Arucian Baseball League
Template:Region icon Kylaris Template:KylarisRecognitionArticle
Current season, competition or edition: 2023-2024 Arucian Baseball League season | |
 | |
| Sport | Baseball |
|---|---|
| Founded | November 3, 1876 |
| Commissioner | Claude Blanc |
| No. of teams | 20 |
| Countries | Bonaventure Carucere Eldmark Gaullica Imagua Île d'Émeraude Sainte-Chloé Satucin |
| Most recent champion(s) | Carrefour Stars (2022-2023) |
| Most titles | Sainte-Chloé Imperials (22) |
The Arucian Baseball League (Gaullican: Ligue de Baseball Arucien), known as the LBA or ABL, is a professional baseball organisation based in Sainte-Chloé, and one of the oldest and longest lasting professional sporting associations in the world. Since 1999, the League has been comprised of 20 teams spread across 8 countries, with 9 in Sainte-Chloé, 3 in both Bonaventure and in Île d'Émeraude, and 1 from Carucere, Eldmark, Gaullica Imagua and the Assimas, and Satucin each.
With baseball introduced to Colony of Sainte-Chloé from Rizealand throughout the mid 19th century, a professional league modeled off several Rizealand models would be formed in 1876, with four teams. Largely in the shadow of Rizealand's League, it would operate in the winter months, and saw a great deal of cooperation with Rizealand and sharing of players and talent. Until the Great War, the League would remain within Sainte-Chloé, and during the later stages of the war it would temporarily cease operation. After the war, the League would expand and became multi-national sport, especially after the foundation of the United Provinces. The League continued to see expansion throughout the 20th century, growing from 6 teams in 1946 to 20 teams by 1999.
The League's teams are divided into four largely geograhpical divisions, with five in each division. Each team plays a total of 100 games from early November to March, followed by a brief post-season in March. The teams with the highest record in each division move on to a divisional playoff series to play against their opposing division; winners of the divisional series move on to the Arucian Series, the chief title in the League, the winner of which is considered as the yearly champion of the league. Since the foundation of the Arucian Series in 1906, 115 Arucian Series have been held. Of these, the Sainte-Chloé Imperials hold a record 27 titles, as well 49 appearances. The most recent champion is the Sermoni Krakens, who won the series whiched finished off the 2021-2022 season.
The league, although being less prestigious than the Rizealand Baseball League, remains one of the top professional leagues in the world, and has had many players and teams who have performed well in international competitions. Although traditionally dominated by teams from Sainte-Chloé, with almost half of the teams being based in the country, the league has professional teams based across the islands of the Arucian Sea, Asteria Inferior and Asteria Superior. It is considered a highly international league, with talent being drawn from countries around the Asterias as well as in special cases other continents from around the world. It is the most popularly watched sport in Sainte-Chloé, and is a popular sport in Bonaventura, Carucere and Île d'Émeraude. Alongside the Arucian Football Association, it is one of the main sporting leagues in the Arucian and considered one the distinctive cultural institutions of the Arucian.
The League's administration is based in Port de la Sainte, Sainte-Chloé, and is responsible for overseeing the rules and regulations of the game, as well as disciplinary actions. The League also oversees several smaller minor leagues, which act as farm systems for the franchises, as well as sponsoring several baseball leagues at the collegiate and high school level, as well as several women's baseball and softball leagues The League cooperates extensively with the Rizealand Baseball League, and largely follows its decisions and rules. However, the Arucian League also has some of its own customs and rules, such as prohibiting designated hitters as well as play on Sundays and Holy Days. Although the teams are based in multiple countries and tend to cosmopolitan, the language of the league is Gaullican and players are expected to learn it.
Name
The official designation of the League is the Ligue de Baseball Arucien (lit. Arucian Baseball Leauge), a name first found in the 1876 Arucian Baseball Charter, the founding document of the League. It took this name from the Gaullican colonial division known as the Viceroyalty of the Arucian, of which Port de la Sainte was the capital and administrative centre. This name is sometimes shortened to the acronym LBA for sake of convenience, and is considered the official shorthand of the League in official documents. From the League's earliest days, this was also often shortened to Ligue Arucien or the Arucian League, which has become a prominent name across the Arucian. Although the League's official language is Gaullican, the name is translated in different languages in the countries where the League is present.
- Estmerish: Arucian Baseball League, Arucian League, ABL
- Vespasian: Lega di Baseball Arucian, Lega Aruciana, LBA
- Blostlandic: Arusiska Baseball Ligan, Arusiska Ligan, ABL
Organisation
Executive
The League is headed by a chief executive, known as the Commissioner, who is tasked with managing an overseeing the management of the League and its assets. Unlike other sporting organisations, the ownership of the league and the office of commissioner has been passed down through the Blanc family since the office was founded in 1916. The title has been currently held by Claude Blanc, the fifth-generation Blanc to have held the office, since 2016. The Commissioner is assisted in his operations by the Vice Commissioner, who works together with the Commissioner to head the executive. Since 2017, the office of Vice Commissioner has been held by Christian Lavoie, a former star player who entered into baseball administration after his career. Under the office of the Commissioner and Vice Commissioner, several executive offices exist for League management, financing, communications, advertising, and rule arbitration. The League hires and maintains all umpires, cooperates with the teams to work out schedules, enforces rules through bans and suspensions, and settles disputes.
