. If he is dealing with three different speeds in his pitches, he'll be tough to hit on, definitely tough to light up."

In 26 appearances in 2297, Arthur pitched 26.2 innings, allowing 12 earned runs (4.05 ERA) with 33 hits allowed, 10 walks, and 22 strikeouts. He finished with a 5-5 record despite never starting a game.

4 January 2297 - The Slog Ghouls Ship Estate to Egret

The Slog and Egret have made a swap. Players involved in the transaction are the Ghouls 29-year-old RHP Gary Estate, a 3rd round draft pick, and a 5th round draft pick, and the Ninjas 20-year-old minor league RHP Tommy Hein, 20-year-old minor league RHP Buckskin Antlerhorn, 21-year-old minor league C Eagle Eye Miller, and a 2nd round draft pick.

Really looking forward to the new, longer season, and to seeing how the changes pan out. It will be interesting to see which teams prosper under the 4 starters regime and which struggle. It will also [for me!] be interesting to see if the Party Boys can build on the strong end to last season.
Thanks, once again, StLee, and "Go Boys!"

Mysterious Radio Broadcast
 

Terminal Entry: 10.17.2296
User: Phil Wallace, aka HCU Man
Subject: Gunners' Plaza - Radio Room

I was working in Gunners' Plaza, sketching out some more stories for the HCU. I always like to work in the radio receiving room. It is interesting to hear when random radio signals come through in the Commonwealth. Mostly, it's people finding a working ham radio and just yelling expletives into it. Sometimes, though, we would receive interesting broadcasts. Sometimes they would ask for help. Sometimes they were mysteries.

Today was a strange one, just the second time I heard a truly bizarre one. Today it was a man's voice, followed by a robotic woman's voice, and repeated over and over:

Man: 2-0-2-1. Don't repeat history. 2-0-2-1.
Robot: This message will be repeated in three seconds.

We tried to find out where the signal was coming from, but we could only find proof it was coming from WSW of us. No distance of the signal was given.

I have no idea what it means. Is 2021 a year? What does it mean? I'll head to the Boston Public Library and see what of their remaining volumes might have something for that period in time. I don't know what to make of it. Just random.

I realized I had made a mistake in my dynasty with Phil Wallace. He was set to play a role in my dynasty as a writer, but somehow I had a player named Phil Wallace, too. I would be willing to leave him as a player, but the age was wrong. I don't know what I was thinking, so I changed it. The player that was Phil Wallace, 2296 Inaugural Draft 2nd-round pick of Egret, is now his older brother Phlip Wallace. Phlip Wallace is a 29-year-old, so Phil cannot be he. As far as I know, the player was only mentioned once throughout the dynasty, so that entry from 2296 is edited.

Therefore, I finally started on Phil's story. See previous entry. His kid character told an awesome little story about his creative creation, Super Mutant Joe who grew a second head that would argue with him. I like Phil Wallace. He's going to stick around this dynasty in another way than most of the other Fallout 4 kids.

January 2298 - January 14-15
 

Nordhagen Beach has come up a lot this offseason in random events. Number next!

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Today in the CBO

News and Notes - Reports from around the Commonwealth

by Nat Wright-Kowalski

14 January 2298 - Oberland Talks Stadium

With talks already in the works that there may be some restructuring at the BMU level, Oberland is in on talks about building their own stadium along the Charles River, just west of the settlement, rather than continue to travel to Graygarden for home games.

Several Oberland players decided to make homes in Graygarden during the offseason rather than staying in Oberland, prompting team owner August Oberland to act.

"I have been talking with some of the town council, and we think it would be great to have a field right along the river," Oberland said. "I visited the facilities in Nordhagen Beach and Warwick, and I love the atmosphere of being on the waterfront during a ball game. I know the Charles and the Atlantic are two different bodies of water, but I think we would offer an attraction not every team can."

Oberland said that his council would take a vote either later this month or early next. If the stadium were to be approved, Oberland would start securing the materials necessary as soon as possible.

"If they say yes, we're opening a brand new stadium either in 2299 or 2300. It may not be as massive as the Great Green Jewel, but it will be a stadium Oberland citizens and players can be proud of."

Oberland also expressed disappointment players were leaving the player-designated housing and relocating across the river in Graygarden.

"I know living there is more convenient for them for practice and games, but they wear the Oberland name on their chest, not Graygarden. I want them to stay here. That is my main motivation for building them a top facility. I want to improve the player housing, too, so that they want to live here their entire time they play for us."

