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FuzzyRussianHat · 06-22-2024, 05:17 AM

Expansion became all the range in the 2000s across professional baseball. The Oceania Baseball Association wanted to get in on the fun and certainly had the popularity to grow. At 16 teams, it was even with Eurasian Professional Baseball for the fewest teams of any of the Global Baseball Association leagues. The main challenge for OBA was finding suitable markets to expand to, as it didn’t have many options in its small orbit.

The ultimate plan was to add two teams to both the Australasia League and the Pacific League, bringing both to ten teams. In the AL, the capital Canberra (the Centurions) was an obvious choice as the country’s eighth-largest city. Joining them was Hobart, which was a significantly smaller city than the other AL teams. However, the hope was that the squad would be the team for the entire island state of Tasmania, hence the Tasmaniacs mascot name.

The PL was tougher as most of the remaining independent island nations had very small populations. Although the PL and the Caribbean League had shown that you could get small island teams to show out and support, the options were limited. Vanuatu would secure the first expansion team known as the Wizards.

The second spot would be the Timor Tapirs, based out of East Timor. It had only become a country in 2002, breaking away from Indonesia. It was an incredibly new market, but one OBA officials hoped would only grow as the country gained its footing.

OBA didn’t make any other major changes to its structure, keeping a division-less format but now with 10 teams in each league. The top finisher from each league still advanced to a best-of-seven for the Oceania Championship.

Melbourne’s Australasia League dominance continued with a fourth consecutive pennant. The two-time defending OBA champs finished 106-56, the best yet during their 2000s run. Christchurch was a distant second at 94-68, followed by Auckland at 92-70. The Mets set a new AL record for team OBP at .341, which still stands as the top mark in 2006. Interestingly enough, 89-win Brisbane set the second-best OBP at .335 and set a new league record for hits at 1610.

Auckland 1B Jacob Crotchett won Australasia League MVP, leading in hits (201), RBI (153), average (.339), slugging (.656), and wRC+ (172). His 51 home runs were six behind Hobart’s Mahmoud Bourabia, denying the Triple Crown. Crotchett was only the second to ever reach 150+ RBI, joining Hall of Famer Vavao Brighouse (161 in 1995). He had signed a six-year, $24,400,000 extension before the 2005 season with the Avengers.

Pitcher of the Year was Melbourne’s Gavala Rahim in only his second full season. The 25-year old Australian righty led in wins (25-8), ERA (2.70), WHIP (0.98), and shutouts (3). Rahim added 244 strikeouts over 287 innings with 7.2 WAR.

The Pacific League had an intense battle for the top spot with Fiji dethroning Tahiti. The Freedom won it at 103-59, beating the three-time defending champ Tropics by one game at 102-60. Fiji had been the last team to win the PL since Tahiti’s streak started with the 2002 pennant. That was the Freedom’s only other title to date. New Caledonia was a very distant third at 90-72.

For the second time in three years, Honolulu 2B Kalos Ryniker won Pacific League MVP. The 26-year old Solomon Islander led in runs (107), homers (45), RBI (110), and total bases (356). His .316 average left him one point by Joel Patu for a Triple Crown. Ryniker also had 6.7 WAR and a 168 wRC+.

New Caledonia’s Crow Xue won his third Pitcher of the Year. The 28-year old from Hong Kong led in wins (25-13), ERA (2.03), innings (337.2), WHIP (0.89), quality starts (32), shutouts (6), and WAR (11.1). He added 349 strikeouts, finishing fourth in the league. Xue would pitch three more seasons for the Colonels before leaving to embark on a MLB tenure.

Melbourne mauled Fiji with a sweep in the 47^th Oceania Championship, becoming the second OBA franchise to three-peat. Only Honolulu had previously pulled it off, doing it twice in their great dynasty run (1982-84, 88-90). 3B Max Costantini was finals MVP, a 31-year old Brazilian who joined the Mets after nine years with Fortaleza of Beisbol Sudamerica. Costantini was 7-17 with 4 runs, 2 homers, and 8 RBI. This was Melbourne’s fifth overall title (1967, 1969, 2004, 2005, 2006).

Other notes: Samoa’s Austin Jong tossed OBA’s 10^th perfect game on August 22, striking out 15 against Guadalcanal. New Caledonia’s Tony Charles struck out 21 on September 10 against Guadalcanal, setting a new OBA record for Ks in a regulation game. The overall top mark was Jack Nix’s 23 from 1983, but he did that in 9.2 innings. Scott Webster became the 12^th pitcher to 3500 career strikeouts. SS Woody Bolling won his ninth Silver Slugger.