In addition to the office of the Commissioner, there is the Arucian Baseball Commission, a group of executives who function as a board of directors and who elect the Vice Commissioner. The Commission is always comprised of 9 members- the Vice Commissioner, four representatives selected from the Arucian Owner's Association, and four representatives from the Arucian Player's Union. Although the Commissioner has final say in all matters, almost all of the time the Commissioner will work with the Commission in order to work out issues and keep both parties happy. Historically, the Commission was much more closely associated with the Owner's Association, and pushed for the Owner's affairs. Due to Chloéois governmental policies by the PCT and court cases following it, in 1957 the League was forced to allow the Player's Union to comprise half of the Commission.
The League's headquarters are based in Port de la Sainte, the capital city of Sainte-Chloé, and legally the League's administration follows their laws. Due to having teams based in other countries, the League also negotiates diplomatic, legal, and economic concerns presented by other countries. Players and staff of the teams have special customs status in all 8 countries for the sake of ease of travel during a season. The guiding document of the League is known as the Arucian Baseball Charter, written in 1887 and last amended in 2002.
Teams
The League is comprised of 20 teams, divided into 4 divisions of five teams. The two divisions are divided into two de jure unofficial conferences, grouping the West and East Divisions together and the North and South Divisions together. Each league has its own colour- yellow for West, blue for South, green for North and red for East. The divisions are notable for not always following geographic boundaries, but instead have come to their current state through the tradition, prestige, and expansion. The West division, until it added the Sermoni Krakens 1999, was made up exclusively of some of the oldest and wealthiest teams in the League, and has a reputation for history as well as strong performances- nearly half of the Arucian Series have been won by members of that division, and half of those have been won by a single franchise. In the past few decades, however, younger teams have been able to distinguish themselves and perform well.
Note: an "*" by the year founded indicates that this team has undergone a name change, a relocation, or both at some point during its participation in the League.
| Division | Logo | Team | City | Country | Stadium | Founded | Joined | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| West | 
|
Épernon Frères | Épernon |  Sainte-Chloé
|
Champ Saint-Roderic | 1872 | 1876 | An amateur club founded in 1872 which turned professional in 1875. Named after the Roderican Friars. One of the founding teams, and rival of the Imperials. | |
|
Escalade Cavaliers | Escelade | Sainte-Chloé
|
Champ Dumonte | 1925 | ||||
| File:Hammarvikbatslogo.png | Hammarvik Bats | Hammarvik | File:Eldmark.png Eldmark | Bank of Asteria Arena | 1976 | ||||
|
Sainte-Chloé Imperials | Port de la Sainte | Sainte-Chloé
|
Stade Impérial | 1867 | 1876 | An amateur club founded in 1867 which turned professional in 1875. One of the original founding teams. Rival of the Frères and the historic powerhouse of the league. | ||
|
Sermoni Krakens | Sermoni |  Bonaventura
|
SNT Arena | 1999 | The youngest Bonaventuran franchise was established as the first professional sportive of the XXXX Sportive Society. Due to recent investments, the Krakens have quickly risen to be one of the powerhouses of the ABL. | |||
|
Tranquille Sugars | Tranquille | Sainte-Chloé
|
Stade des Sucres | 1882* | Originally founded as the Domingue Sugar-Men as the first team which allowed blacks to participate. The title was shortened in 1903, and the team moved from Domingue to Tranquille in 1924. The first team to move away from the capital area. | |||
| South | 
|
Carrefour Stars | Carrefour |  Carucere
|
Préval Field | 1888 | 1947 | The fourth oldest team in the league. It is famous for being the first nonsectarian and mixed race sports team in Carucere. It is also the de facto Carucerean national baseball team. | |
|
Mont-Éclair Blues | Éclair | Sainte-Chloé
|
Stade du Blues | 1876* | Founded as the Saint-Laurent Blues as one of the original teams. Due to financial troubles following the Great War, merged with the Volonté Eagles in 1936 and moved to Volonté as the "Blue Eagles". Moved to Subercaseaux in 1946, briefly becoming the "Subercaseaux United" before moving back to Volonté for the 1954 season. Moved to Éclair in 1963 and adopted the original team's colours and name. | |||
|
Sainte-Chloé Sunshine | Port de la Sainte | Sainte-Chloé
|
Stade Sainte-Chloé | 1998 | ||||
|
Sainte-Geneviève Generals | Sainte-Geneviève | Sainte-Chloé
|
Parc Balnéaire | 1947 | ||||
|
Sermoni Fortunates | Sermoni | Bonaventura
|
Campo Fortunato | 1921 | 1947 | Founded in the year of 1921 in Sermoni, the Fortunates are arguably the most successful baseball team in the history of the sport in Bonaventura. In 1947, the Fortunates joined the ABL and became the first Bonaventuran team to win the Arucian Series in 1957. Currently, they are the Bonaventuran team with the most Arucian Series win, and most Arucian Series appearances, as well as the team with the most playoff appearances. The Fortunates are one of only three teams in the history of the ABL to win the AS in every appearance made. | ||
