History

All time members (Underlined indicates current members)

Before National Sluggers League

Unknown original date, but on April 5, 2020, Joe started a group chat with Andrew, Jacob, Carston, and Colton. This would be the start of a 5 person Sluggers league. The draft took place and then it was time to play. The season would be 8 games long, a double round robin. The first day of playing, one round robin was complete. Andrew was 4-0, Carston 3-1, Joe 2-2, Jacob 1-3, and Colton 0-4. However, this would be the last we see of this season.

Sluggers League 2 (NSL)

The idea for a Mario Sluggers league came back 2 years later in February of 2022. Like usual, the 3 people running the league would be Andrew, Joe, and Jacob, the 3 that played the most. Invites were extended to Carston, who played some sluggers and was in the first league, Colton, who first played sluggers in the first league (he declined), Will, a friend, famous for his win against his brother on the 4th of July 2019, Wilson, a relative of Joe and Andrew who played Mario games, Keith, a relative of all 3 who was a gamer, Scotty, a friend of Andrew who had supposedly played before. So the 8 would be Andrew, Carston, Jacob, Joe, Keith, Scotty, Will, and Wilson. The first text had been sent out 2/28/22. The day of the draft, Scotty withdrew, his only experience with the league. Another of Andrew's friends joined, Garrett. This league would be a fun thing once a week. Joe, who occasionally streamed on Twitch, had a cheap capture card and ordered a 2nd one right before the season. It got delivered 30 minutes before the season, enough time to throw together a sloppy formatted stream on OBS, streamed to his twitch (joebonuggets (used for 2022-23)) and then uploaded to a YouTube channel of the same name, as there was no branding of this league that was all fun and games. It wasn't NSL, it was Sluggers league. As for the season itself, Andrew defeated Jacob 1-0 in the finals to end the first season.

Fall Classic?

Joe wanted an event where it wasn't just the league powerhouses winning. This event would be the 3 people who are significantly younger than the rest of the league, and Colton from the first league. The Fall Classic would be a round robin into a championship. On day 1, a draft was held, then Carston beat Colton in a all-time thriller, Joe beat Will in a extra-long match, then Will defeated Car. Day 1 was over and then day 2... never happened. The Fall Classic was left unfinished with no official winner. 

National Sluggers League

Entering the 2nd year, Joe was ready in January, making a full spreadsheet full of stats, putting together a top 10 games video. Then Jacob and Joe decided the league branding, the second season would be run as the National Sluggers League. An Instagram was put together and a YouTube channel was made. All videos so far were put onto there, as well as new videos. Instagram with posts with all sorts of things from 2022. Hype videos were being made and... Keith would not return for year 2, after finishing last. The league invited Matt, Andrew and Joe's brother who had solid Sluggers experience. No one was sure how he'd do. The new season was much more organized, branding, a talk show, poll rankings, divisions. The only uncertainty was Week 2. 4 members play Saturday, 5 play Sunday due to availability. Nonetheless, Andrew would go on to defeat Joe 3-1 in the finals and claim his second title.

NSL in Online Play

June 25th, 2023, an announcement is made from the Mario Sluggers Fanclub saying they would host an online tournament. Joe and Andrew partake. Joe lost to Andrew in the 3rd round of the winners bracket, then lost two rounds later to ribbbz in the losers bracket. Andrew won the tournament on an electric walk-off win over ribbbz. After the conclusion of the tournament, ranked online became a thing where Joe currently stands in the top 10. Andrew stepped away from online after the tournament. Ranked has been discontinued in March 2024. As of Fall 2025, more events have taken place in Online and are covered in the "Online + More" page.

Play-In Tournament

October 21-22, 2023 would be the second Fall Classic for the league. A 2 day event. The first day being a little offseason meetup for league members, so they wouldn't be too rusty in the spring. The second day was a 4 team play-in tournament. Winner got into the league for the 2024 season after Carston announced he wouldn't be returning. Keith, from the first season, was invited back along with 3 newcomers to the league. Tween, Anthony, and Del competed along with Keith for the ticket into the league. Tween, going a perfect 5-0, would be the one playing ball come springtime. He defeated Del in the finals, where Keith and Anthony lost in the semifinals.

National Sluggers League in 2024

Expectations were high for 2024, over 200 new YouTube subscribers, and over 5000 new TikTok followers were looking forward to the season. A new fanbase, primarily rooting for the newcomer Tween after his Play-in success. A record turn-out at a league event took place during the playoffs bringing in 14 people, including players. Week 1 went for over 1,000 views in under a week. It was the longest season in league history, including 17 regular season games. After Andrew fell in round 1, Joe was able to take the crown as the next highest seed winning 2-1 over Matt in the championship. A few members will not be returning for 2025.

National Sluggers League in 2025

Unlike 2024, the fall classic prior to 2025 will not determine who will be playing in the spring. With more than one spot open, a tournament would do no good. 3 members were selected. Similar to last year, the fanbase was only growing. Over 700 YouTube subscribers, and over 14,000 TikTok followers would be watching. The 2025 season went as expected, and for the first time in league history, everyone attended every week. With Andrew out of the way, Joe was able to complete the first undefeated season in NSL history. 

National Sluggers League in 2026

The first offseason to have events in the summer, fall, and winter. The week leading up to the season, Joe doubled down on putting out content on YouTube and Tiktok, growing the YouTube channel to over 1,300 subscribers and getting Tiktok to 21,000 followers. The Week 1 stream had a record 87 peak viewers, and the channel gained 151 subscribers on Opening Day.