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1^st Fantasy Baseball is a non-profit organization. Our express purpose is to promote the gaming side of baseball. Our flagship is the fantasy game BB2000, which is only possible through the graces of Yahoo.com’s Fantasy Baseball section. However, we hope to reach a much wider audience through the writings submitted by our staff and by the public at large, to help support the greatest game of the 20^th Century into this new millennium.

Our first product is a fantasy managerial game whose 10th full season will be the Year 2009.

This is a keeper’s league. Once the 20 franchises have been established this year, even if the GMs may change from year to year, the franchises will remain intact. The 20 franchise names are as follows:

Yankees, Mets, Red Sox, Dodgers, Giants, Orioles, Phillies, Pirates, Reds, Braves, Indians, Tigers, White Sox, Cubs, Cardinals, Senators, Angels, Athletics, Twins, Colt 45’s

These were the 20 franchises that baseball had when it first expanded to the 162 game schedule in the 1960’s. The Braves were still in Milwaukee, the Senators moved to Texas and became the Rangers, KC moved to Oakland, and the Colt 45’s changed their name to the Astros when the Astrodome in Houston was built.

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1. Scoring

1a. Batters accumulate points and are ranked using the following formula:

Runs + Hits + RBI’s + Walks + Hit by Pitch

1b. Pitchers accumulate points using the following formula:

(saves x 4) + holds + (innings x 3) - (earned runs x 2.25) + (strikeouts x 0.5) - walks - hr's

We are currently using Yahoo's Free Fantasy Baseball to keep score. Included in the Yahoo rules regarding the issue of player eligibility is the following:

1c. from the Yahoo site

How is position eligibility established?

At the beginning of the Yahoo! Fantasy Baseball season, Yahoo! Sports placed all players into positions based in part on information from official rosters, but focusing mainly on past performance. Some players appear in multiple position lists and are eligible to fill any of those positions.

Please note the following conditions that apply to a player's position eligibility.

1. A player's position eligibility will not be adjusted prior to the beginning of the season. (If a player in spring training is playing "new" position, that position will not appear until a player has met the criteria for a change.)

2. Players will not lose eligibility at a previously established position at any time. (For example, if a catcher-eligible player begins to play first base exclusively, he will remain eligible at catcher for the entire season.)

3. It is not possible to customize this setting within Custom Leagues. All leagues are subject to the same constraints.

Gaining eligibility at a new position:

If a position player makes five (5) starts or 10 total appearances at a new position during this season, he will become eligible to play that position in Yahoo! Sports Fantasy Baseball.

Pitchers need to make three starts to become eligible as a starter and five relief appearances to qualify as a reliever.

To track a player's progress toward eligibility at a new position, go to the Players section and click on Position Eligibility. For each player shown, an "E" means they are eligible at a given position, a "-" means they have not played at that position yet, and a number indicates how many games remain before eligibility is earned.

Players will not necessarily be eligible for all positions listed in their Player Profile (viewable by clicking on the player"s name)

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2. The Draft

2a. Our draft will consist of enough rounds to bring all rosters up to 25 players for the start of the season.

2b. Any of these 25 players can be protected during the winter at the end of the season.

2c. If you release one of these players during the season and another team picks him up at a later time, he can no longer be protected over the winter. The same rule applies if you pick up your own player at a later time.

2d. The draft will begin in mid-December and conclude just before the start of the regular season.

2e. (NOT in effect until December 1, 2003) If any of your players, whether they are on your Winter Protected List, or they are drafted, suffers a MLB CAreer Terminating/major interrupting Situation (CATS) between December 1 and April 1, then you are eligible for compensation in the form of a draft pick for his roster spot. That pick must take place at least 24 hours before the start of the next round of the draft. Forms of CATS are:

2e.1. your player leaves MLB (either retires or decides to play baseball in another league)

2e.2. your player suffers a season ending injury

2e.3. your player is thrown in jail for at least one week

2f. The drafting order in the succeeding springs will be based on worst to best teams, with the teams with the fewest protections selecting first. For example, a team that protected 6 players will draft before a team that protected 7 players, regardless of where they finished. However, once both teams have 7 players on their roster, then the team with the worse previous season will select first.

2g. However, to begin the draft there will be a Round Zero. Every team will get one pick, based on last season's order of finish. The worst team will pick first, all the way to the #1 regular season team picking last.

Round Zero is for all teams.

Round -10 is only for teams who protected no player over the winter.

Round -9 is only for teams who protected no one, or just one player over the winter.

Round -8 is only for teams who protected from zero to just two players over the winter.

