Shopper Baseball Association

The Shopper Baseball Association, SBA for short, is the association behind all of the major league baseball taking place in Shops Island and its territories. The Sluggers, Shops' all-star national baseball team, also drafts the best players from SBA teams. The SBA is headquartered in Shops City's "Snowbucks Park", an industrial area funded by Snowbucks Coffee that contains numerous businesses (including a Snowbucks office) and a stadium for the Sluggers. As of 2019, there are 14 active major-league teams, and the Sluggers, with the newest being the Delfino Dolphins, founded in late 2015. One team has moved, the Hilnit Farmers, and one has switched from baseball to hockey, the Saythe Oilers.

Despite the success of the SBA, Baseball still isn't as popular as hockey in Shops Island and its territories. Many large cities have both a major league baseball and major league hockey team. The SBA Junior League deals with minor league teams, and there is also a separate baseball league in the Frosian Islands that existed prior to Shopper annexation.

History
Baseball had consistently ranked as one of the most popular sports on Shops for a long, behind hockey, due to the many immigrants from the USA who liked baseball. The Shops Island Baseball Association was founded in July 2012 by a group of avid baseball fans, in the hopes of taking the sport to the next level on Shops. Within a year the name would be changed to Shopper Baseball Association, as it quickly grew beyond Shops Island.

The first project planned was a home stadium for the Shops Island national team, the Sluggers. Construction started soon after on a plot of land in the middle of the Financial District, donated by Shops City. However, between the August 2012 depression and the initiation of the Shops Island Transportation Plan, the city didn't have enough extra money to fund the field. Since the city nor the SBA could afford to fund the project, the latter went searching for a good source of funding for the field since it was the highest priority project. After some deliberation, they convinced Snowbucks Coffee to fund the stadium and anything else to be built around it, as long as it was named "Snowbucks Park". Later on in 2013 when Snowbucks decided to tear down their Clearwater Island office, they were given approval by the SBA to build their new Shops Island office in Snowbucks Park rather than purchasing land somewhere else.

While some members of the SBA looked for funding for the Shops City park, others such as Penquino spread the word and looked to recruit and create new teams around Shops. One of the first to be created was a team for Vonkouver, Shops' largest city, supported by Mayor LordMaster96. Word quickly spread among some of Shops' notable citizens and politicians, such as Snowstormer, Chill57181 and Dps04, who were encouraged into making baseballs teams, leading to the creation of five teams for Freezestonia, and one each on Chill Island and Moon Island. A team was created in Penguin City before the end of the year, and Mario Arkay founded a team for Buhu Isle in early 2013 after many requests, bringing the total to nine teams excluding the Sluggers.

The Goberna Reyes (Kings) team was founded in mid-2013 after the city was founded and became the new capital of Western Shops. Their home stadium was destroyed during the Fall of Nexon in late 2013, but was rebuilt using mostly public donations. The first Shops Series championship was held in 2013, and was won by the Vonkouver Mariners. In 2014, Freezestonia lost two teams; the Parnu Beachballs moved to Hilnit, Northern Shops, and became the Farmers, and the Saythe Oilers left the SBA and became a hockey team. Around the same time, Johnny 115 founded a team in Tomville, the Atums.

In 2015, three new teams were created. The Farleya Fishermen were founded in mid-2015, followed by the Frosia Mephs and the Delfino Dolphins after the 2015 Shopper Statehood Referendum. Before the start of the 2016 season, two divisions were created, with seven teams each. The teams were placed in a division based on their position in relation to a line running from Shops City through the South Pole, simply called the "East-West line". The divisions slightly changed how teams are chosen for the Shops Series. The Vonkouver Mariners have the most Shops Series wins of all the teams.

Shops Series Winners

 * Updated up to the 2018 season.

The Vonkouver Mariners have the most Shops Series wins, winning in 2013 and 2015, with the Mermen winning in 2014, the Atums in 2016, the Mephs in 2017 and the Typhoons in 2018.

Teams
These are all of the teams of the SBA listed in alphabetical order, as well as the Sluggers. They are listed in English, even though some teams have their official names in a different language.

Trivia

 * Technically, any teams past the South Pole are on the opposite side of the East-West line, for example the Delfino Dolphins are in the West Division when they are actually on the East side of the imaginary line. Proper directions were ignored in typical Shopper fashion.