|
Windstrand Voyagers | Windstrand |  Nuvania
|
Maitland Baseball Park | 1977 | Established in 1977, the Windstrand Voyagers remain Nuvania's only professional baseball team. | |||
| North | 
|
Accapucchi Channelers | Accapucchi | Bonaventura
|
Cupola Bianca | 1977 | |||
|
Appanno Lancers | Appanno | Bonaventura
|
Campo Elvezio Dell'Anno | 1964 | The Lancers were established in 1964 after the Appano Warriors and the Tepositianno Zapoyans, both teams from the Attila Baseball League, merged into a bigger franchise based in Appano. | |||
| File:Cuanstad Millers.png | Cuanstad Millers | Cuanstad | File:ImaguaFlag.png Imagua | Orient Stadium | 1947 | ||||
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|
Decouverte Navigators | Decouverte | Sainte-Chloé
|
Stade Phare | 1903* | Began as the Port Imperial Navigators before moving to Decouverte in 1938. | |||
|
Saint Clair Sugar Kings | Saint Clair |  Île d'Émeraude
|
Stade de la Banque de l’Île d’Émeraude | 1998 | ||||
|
Terre-Belle Rays | Canicule | Sainte-Chloé
|
Parc CBC | 1955* | Originally called the "Citadelle Captains", the team moved in 2003 to the Terre-Belle region and rebranded itself as the Rays. | |||
| East | 
|
Arac Alligators | Arac |  Satucin
|
Parc Piremont | 1971 | |||
| File:Caimanes de Barranquilla logo.png | Camp-Perrin Caymans | Camp-Perrin |  Côte des Saints
|
Stade de la Banque de Pourmape | 1964 | ||||
|
Mathiasville Maroons | Mathiasville | Île d'Émeraude
|
Parc Ajeng | 1971 | ||||
|
Port-au-Grégoire Robins | Port-au-Grégoire | Île d'Émeraude
|
Champ Gautier | 1964* | established in 1964 as the "Ressortissants" (Nationals), rebranded as "Robins" in 1985 as an homage to Port-au-Grégoire native, musician, and cultural icon Robin Gautier | |||
|
Saint-Thomas Lions | Saint-Thomas |  Gaullica
|
Parc Balnéaire | 1999 | Team from the Îles des Saints. | |||
|
Velkarichka Dynamo | Velkarichka |  Vinalia
|
Bank of Samistopol Park | 1976 | Established in 1976, initially located on Catherinsk, but relocated in 1980 to Velkarichka, then capital of South Vinalia. | |||
Defunct Teams
From the League's foundation until the early 20th century, the League usually numbered around four or five teams, almost all located in neighborhoods or cities surrounding the capital city of Port de La Sainte. Throughout the early decades before the Great War, the League saw expansion, reaching 9 teams in 1926. Due to the Great War, four of these teams would play their last season in 1932, although the owners of two would go on to form a merger franchise for the 1935 season.
• Clermont Capitains (1876-1881)
• Saint-Laurent Blues (1876-1932)*
• Allègre Aces (1881-1884)
• Port Imperial Sailors (1882)
• Vichel Wanderers (1884-1889)
• Clémensat Carmelites (1888-1893, 1903-1905)
• Saint-Claude Sluggers (1893-1903)
• Pays-Gelles Grenadiers (1901, 1904)
• Sarry Saints (1906-1919)
• Adeodat Toucans (1908-1915)
• Esternay Knights (1920-1932)
• Citadelle Cannoneers (1925-1932)
• Volonté Eagles (1926-1932)*
History
Founding Era (1876-1906)
Baseball was first introduced into the Colony of Sainte-Chloé in the mid-18th century by traders from Rizealand. At the time, Sainte-Chloé was the administrative centre of the Viceroyalty of the Arucian, and an important possession of Gaullica in the Asterias. Charles Saint-Pierre, the founder and spearhead of the Holistique movement which attempted to expand education throughout the colony, is said to have stumbled across a game and taken interest in the sport. He decided that it would make for a good opportunity to provide excercise and recreation to go along with his educational methods, and promoted its activity. With the establishment of schools and new charitable institutes for the poor under Holistique movement, the influence of baseball rapidly expanded in the 1860s and early 1870s. Amateur ballclubs began to increase, and by the mid 1870s a handful of professional ballclubs had arisen around the capital of Port du la Sainte. These teams began taking formal team names after the Sainte-Chloé ballclub professionalised in 1872 and adopted the name "Imperials".
In the spring of 1876, the owners of four of the professional teams, the Imperials, the Épernon Frères, the Clermont Capitains and the Saint-Laurent Blues agreed to form a joint league to play against each other. They decided to name the league the "Arucian Baseball League", naming it after the Gaullican Viceroyalty, and appointed the Arucian Baseball Commission as the chief governing body. The first game was held on Friday, Novemember 3rd, 1876, marking the beginning of the Arucian League, with the Frères beating the Imperials 5-4. After a season of 45 games (15 against each team), the Frères finished with a top record of 28-17, taking home the title of champion. After the first season, the league continued to play in like manner, attracting more attention as time continued. As sales increased, the League formed the Arucian Baseball Commission to oversee the hiring of umpires and administrative scheduling and disputes. In 1881, the Allègre Aces joined the league, becoming the first expansion team, followed by the Captains going bankrupt and leaving the league at the end of the season after 5 losing straight seasons. This would mark the beginning of the era in which ballclubs would come and play for a year or more but often not have the money or support to continue playing for long periods of time. By 1906, 5 more teams would enter the league before leaving due to financial constraints.
