User:Rizealand/Sandbox2

Premier League Baseball

Sport	Baseball
Founded	Rizealand Baseball League (RBL), 1871 (1871) Asterian Baseball League (ABL), 1887 (1887) Merged into one organization, 1901 (1901)
No. of teams	30
Country	AFR (12 clubs) Rizealand (12 clubs) Cassier (6 clubs)
Headquarters	Liberty City, Lothicania, RZL

Premier League Baseball (Gaullican: Première Ligue de Baseball; Luzelese: Primeira Liga de Beisebol), commonly abbreviated as PLB, is a professional baseball league in Asteria Superior that presently consists of 30 clubs including 12 in the AFR, 12 in Rizealand, and 6 in Cassier. It is the largest and claimed to be the first baseball league in the world. It is also one of the oldest and major professional sports leagues in the Asterias.

The origin of the PLB are traced to the Rizealand Baseball League which was founded in Liberty City, Lothicania in 1871. As baseball spread in popularity throughout Asteria Superior, the Asterian Baseball League was founded in the AFR in 1887. After increased competition against each other, the two professional leagues merged in 1901 to form Premier League Baseball with the Rizealand Baseball League's eight clubs becoming the "Northern League" and the Asterian Baseball League's eight clubs becoming the "Asterian League." Beginning in 1960, the PLB expanded to Cassier with its first two franchises and grew rapidly from 20 clubs to 24 in 1970, 26 in 1977, 28 in 1993, and 30 in 1998.

The Northern League and Asterian League each include fifteen clubs that are divided into three divisions of five clubs each. During the regular season, each club plays 162 games. Following the regular season, the top two clubs in each league's division advance to play each other a four-round knockout tournament that culminates in the World Series to determine the champion of the PLB.

History

Founding

• Baseball originates in Rizealand during the 1850s and 1860s
• In 1871, the Rizealand Baseball League (RBL) was founded in Rizealand as the first professional baseball league with 5 clubs in Portmouth, Liberty City, Winchester, Camden, and Tyrell
• During the late 19th century, numerous other amateur and professional baseball leagues were formed in Rizealand although the RBL continued to dominate due to the location of its clubs in major urban areas. Baseball also began to spread south to the AFR and began quickly increasing in popularity.
• In 1887, a group of AFR businessmen met together and took advantage of the interest in baseball by forming the Asterian Baseball League with six starting teams in major AFR cities
• During the late 1890s, both the RBL and ABL grew rapidly in size and began swallowing up their domestic rivals. As the RBL subsumed its rivals and began paying less to individual players, the ABL began to poach Rizean players with higher salaries and the RBL responded by attempting to poach top players from the ABL.
• In early 1901, representatives from both leagues held a series of meetings in Liberty City and Assunçã to resolve their disputes. While they initially intended to workout a compact to prevent the stealing and signing of each league's players, both leagues began to consider forming a single league in order to consolidate their resources and guarantee each team/league cooperation. They then formed Premier League Baseball with the RBL's eight clubs (Northern League) and the ABL's eight clubs (Asterian League). First season began in 1901.
• After a series of successful starting seasons, the PLB struggled through the Great Collapse starting in 1913, leading to decreased ticket sales and roster cuts although clubs were able to survive by creating night games, radio broadcasting games, and special promotions.
• From 1929-1935, the Great War resulted in a brief suspension of games before national governments provided support and allowed the PLB to continue with reduced rosters to improve morale, provide a source of wartime entertainment, and help increase Rizealand-AFR ties (in the alternative, RBL and ABL could have remained separate up to the point; following breakout of war and invasion of AFR, ABL clubs could have temporarily relocated to Rizealand to play games; as a result, interest grew for a unified baseball league and following the Great War during the rebuilding of AFR in late 1930s-early 1940s, the two leagues merged)
• In 1960, following a few decades of successful growth in Rizealand/AFR and growing interest up north in Cassier, PLB expands by adding 2 Cassien clubs, 1 AFR club, and 1 Rizean club. (TOTAL: 2 Cassien clubs, 9 Rizean clubs, 9 AFR clubs)
• In 1970, another expansion of 2 Cassien clubs, 1 AFR club, and 1 Rizean club. (TOTAL: 4 Cassien clubs, 10 Rizean clubs, 10 AFR clubs)
• In 1977, one Cassien club and one Rizean club added (TOTAL: 5 Cassien clubs, 11 Rizean clubs, 10 AFR clubs)
• In 1993, one Cassien club and one AFR club added (TOTAL: 6 Cassien clubs, 11 Rizean clubs, 11 AFR clubs)
• 1998, one AFR club and one Rizean club added (TOTAL: 6 Cassien clubs, 12 Rizean clubs, 12 AFR clubs)

