Section30 wrote:

Way to go Kings

Hopefully the T-Birds can build off this season and become a contender down the line

RoughRiders9 wrote:

Finally! The Stars go down! 

Glad to see the T-birds improving. Wonder when you're planning on expanding the playoffs. Might give some more teams for an upset opportunity. 

Yep, the Kings did the whole country a favor. Hokkyo's improving, they've got some young talent and their scouting has been top-notch in the past few years. As for the expanded playoffs, that'll happen when the four expansion teams hit, the structure will be rearranged into 4 divisions and the division winners will all make the playoffs.

Dan O'Mac wrote:

Look at my Kings bringing it home!

Yep, after several failed attempts they finally were able to get a crown.

1970 Offseason:

Identity Changes:

Two teams made small tweaks this year, the Shockers and the Kings.


San Juan, tired of years of being cursed, finally switch back to white text on the road jerseys. This a 1-to-1 return to their original look. 



The reigning champs also made two tweaks: their primary logo is now outlined in ruby red and crowns were placed on the chest of both jerseys to signify their status as champs. Of course, the Stars' chest star has been removed for this season. Unless they meet in the RICS, the Kings and Stars won't actually play each other, but owner Bernard Bartram wanted to get back at Shinosaka after years of the league getting pushed around.

Retirements:

It wouldn't be a RIBF offseason without retirements, so here's what happened:

It's a sad day in Aorin as 2B Norihito Sasaki has retired at age 37. Acquired in a trade with Joestar in 1957, Sasaki was integral to the Carp's great teams of the early '60s. He was most known for his defense, but he was certainly no slouch with the bat, either.

SP Atsushi Furukawa also hung up his cleats. He was mostly known for his time with the Robins, winning three RICS championships before being dealt to the Crusaders in '61. He was still good in Joestar, but never quite as good.

Player Movement:

Normally this would the "trades" section, but something strange happened this offseason. 

Joestar starter Randy Fullmer was released by the team. This isn't anything new, but he's still a solid player. The common theory is that Crusaders owner Hikari Mizuno didn't want to pay him for whatever reason. He was picked up across the river by Toramoto and is currently on the Mechaven Tigers, their minor league team.

Here's where it gets even weirder: not 10 days before his release by Joestar, Fullmer was living it up in Aorin. He, along with prospect Dustin Leone, were traded to Joestar for two pitching prospects, Masakatsu Fujii and Hisataka Mukai. Fans of every team involved were baffled at the moves, seemingly a trade for nothing by Joestar. Who knows what the reasoning was?

Vertlac and the Shinkyo Senators made a swap, Vertlac sent two prospects in exchange for CL Francisco Gomez and RP Sal Serrano. This trade is also notable because the Emeralds sent Shinkyo a player named Remke van der Beek, and that's awesome. Vertlac, in "win-now" mode, hopes to finally reach the postseason this year.

For the last big trade of the offseason, the Grizzlies sent star 1B Javier Torres to the Tigers for three prospects. Yosemite is hoping they can improve in the long run, seemingly rebuilding for like the 11th year in a row.

Other teams like the T-Birds, Sens, Stars, and Carp sent around prospects but nothing major for now.

Other News:

Aorin's stadium, to be opened next season, is nearing completion. The stadium, named Aorin Stadium, will seat 35,000 people, making it the largest stadium in the league. It replaces Aorin Municipal Ballpark, the 21,000-capacity ballpark that served as the home of the Carp from 1955.

In expansion news, Commissioner Aoyama has announced the three remaining cities that would be getting an RIBF team in 1971: in addition to Shinsakai-shi, which will be headed by Ryuji Shimizu of BB Communications, Ft. Hayakawa, Sol, and Crescent City will be getting teams. Ft. Hayakawa's owner is Felix Ichinose, a military veteran who's settled into his adopted hometown and built defense company Boreas from the ground up. Sol will be headed by Koji Hatoyama, Sol native and head of Faultline Apparel, a popular sports and street apparel company. Finally, in what some see as a risky move, the RIBF is heading to the southern island and granting a team to Crescent City, to be led by William Isaacson, a resident of Luna Island and incredibly wealthy from his father's inheritance. All four expansion teams' brands will be revealed next offseason.