Round -7 is only for teams who protected from zero to just three players over the winter.

Round -6 is only for teams who protected from zero to just four players over the winter.

Round -5 is only for teams who protected from zero to just five players over the winter.

Round -4 is only for teams who protected from zero to just six players over the winter.

Round -3 is only for teams who protected from zero to just seven players over the winter.

Round -2 is only for teams who protected from zero to just eight players over the winter.

Round -1 is only for teams who protected from zero to just nine players over the winter.

Round +1 begins the regular phase of the draft. All teams will have 11 players on their roster by this time. The draft will conclude in Round +14. All teams will have a 25 man roster (excluding trades) at this time. If your roster is greater than 25 then you must cut players to get down to 25, unless players are on the DL. If your roster is less than 25, then you may add players from Yahoo's Available list, but these players cannot be protected after the season.

************ The Commissioner's Office will draft for any team that has no GM. Picks will be made keeping with the Best Interests of Baseball. This Commissioner's Office holds the integrity of Baseball as top priority, unlike the current MLB Commissioner.

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3. Keeper Rules

3a. You may protect up to 10 players maximum on your Winter Roster at the end of the season.

3b. c. d. If a player is under 30 years of age he can be protected on the Winter Roster. If 30 or older he cannot be protected if he has been protected 4 or more straight winters, regardless of how many different teams protected him during that 4+ year stretch. The player's age is determined by the calendar year ending December 31.

3e. Once a player is released, either during the season or at the end of the season, that player goes back into the re-entry draft. He can be kept for a brand new 5 year tenure.

3f. Players picked up after the last round of the spring draft cannot be protected. Thus, if you pick up a player during the season, he must be put back into the available pool. The rationale for this is as follows:

players can be picked up during the season on a first come and first serve system; there are no true waivers, to speak of
this sets up a misguided system that would allow "very" active gm's to have a monopoly on surprise players that blossom out of nowhere and become extremely good (Albert Pujols was the 2001 example)
it would penalize not as active gm's, something this league will never do
the following spring draft would be much more interesting with better players in it
there is room on our 25 man rosters to take a couple of flyers without hurting your current season point totals

3g. We will also have a 3 man minor league system. A player is eligible to stay in your minor league system until either a batter gets to 130 MLB at bats or a pitcher gets to 50 MLB innings, going into the next season.

3h. If your player exceeds minor league system eligibility at the end of the MLB season he must be put on your Winter Protected List, or you lose the rights to that player.

3i. The minor league draft will take place each season during the MLB All-Star break. Anyone with NO major league experience can be drafted.

3i. *********** If the Commissioner's Office takes over for a GM after the Winter Protected List has been submitted, but before the draft starts, the Commissioner's Office has the right to make changes to that Winter Protected list in keeping with the Best Interests of Baseball. This Commissioner's Office holds the integrity of Baseball as top priority, unlike the current MLB Commissioner.

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4. Rosters

4a. Your active playing roster can never exceed 25 players. You must cover 8 fielding positions (outfield is broken into CF, OF, OF starting in the 2005 season) and a DH for 162 games. There are 2 starting slots for each of the 9 batting slots, which means you could start 2 players on the same night and get stats for both. However, those 2 slots cannot exceed 162 games without penalty. At season’s end, if the missed games as tabulated by Yahoo is less than 162 for the 2 slots, then you will be penalized 5 points for each game less. This amount will be deducted from your season total in an after season points adjustment. If by chance Yahoo changes its scoring system for batters to be set up like pitchers, then we can use the Yahoo system. However, that is not likely to happen.

For example: Your main 3^rd baseman plays 160 games and you have him in the 3^rd base starting slot all year. However, you had another player fill in the other 3^rd base starting slot for 3 games. The total 163 games would produce a Yahoo accounting ledger showing –2 games missed in one slot, and –159 games missed in the other slot. The total of these 2, -161, is one less than our approved –162. This would result in a penalty of 5 points to be deducted from the team’s season total. Of course, if in that extra game the player produced 8 points, you would still be ahead of the game by 3 points. However, the best players in the league produce just over 3 points per game.

There are 5 Starting Pitcher slots that can only be filled with SP’s, and one RP slot that must be filled with a Lefty reliever. Beyond these 6 pitching slots there are 6 more pitching slots you can fill with either starters or relief pitchers. Your pitching staff will not accumulate points beyond 1450 innings, as controlled by the Yahoo scoring system.

How you make up this 25 man roster is up to you. If you wish to go with 10 batters and 15 pitchers, then that is your prerogative. (In this scenario at least 3 of the pitchers would be on the bench.) Also, during the course of the season you can change your balance based on your current needs.

