1936
Songhai is having problems with the Byzantines and wants us to join in their fight on an Eastern front. I would just as soon see them evicted from my southern continent, but I'm not going to expend too much effort doing it. Our military is so much stronger that I don't see this being too much of an inconvenience. The Byzantines are being sassy anyway.
WAR! (Kind of, more of a 'police action'.)
The Japanese are asking for us to give them some ivory, and not offering anything in trade. Normally this is a no-no. But the league has many young Japanese players in it, and the Washington Elephants capitalized on this opportunity to gain goodwill with the fans and potential free agents, and has provided the ivory from their own supply.
The Greek settlers who looked like they might establish a city on our peninsula have thought better of their actions and continued on to the east. We'll keep an eye on where they end up. I don't want them to have a foothold in my hemisphere.
A trade fleet from the saturated New York market has relocated to Portland to expand our eastern trade routes.
The city of Philadelphia has convened a congress to determine the best way to expand the league. Having completed their stadium some years ago and still waiting for an expansion partner, they have taken a keen interest in continuing league expansion. They have elected an Ambassador, and with the league's blessing will being proselytizing Baseball in the Mongolian cities where American culture has become extremely influential. This may lead to the first foreign Baseball franchises.
There are no 'game-changing' free agents at face value this season. Probably the most solid guy available is C Jon DeBlasio of Seattle. He is quickly signed by the Washington Elephants during the winter meetings and inserted in the cleanup spot in their projected starting-day lineup.
SP Jarrett Baston is inducted into the Hall of Fame. In his prime for the New York Admirals he won four consecutive Best Pitcher Awards, but has been less effective after age 30 and switched to the bullpen for the Almaty Diamond Kings, winning a Best Reliever Award at age 36.
Masters Division: At the half-way point the Boston Gold had a 2½ game lead over the Buffalo Argent. As the season ended the Argent moved into first place, gaining home field advantage. SP Nate Davis led the Argent to an easy series win over the Gold.
Legends Division: On draft day the Seattle Anglers led the San Francisco Zoo by 1½ games, followed closely by the Almaty and Washington. On the last day of the season St. Louis had pushed into first place, with Almaty and San Francisco tied for 2nd. Both teams won their final game and they ended tied. The sudden-death matchup was decided in the bottom of the 11th inning when 3B Ryan Blanchard hit a walk-off single to give the Zoo the win and a berth in the playoffs. In the division series the Zoo were no match for the St. Louis Pioneers, who advanced to the championship.
CBL Championship: The St. Louis Pioneers won the first two games of the series in Buffalo and jumped out to a 3-1 series lead, but the Argent fought back to tie the series and take it to a deciding seventh game in Buffalo. In the final game it was Buffalo ace P Nate Davis who decided matters with a shutout victory to give the Argent another championship.
Pitcher Mike Trego won his 8th Best Pitcher Award for the San Francisco Zoo, and young slugging SS Josh Irby of the Portland Stags was selected Most Valuable Player. The Chicago Miners probably regret trading 1B Carlos Medina to Atlanta, as the kid picked up a Rookie of the Year Award for the Bison. Boston LF Akiho "Squirt" Hori had a 43-game hitting streak.
The league released season attendance figures, which resulted in some heated debates around the country.
