3014 FINAL REGULAR SEASON STANDINGS THRU 09.04,14

2014 Reg Season	WIN	LOSS	T	PCT	PF	PA	WPF	WPA
DIREstraits	93	39	0	.7045	6589.3	4760.2	134.4	147.6
Carpenter Belts	80	51	1	.6098	6771.4	5859.4	100.0	81.8
PANDAS	72	60	0	.5455	6113.4	5539.4	159.0	126.6
Convincing Fashion	69	63	0	.5227	6004.9	5848.8	147.6	134.4
Bloody Gloves	66	65	1	.5038	5446.3	5709.4	108.3	59.8
HOME BY TWO	64	68	0	.4848	5461.8	5395.6	126.6	159.0
Kel's Belles	62	70	0	.4697	4999.2	5341.4	59.8	108.3
Tony's Team	56	76	0	.4242	5269.4	5852.4	65.1	100.5
Dan the torpedo	55	77	0	.4167	5093.2	5627.9	100.5	65.1
VODKA TONICS	42	90	0	.3182	3895.7	5710.1	81.8	100.0

Luis Valbuena Era Begins. 15-30 thru 15 Series

America's fantasy team, the Pandas, got clobbered again this week by CCL Cup foe and league leadging pitching machine Dire Straits. Pandas hit the ball with Heyward busting out, Lucroy staying hot, and Frazier bouncing back from a very bad spell for 14, 19, 18 or 51 of the teams 69 points in a losing cause.
Starters were abysmal. Kendrick continues to lose, Chacin scuffled in 2nd start and Cueto got bombed.

Other than perpetually shaky Carlos Quentin, Pandas starters are remaining on the field and competitive. Pandas continue to lead the league in doubles and the outlook is positive for a hitting winning streak.

Pitching faces an unlikely pitching outcome with only two starters but the weekday set offers up all six healthy hurlers. Could Pandas win 5 of 6 and be 20-31 this time next week?  Stay tuned.

Panda blog: May Blues

Unrelated Story: Pandas Japan Scout, Domo, Demands Raise.

With 14 series of 43 to play done, the season has hit its one-thrid point, with the mid-way coming in about a month near June 21.

May and June need to be excellent months for the Pandas. With a expected sweep over lowly VTs this weekend, we'd have been 18-24 and in striking distance of .500
But Kershaw faltered, as did Rosenthal, Toddd Todd Frazier, Aaron Hill combined for -10.

At 15-24, the clock is clicking on this club heavy with veterans like Utley, Howard, Ruiz who are bound to start wilting as they pant to the Allstar Break. With a Matt Latos return possible, and Kershaw and Chacin already arrived, this team has the pitching to compete, get back to .500 and start dogging it for the top bracket.

If Latos returns looks probable, would trade Wheeler for young hitter.
Dire Stratis comes into town for a 3 game set and a 5-4 edge in starters and 2-1 edge in closers this week.
A series victory of any kind will be huge and a gut check against the CCL Cup leading, but recently inury poked Jeffs.

Hitting 813pts   .269/.413  - This really needs to come up via contributions from Marte and Heyward.
Pitching 778pts  13-26 record - This can and should improve with Kershaw, Chacin, maybe Latos.
Rosenthal's recent immolations are of great concern.
------------------------------------------------
Most Suprising Player Who Will Hopefully Keep it Up:          Johnny Cueto 9 for 9 QS, 248 pts.
Must Surprising Player Who Will Probably Fade Out:            Chase Utley .339/.550, Pagan .321

Most Disappointing Player Who Might  Scuffle More:   Zack Wheeler, 4.89 ERA, 9th round

Most Disappointing Player Were Counting on to Turn it Around:    Jason Heyward  .215/.316

Biggest Question Mark: Starling Marte - Can he dominate again?
Anticipated Regular Season Finish if things go Well as Hoped:  3rd  - alot has to go right!
Aniticipated Finish if they Dont: 8th Place -  Am close now but think I can stay out of the cellar region and the dreaded Cialis Weekend Playoff Playin. My prostate cannon handle that but will if it has to.

TRANSACTIONS /LINEUPS/ TRADES

1- Auction bids may be subitted by owners anytime Monday evening through Thursday morning. 

These bids you enter are secret and are automatically sorted and distributed by the computer Thursday at 10am.

Ties go to the team with less wins/less points. We have no standings yet, so ties will be broken in reverse of draft order which is customary.

Any NL property, major or minor can be bid on in the auction. If the guy is not listed let me know and/or use Dummy Hitter/Dummy Pitcher.