The league continued to grow and develop, fluctuating between 4 and 6 teams in any one season. In 1887, a single championship game was added which pit the two best teams in the league against each other, marking the end of 10 years of record-based championships. The professional scene remained centred around the capital, although amateur teams spread throughout the country. The professional teams would often draw talent and players from the amateur teams, and would play exhibition games against them. During this time, another regional form of baseball would develop in Pays du Sucre, known as "sugar baseball", and played by the workers at sugar plantations. This version was much more loosely organised and flexible with rules, however, it became an important source of talent and development.
Cooperative Era (1906-1927)
In the early 20th century, the Arucian League began to interact more with players from Rizealand's ballclubs, with teams from both countries playing in exhibition games or players participating in both leagues. This was facilitated by the Arucian League's winter schedule, as opposed to the Rizealand's league's summer schedule. The increased cooperation with Rizealand saw several important changes and codifications. The Arucian League adapted many of the Rizealand League's rules and regulations, and also founded the Arucian Series in model of Rizealand's style of championship. The first Arucian Series, taking place in 1907, was won by the Imperials, defating the Frères in game 7. Team composition also became much more steady, with no team playing fewer than seven seasons before shutting down or ceasing to be professional. Despite the high degree of popularity, racial discrimination of Bahians in Rizealand meant that many of the Chloéois players were unable to participate in the RBL, although several of them played in Bahian-run leagues in Rizealand. These groups also came to play in the Arucian League, and some became dominant players.
With the Great Collapse, the League's affairs took a turn for the worse as the economy was effected. Attendance declined and in 1915 the Domingue Toucans franchised were forced to close. With the league in crisis, the Arucian Baseball Commission appointed Pierre Blanc as executive Commissioner in 1916 in order rectify the situation. In order to fulfill his role, Blanc was given extensive powers and a lifetime position. Under his control, the League's situation began to improve substantially, with and the sport increased in profits, popularity, and influence. With more money and attention pouring into the sport, the number of teams continued to increase. With its newfound popularity, the sport began also expanding outside the market of just the capital, after the Sugars moved to Tranquille in 1924. By 1926, after the Volonté Eagles were established, the team was at 9 teams, the largest it had been in its history. As the number of teams expanded, so did the number of games and the length of the season.
The period of play between 1916 and 1927 is what is sometimes called the "Golden Age of Arucian Baseball" by sportswriters and fans. Baseball by this point had established itself firmly as the primary sport of Sainte-Chloé, and success of Chloéois baseball players at the Invictus Games for Gaullica engrained it even more. The league also saw the rise some of its greatest players during this time. Louis Remont was an all-star player in both the Arucian League and the Rizealand League, and was well known for his speed, contact hitting and fielding. During his career playing in the Arucian League (1906-1926), he would boast an career batting average of .411, setting a record for hits that would not be broken until years later. Jean-Luc Leroy was a revolutionary figure in the sport and one of the greatest ball-players of all time, although he only played 5 seasons from 1922 through 1926. Both an outstanding pitcher and hitter, he also was a remarkable fielder, playing shortstop when he was not pitching. He put up records for both pitching and hitting, in 1926 being the first person to break 30 home runs in an 80-game season, finishing the season with 31, the same year as setting record for number of strike-outs and wins for the season.
Great War Era (1927-1947)
The prospects for the league were faring well, until the Great War broke out in 1927. The outset of the war caused a massive dive in player participation, as many players volunteered or were drafted for the Gaullican armed forces or the Chloéois garrison. This included prominent stars such as Leroy, Dominique Thomas, and Claude Gagne, and others. Much of the top level talent was taken away, leading to a sharp decline in quality of play. Teams were forced to rely on disabled and disadvantaged players largely unfit for military service in order to stay afloat. Despite the troubles, the Leauge managed to survive, as not everything was affected. The Escalade Cavaliers managed to fare well during this period, as their star player Pierre Dumont was ineligible for military service and was able to continue playing, taking the team to three Arucian Series during the war.
As the war progressed and the situation worsed for Gaullica, things began to take a turn for the worse. Jean-Luc Leroy, a superstar who had greatly affected the course of the game throughout the 1920s, was killed in active service in 1929. During the war, over other 50 professional players would be killed in active duty in the Gaullican armed forces. Wartime austerity measures and restrictions caused issues for players and the league. In addition, during the Siege of Sainte-Chloé which began in 1932, matters became worse as the Allies began bombing the island. The Imperials and Frères were forced to leave the capital region for the countryside, playing their games in makeshift parks. The Imperials' Stade Impérial was destroyed during the bombing, which necessitated that it be rebuilt after the war. Blackouts, rationing and cancelations were common during the seige. Depsite pushing through the 1932 season to the 1933 Arucian Series, nearly a quarter of the games were canceled. After the end of the season, the colonial government put the sport on haitus.
Neither the 1933 or 1934 seasons would be played, marking the first time since 1906 when there was no Arucian Series or no play. The franchises were left without much option for continuing, although some continued to hold exhibition games. Most of the remaining players were let go, with the owners retaining the property but selling off the personel to keep costs low. Many of these players would turn to amateur teams and leagues, as the professional scene had been effectively cut off. Even despite of the cuts, the Esternay Knights and Citadelle Cannoneers would shut down completely. The owners of the Saint-Laurent Blues and Volonté Eagles decided to consolidate the franchises in order to save money, creating the Blue Eagles franchise for when play would eventually resume. Despite the two year gap, the owners and commissioner planned to begin once the War had come to a conclusion.
