Bored 0 Report post Posted February 28, 2008 Update: LEAGUE IS FULL Have you ever wanted to manage your own team of coked out 80's All-Stars? Well now you can with the help of SportingNews.com as they are running a free fantasy baseball simulation league using the Strat-O-Matic game engine, featuring players from the 1986 MLB season. The basics of the league are that it will be made up 12 teams with a live draft (scheduled for Thursday, March 13th at 9:00 PM EST/6:00 PM PST) where you will put together a 25 man roster made up of players from 1986. There will be a 162 game regular season that is simulated by the computer and you will be able to set your team's line-ups, pitching rotations, and other misc. features. Each day there will be three games from your schedule that are simulated, with recaps and boxscores posted the next morning, so the season itself will only take about two months to complete. The playoffs are set up like the current MLB playoff format with the three division winners and a wild card advancing. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
EVIL~! alkeiper 0 Report post Posted February 28, 2008 I'm in, but how the heck do you get to the League sign up page? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Bored 0 Report post Posted February 28, 2008 Sorry I couldn't direct link the sign up page to my league. I did link to the Strat-O-Matic leagues page in the first post so just go there and select the 1986 Free league icon. Next it'll ask you to come up with a name for your team and also your "manager" name, which I'd suggest your screen name here so we know who everyone is. Next screen you'll select "Live Draft" which is defaulted and that will take you to a list of available leagues and just select the 1986 TSM League under the private leagues section. I should also add that when it comes to the Live Draft it will work the same way as a Yahoo fantasy league where you can preset rankings if you can't make it to the draft. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
EVIL~! alkeiper 0 Report post Posted February 28, 2008 Got it, the sign in page made it seem like you were establishing a new league. I'm in. For anyone wondering, the Hillsdale Daisies were one of the top negro teams of the 1920s. They operated out of their own park in Darby, a suburb of Philadelphia. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
HarleyQuinn 0 Report post Posted February 28, 2008 Created my team but... how the hell do I get into the league itself? Do I have to fill out the draft list first? Nevermind. I'm in as the Boston Americans. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Bored 0 Report post Posted February 28, 2008 Edit: Nevermind, too. I'll paste the explanation into the first post. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
MarvinisaLunatic 0 Report post Posted February 28, 2008 I was gonna do it til I realized I cant make it on the 20th for a live draft so..I still signed up in hopes that will get moved to earlier that week or something but if not I'll do the prerank job. Im the Salisbury Indians , the 8th best team ever in Minor League Baseball history circa 1937 out of the Class D Eastern Shore Baseball League. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Vern Gagne 0 Report post Posted February 28, 2008 St.Paul Apostles Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
treble 0 Report post Posted February 28, 2008 "Bronx" "Bombers", as per the suggestion. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Richard 0 Report post Posted February 28, 2008 In as the Tijuana Bibles. I'll be missing the draft though, cause of work. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
CanadianChris 0 Report post Posted February 28, 2008 Montreal Royals. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
EVIL~! alkeiper 0 Report post Posted February 28, 2008 Bored, are ratings based up to 1985 or do they include the 1986 season itself? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
JHawk 0 Report post Posted February 28, 2008 I'm in as Ohio Hellraisers Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Bored 0 Report post Posted February 28, 2008 Bored, are ratings based up to 1985 or do they include the 1986 season itself? They are based on the 1986 season only. Looks like we will get the league off the ground as there are only three spots left. I'm open to suggestions regarding the draft day and time but again you can preset rankings if you can't make it. I picked that date since it's the first night of the NCAA basketball tournament so figured people would be home that night. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
MarvinisaLunatic 0 Report post Posted February 28, 2008 yes because everyone that stays home to watch the first round of the basketball tournament wants to also be doing something else. Eh..I have other plans and I'll prerank I guess. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
HarleyQuinn 0 Report post Posted February 28, 2008 I can be there. I'll cut it close in terms of getting into the draft (if I have an early pick) since I work until 9:00 that night but I can get out a few minutes early. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Smues Report post Posted February 28, 2008 I'm in. I may or may not be able to make the draft, but I'll just pre-set my rankings and be good to go. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
