“Write about what you know.” That’s an ages-old piece of wisdom, but in the case of Ron Collins, he sought inspiration in an unlikely place: the Planetary Extreme Baseball Alliance (PEBA), an online league that runs on Out of the Park Baseball (OOTP). (The PEBA and its sister organization, the League of the Rising Sun (LRS), are the subject of a previous article.) The PEBA is a rich universe, and it was the perfect place to set a travelogue called “See the PEBA on $25 a Day,” which is available in various formats at Smashwords as well as for Kindle at Amazon.

Collins is an award-winning published author whose short stories have seen print in Analog, Nature, Quantum SF, Asimov’s and many other magazines, along with a collection called “Picasso’s Cat & Other Stories,” which The Merry Blacksmith Press released in June 2010. (E-versions are available for Kindle and at Smashwords.)

Asked why he decided to write a baseball novel, Collins responds: “It all boils down to the fact that I wanted to play in the PEBA. I want to put 100% of my energy into a league, and I expect most owners in a league to have something close to a similar passion. Community is great, but I was looking for a league that was ultra-competitive (meaning the owners are truly skilled), and a league that breathed, that was filled with players who were characters in a bigger world. I want to play in elite environments. I thought the PEBA hit that mark and more, but there weren’t any teams available. So I decided I would write for them until I bludgeoned them into submission.” He smiles at the recollection.

[Read more…] about Tales From the OOTP Multi-Verse: On the Road to See the PEBA on $25 a Day

Every time someone sits down to play Out of the Park Baseball, they’re asking “What if?,” even if that question is posed simply to see how the last Major League Baseball season could have turned out differently. However, in the case of the Planetary Extreme Baseball Alliance (PEBA) and its sister organization, the League of the Rising Sun (LRS), the traditional “What if?” question can’t be answered in just a few sentences or a paragraph.

If the story of the PEBA and the LRS was a novel, it would be a sprawling epic destined to dwarf “War and Peace” and “The Lord of the Rings.” In fact, it has even inspired a novel penned by published author Ron Collins, who also manages an LRS team. (Ron’s story is the subject of another article.) The “PEBAverse,” as it’s known, came into existence after the unthinkable happened: Major League Baseball fell on hard times as ticket sales and TV ratings crashed in the wake of fan disillusionment over the steroids scandals, creating an opportunity for the founding of a rival league. The PEBA turned away existing pro players and filled its rosters with top prospects who would have normally entered the MLB amateur draft. The general public soon grew to embrace a baseball league that was untainted by performance-enhancing drugs.

[Read more…] about The PEBAverse Rises From the Ashes of MLB’s Demise