//|| //^^\\ || || .|. COHERENT COMICS UNINCORPORATED PRESENTS // || \\ || || --X--------------------------------------------- //====TIME=CAPSULES====== '|` ASH UNIVERSE: TIME CAPSULES #7 // || \\ || || Paraball 2025 Wrap-Up // || \\__// || || Copyright 2005 by Dave Van Domelen ___________________________________________________________________________ [cover shows a baseball that's glowing with Kirby Krackle.] Kaoru picked up the glossy pamphlet, turning it over in his hands and feeling the history soaked into the plastic sheet. It was actually a photodegradable plastic, so only being sealed in a time capsule had kept it from turning to dust long ago. He opened it and started glancing through it. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- PARANORMAL LEAGUE WORLD SERIES 2025 WELCOMES YOU! WHAT IS PARABALL? Glad you asked! Paraball is the nickname for baseball played by teams in the Paranormal League, which is run by Major League Baseball. The Paranormal League only takes players who have active Magenes, making for a truly exciting twist on a classic game! WHO HAD THE IDEA FOR PARABALL? Several people claim to have been the first to have the idea stretching bac as far as 1965, but it was Genevieve Axel (owner of the Kansas City Royals) who actually did something about it in 2022. With the help of owners of other teams in both the American League and National League, she recruited fourteen young paranormals and split them into two teams: the Baltimore/ Washington Federals and the New York Neons (based in Rochester). HOW DID THE FIRST SEASON OF PARABALL GO? There were stumbling blocks, as you might expect, but the two teams played each other ten times, and also played exhibition games against the Atlanta Braves, the Chicago Cubs and the Colorado Blue Jays. This first season helped in figuring out the rules of the game for the Paranormal League. Most of the rules that were developed just took existing baseball rules and said that affecting the ball or another player with a supernatural power was the same as doing it with a part of your body. So no shooting at the ball to knock it away from a fielder! It was also ruled that the baserunner couldn't use powers to become untaggable...this included teleportation, ghosting, super-speed over fifty kilometers per hour, or any power that would let the player get more than two meters above the basepath or go below the basepath. In general, moving faster than fifty kilometers per hour in the infield is prohibited. Of course, with only fourteen players, they could only anticipate so many possibilities. And many powers were expected to cancel each other out, such as movement powers allowing fielders to deal with superhumanly strong batters. Equipment was, of course, made much stronger to deal with the expected punishment. WHAT ABOUT THE 2023 SEASON? Increased graduation rates from the Academy let the Paranormal League recruit enough new players to expand to 4 teams of 12 players each, with the original two teams playing by National League rules and the new teams (Chicago Fire and San Diego Kings) playing by American League rules. With 48 players and a few extras who were held in reserve, it was now possible to really test out the rules for Paraball, and a lot of refinements were made. It was time to integrate the leagues. THE 2024 SEASON: INTER-LEAGUE PLAY! Now things were really cooking as games between the PL and the NL and AL counted in the standings for the non-powered teams! The PL teams could not participate in the regular post-season, having their own short tournament instead, but their games against "normalball" teams affected the overall records. Many credit Colorado's ability to deal with PL teams for their strong position at the beginning of the post-season last year. While many expected the Paraball teams to run away with their games, you need to remember that these players were largely students at the Academy, and never played serious competitive baseball before joining the Paranormal League. The wealth of experience found on traditional teams made up for the supernatural powers, with the overall season going nearly half and half. It was agreed that Paraball players would not be eligible for the All-Star Game ballot, as even PL players had argued against being included, given their advantages in terms of popularity. Or, as we like to say, every Paraball game is an All-Star Game! 2025: A YEAR OF WONDERS! The season that's just about to end today saw the Paranormal League expand to eight teams of twelve players, with even more expansion planned for 2026 with the addition of Japanese and European teams! With competition for qualified supernormals high, all sorts of people joined the new teams, including reformed members of so-called paragangs (none with serious criminal records, of course). The Paranormal League is nearly equal in numbers of male and female players...plus a few players who aren't male OR female! By contrast, although the gender barrier in Major League Baseball was broken in 2014 by Clarisse Stone, women still make up less than one percent of the players in the AL and NL. The PL's record against the AL and NL stayed about the same as in 2024 this year, because of the expansion drafts that split up the most experienced players. However, current plans are to phase out inter-league play in 2027, once the Paranormal League is large enough to support a full schedule on its own. Of the four teams added this year, the most noteworthy may be the Mexico City Knights, the only team to take an actual person as its mascot. Sal Napier, the Green Knight of the Academy of Super-Heroes, is the inspiration for the team, and