CanadianChris 0 Report post Posted February 28, 2008 I'm excited about this. 1986 was the one complete set of cards I had for Statis Pro Baseball when I was a kid. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Bored 0 Report post Posted February 29, 2008 If the final two spots get filled in the next day or two I might move the draft up to as early as next week. And if you aren't convinced you want to manage a team of 1986 players, well this should do it. 1986 Los Angeles Dodgers aka The Baseball Boogie Bunch Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
EVIL~! alkeiper 0 Report post Posted February 29, 2008 I've got drafts previously scheduled on the 3rd, 10th and 11th. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
King Kamala 0 Report post Posted February 29, 2008 Yikes- is that a professional baseball team or a particularly bad gay men's choir? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Bored 0 Report post Posted March 2, 2008 Looks like it may take a while to get the final two spots filled so definitely won't move the draft up to this week. Now assuming those spots get filled I'm going to quickly go over Strat-O-Matic's defensive ratings. When it comes to hitting and pitching you can just look at the player's stats from that season to figure if they were good or not. It's a little different with defense of course and here's how to read a player's defensive ratings, which you can find along with their regular stats in the Player Set Browser under the Help section of the league homepage and also contains an excel file you can download. I'll use Wade Boggs as an example: 2e21 The first number refers to the player's range, which goes from 1 (excellent) to 5 (poor). The second number refers approximately how many errors that player will make in a 162 game season. For outfielders and catchers their defense ratings will look a little different, for this I'll use Robin Yount's ratings: 2(+1)e1 The number in parenthesis refers to the player's arm, which goes from -5 (excellent) to +5 (poor). So if someone has a 0 arm rating that means their arm is average. Now for a little helpful guide here are the players (regulars only) who have a "1" range rating at each position, excluding catchers and pitchers. 1B: Keith Hernandez, Wally Joyner, Don Mattingly 2B: Bill Doran, Ryne Sandberg, Lou Whitaker, Frank White 3B: Terry Pendleton, Mike Schmidt SS: Tony Fernandez, Alfredo Griffin, Dick Schofield, Ozzie Smith LF: Eric Davis, Tim Raines CF: Rickey Henderson, Willie McGee, Eddie Milner, Dale Murphy, Dwayne Murphy, Gary Pettis, Kirby Puckett. RF: Jesse Barfield, Andre Dawson, Dwight Evans, Tony Gwynn, Andy Van Slyke, Glenn Wilson, Dave Winfield For catchers no one on this set has better than a -3 arm rating and they are Bob Boone, Jody Davis, Rich Gedman, Lance Parrish, and Tony Pena. Jesse Barfield is the only outfielder a -5 arm rating on the set, although there are a handful that have a -4. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
EVIL~! alkeiper 0 Report post Posted March 2, 2008 I assume they are based on real Strat-O-Matic cards? Hal Richman has a great reputation for evaluating defense. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Bored 0 Report post Posted March 2, 2008 Yes they are. My only quibble with Strat's defensive ratings is they will often give Gold Glover winners a "1" rating even if they clearly won the award on reputation alone. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Bored 0 Report post Posted March 5, 2008 Still waiting to fill those final two spots so will continue to pass the time going over little things about the game. After reading the FAQ, you won't be able to pick a stadium for your team until after the draft which kinda sucks but oh well. Of course the available stadiums are all from 1986. You can find the ballpark effects for each one under the Player Set Browser of the Help section. There's four separate ratings for each park that are self explanatory, lefty/righty singles and lefty/righty homeruns. The ratings run from 1 (hardest to hit singles/homeruns) to 20 (easiest to hit singles/homeruns). Overall, Fulton County Stadium and the Metrodome are the most favorable to hitters while Olympic Stadium and the Oakland Coliseum are the most favorable to pitchers. I'm of course going to take the Oakland Coliseum but there's no way for me to keep anyone else from taking it if they want it as there doesn't appear to be anything that prevents two teams from having the same stadium. If anyone wants to stake a claim to a stadium now go ahead but you can always change your mind later. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
HarleyQuinn 0 Report post Posted March 5, 2008 I call dibs on Fenway, obviously. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Brett Favre 0 Report post Posted March 5, 2008 I just joined. I'm that ThirdRail, Woodside Clippers guy. And I call Yankee Stadium. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
CanadianChris 0 Report post Posted March 5, 2008 I'll grab Olympic Stadium. (Edited from The Ex...the Big O seemed more appropriate for my team name.) Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Matt Young 0 Report post Posted March 5, 2008 "YOUR LEAGUE: 1986 TSM League Your league is now full!" Sounds like fun. I was never able to get in on your OOTP sim things, so this should be fun even though it's very different. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Smues Report post Posted March 5, 2008 Fulton County Stadium. Yoink! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