You may add/drop as many players as you like in the auctions.

2- IFA is Instant Free Agency and this runs from right after the aucion until Noon Friday.

Under IFA, any team may add/drop ONE PLAYER, ONE TIME, ONLY each week. ,The league fee is $1.

The player mst be an NL player on an NL major league roster and not optioned to minors (but he can be doing major league dl rehab in minors).

The one IFA player you choose to sign or not sign can be for any reason you wish.

It is First Come, First Serve, and its REALLY APPRECIATED if you Please send an email to all when you take a player via IFA.

You should be able to make the move on the site, yourself, automatically. Or you can just send the email to league and I will make it for you.

3- Lineups. IFA is the time to sign a player to make sure you have a Legal Roster after the auction.

Your lineups must include an eligible player at every position. Player can be on DL or minors but must be NL property.

Lineups are due before first NL pitch of day Monday and Friday. You can set lineups for the next series anytime after new series begins.

FYI, I set my weekend lineup on Wednesday. Do it in advance there are NO MULLIGANS for missing a lineup deadline. 

4- Trades - You may trade directly on the site but again, PLEASE SEND LEAGUE WIDE EMAIL OF TRADES and IFA pickups. You may need commish assistance if you are including FA money in a trade. Also, make only Equal Trades for Equal amounts of players.  If you do make a 3 for 1 deal, have the player getting only 1 player include his cuts in the deal.

MLB TRADES GET NO COMPENSATION IN OUR LEAGUE. IF YOUR PLAYER IS TRADED TO THE AL, HE IS NOT ELIGIBLE TO BE ON YOUR ROSTER AND YOU GET NO COMPENSATION.

 

Tin on FAAB Bids

Monday, March 28, 2011

Secret to Blind Bid Auction Bidding

 How to Bid in Blind Bid Auction prior to 10am Thursdays?

1) Do Not Cut the Same Player in More than One Bid in an auction
If you do this, there is no Guaruntee which Bid the System will Read or what will happen.

Example Below of a MISTAKE of Cutting Same player in more than one bid.
In this case, Vizquel is listed as the player to be waived or cut in each version of the bid and this will screw everything up!:

Bbid 1- Waive Vizquel: Add: Carlton 23, Schmidt, 13, Bowa 4 *

Bid 2- Waive Vizquel: Add: Schmidt 13, Bowa 4, McBride 2.

Vizquel should Not be invcluded in Bid 2. Only waiver a player in one group of bids per auction.

The SOLUTION :
Only Use Vizquel as the player to waive in ONE BID ONLY, and if there are multiple players you would accept when you cut Vizquel, ADD THEM ALL into ONE BID.

EXAMPLE OF CORRECT CONDITIONAL BID:
Bid 1 - Waive Vizquel-  Add Carlton 23, Schmidt 13, Bowa 4, McBride 3.  SUBMIT
bid 2 - Waive Ripken: Add Schmidt 13, Bowa 4, McBride 2, Griffey SUBMIT

Draft Order March 30 715pm ET

1- Steed     GAN   66- CWV  64 -- 10-6 

2  Ted   CMO  56- ARK   44 -- 10-6  

3-.Kelly   WLB   88  GLN   72 -- 10-8

4- Jeremy   FP   46   PHU  45 -- 11-6

5- Roger    LSS  88   FINL  83 -- 11-8

6- Dan      SCST 89   BRI   73 -- 12

7- Tony     MSM 97  HARD 56 -- 13-7

8- Jeff       DRU   69   WIS  64 -- 13-9

9- Adam   NWM  69   WIN  57 -- 16

10-Kenny ESTR  99    LIV   98 -- 17

FASANO LEAGUE BASICS FOR NEW OWNERS

League Primer:

Each week we play two head-head matchups, Monday-Thursday  and then Friday-Sunday.
Lineups for matchups are due before first pitch Monday and first pitch Friday.
Lineups roll over if you fail to update. Each team must field a complete lineup for each series.

Each matchup is a 3 game series.
Combined Hitting Points is one win or loss in standings.
Combined Pitching Points is one win or loss in standings.
Combined Total Poins is one win or loss in standings.

Hint- Pitching typically outscores Hitting about 15%.
If you are going to go balls to the walls on either Pitching or Hitting, Pitching might make more sense.