has attended every home game that he could. THE TEAMS: 2025 The Original Two - Games played at home by the Federals and the Neons are played under National League rules. Baltimore/Washington Federals: One of the two original teams, they play most of their games at the new Kleinman Stadium in Baltimore, although the Orioles have priority scheduling there. At least one game per season is played at Bentronics Field in Arlington, home of the Senators. Caroline Riggs is the star pitcher for the Federals, with a 200 m/s fastball! New York Neons: The second of the original teams, the Neons draw fans from the entire northeastern America, especially Boston. Rochester itself isn't a very large city, but it was picked because it was easily accessible to both Boston and Montreal. Deon Williams is the current rising star of the Neons, using his control of light to find new ways to not quite break the rules, and causing more rules arguments than any five players put together. The 2023 Expansion - Games played at home against the Fire and the Kings are played using American League rules. Chicago Fire: Many people think of this as the ASH home team, and members of that organization can often be found in attendance when their duties allow. Despite this, they seem to be cursed to have the least effective roster in the league, and have ended at the bottom of the standings in their three years of play. San Diego Kings: This team was the closest Mexico had to a home team until the 2025 season. Their consistently high attendance and vid ratings were the main reason the second expansion was held in 2025 instead of waiting for 2026. Ernesto Rodriguez, with his ability to stretch his limbs up to ten meters, is the team's star outfielder. The 2025 Expansion - Games played in Dallas and Mexico City operate under National League rules, while those played in Edmonton and St. Louis use American League rules. Dallas Stars: The 2025 expansion was kind to this new team, as they drafted three founding members of the Neons and used the trio as the core of a winning strategy that took them to this World Paraball Series you're attending today! Rod Karnes's magnetic abilities may not directly affect the ball, but his natural skill at the sport and strong leadership have made him a true MVP. Mexico City Knights: Taking ASH strongman Sal Napier as their mascot and inspiration, this plucky team may have finished in the middle of the pack this year, but they never, ever say die! Rosa Mirabiles, nicknamed the Squire, has literally put balls out of the park with her superhuman strength and excellent batter's eye. Edmonton Megas: This team was originally going to be the Montreal Megas, and they've never forgotten the lost city, dedicating every game to their missing countrymen. That intense spirit has led them to numerous come from behind wins, and put them into the World Paraball Series! Catcher Simon Levay's occasional short-term precognitive flashes make him the best friend a pitcher could have. St. Louis Cavaliers: Notable for a strong first half of the season and a complete trainwreck of a second half, many attribute this to the loss of star first baseman Eric Davies, whose superhuman reflexes made him a .500 hitter and an excellent infielder. Davies suffered a heart attack in July, and became the first person on the long-term Disabled List for the Paranormal League. He's expected to return to play in 2026, so wish him well! 2025: THE RECORD Team (Seed) W L PCT POST1 POST2 POST3 Stars (1) 30 6 0.800 WWLW WWW WWLLWL* Federals (2) 25 11 0.694 LLL Megas (3) 20 16 0.556 WLLWW WLWW LLWWLW* Cavaliers (4) 18 18 0.500 LWWW LLL Knights (5)** 16 20 0.444 WLLL Neons (6)** 16 20 0.444 LWWLL Kings (7) 13 23 0.361 WWW LWLL Fire (8) 6 30 0.167 LLWL * Today's game! ** Tie broken by inter-league results. Team (Seed): Team name and their seeding for the post-season. Bracket A is 1 vs 8 and 4 vs 5, bracket B is 2 vs 7 and 3 vs 6. W: Wins in Paranormal League (not counting inter-league) L: Losses in Paranormal League PCT: Winning percentage POST1: Win/Loss in the 5 game bracket semifinals POST2: Win/Loss in the 5 game bracket finals POST3: Win/Loss in the 7 game World Paraball Series ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Kaoru put down the pamphlet with a shrug, and tapped a few keys. Edmonton won the final game, 8 runs to 2 after being tied at 2 for most of the game. "Maybe I'll see if there's a recording..." he muttered to himself. ============================================================================ Author's Notes: No, this isn't really intended to be a story. I just wanted to get all the Paraball stuff in one place in the wake of a conversation online about superhumans and sports. And let anyone curious know how the season went. :) [Later note: The Minnesota Duos were mentioned in ASH #38, but they were actually a team planned for the 2026 expansion. The person who thought about the Duos didn't actually follow Paraball.] The use of the terms "Major League Baseball," "National League" and "American League," as well as the names of some teams, is not meant as an infringement on the rights and properties of Major League Baseball. ============================================================================ For all the back issues, plus additional background information, art, and more, go to http://www.eyrie.org/~dvandom/ASH ! To discuss this issue or any others, either just hit "followup" to this post, or check out our Yahoo discussion group, which can be found at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ash_stories/ ! ============================================================================