OOTP Developments Forums - View Single Post - The Level Playing Field: Alternate MLB History From 1884-Onward

FuzzyRussianHat · 01-11-2026, 07:15 PM

Below are a run through of some of the settings being used for this adventure.

-The full coaching system is used and teams can hire coaches from other squads. Owner goals are also enabled. I will not follow along trying to match real life owners to franchises; teams are stuck with whatever the default game gives them in that regard.

-Short injuries are High (Realistic Modern Day) but long injuries are Normal (OOTP Classic). I found in my tests that under high for long injuries, there is a tremendous amount of pitchers who amount to nothing from multiple blowouts. Obviously there’s truth to that in the modern game, but I felt it would be more fun if those injuries aren’t quite as common. Position player fatigue is set as high.

-Personality ratings and chemistry are in use. As I recall, the game assigns them randomly in historical games. I generally don’t think I’ll touch these but may decide to in extreme cases with known real-life scumbags. Unfortunately though with real life history, if you removed all of the scumbags, bigots, abusers; etc, that probably sadly gets rid of a large swath of guys.

-Player development settings are default values, same for the development lab. Ratings are based on neutralized stats and entire careers with a five year recalculation base. Negro Leagues equivalencies is a yes. Otherwise though, players do not retire or miss seasons according to history, so it is a crap shoot on how guys actually will perform relative to their real careers.

-The initial setup includes 24 teams split between the National League and American League. Both teams have a six-team East Division and six-team West Division. There will be expansions later in history, but this group will hold until the 1920s. There aren’t minor leagues initially due to a lack of players in the world, but minor league levels will be added once they can be supported.

-The American League will use the designated hitter, but the National League will not. No reliever minimum batters and no Manfred Man. Ties are only used in spring games. Active roster size is 25 players with a 15-man reserve roster initially. That will be adjusted once minor league levels are added. IL length of 15 days and 60 days.

-Trade deadline at the end of July, 10/5 rule, draft pick trading, and trading injured players all allowed. Amateur draft at the end of November with major league deals allowed for draft picks. No lottery system.

-I started with the 1884 financial figures as was, but then adjusted them into a fictional setup with 2% to 10% yearly inflation. Attendance baseline is only 4000 with $0.25 tickets to start, but I will increase the attendance baseline as history advances to somewhat mirror reality.

-No reserve clause or color barrier. Minimum service for free agency is six years, three for arbitration, 25% for Super 2. The A/B system is used for free agent compensation. No purchasing of contracts or posting system. No salary cap or cash maximum. Soft cap is 150% of average payroll with a 20% tax above the soft cap. Salary baselines range from $300 as the minimum, $1,000 for an average player, up to $4,000 for a good player and $10,000 for a superstar. Obviously these fictional players will be wealthier than their real life versions were. In my tests, I’ve been happy with the general competitive balance that has come with these starting numbers.

-Hall of Fame info is the default, season lasts 162 games. Using the schedule making tool, the setup has each team playing 24 games against each of their divisional foes. The remaining 42 games are against the other division; six games against some teams and nine against other. There isn’t interleague play and the all-star game is midway through the season.

-The postseason setup has the two division champs advancing to a best-of-seven League Championship Series. The winners go to the World Series. Both are HH-AAA-HH formats. No tiebreaker games used for divisions. The team with the best record gets home field advantage in the World Series. I haven’t decided yet how/if I’ll expand the postseason later on once more teams are added.

-The year used as the baseline for league totals is 1983, using lock league total stats and use of auto-calc. I will tweak a few other statistical modifiers though each season to get a consistent result, since the auto-calc does throw some things out of wack if left untouched I found. The roster settings and strategy are more in line with the 1980s style with some tweaking for personal preference. I found it to be a good middle-ground type style that isn’t too high/low scoring.

-Teams use five-man rotations and start highest-rested by default. Teams generally have a four-man bullpen and 16 position players. I appreciate the aesthetics of great aces regularly going deep into games moreso than the heavy bullpen usage of the modern game. I do still have closers set for heavy use, but I have noticed that in the earliest years regardless, teams won’t use closers/relievers too much simply because relievers didn’t exist in that style back them (and the ones that do exist aren’t good enough for the AI to give much time to). The starters are the stars though in this universe. This world will also have a higher amount of stolen base tries than the current game; again just a personal preference.

