Divergent League Baseball is a multiplayer simulated fantasy baseball league currently being run in MLB The Show 20. Each Season takes place in a different year from the past. Accurate rosters are acquired through community creations, though league layout is fixed in whatever year the game engine came out in. Divergent League is financed by Phil’s Patreon and tips on ko-fi.
Season Play
Before a season begins each person playing chooses a team.
Following team selection is a Draft, where every team is allowed to choose any ball player from any non-controlled team, no questions asked. Draft order is determined by randomly shuffling a Python array.
Then the season begins. We simulate most games, and have live games broadcast on Twitch of CPU .vs. CPU matchups where player-controlled teams face off. Each month of season time is roughly 1 week of real time.
In July of each season is All Star Weekend, with the Home Run Derby and All Star Game. All Star Weekend is also where the Hardship Draft occurs. In the Hardship Draft the bottom 20% of the league (by record) are allowed to pick an additional ball player from any non-controlled team.
We then simulate the rest of the season similar to the first half, up to the Playoffs. During the playoffs we watch all games where a player team may be eliminated through to the World Series, and the presentation of the Bip Roberts Memorial Cup Even Though He’s Still Alive.
Then we pick a new season, owners join or drop out, and do it all again.
Feelies: Season-Specific Artifacts
One of the hallmarks of Divergent League is, with apologies to Infocom, “feelies“- physical items shipped to players and watchers. Divergent League takes this idea and combines it with Baseball’s penchant for trading cards. Every owner in a Divergent League season gets a pack of baseball cards, from the season in question (if possible), a wax-sealed welcome letter from the Commissioner, and if they win, they receive the ultimate prize… The Bip Roberts Memorial Cup Even Though He’s Still Alive.
Our Championship Trophy: The Bip Roberts Memorial Cup Even Though He’s Still Alive
The BRMCETHSA is the championship of Divergent League. It is a custom baseball and plaque presented to the winner of each Season.
The 1987 Divergent League Baseball champion Chicago Cubs were presented with a signed Bip Roberts baseball in a case with a plaque.
The 1994 Divergent League Baseball champion Cleveland Baseball Team were presented with one of the hundreds of produced-but-never-used 1994 World Series baseballs in a case with a plaque.
The 1977 Divergent League Baseball champion Cincinatti Reds will receive a ball signed by real-life 1977 MVP and George Foster.
Divergent League FAQs
Aren’t The Divisions Are All Messed Up?
They’re not messed up, they’re divergent. Atemporal issues like the Rockies existing in 1977, or the Astros being in the American League, are a feature (and not a bug) of Divergent League. We solve for teams that didn’t exist in the chosen season by making sure they are completely awful. In the 1987 Season (Champions: George Nelson’s Chicago Cubs) the Devil Rays lost 145 games.
What seasons have been run? Who won them?
See the Divergent League Baseball History page.
Where can I watch games? When are they on?
Games are streamed on Twitch. There’s a Divergent League Baseball Calendar that has every game time listed.
Shout-out to all the roster makers out there. Blessed be thee.