Hitting: Position Eligibility is either 10 games in 2013 or 5 games in 2014
Start 11 Hitters each series/matchup.
.
C   1B  2B  SS 3B - OF OF OF OF - MI*  CI*
*middle infielder is 2B or SS
* corner infielder is 1B, 3B, C

Hitting Scoring Categories:
BB+1, 1B+2, 2B+3, 3B+5, HR+6, RUN +2, RBI +1, SB +2, CCS +3
AB minus 0.5, K minus 1.
(ccs is when Catcher catches a runner stealing).

Pitching
Start 8 pitchers each series/matchup. Any combination of Starters or Relievers is allowed.

Pitching Scoring Categories:
W +10,  QS +10, SV +5, K +1,  IP +1 (0.3 per out), K , HOLD +4, CG +5
L minus 5, ER minus 1, BS minus 5, BB minus 1, HIT minus .25

Hint: Dominant starting pitching performance makes a big impact.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Draft/Rosters
Roster size is 26 players and draft is 26 rounds, reversing order every round.
Draft is online via the sites draft tool and supported by live teleconference call.
Attendance at draft and through to completion is essential. Takes about 2 to 2.5 hours.
Major and Minor leaguers may be rostered/drafted, but only players property of NL teams are eligible.

Transaction/Free Agents (ADD/DROP)
Auction
Each team gets 100 bucks of "play" Free Agent Dollars to spend and trade during the season.
Each Thursday, the site automatically sorts out highest bidders for Free Agents.
All bids are Private and Secret and not revealed until the system has processed the bids Thursday Morning.
This portion of Free Agency is called the Blind Bid Auction, aka FAAB.
The auction tool can be a bit tricky if you havent used an auction tool but support docs will be provided.
Part of being a rookie is getting used to the systems, just like adapting to a big league clubhouse.
Major and Minor leaguers are eligible for the auction. You may place bids on as many players are you like.
FOR EVERY PLAYER YOU ADD, YOU SIMULTANEOUSLY MUST DROP A PLAYER.

IFA
Following the Thursday auction/FAAB, each team may make One move prior to Friday at Noon.
The flat fee for this move is $1.  All these moves are First-Come, First Serve.
This portion of free agency is also called IFA (Instant Free Agents).
Only NL major leaguers are eligible for IFA. No minor leaguers allowed; however, major leaguers on DL rehab stints in minors are IFA eligible.
IFA can be used as you like, but it is designed to give owners a chance to rebalance/retain eligible player at each postion following the Auction/FAAB.

TRADING
Trading is done automatically on the site and is encouraged. FA cash may be traded as well.
Trades must always contain even amounts of players on both sides.
League trade deadline for players and fa cash is 1159pm Aug 24th ET.
A vote of six owners to block will veto any trade. In sixteen years this league has seen a few owners back down from lopsided trades, but Never has a trade been vetoed or blocked - yet.
Owners are encouraged to make trades that don't appear lopsided.
We have an unwritten live and let live, or live and let die policy, but if you make an ostenisbly lopsided deal, expect to face the music.

Playoffs
Every team will make a postseason Cash-Prize playoff tourney...
The top teams playoff in the Champioinship bracket for biggest prize money. Bottom teams playoff for a small but significant prize. Every team is motivated to build the best roster all the way through to the playoffs to try and win cash. Never give up.

Rules-
With very few exceptions, usually regarding an oversight, unforseen circumstance, or unexpected event like happened in early September 2001, rules do not change during the season. Any adjustments require a majoirty of league owners to vote Aye.

2014 PRIzES, PLAYOFF FORMAT, KEY DATES

*Final Day of Regular Season is Thursday September 4th

(Regular Season Pennant Winner Wins $350 plus choice of foe in Semifinals)

*Cialis Playoff Play-in Weekend is Friday September 5th-7th

(4th & 5th playoff/playin for Championship Bracket; 9th & 10th play-in for Bottom Bracket)

*Semifial Round of Champioinship and Bottom Bracket Playoffs, Monday September 8th -14th in week-long head-head series.

(Championship bracket includes regular season 1st, 2nd, 3rd place teams - plus 4th/5th weekend playin winner)  Regular Season champ selects foe in semis.

(Bottom bracket includes regular season's  6th, 7th, 8th finishers - plus 9th/10th weekend play-in winner, with 6th place finisher selecting his foe in semis.

*Final Round of Championship and Bottom Bracket Playoffs, Monday September 15th-21st in week-long head-head series involving semifinal round winners.

(Consolation series for 3rd and 4th place also takes place involving losers of championship bracket).

PRIZES- 

$350  Regular Season Best Record 

$400  League Champion, Winner of championship postseason bracket

$200  Runner-Up, championship postseason bracket

$175  Winner, consolation round of championship postseason bracket

$150  Loser, consolation round of championship postseason bracket

$125  Winner of bottom bracket postseason tourney.