01-11-2026, 07:15 PM	#2
FuzzyRussianHat Hall Of Famer Join Date: Dec 2020 Posts: 3,424	Settings Below are a run through of some of the settings being used for this adventure. -The full coaching system is used and teams can hire coaches from other squads. Owner goals are also enabled. I will not follow along trying to match real life owners to franchises; teams are stuck with whatever the default game gives them in that regard. -Short injuries are High (Realistic Modern Day) but long injuries are Normal (OOTP Classic). I found in my tests that under high for long injuries, there is a tremendous amount of pitchers who amount to nothing from multiple blowouts. Obviously there’s truth to that in the modern game, but I felt it would be more fun if those injuries aren’t quite as common. Position player fatigue is set as high. -Personality ratings and chemistry are in use. As I recall, the game assigns them randomly in historical games. I generally don’t think I’ll touch these but may decide to in extreme cases with known real-life scumbags. Unfortunately though with real life history, if you removed all of the scumbags, bigots, abusers; etc, that probably sadly gets rid of a large swath of guys. -Player development settings are default values, same for the development lab. Ratings are based on neutralized stats and entire careers with a five year recalculation base. Negro Leagues equivalencies is a yes. Otherwise though, players do not retire or miss seasons according to history, so it is a crap shoot on how guys actually will perform relative to their real careers. -The initial setup includes 24 teams split between the National League and American League. Both teams have a six-team East Division and six-team West Division. There will be expansions later in history, but this group will hold until the 1920s. There aren’t minor leagues initially due to a lack of players in the world, but minor league levels will be added once they can be supported. -The American League will use the designated hitter, but the National League will not. No reliever minimum batters and no Manfred Man. Ties are only used in spring games. Active roster size is 25 players with a 15-man reserve roster initially. That will be adjusted once minor league levels are added. IL length of 15 days and 60 days. -Trade deadline at the end of July, 10/5 rule, draft pick trading, and trading injured players all allowed. Amateur draft at the end of November with major league deals allowed for draft picks. No lottery system. -I started with the 1884 financial figures as was, but then adjusted them into a fictional setup with 2% to 10% yearly inflation. Attendance baseline is only 4000 with $0.25 tickets to start, but I will increase the attendance baseline as history advances to somewhat mirror reality. -No reserve clause or color barrier. Minimum service for free agency is six years, three for arbitration, 25% for Super 2. The A/B system is used for free agent compensation. No purchasing of contracts or posting system. No salary cap or cash maximum. Soft cap is 150% of average payroll with a 20% tax above the soft cap. Salary baselines range from $300 as the minimum, $1,000 for an average player, up to $4,000 for a good player and $10,000 for a superstar. Obviously these fictional players will be wealthier than their real life versions were. In my tests, I’ve been happy with the general competitive balance that has come with these starting numbers. -Hall of Fame info is the default, season lasts 162 games. Using the schedule making tool, the setup has each team playing 24 games against each of their divisional foes. The remaining 42 games are against the other division; six games against some teams and nine against other. There isn’t interleague play and the all-star game is midway through the season. -The postseason setup has the two division champs advancing to a best-of-seven League Championship Series. The winners go to the World Series. Both are HH-AAA-HH formats. No tiebreaker games used for divisions. The team with the best record gets home field advantage in the World Series. I haven’t decided yet how/if I’ll expand the postseason later on once more teams are added. -The year used as the baseline for league totals is 1983, using lock league total stats and use of auto-calc. I will tweak a few other statistical modifiers though each season to get a consistent result, since the auto-calc does throw some things out of wack if left untouched I found. The roster settings and strategy are more in line with the 1980s style with some tweaking for personal preference. I found it to be a good middle-ground type style that isn’t too high/low scoring. -Teams use five-man rotations and start highest-rested by default. Teams generally have a four-man bullpen and 16 position players. I appreciate the aesthetics of great aces regularly going deep into games moreso than the heavy bullpen usage of the modern game. I do still have closers set for heavy use, but I have noticed that in the earliest years regardless, teams won’t use closers/relievers too much simply because relievers didn’t exist in that style back them (and the ones that do exist aren’t good enough for the AI to give much time to). The starters are the stars though in this universe. This world will also have a higher amount of stolen base tries than the current game; again just a personal preference. __________________ Baseball: The World's Game fictional world reports The Level Playing Field: Alternate MLB History From 1884-Onward Continental Baseball Federation world reports (8-tier promotion/relegation sim and college feeder)