4b. If a player goes on the DL you can pick up players that are not on anyone's roster from Yahoo’s Available list. Once the player comes off the DL then you must decide whether to keep him or release him. If you keep him then you must release another player.

4c. This league will be keeping a lineup balance. You MUST have at least 3 left handed and 3 right handed batters in your starting lineup at all times, and one left handed pitcher in your starting rotation, and one left handed pitcher in the bullpen (the RP slot). Switch hitters count as left or right-handed batters and make it easier to meet your requirements. If you have 3 switch hitters then you have met requirements for both sides of the plate. The starting and relief lefties must be appearing at least once a week to meet the requirement.

4d. I have listed our teams in alphabetical order. The team that is directly after you is the team that you will monitor this season for their lefty / righty minimums. Thus, the Angels will check on the A's, the A's on the Braves, etc. The Yankees will check on the Angels.

Angels, Athletics, Braves, Cardinals, Colts, Cubs, Dodgers. Giants, Indians, Mets, Orioles, Phillies, Pirates, Red Sox, Reds, Senators, Tigers, Twins, White Sox, Yankees

4e. If you find any team not complying with the lefty / righty rules then please email me. This list does not prohibit other teams monitoring you. Anyone can monitor anyone and make a report of non-compliance. I would suggest a weekly check to be enough.

4f. You will receive one warning of non-compliance. A second infraction will eliminate you from any playoff considerations.

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5. Trades

5a. Trades are allowed. However, any trade is subject to appeal. If a GM disputes a trade then that trade will be voted upon. A simple majority of all cast votes will determine yea or nay.

5b. The trade deadline for the current season will be around August 15. Trades after that date are only for the future season.

5c. Draft picks can be traded, but only after the Winter Rosters have been declared December 1, and not after the completion of the draft. Draft picks for future years cannot be traded.

5d. New *** If a trade involves a draft pick, the trade must be reported at least 49 hours before that pick’s round. Thus, if a draft round starts Sunday at noon, then the trade must be reported by Friday 11am … if the trade involves a pick from the upcoming round.

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6. Playoffs

6a. While the real winner of the league will be the team with the most points at season’s end, ya gotta have playoffs.

6b. Nine teams make the playoffs. The regular season pennant winner will receive a bye to the BCS. Teams 2 through 9 will play down as follows:

Tom Jones Bracket: 2 vs 9, 5 vs 6

Englebert Humperdink Bracket: 3 vs 8, 4 vs 7

6c. Each series is a best of 7, but the higher seeded team is leading the series 3 games to 2 when we pick up the series. What this means is, if the higher seeded team wins the first game, they advance. If they lose two straight then the other team advances. The winner of this play down will play the season's pennant winner in a normal Best of Three in the BCS.

6e. The winner of the playoffs will have to win something, and that something is the elusive Elvis Cup, emblematic of 1^st Fantasy supremacy. By the way, we are not talking about Elvis Grbac’s jock strap. We’re talking the King here. Elvis. Presley. The cup will be engraved with your name, your team name, and the year of your Championship Season and shipped to you 3^rd class at the end of the playoffs. Last year's winner was the Twins. GM Scott (now Angels) is still awaiting the trophy. Elvis was last seen, reportedly, on a Vegas junket at the Balaggio, icognito of course, with 2 babes on each arm.

Playoff Mechanics

If all playoff teams, and any others who wish, could please send in a string of 10 random numbers from 0 to 9, with none of the digits repeating, for example:

31472 50986

In the order these numbers are received, they will be intermingled to come up with magic dates. For example, if 3 sets of numbers are received, then they will be placed as follows:

First received: 31472 50986

2^nd received: 48763 20195

3^rd received: 83056 74192

The magic numbers are then read in a vertical fashion. The first magic number takes the first digit from each set of 10. The first magic number is 348, March 16 (see explanation below)

Date selection is as follows:

First digit 3 = March, 4 = April, 5 = May, etc. to 9 = Sept. and 0 = Oct. (If the magic number does not fall within the start and end dates of the MLB season then another number will be taken.)

2^nd and 3^rd digits divided by 3 gives the day of the month. For example, if the 2^nd and 3^rd digits are 4 and 8, then 48 divided by 3 equals 16. Round to nearest whole number. If 2^nd and 3^rd digits divided by 3 are greater than # days in the month, then select the next 2 digits.