06-22-2024, 05:17 AM	#1359
FuzzyRussianHat Hall Of Famer Join Date: Dec 2020 Posts: 2,885	2006 in OBA Expansion became all the range in the 2000s across professional baseball. The Oceania Baseball Association wanted to get in on the fun and certainly had the popularity to grow. At 16 teams, it was even with Eurasian Professional Baseball for the fewest teams of any of the Global Baseball Association leagues. The main challenge for OBA was finding suitable markets to expand to, as it didn’t have many options in its small orbit. The ultimate plan was to add two teams to both the Australasia League and the Pacific League, bringing both to ten teams. In the AL, the capital Canberra (the Centurions) was an obvious choice as the country’s eighth-largest city. Joining them was Hobart, which was a significantly smaller city than the other AL teams. However, the hope was that the squad would be the team for the entire island state of Tasmania, hence the Tasmaniacs mascot name. The PL was tougher as most of the remaining independent island nations had very small populations. Although the PL and the Caribbean League had shown that you could get small island teams to show out and support, the options were limited. Vanuatu would secure the first expansion team known as the Wizards. The second spot would be the Timor Tapirs, based out of East Timor. It had only become a country in 2002, breaking away from Indonesia. It was an incredibly new market, but one OBA officials hoped would only grow as the country gained its footing. OBA didn’t make any other major changes to its structure, keeping a division-less format but now with 10 teams in each league. The top finisher from each league still advanced to a best-of-seven for the Oceania Championship. Melbourne’s Australasia League dominance continued with a fourth consecutive pennant. The two-time defending OBA champs finished 106-56, the best yet during their 2000s run. Christchurch was a distant second at 94-68, followed by Auckland at 92-70. The Mets set a new AL record for team OBP at .341, which still stands as the top mark in 2006. Interestingly enough, 89-win Brisbane set the second-best OBP at .335 and set a new league record for hits at 1610. Auckland 1B Jacob Crotchett won Australasia League MVP, leading in hits (201), RBI (153), average (.339), slugging (.656), and wRC+ (172). His 51 home runs were six behind Hobart’s Mahmoud Bourabia, denying the Triple Crown. Crotchett was only the second to ever reach 150+ RBI, joining Hall of Famer Vavao Brighouse (161 in 1995). He had signed a six-year, $24,400,000 extension before the 2005 season with the Avengers. Pitcher of the Year was Melbourne’s Gavala Rahim in only his second full season. The 25-year old Australian righty led in wins (25-8), ERA (2.70), WHIP (0.98), and shutouts (3). Rahim added 244 strikeouts over 287 innings with 7.2 WAR. The Pacific League had an intense battle for the top spot with Fiji dethroning Tahiti. The Freedom won it at 103-59, beating the three-time defending champ Tropics by one game at 102-60. Fiji had been the last team to win the PL since Tahiti’s streak started with the 2002 pennant. That was the Freedom’s only other title to date. New Caledonia was a very distant third at 90-72. For the second time in three years, Honolulu 2B Kalos Ryniker won Pacific League MVP. The 26-year old Solomon Islander led in runs (107), homers (45), RBI (110), and total bases (356). His .316 average left him one point by Joel Patu for a Triple Crown. Ryniker also had 6.7 WAR and a 168 wRC+. New Caledonia’s Crow Xue won his third Pitcher of the Year. The 28-year old from Hong Kong led in wins (25-13), ERA (2.03), innings (337.2), WHIP (0.89), quality starts (32), shutouts (6), and WAR (11.1). He added 349 strikeouts, finishing fourth in the league. Xue would pitch three more seasons for the Colonels before leaving to embark on a MLB tenure. Melbourne mauled Fiji with a sweep in the 47^th Oceania Championship, becoming the second OBA franchise to three-peat. Only Honolulu had previously pulled it off, doing it twice in their great dynasty run (1982-84, 88-90). 3B Max Costantini was finals MVP, a 31-year old Brazilian who joined the Mets after nine years with Fortaleza of Beisbol Sudamerica. Costantini was 7-17 with 4 runs, 2 homers, and 8 RBI. This was Melbourne’s fifth overall title (1967, 1969, 2004, 2005, 2006). Other notes: Samoa’s Austin Jong tossed OBA’s 10^th perfect game on August 22, striking out 15 against Guadalcanal. New Caledonia’s Tony Charles struck out 21 on September 10 against Guadalcanal, setting a new OBA record for Ks in a regulation game. The overall top mark was Jack Nix’s 23 from 1983, but he did that in 9.2 innings. Scott Webster became the 12^th pitcher to 3500 career strikeouts. SS Woody Bolling won his ninth Silver Slugger. __________________ Baseball: The World's Game fictional world reports Continental Baseball Federation world reports (8-tier promotion/relegation sim and college feeder)