With the War largely concluded in 1935, league play resumed in November of 1935, now with 6 instead of 9 teams. Before play could resume, teams once again had to hire players from war veterans, amateur leaguers, and new talent. Since most players had been released from their contracts, the teams saw a good deal of re-shuffled talent. With the Imperials investing money into rebuilding their stadium, the Frères's money allowed them to purchase much of the top talent, allowing them to take both the 1935 and 1936 Arucian Series. Despite a rough start, the League began to return to its former status. Pierre Voloix, the governor-general, would help support the rebuilding effort, and was friendly with the League's Owners. No new teams were created, and the league continued its rebuilding process into the 1940s. By 1943, the situation had largely stabilized and recovered its money and popularity, and by 1945 the League was looking to expand.
Expansion Era (1947-2000)
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With the foundation of the United Provinces in 1945, Sainte-Chloé became part of a greater political union of the islands in the West Arucian Sea. Alongside the growing popularity of Arucian football, baseball was seen as means of increasing Arucian cooperation. Combined with the League's desire to expand, in 1947 the League admitted four new teams- one from Sainte-Chloé (the Sainte-Geneviève Generals, one from Imagua (the Cuanstad Millers), one from Carucere (the Carrefour Stars), and one from Bonaventure (the Sermoni Fortunates). With this, the market of the League opened considerably, with the talent from three new regions beyond Sainte-Chloé, for the first time becoming a truly international sport, although until 1948 all of them were technically part of the same country. The League itself implemented structural changes to reflect the increase in size. The 10 teams were split into two divisions, with one team from each division advancing on to play in the Arucian Series. The season was expanded to 100 games, with each team playing 80 games against divisional opponents, and 20 games of teams in the other division.
The new and longer season, now stretching from October to March, finally meant that players could no longer play in Rizealand's leagues in the same year without missing at least part of the season; however, this swapping had already been falling out of practice by the mid-1940s. The Arucian League was attempting to establish itself as its own independent major league rather than as a minor league. Although it did not have the money and wealth of Rizealand, nevertheless it was a respectable and flourishing league for its time. During the late 1940s, several controversies arose between Rizealand and the Arucian League. Firstly, the racial segregation in sports in Rizealand ended in the late 1940s, which resulted in RBL teams attempting to take Arucian's top talent for its own league, many of whom left. However, when Rizealand players began to opt to play in the Arucian League, those who were still under the reserve clause of their contracts were blacklisted by the RBL and from "organised baseball". The Arucian League protested this move, beginning a clash and over what was considered to be "organised baseball" or not which would last the next three decades. The RBL offered a solution by recognising the Arucian League as a 'minor league' and for dismissing the hired players, but the Arucian League rejected. The relations between leagues would remain hostile until the 1970s when the reserve clause was finally abolished from the RBL.
Despite the conflict between the two leagues, the Arucian League continued to grow and flourish, as the new teams began to integrate successfully into the League. In 1949, just two seasons after joining the league, the Stars made it to the 1948 season Arucian Series, before winning the following three consecutive Series (1949, 1950, 1951), the first time in the League's history a team had won three in a row and the first time a team from outside Sainte-Chloé had won. This success began to cement the popularity of the sport in these other countries, which would further be compounded after the Fortunate's wins in the late 1950s. In 1964, two more teams would be added, one in Bonaventura (the Appanno Lancers) and the other in the Île d'Émeraude (Port-au-Grégoire Ressortissants), the first team in the East Arucian sea. However, travel became a concern, as the Ressortissants were the first team not within a somewhat close geographical distance. Airplane was the only reliable way to cover the distance, and lead to increase in travel costs for each team. As such for the first part of their existence the Ressortissants were forced to play all of their home games against an opponent in a single long series, as that was the best way to make travel economical for most teams.
With the functional collapse of the United Provinces and establishment of an independent Sainte-Chloé, the Arucian League did suffer some internal tensions, as their existed hostility between teams in the newly established countries. In Sainte-Chloé, the political divide between the Democratic Party (PD) and the Catholic Labour Party (PCT) largely matched the political divide between the owners and the players on the teams. The Player's Union had long been associated and supported by the Labour Party and its successor. In 1956, the PCT passed labour legislation which would strike down many of the priviledges the owners had possessed for decades that were codified under Voloix's tenure, including the reserve clause. This caused an outrage among the owners, who attempted to force the PCT to change their legislation. When that failed, the owners instigated a lockout in order to prevent play until the law would be reversed. The players attempted to meet anyways, but were barred from stadiums. After a court order forcing the owners to end the lockout, the owners complied for a time. However, their continued refusal to implement the policies of the laws in act caused the players to go on strike in February. The Commissioner attempted to support the players, the owners on the Commission attempted to nullify his powers, resuming full power to themselves. With the umpires and administrative staff divided between Commissioner and owners, the League was inoperable. With the dispute ongoing into April, the Arucian Series was canceled. The continued refusal to comply with the government's laws, however, led to the intervention of the government, which punished the owners and ended the crisis in mid 1957. With the Commissioner resuming power, the Commission was reorganised to include representatives from the Player's Union and owner's group equally.