15 January 2298 - Party Boy Outfielder Has Strange Illness

Nordhagen Beach Party Boys backup outfielder Clux Oldstreet has contracted a strange illness that is expected to keep him out of action for some time.

Oldstreet started raising radchickens he obtained from a seller in Far Harbor. While the radchickens have thrived, Oldstreet started showing strange rashes and scabs all over his body.

"It looks like his chickens pecked him all over," Party Boys team trainer Matt Amico said. "I have never seen anyone have symptoms like this. It's like a pox from radchickens. I would say it appears to be that, if I had to guess."

Amico has recommended that Oldstreet go to the Institute to study his condition since nothing like it has appeared in the Commonwealth.

Far Harbor mayor Captain Avery has said she has never experienced anything like it among people in Far Harbor or the general Acadia area. She has not ruled out the possibility that diseases from radchickens could contribute towards the madness associated with island Trappers.

Oldstreet, originally selected in the 13th round of the 2296 Inaugural Draft, appeared in 33 games in 2297 as a pinch hitter and late-game defensive replacement. He was 13 for 31 (.419) with five doubles, a home run, five runs, and seven RBI.

January 2298 - January 21-22
 

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Today in the CBO

News and Notes - Reports from around the Commonwealth

by Nat Wright-Kowalski

21 January 2298 - Finches, Four Leafs Players to Make Donation

The Finch Farm Four Leafs owner's son Jake Finch, along with several players on the CBO team, will make a boat trip to Portland to donate excess harvest from the winter crops.

In a joint press conference with the CBO headquarters, Finch made the announcement.

"This is a diplomatic event both to share with a place of need and spread the word more about the CBO," Finch said.

The Four Leafs are hoping to be one of the few teams that has a following outside the Boston area. The team will get on a motorized boat at the Harbor tomorrow morning. They are expected to arrive in Portland either later that day or Sunday morning. They plan to return January 26.

"Not only will we hand out the excess crops to the settlers at the port," Finch said, "but we brought tons of baseball equipment and Four Leafs gear. I'm proud to represent my father's organization and the CBO. I think it will be a great mission for the future of our peaceful Commonwealth and a chance to spread the interest of baseball throughout the Commonwealth."

CBO Commissioner Nate Howard has expressed interest in expanding the talent base. Already, players have flooded in from Bradberton, but there may be competition with Nuka World starting its own league beginning in 2299. Vim! owner and sponsor of the Salem Witch Hats and Brotherhood League stadiums, Small Bertha, has also expressed interest in creating a league in Mount Desert Island. There have been chain link fence ball parks constructed there.

Portland is in the former Maine, like Far Harbor and the rest of Mount Desert Island. Despite there being great strides to make the Boston area a peaceful location, Portland is still riddled with problems, especially in the creature category. Many of the creatures native to Mount Desert Island have spread their breeding grounds over the years, so large creatures like fogcrawlers, hermit crabs, gulpers, and anglers.

Attending with Jake Finch will be Four Leafs newly-named team captain C Gary "Gary" Gary, SP Good Company Schiller, LF Danny Honeycutt, CF Ginger Rogers, and 3B Peter Tatoeater, along with Galleria Robotics Experts players SP Chris Deathclaw, 2B Sherwood Forest, and 1st-round pick 2B Signal Frummy.

22 January 2298 - Abernathy-Roxbury Trade: Prospects for Clevinger

Signed ... sealed ... and delivered.

Abernathy has worked out terms of a deal to send 19-year-old minor league SS Nick Maris and 18-year-old 2nd-round pick RF Deerlord Fugivmee to Roxbury for 26-year-old RHP Kyle Clevinger and a 3rd round draft pick. Both teams expect to introduce their new players at press conferences later in the week.

Clevinger started six games for the Knuckle Punchers in 2297, going 3-1 with a 3.56 ERA in 48.0 innings pitched. Clevinger is expected to be the fourth starter in Abernathy.

Maris is now on his third team in six months. He was traded from Goodneighbor to Abernathy in July, though he struggled some after the trade. On the season with Trinity Plaza and Bunker Hill, he was 37 for 161 (.230) with seven doubles, a triple, two home runs, 23 runs, and 28 RBI in 43 games.

According to Fugivmee's draft scouting report, he is a contact hitter with limited power. He is a good runner, so he can steal bases and play anywhere in the outfield, though he is currently projected as a right fielder because he does not always take a good position when fielding the ball. As a batter, he works the count deep, which will contribute to walking more than the average batter. As a person, he is considered to be a winner--he will work hard to stay on the field and shows dedication to his teammates.

