Howdy. It’s been awhile. 

Consider this post your invitation to become a team manager and participate in a weird atemporal look at 1999 though the lens of Divergent League Baseball.

Keep reading for how to join, when to watch, and what to look out for. I’ve also got some real life 1999 history material at the end for you to vibe on.

Wait, What Is Divergent League Again?

Divergent League Baseball is a simulated fantasy baseball league based on historical seasons (previous ones include: 1985, 1977, 1993) in which human managers make high-level decisions and trades and leave the coaching and playing of games to the Playstation 4 CPU. We simulate a full baseball season starting with the opening day rosters for our chosen year (1999 this time) based on a community-created roster in MLB The Show 20. Managers choose a team and get to make one pick of any player from any non-managed team, just to spice things up. We stream a subset of games featuring player owned teams on Twitch, YouTube, and RetroStrange TV on a routine schedule. Divergent League does not recognize the Designated Hitter rule under any circumstances.

There’s more to it that makes Divergent League fun, but there is a whole page about that on our website.

The Team Selection & Player Draft 

The Divergent League 1999 Team Selection and Player Draft will take on a new form, to accommodate our players in different timezones and with different life contexts. Here’s how team selection will work:

1. Each manager will submit a list of 5 teams in order of most preferred to least to Phil in Discord or via email (divergent at extrafuture.com)
2. On Friday, March 18th at 5:00 Pacific / 8:00 Eastern, we’ll host a live Team Selection in our Discord Server
3. The Manager names will be randomly shuffled via a Python array
4. If Manager is attending live, they’ll be asked for their team choice
5. If Manager is offline Commissioner will choose teams based on the order in the list given in step 1 depending on what teams are available

And then the Player Draft:

1. Each manager will submit a list of 6 players in order of most preferred to least
2. On Saturday March 19th at 3:00pm Pacific / 6:00pm Eastern, we’ll host the Divergent League Draft in Discord
3. Draft Order will be the reversed order of the Team Selection order, for balance purposes

The Commissioner will post a list on divergentleague.com of the results of both Team Selection and Draft as they occur, as well as these events being the subject of the first 1999 episode of the Divergent League Update podcast.

Then What?! Opening Day, Of Course

Divergent League 1999 Opening Day will take place on March 20th at 1:00pm Pacific time. See our calendar for the game schedule.

Ok, How Do I Join?

Divergent League works by having players “buy-in” to manage one or more teams. You get to choose the team, and a special draft pick. We use the money to buy a custom trophy for the winner of our championship.

This season, each team costs $10 to manage. I do not particularly care how you get me the $10. Here are two ways, listed in order of preference:

1. Become a Patron at any level
2. Go to the RetroStrange Shop and buy a manager’s pass
3. Hand my one of my brothers $10

If you are a Patron already, you’re in! Just message Phil with your team preferences list.

Some 1999 Historical Material

For a refresher on 1999 check out MLB ’99: A Season of Heroes, embedded below:

Questions? Comments? Fears, doubts? How is my driving? Just comment here or send me an email at divergent at extrafuture.com.

Thanks, and welcome to the club,

— The Commish

Returning managers and hopefuls: Now is the time to signal your interest in the next season of Divergent League Baseball. We haven’t yet decided what the new season will be, or if we’ll upgrade to MLB The Show 2021. Time will tell!

Sign up: https://divergentleague.com/signup

Watch this space tomorrow for a slew of info and news for owners and fans alike.

Current Patrons will be allowed into the next season automatically, but should fill out the form anyway so I have your contact info. The season will cost $10 per team. That money will cover the Bip Roberts Memorial Cup Even Though He’s Still Alive, and some time-period-specific league swag.

1977 Leaguers: Your swag is still on the way! At this rate you’ll get it around the same time as the coming season…