In the 1970s, with the abolition of the reserve clause, the RBL and the Arucian League finally put aside the controversy between them. In 1974, the League was prospering to the point where it underwent another major expansion, adding three teams- another in Île d'Émeraude (Mathiasville Maroons), one in Satucin (Arac Alligators), and one in Eldmark (Hammarvik Bats). The League now stood at 16 teams in 7 countries, making it one of the most widespread professional sports leagues in the world. The League expanded the number of divisions to 4, based mostly on tradition with some general geographic locations. With only three teams in the East Arucian, however, Citadelle Captains were assigned as part of the Eastern division despite being in the West Arucian. The Divisional Series was reformed to have only the top team from each division make the playoffs. Although this system largely worked, there were complaints from certain teams that the money and resources of certain divisions were greater than others, especially the West division, made up of the oldest and wealthiest teams. Finally, in 1999, four more teams were added, increasing each division by one and including the Euclean country Gaullica's Îles des Saints with the introduction of the Saint-Thomas Lions into the League.
Contemprorary Era (2000-)
After the expansion teams were added in 1999, Arucian baseball's popularity began to steady. In 2003, the Citadelle Captains moved to the city of Canicule, becoming the Terre-Belle Rays, marking the last time a team has moved cities or changed names. The introduction of new teams had fleshed out the league and greatly expanded its audience capacity. As television structure continued to increase across the Arucian, in person attendance began to decline in certain countries, although each team now had the benefit of lucrative television contracts. With five teams in each division and the unlikelyhood of expansion in the near future, the League decided to focusing on maintaining the status quo and developing the resources present. Ballparks were modernised or refurbished, with some teams moving to new ballparks.
The contemporary era has seen several new teams rise to prominence, or old teams finally see a breakthrough after a long drought. Play has also generally evened out, so that teams from outside of Sainte-Chloé have been faring well in the recent decades, although this trend was also prominent in the late 1970s and 1980s. The historic Frères, one of the original teams, won the series in 2004, having not won an Arucian Series since 1944, and had lost at their only appearance in between in 1980. Since then they have been a competitive team in the Western division, winning again in 2010 and 2015. The Terre-Belle Rays, with a young and promising team, managed to win the Series in 2003, the year that they moved from Citadelle, a move that was fundamental in cementing the new franchise but which was displeasing to old fans in Citadelle who felt betrayed, although Citadelle had not won a single Series in 52 years, although they had participated in 2. They were one of the most dominant teams of the 2000s, and won the series again in 2007, 2008, and 2012. The Mathiasville Maroons won their first Series in 2009, after four unsuccessful appearances over the years. Between 1999 and 2009, 5 Arucian Series were won by non-Chloéois teams.
In 2011, the Stars took their first series win since 1951, and had another appearance in 2010. The Bats won the 2013, 2014 and 2016 Series, although they were defeated in the 2015 divsional series, preventing them from winning four in a row. The Sermoni Krakens, one of the 1999 expansion teams, began to perform exceptional in the very difficult West Division during the 2010s, making it to the Arucian Series 4 times before finally taking home the title in 2021. The Imperials won their 27th series in 2018, and still hold the record of series won by nearly double their next contender, the Frères. In the late 2010s, the Sainte-Chloé Sunshine implemented gameplay changing styles, utilizing optimisation of players, prospect development and removing the starting pitcher in favor of short term pitching rotation, and with their new strategies managed to to win 3 Arucian Series in recent years.
However, there have been issues facing the leagues. Despite having success in the 1990s, the Millers have suffered declining attendance rates and lack of interest from the Imaguan populace, leading to economic issues and decrease in team values. This has led to talks from the owner to consider moving the team, or to consider and option of sharing the team with the city of Citadelle, however, nothing has proceeded at this time. The 2020 eruption of Mount Micchiano disrupted the early season in the West Arucian, focing the cancelation of dozens of games due to ashfalls and travel restrictions. Due to the crisis within Bonaventure and grounding of flights from October through November, play was not resumed until December. However, the missed games could not be made up in time, which resulted in the shortest season of Arucian baseball since 1947. Due to economic problems of that year and a shorter season, attendance was at an all-time low, negatively impacting the teams. However, by the 2022 season, most of the problems had been cleared, and the season returned to normal.