If the chosen date saw all MLB teams play that day, the day will be used for the playoffs. If no full slate of games are found, then the first available day forward would be chosen. No 2 magic dates can be within 7 days of each other for our playoff games If the magic date found is within 7 days of any other magic date used during the playoffs, then another magic number will be chosen.

Player stats on the magic day will be used. If the player played in a double header, the first game of the day he had at least 3 plate appearances or 1 inning pitched is the game used. If he meets neither criteria, then the game he had the most pa's or batters faced will be used.

If a starting batter did not play, or did not cover 3 plate appearances (pa’s), then go to the bench. If no one covers the position, then Nerfum Milcuff will accumulate the at-bats to get to 3 pa's, all outs. If your team does not cover 27 outs then Nerfum will finish the game off with no more points.

If a pitcher did not play, then look up to 7 days ahead to get an appearance. If still no one then go to the next pitcher on the list. If you do not cover 27 outs then Nerfum Milcuff will pitch innings allowing one point for each out.

We enter each series into the 6th game with the team higher in the standing up 3 games to 2. Thus, the higher up team need win just one game to advance, while the other team must win 2 in a row to advance. The finals will enter the series in Game 5 with the series at 2-2.

Batters accumulate points for hits, runs, rbi, bb's. Each of the starting 8 fielding positions must cover 3 plate appearances. When you list your lineup, do as follows with ALL eligible positions, but their starting position in CAPS. Always rank lineups and benches from best to worst.

1. Wright 3B

2. Hafner 1B

3. Sizemore CF

4. Wells LF,cf

5. Wilkerson RF,cf,1b

6. Garciaparra SS

7. Mench DH,of

8. Hernandez C

9. Graffanino 2B,1b,3b

b1 Rios of

b2 White of

b3 Fick c,of,1b

b4 Ellison cf,of

b5 Ardoin c

b6 Infante 2b,3b,ss

s1 Sabathia

s2 Bonderman

s3 Lieber

s4 Weaver

s5 Lopez

r1 Gordon

r2 Crain

r3 Linebrink

r4 Carrara

r5 Shouse

r6 Weaver

r7 Lopez

List 5 starters in case of no shows by starters ranked higher. Rank starters a second time at bottom of reliever list.

Series 1 – gm6 goes with #1, gm7 goes with #2

Series 2 – gm6 goes with #2, gm7 goes with #3

Series 3 – gm 6 goes with #3, gm7 goes with #1

Finals – gm5 goes with #1, gm6 goes with #2, gm7 goes with #3

If your starter misses his start in the series, he cannot pitch in that series, but is eligible for the next.

Pitchers allow 4 points for each earned run allowed. The idea is to accumulate 27 outs without giving up any runs. If the starter goes 7 (21 outs), then the bullpen kicks in for the remaining 6 outs. Rank your best at the top. A bullpen pitcher cannot exceed 3 innings in the last 2 games of the series. This new rule is to stop starters in the bullpen from going big innings in back to back games.

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7. Rule Changes

In order for one of these rules to change we need a 2/3 of those voting majority to pass. At least 15 must vote for the voting to be valid. (10/15, 11/16, 11/17, 12/18, 13/19, 14/20)

Strategies

Since this is a keepers league, your drafting strategy can take many forms. If you wish to try and win right away you can go for older and established players who will give you consistent numbers. However, if you are willing to sacrifice this season in hopes of great teams down the road, you can draft younger players with a huge upside. Or, you can take a middle of the road approach, blending youth and experience.

The YAHOO system, while not perfect, is OK. I set up the simple Runs + Hits + RBI's + Walks + Hit by Pitch system for batters. It is so easy to look at the boxscore (USA Today style) and immediately see how your player did

I have approached Yahoo with the proposal to change their computer program to Cap batters based on plate appearances as opposed to Games Played. Included in the proposal, but something I believe they failed to pick up, was the program’s ability to allow multiple players at one starting position, but still with the position’s plate appearance cap.

I think there is a reasonable approximation between a player's value and his total number of points from last year. Curt Schilling and Randy Johsnon broke the 500 point barrier for the top pitchers Roger Clemens led the AL. Sammy Sosa and Barry Bonds cracked the magical 600 point barrier while Alex Rodriguez led the AL (uh, a shortstop).

When viewing the batter stats PTS is the total number of runs, hits, rbi’s, walks, and hit by pitches. PAV is their PTS divided by plate appearances. Their Team is last year’s last team, and the position is probably the position they played the most.

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Want to Join?

If you are interested in joining this league please send an email to thomvan@yahoo.com. Please indicate your experience in fantasy or simulation baseball leagues, and why you want to join a long term keepers league.

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