Critics Rave About Friends of Fasano's Grandstand Fantasy Baseball Format

Seattle Sports Insider Post from folks Pining for the Fasano Format, originally known as Grandstand Fantasy Baseball invented by Scott Axelrod.

See a word from Scott below:

----------------------------------

When you said, "Shame nobody wrote down that scoring system," I agreed, because it was easily the most playable fantasy game I've seen.

And your phrasing kind of made something go DING in my addled mind...

Went out to the garage and fished out a 1999 Macintosh... in it, I'd saved the 1998 Grandstand points leaders...

Was an interesting experiment trying to reconstruct the points, because GS used to publish those lists with a few columns missing :- ) such as R and GIDP... Hey, Ghost, isn't there an Excel function, or some site on the net, that could take a table like fantasy points leaders, their categories and points, and automatically extract the formula used to find the final column points?

This system created nicely proportional impacts on a weekend's matchup - for example, a Felix lockdown would give you 30 or 35 points; a closer save would give you what, 15?, and a nice hold by a Brandon League would give you 7 or 8...

A big game by a hitter might give you 10 points or so...

I'll go put this system up in the SSI Smackdown and you can see what you think of the results.

=== SABR Corner, Dept. ===

I would actually defend this system as much more sabermetric than it appears at first glance.

Baseball is about bases gained and bases lost.  There is also a thumb on the scale for coordinating those bases to get the 4th base, home plate, so a little bonus for R and RBI is appropriate IMHO.

........

The SB/CS values "should" be +1 and -2, but ..... hold on.  Giving "extra" points to SB's encourages you to draft fast players .... and in real life, those fast players give you hidden bases taking first to third, right?

.........

Sportswriters sniff at the concept of "Quality Starts," but MLB managers from McGraw to LaRussa have regarded QS part of the fabric of their strategy.

You get a QS on Friday night, your chances of winning approach 70%, with no other information.  I call that a relevant stat.

xFIP does not capture [Quality x Quantity / Single Event-Game I/O Outcome].   QS yields useful information.

.........

Anyway, the game wasn't perfect, but played fast and smooth and the owners had a lot of confidence that UP seasons by MLB players would pay off in Grandstand championships.

.

=== The Weekly Format ===

Hey Justin - we forgot -

Grandstand used to award 3 wins per series, not one:  A point for pitching, a point for hitting, and an overall point.

Don't s'pose we can do that?

A big part of the playability was trying to salvage a 1-2 loss on a bad series, or trying for a big 3-0 blasting of your rival when things were rolling.  

It also prevented owners from rolling out imbalanced teams.

.........

It also ran matchups from Mon-Thur and Fri-Sun, with the result that you'd have 6 (legitimate) W's and L's per week ...  The 1998 regular season had MajorSlug, BABVA and Men Behaving Badly (Justin) all in the 84-51 range.

.

Fun stuff,

Jemanji

- See more at: http://seattlesportsinsider.com/article/aol-gs-sim-league-scoring#sthash.XnGIiabS.dpuf

Grandstand Fantasy Baseball

Scott Axelrod
9/23/11 5:59am

Hi Jemanji,

I was very excited to see that some people were still discussing the Grandstand Fantasy games. I was the creator of the baseball game you were been trying to piece together online. I was one of the founders of The Grandstand and when we sold to AOL I became their employee. You may have dealt with me, but more likly GSFS John (Da Commish)?

These posts brought back such great memories.  We spent many nights piecing together what the game should look like and act like - keeping just one thing in mind - member experience. Did the game look like you were entering a something more than just a numbers game? We had the nice front page and wanted people to select their lineup by choosing their staters listed on a playing field - not a blank white page. We wanted wins and losses -  so every series starts you off fresh. Most of all, we wanted a point system that made sense. We wanted there to be a reason to have a slick fielding SS - maybe he is a weak bat but his true value might be equal to someone batting 50 pts higher.

When I left AOL they brought in new people that bought in to this idea that eyeballs meant more than real cash. They wanted to create a generic game and sell a sponsor to Sears - the deal fell through. And it got worse from there....oh well.

THANK YOU for remembering this game. I loved building it as a fan and for our members - I am so happy you enjoyed it and still do.

Scott Axelrod

ScottAxelrod579@gmail.com

Stag5@aol.com - but I never use that anymore :)

6 - See more at: http://seattlesportsinsider.com/article/aol-gs-sim-league-scoring#sthash.XnGIiabS.dpuf