22 January 2298 - Mirelurks Minor Leaguer Has Chem-Inspired Outburst

Charles View Cannibals outfielder Tunafish Walshe was found nude along the banks of the Charles River blessing the fleets. When approached by authorities just east of Charles View Amiptheater, Walshe was found to be high on a combination of Jet and Psycho.

"We found a young man in his emperor suit," head of the South Bank Patrol Drake Lake said. "He was obviously not in the right mindset. Our boats are blessed by an unnamed god now, at least."

Walshe was first taken across the river to Kendall Hospital for treatment. Team officials reached with Warwick stated that he would need rehabilitation. An unnamed respondee on ESAU stated, "We will put him in rehab. This is not his first time of sneakers and a smile on chems."

January 2298 - January 29-31
 

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Today in the CBO

News and Notes - Reports from around the Commonwealth

by Nat Wright-Kowalski

29 January 2298 - Breakheart Banks Shows Off New Look

The Breakheart Banks BMU team changed from the Wasteland Whisperers to the Behemoths in the offseason. Now they are showing off their new logo and uniforms.

Pictured below are two prospects for the Salem Witch Hats organization currently on the Behemoths roster.

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31 January 2298 - Oldstreet Viral, Quarantined

Nordhagen Beach Party Boys left fielder Clux Oldstreet is viral. The Institute is calling it the IVZV, for short.

"Mr. Oldstreet has a highly-contagious irradiated varicella-zoster virus, or IVZV," Institute viroligist Dr. Brendan Volkert said. "He must be quarantined for an extended period until the virus runs its course and after we study the long-term effects of the virus."

Dr. Volkert indicated that the virus was not transmitted from radchickens, though some viruses can. He did not believe IVZV was an interspecies-transmitted virus.

"In this case, the radchicken cadavers tested negative for IVZV," Volkert said. "Mr. Oldstreet was not able to recall a human that he may have encountered with similar rashes or skin lesions. We will be on the lookout for an outbreak of anyone Mr. Oldstreet came in contact with and begin working immediately in cooperation with Curie Inc. for developing a vaccine and treatment plan for IVZV."

According to Dr. Volkert, Oldstreet is on a mandatory six-month quarantine in the BioScience Laboratories within the Institute. Samples of Oldstreet's blood was sent to the Curie Inc. laboratories in Vault 81.

Liking the high number of trades. Hopefully it'll keep the league fresh. It seemed like last season maybe there weren't too many, or maybe I have a blind spot for them then.

I must say I don't like the prospect of an IVZV pandemic - but I do like the look of the Behemoth unis!

There has definitely been a lot of trades rolled for random events this offseason. While there have not been any truly blockbuster trades, high pick in the Inaugural Draft Brad Westing was a pretty big one. He was not very good for the Knuckle Punchers, so it makes sense they wanted to get something for him.

I think I also upped the trades for the regular league, hoping the AI will make a few more moves, too. There are some trades that way, especially around the trade deadline, but not as much as I would sometimes like to see.

I thought that storyline could be problematic. Still, I had to roll. Luckily, Oldstreet is the only known case in Nordhagen Beach. The Institute is going to send a team up to that chicken farm in Far Harbor to see if they can get to the bottom of this.

February 2298 - News and Notes - February 1
 

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Today in the CBO

News and Notes - Reports from around the Commonwealth

by Nat Wright-Kowalski

1 February 2298 – CBO Announces Two Preseason Tournaments

The preseason tournaments, the Battle for the North and the Battle for the South are back for 2298, this time with seeds. This season, there will be two tournaments with the announced stadiums being CBO champions' Oberland T-51s hosting at Graygarden Park and CBO runners-up the Nordhagen Beach Party Boys hosting at Slocum's Joe Seaside Stadium.

The double-elimination tournaments will run from March 12 until March 20 with a maximum of three games played per day. All teams were slotted by seed in the bracket, and home teams are determined by higher seed in the winner's bracket. Games will start in four-hour increments to allow enough time between games. On days with three games, scheduled start times are 12:05, 4:05, and 8:05. On days with two games or an optional second game, the 12:05 start time is eliminated.

The following are the daily schedules of games, followed by the brackets:

Day 1, Saturday, March 12 – Games 1-3
Day 2, Sunday, March 13 – Games 4-6
Day 3, Monday, March 14 – Games 7-9*
Day 4, Tuesday, March 15 – Games 10-12*
Day 5, Wednesday, March 16 – Games 13-14
Day 6, Thursday, March 17 – Games 15-16*
Day 7, Friday, March 18 – Games 17-19*
Day 8, Saturday, March 19 – Games 20-21*
Day 9, Sunday, March 20 – Game 22 and if necessary, Game 23

* Indicates there are games that will eliminate teams from the tournament.