Season Structure
| Arucian Series Records | ||||
| Team | Number of Series won |
Last Series won |
Series played | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sainte-Chloé Imperials | 22 | 2018 | 38 | |
| Épernon Frères | 13 | 2010 | 16 | |
| Mont-Éclair Blues† | 10 | 2019 | 20* | |
| Decouverte Navigators† | 8 | 1974 | 25 | |
| Tranquille Sugars | 8 | 1970 | 21 | |
| Hammarvik Bats | 7 | 2016 | 8 | |
| Sermoni Fortunates | 7 | 2005 | 7 | |
| Escalade Cavaliers | 6 | 1940 | 8 | |
| Carrefour Stars | 4 | 2022 | 11 | |
| Cuanstad Millers | 4 | 1994 | 10 | |
| Port-au-Grégoire Robins† | 4 | 2002 | 8 | |
| Terre-Belle Rays† | 4 | 2012 | 6 | |
| Appanno Lancers | 3 | 1999 | 10 | |
| Mathiasville Maroons | 2 | 2009 | 4 | |
| Arac Alligators | 2 | 1996 | 4 | |
| Velkarichka Dynamo | 2 | 1997 | 3 | |
| Sainte-Chloé Sunshine | 2 | 2020 | 2 | |
| Sainte-Geneviève Generals | 1 | 1952 | 6 | |
| Camp-Perrin Caymans | 1 | 1981 | 4 | |
| Sermoni Krakens | 1 | 2021 | 4 | |
| Accapucchi Channelers | 1 | 2006 | 3 | |
| Windstrand Voyagers | 1 | 1977 | 3 | |
| Saint Clair Sugar Kings | 0 | 2 | ||
| Sarry Saints‡ | 0 | 2 | ||
| Domingue Toucans‡ | 0 | 1 | ||
| Saint-Thomas Lions | 0 | 0 | ||
| † Totals include a team's record in a previous city or under another name. | ||||
| ‡ Team is no longer currently active. | ||||
| * Once appearance as the Eagles, which merged with the Blues in 1936. | ||||
Regular-Season
Since 1947, every team has been required to play 100 games over the course of the months of October through Feburary. The season begins on the first Monday in the month of October and ends by the beginning of March, when the Postseason begins. Since the League's inception, the administration has kept the tradition of barring teams from playing games on Sundays and certain other Holy Days. There are currently 7 moveable Holy days on which teams are not allowed to play, although these may sometimes fall of Sundays and sometimes are transferred to the previous Saturday. La Toussaint (All Saints' Day, November 1st), Le Jour des Morts (All Souls' Day, November 2nd), Feast of the Immaculate Conception (December 8th), Nativity (December 25th), the Feast of the Circumcision (January 1st), Epiphany (January 6th), are all considered Holy Days, as well as the moveable Ash Wednesday. This decision has over the years caused contention with certain owners, players and other countries who wish to maximise profits on game revenue, although players have cited the rest days with favor.
Teams usually play six games a week, playing series of three games against another team, although series can last as short as two or as long as four games. Sometimes, these series may have a break day in between, especially if a Sunday falls in between. Sometimes, teams will play doubleheaders to accommodate scheduling or to make up for postponed games. If the distance between cities is great, the team will take a day to travel and adjust to the new environment. Before the widespread use of stadium lighting, games were played during the day and afternoon; in recent decades, night games have become more popular as stadium lighting has increased. Adverse conditions such as rainouts may the game to be called, suspended, or finished at a later date. Occasionally rare occurences such as a protested game also occur.
Of the 100 games, teams play 76 games within their division, playing each team 19 times, necessitating two two-game series or one four game series against each. In addition, each team 18 with members of the corresponding division, with East playing West and North playing South. Usually this means that each team will have to play 3 teams from the corresponding division once and 2 teams twice. Finally, each team plays 6 games with teams from the non-corresponding division, usually one from each of the opposing division- for example, a team in the West Division will play one series with a team from the North and one from the South.
Postseason
Prior to 1906, the Arucian League hosted a single championship game which pitted the teams with the best record against each other. In 1906, following the Rizealand model, the League transformed the championship into the Arucian Series, becoming a best out of seven game competition, although drawn from the two teams with the best two records. In 1947, the expansion of new teams saw the creation of two divisions, switching the Arucian Series to the teams which had the best records within their respective position. Due to the increased number of teams, in 1965 the League implemented a divisional series between the top two teams in each division. In 1975, the League expanded to four divisions. The divisional series was transformed to take the top team from every division instead.
The first part of the series is the the divisional series, which are best of best-of-five. The team with the top record from the West Division playing against the top team in the East; the same is the case for the North against the South. Of the five games, the team with the higher record has homefield advantage for the first two games; the third and fourth games are played at the opponent's stadium, while the fifth is once again played at the first team's stadium. Should the records be tied, the team which has been in the league longer receives homefield advantage. The winners of the divisional series go on to play in the best-of-seven Arucian Series. The Arucian Series likewise follows the same conventions for homefield advantage: the first two games are played at the team with the higher record, the second two at the opposing team's field, the next two at the first, and the final one being held at the opposing team's park. The winner of the Arucian series is considered champion of the Arucian League for that season.
Like the regular season, the post-season also has several days on which play is not allowed, as well as the Sunday rule carrying through. If play extends later into the month, play is prohibited on the Saint Joseph's Day (March 19th), Feast of the Annunciation (March 25th), or Pascha. However, the post-season almost always ends before the 19th of March, leading to this not being a major issue.
Off-Season
After the end of Arucian Series, the League enters into its "off-season", an important period for the players to rest after a long season, although many important events occur during this time.
Shortly following the Post-Season, an All-Star Game is held on March 31st, unless this falls during Holy Week, when it is held on the Tuesday following Pascha, or on a Sunday, in which case it is moved to the Saturday before. All-Stars are selected from among the best players in the League, with an East-West team playing against a North-South team. The managers for each team are taken from the previous contestants in the recent Arucian Series, who in turn select coaching staff and manage the structuring and ordering of the players. The play selection process is divided into four sections, where four groups select the ultimate team rosters of 26 players, with 19 field players and 7 pitchers. Firstly, the owners of every team in the joint-divisions select 1 player to send to the game, to ensure that every team has at least one contestant. After this, the players vote on the next 10 players to fill the team. Finally, the Commissioner selects the final 6 players to fill out the team, ensuring that the rosters are filled out properly. The team spacing must be even, however, to ensure that at least each position has 2 players, with three extra spots. With the rosters selected, the managers have full control over the structuring of the game and of who plays when, a move which caused some controversy in the past, as there is alleged discrimination against players by partial managers.