NEXT: 1970 Season

I'm also a big fan of the ruby for the Kings

I actually am quite a fan of the crown on the chest on the home, I think it looks good... the road on the other hand not so much. The extra crown looks forced in there with the logo (which already has a crown) being in the upper chest

While I did enjoy the Stars' run of dominance, it is nice to see a new team win the league.  The Senators look like they've got a good chance for sure!

I liked the write up about Joestar's very odd decision making in the off season, should be interesting to see what the concequences are there.  Could it be the start of a horrbile slide for them?  

Last edited by Stickman (8/29/2020 5:04 am)

So I was just paroozing through the site, looking at some baseball stuff to gather ideas for my own. I was not expecting to meet such a man of culture such as yourself. I see those Joestar Crusaders that use Araki Purple and have one of the fiercest rivalries. Anyway, guess I'm a Joestar fan as of now. I haven't read through the whole thread yet, I just had to comment about the reference

Alright, here we go. The first expansion in over a decade and two other changes to make note of.

1971 Offseason Pt. 2 - The Fun Stuff



The Kings made one change: they moved the former chest patch crown on the road to their sleeve, becoming the second team to have a sleeve patch, after the Stars.



The Carp made their first changes since '57 when they added a script to the road jersey. That script is now on both jerseys, but that's the least of the changes. Gone is the "AC" logo, replaced with the A from the script. The caps are now orange, as is the road jersey. Orange is now the dominant color, and the jerseys reflect this. The Carp become the first team to unveil pullover jerseys, both at home and on the road. The home jersey features thick broken striping on the sleeves, waist, collar, and pants. A front number was also added. The road jersey goes for single-color striping, with different pants that emphasize the orange. Now the back. Inspired by real koi, the back features a spotted pattern that resembles the back of a carp. Initial fan reaction is mixed, with some hailing it as a new step in uniform design and others calling it gimmicky.

(Editor's Note: I sincerely apologize to Carp fans, this is an idea I wanted to do for a while and moving into a new stadium was the perfect excuse to try it. I haven't decided if I like it or not yet.)

Expansion Teams:

And now for the moment you've been waiting for for two years: the RIBF expansion teams will reveal their identities!

Crescent City:




About Crescent City:

Crescent City is the resort town of Robin Island. It's home to plenty of hotels and resorts, really playing up the hospitality factor. Plenty of farms are also nearby, growing delicious pineapples and bananas. That said, the city is vibrant culturally, with plenty of traditional celebrations that occur throughout the year. This is supplemented with traditional Japanese festivals, making Crescent City a party year-round. This can be clearly seen at Crescent City basketball games: the fans are truly like no other.

About the Identity:
Owner William Isaacson, an Oakland native, initially wanted to name his team the Athletics and give them a kelly green and gold color scheme, after the MLB's Athletics, but the RIBF put a stop to that quickly. So, he went in a different direction. Naming the team after the Hawaiian Duck, the provincial bird, he settled on a teal and gold color scheme (officially named "Pacific Teal" and "Sunshine", respectively). The primary logo is a "D" in the shape of a crescent, for the city's name. A "Ducks" script graces the jerseys, which are otherwise simple. What sets this set apart is the use of sleeve numbers, a first in the RIBF (and I think the world at this point in time). The road jersey is a simple teal color swap of the home.

Ft. Hayakawa:




About Ft. Hayakawa:

Ft. Hayakawa is the home of the military in Robin Island. Established in 1942 as the last line of defense against the Americans by the Japanese, Ft. Hayakawa has remained as a strategical location for military operations. It's pretty remote, surrounded by Lake Hayakawa (the fort's namesake) and mountains, leaving it far away from its provincial brethren Toramoto-shi and Mechaven. Ft. Hayakawa is known for its shady underbelly of suspicious dealings and off-duty soldiers looking to have fun, but many non-military citizens have begun to move there due to cheap housing and the city is slowly becoming a more traditional area. Recently the passion for hockey has ramped up as people leaving Ōyachi have settled in Ft. Hayakawa.