Page 42
 

This page is the answer to the Ultimate Question of Life, the Universe, and Everything. Ultimately, the answer was, is, and will always be: Jackie Robinson.

February 2298 - News and Notes - February 3-5
 

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Today in the CBO

News and Notes - Reports from around the Commonwealth

by Nat Wright-Kowalski

3 February 2298 - Jamaica Plain's Bust Killed by Behemoth

It is a rare sight to see a glowing behemoth, but an even rarer one to fall victim to its massive reach. Jamaica Plain's Jeff Bust did, and now he is no more.

The pride of Graton, Bust was traveling to his hometown northwest through the wooded area beyond Concord when he encountered a glowing behemoth along the way. The massive beast, aglow from extra radiation poisoning, flung boulders at Bust and his traveling partner, crushing both men.

A team of Minutemen disposed of the beast and recovered Bust's partially-consumed body, as well as the unidentified man with him. The other man is believed to have been a hired bodyguard.

In his career, Bust played part-time over two seasons with the Red Rockets. He appeared in a total of 30 games, racking up 29 plate appearances. He was 6 for 28 (.214) with a walk, two runs, and six strikeouts in his career.

5 February 2298 - Free Agents Arrive

Due to a shortage of free agents available, CBO Commissioner Nate Howard purchased the contracts of 187 travel ball players from their team managers. Many of the players purchased were not signed by the CBO in 2295 when the league was putting together a draft list.

All players are immediately eligible to sign with a team that has a need for more players, though some teams had already been stocking players. Others, like Egret, which is in need of position players for Somerville Place, will find an extra set of players useful to their short-term needs.

February 2298 - News and Notes - February 6-12
 

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Today in the CBO

News and Notes - Reports from around the Commonwealth

by Nat Wright-Kowalski

6 February 2298 - CBO Seeds for Tournaments

Since some fans are not familiar with brackets, they requested a listing of the seeds for each tournament based on our previous story.

Seeds for the Battle for the North held at Nordhagen Beach's Slocum's Joe Seaside Stadium are as follows:

1. Nordhagen Beach - BL
2. FHE - RL
3. Fort Hagen - IL
4. Lexington - IL
5. Warwick - ML
6. Roxbury - RL
7. Salem - BL
8. University Point - ML
9. Abernathy - IL
10. Egret - RL
11. County Crossing - BL
12. Diamond City - RL

For the Battle for the South at Oberland's Graygarden Park:

1. Oberland - RL
2. Quincy - ML
3. The Slog - BL
4. Goodneighbor - ML
5. Easy Town - BL
6. Sunshine Tidings - IL
7. Vault 81 - RL
8. Starlight - IL
9. Finch Farm - BL
10. Atom - ML
11. Concord - IL
12. Jamaica Plain - ML

7 February 2298 - Nordhagen Beach in the Clear for IVZV

Citing no other cases than Nordhagen Beach player Clux Oldstreet, the Institute and the CBO have cleared the settlement to host the Battle for the North Tournament. The Institute will now turn its attention to Far Harbor and Mount Desert Island for the potential culprit for a contagious virus caught by the Party Boys player.

8 February 2298 - Jamaica Plain Offloads Catcher for Three

In a move that has left many fans wondering, the Egret Ninjas have traded 25-year-old minor league 2B Corey Statue, 18-year-old minor league LF Mark Gabel and a 5th round draft pick to the Jamaica Plain Red Rockets. In return, the Ninjas receive 19-year-old minor league C Twisted Bree Schneider.

12 February 2298 - Goodneighbor Minor Leaguer Becomes Second Dead This Month

Goodneighbor Hancocks' Jarrod Groves had only been a signee of the team for a month. Now he is ded due to injuries sustained from an attack by pink feral ghouls.

Groves was last seen alive just west of Quincy on his way to Roxbury via the swamp roads. He had planned to buy Hancocks gear at Fallon's Department Store.

"We got a report that a body was discovered being consumed by pink ferals native to the Murkwater area," Hancocks general manager Dennis Hillbunker said. "We found out that it was a minor leaguer we signed recently, Mr. Jarrod Groves."

Groves signed with Goodneighbor after being given a league tryout on January 2. He said he played ball with traveling teams in the New Hampshire area. Groves' pitch speeds were said to reach triple digits on the laser guns though he lacked in movement and control of his pitches.

"We never got to know him," Hillbunker said, "but we'll miss his potential deeply."