Clubs

Club	Location	Stadium	Capacity	Founded	Joined
Northern League
!Cincinnati Reds	Cassier	!Great American Ball Park	42,319	?	1960
!Boston Red Sox	Cassier	!Fenway Park	37,949	?	1960
!Minnesota Twins	Cassier	!Target Field	38,871	?	1970
!Milwaukee Brewers	Cassier	!American Family Field	41,900	?	1970
!Toronto Blue Jays	Cassier	!Rogers Centre	41,500	?	1977
!Colorado Rockies	Cassier	!Coors Field	46,897	?	1993
Winchester Rangers	Winchester, Providence	Parshall Field	41,268	1871	1901
Portmouth Cubs	Portmouth, New Estmere	Madison Park	41,915	1871	1901
Liberty City Cockerels	Liberty City, Lothicania	Durham Park	47,309	1883	1901
Ardougne Bûcherons	Ardougne, Charlotte	CoxCo Center	38,362	1887	1901
Marymore Squirrels	Marymore, Lothicania	Squirrel Ballpark	45,971	1892	1901
Tyrell Gealbhain	Tyrell, Fael	Páirc na Gealbhain	40,162	1892	1901
McDowell Braves	McDowell, Lyhoming	Liberty Insurance Field	37,903	1970
Camden Federals	Camden, CT	Federal Ballpark	41,313	1977
Belltown Orcas	Belltown, New Estmere	GoHub Park	47,943	1998
Asterian League
Los Santos Angels	Los Santos, San Andreas	Angel Stadium	56,000	1890	1901
Gadsen Bushdogs	Gadsen, Cahoka	Sunrise Field	34,830	1890	1901
Irving Rabbits	Irving, San Andreas	Irving Ball Park	45,957	1960
Assunçã Courages	Assunçã,Nou Remana	All-Asterias Stadium	41,500	1881	1901
Forte Saint Chloe Saints	Forte Saint Chloe, Barros	The Saint's Stands	43,975	1882	1901
Rio Silver Rush	Rio Vermelho, Massa	Tinto Park	43,651	1884	1901
Ponte Quebrad Bridgemen	Ponte Quebrad, Marchena	The Old Field	40,615	1884	1901
Forte Azul Defenders	Forte Azul, Marchena	!Blue Field	41,297	1885	1901
Rio da Orla Runners	Rio da Orla, Nou Remana	The Asterian Coliseum	46,847	?	1901
Barros Rurales	Colinas Castanhas, AFR	Baroigas Field	40,300	1887	1901
Assunçã Challengers	Assunçã,Nou Remana	Asterfi Stadium	41,922	1891	1901
Agugar Strikers	Agugar, Silvieria	Silvieria Mineração Park	41,676	1911	1960
Porto Arenoso Pufferfish	Porto Arenoso, Marchena	!All-Asterian Shipping Stadium	36,742	1937	1970
Andrande Anacondas	Forte Nelson, Andrande	Buffallo and Co. Field	48,519	1955	1993
Correia Vultures	Estevia, Correia	Grandas Financial Field	31,042	1957	1998