About the Identity:
The federal government requested Ft. Hayakawa be given a team as a way to attract families to the city, and the RIBF delivered. Tapping Boreas founder Felix Ichinose, the city now has the most unique look in the RIBF. Ichinose, a veteran, wanted to honor the soldiers of the country. He settled on Heroes, and chose to go with "Hayakawa" instead of "Ft. Hayakawa" for alliteration purposes. The logo is an "H" for both Hayakawa and Heroes stretching in both directions, like a superhero's symbol would. The team rocks a red, gold, and black color scheme, wanting bright colors to attract kids. Speaking of, the jerseys are wild. Pullover vests, the front features no wordmark but instead the logo, as Ichinose said that a superhero doesn't have a wordmark on the front of his costume. The stripes are tri-stripes using the color scheme. The road jersey is all yellow to keep the "H" in the logo red, so all gold is switched to white. The numbers are double-outlined, and the jerseys feature names on the back (third in the RIBF to do so) so that, in the words of Ichinose, "kids can identify their Heroes". The road jersey features yellow pants as well, joining Hokkyo as one of two teams to feature odd-colored pants.

Shinsakai:




About Shinsakai-shi:

Shinsakai-shi, as the former capital of the province, took its name from the province, which worked out nicely until the Japanese government decided to make it the capital of their newly conquered territory. The Shinsakai provincial government decided to create a new city to become the provincial capital and Shinōsaka was born. Shinsakai-shi, on the other hand, grew rapidly until the Japanese government was kicked out of the colony, when it collapsed and suffered through a decade of economic hardship. The city recovered with a little help from Toyota, which put their first Robin Island plant in Shinsakai-shi, leading to the city becoming the automotive center of Robin Island for several decades. This wouldn't last, as neighboring city Shinkobe has supplanted Shinsakai-shi as the premier automotive destination in Robin Island.

About the Identity:
Inspired by steamships he saw traveling the Shinsakai Bay as a kid, owner Ryuji Shimizu named the team "Steamers". Utilizing a "Bay Blue" and Red color scheme, the team is traditional, yet modern. Pullovers for the Steamers as well, with a classic pointy font. The logo is a roundel with a steamship's paddlewheel in the middle, which is also used as the cap logo. The jersey is plain, with simple blue/red striping and a wordmark on the front. No NOB, setting Shinsakai apart from the other expansion teams. The road is powder blue, with the white on the cap even being switched out for powder (though it's hard to tell from a distance). 

Sol:




About Sol:

Sol is the small-ish capital of Cloudsgate and the resident "hippie" city. "Keep Sol Weird" is common on t-shirts and bumper stickers around the area, calling to mind Austin and Portland in the States. Sol has a diverse economy built on electronics manufacturer Helius and sports supplier Ace, with plenty of supplemental services and businesses to round out the city. In terms of sports, Sol is a baseball city, with a strong hockey following as well. 

Sol has a team in the KLH, the Flames.

About the Identity:
Owner Koji Hatoyama, who is the head of Ace Athletics, a popular sports apparel company, knew he wanted his team to look great. The name "Orions" is in reference to the constellation, connecting the city's name to the stars. The team uses a bright red, dark gray, and "Cloudsgate Gray" in their color scheme. The logo is a compass rose with an emphasis on the north (where Sol is) and a bright sun in the center, again referencing Sol. The "S" is a custom font that was also used for the team's wordmarks. The jerseys are clean and simple, the home has "Orions" with red spoon piping and basic sleeve and pants striping. The road is a little different, using a mini-wordmark with a font number because of the city's short name. The cap is bright red with a gray brim. 

There you go, the four expansion teams that will join in 1971! I'm pretty proud of them, but what do you guys think? C&C Appreciated!

NEXT: 1971 Season