After the All-Star game, Arucian Teams will engage in exhibition games around the world, or prepare for international summer competitions. It is customary for in the immediate off-season for teams to play exhibition games hosted against teams from or in Rizealand, Aucuria or Senria. Players from the League may also participate in the Invictus Games over the summer, as there is little conflict. Besides for foreign tours and exhibition games, players will normally keep in shape and practice to ensure continued ability and physical condition.
Usually during the first or second week of the month of May, the League holds the Arucian Draft, in which teams select top amateur players from across the Arucian. Players from eight active countries must register to be open for the draft, and usually have to have at least graduated secondary level, and must register for their home country. Foreign players are also allowed choose to enter their names into the system as part of an international pool, and this has been common for players from Rizealand or Senria who wish to compete in a professional league without the competition in their respective countries. The teams who preform more poorly in the previous season get higher picks during the draft, allowing them to have access to higher ranked prospects. Future draft picks may be taken away from the teams by the League for misconduct or scandal, or may be traded by the teams to other teams in exchange for active players. Once a player is drafted by the team, the team retains exclusive rights to his signing. The draft takes place over a 20 round system, leading to approximately 400 draftees every year. After being drafted, most players are put in Minor League Teams affiliated with the drafting team, although a handful of them are directly promoted to the Majors and begin playing the following year.
The draft was established in 1947 with the first major international expansion, to ensure that talent would be accessible to all the teams even if they performed poorly during the season. Prior to this, teams would hire prospects directly, giving advantage to the teams with the most money. The player draft also ensured that talent would be spread out around the countries, contributing in large part to the cosmopolitan nature of the teams, which is also facilitated by trades. However, the Arucian draft also has a special series of three rounds (round 5-7) in which teams are granted the right to select prospects from the respective countries the player is from, or from the international pool. This is to ensure that the teams have access to at least some homegrown players.
Before the regular season begins, the months of August and September are utilised as a preseason, known as "Summer Training", where teams will practice and play exhibition games against other teams in order to prepare for the upcoming season. During this time, players from the minor leagues are sometimes called up to audition for the team, with the most successful making the cut and making it on to the team's roster. It also gives time for pitchers to build up stamina to be able to pitch long stretches of innings during the course of the year.
Traditions
Although Arucian baseball developed alongside Rizealand's baseball and is very close to it, nevertheless the league has its own rules and traditions. Many of the differences in rules come from the refusal of Arucian League to adopt measures which speed up the pace of play- for example, it has resisted the adoption of pitch clocks, and refuses to implement ghost runners in extra innings. This means that games can last a long time, especially compared to more recent games in the RBL. There have been some who have argued for their implementation, including some of the owners, but has been fiercely resisted by League authorities as well as players.
The designated hitter is not used in the League, meaning that all pitchers have to bat in every game provided they are not substituted with a pinch hitter. This has caused a long-term debate. Largely, the Commissioners have opposed the addition, supported by many of the players, saying that it limits the scope of play and would create focused hitters. Some of the players and some managers support the measure, believing it would expand the range of hitting and provided longer careers for hitters. Some pitchers have adapted, becoming adapt at hitting, such as Roch Janaswamy, who have excelled at both sides of play.
Venues
The teams of the Arucian League play in venues known generally as ballparks or ballparcs, which are usually given varying title of "Park" (Parc, Parco), Stadium (Stade, Stadio), "Field" (Champ, Campo), with occasional exceptions such as "Dome" (Dôme) and "Arena". These are of varying size, seating capacity and age; generally, the more historic and well-funded teams have larger and often better ballparks. Some ballparks, such as Champ Saint-Roderic, are older structures but have undergone maintenance and renovation over the years. Many older ballparks have since been destroyed or repurposed, with the most famous of these being the original Stade Impérial being destroyed by Allied bombing during the Great War. The newer Stade Impérial (II) built after the war was the largest ballpark in the entire Arucian; however, in 1998 the Imperials built a newer and more modern stadium with fewer seats, with the old stadium being passed to the Sunshine and being renamed Stade Sainte-Chloé. Following an extensive renovation by the Imperials in 1975, several teams across the Arucian renovated their stadiums or built new ones from the period of 1976 to 1979.
The ballparks have different naming traditions, often reflecting the time in which they were built. The earliest ballparks usually were named after the team or something associated with the team- with Champ St. Roderic being named after the Patron Saint and founder of the Roderican brothers; the original and subsequent Stade Impérial sharing a name with a team; and the Stade Phare siginfying a lighthouse, a symbol of the Navigators at the time. In the later twentieth century, ballparks were named after individuals- Champ Gautier after Émeraudian singer Robin Gautier, and Parc Pétain after Camille Pétain, the first President of Sainte-Chloé. During the later twentieth and early twenty-first century, teams largely began giving naming rights to corporations- Orient Stadium after Bank of the Orient, and Parc Ajeng after Ajeng's.
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