Tuesday, March 04, 2008

SABBL 2nd Season Rules Things

Since we said we'd get the rules down before the draft... I figured I'd start a thread on hashing out points...some of these were discussed Saturday and/or Monday.

1) We're playing with a DH (as per Dennis).
2) We're playing with "mostly" super-advanced rules (need to clarify ... my interpretation is "Everything but super-stealing, which is only if both managers agree"). In particular, that means we're playing with the SA X-chances, the closer rule, park effects (& weather), clutch hitting, corners in, catcher blocking the plate, robbing home runs, outfield in, pickoffs, balks and wild pitches.
3) We're using the solitaire rules for resting position players. This implies a "no early game substitutions" rule. (So you can't "start" your terrible backup, then pull him for your great player who'd have to rest if that position came up on a check).
4) As per Sean's question ... you pick two teams, then take one from the stack and pass the stack.
5) Qualifying for the postseason (which I assume will just be a world series) requires you play a home and away 3-game series against each other manager. (That's 36 games, but we're playing over the season, so a bit more than two series a month).
6) Managers can trade freely. Don't collude. [I'd add in a note that trading teams should have played roughly equal number of games].

Points that I'm assuming but haven't been specified:

A) We're drawing seating position for passing separately (after the draft).
B) What are the minimums for a player to be draft eligible? 300 PAs (250 for catchers) is the "standard" for tournaments.
C) Ditto for pitchers and relievers. (125 IP for Starters, 40 IP for relievers). Also, what rest rules are we using? Are we sticking with a 4 pitcher rotation or 5-pitcher? Are we simply going with 2 games out of 3 for relievers? (The STAR tournaments use "3 games out of four AND no more than 4 IP in 4 consecutive games.")
D) Apart from sending game results to Dennis (and tracking pitcher usage), all book-keeping is optional. I don't know if I'll be keeping detailed stats, this time. It's time consuming.
E) Best W-L% of qualifying teams? Or Best Differential?
F) We said injuries were to be limited to a current series, but there should probably be some scaling ... ie, any 1-4 game injury becomes out for the game. 5-9 becomes miss next game (if in the same series) and 10+ becomes "miss next two (if in the same series)." [I want the chance for a key player to miss a series ... because that happens, but I do want it to be rare. If people want to just limit injuries to the current game, and let the rest rule take care of the other stuff, that's fine too.]
G) I'm assuming you have to draft at least 2 catchers, 4 (or 5) starting pitchers, one park, 3 relievers (you'd want more, no doubt) and have people to cover two positions.

We can use this comment thread to hash out what issues are open, and then discuss pre-draft.

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13 Comments:

At 8:58 PM, March 04, 2008, Blogger scott said...

five man rotation

 
At 10:12 PM, March 04, 2008, Blogger Dennis Ugolini said...

Everything Brian said, plus the following:

1. Five-man rotations.

2. The draft is 26 rounds -- we are each drafting 25 players plus a home park. I'll explain park effects at the draft. Make sure to pick up at least two catchers, at least five starting pitchers, and at least two people who can play each position (most players can cover multiple infield or outfield spots, so there will be some overlap here). Most major league teams have 10 pitchers, though a few carry 11.

3. Backups forced into the starting lineup by injuries are immune to the availability roll from the solitaire rules. This prevents a situation where your main catcher gets hurt, your backup has to start for the first time, and he picks that day to say, "Nah, I'm not really feeling it."

 
At 10:12 PM, March 04, 2008, Blogger Dennis Ugolini said...

Oh, and Best Differential wins.

 
At 10:23 PM, March 04, 2008, Blogger scott said...

really, differential not winning percentage with the minimum number of games?

 
At 6:50 AM, March 05, 2008, Blogger Dennis Ugolini said...

Differential encourages you to play more, percentage encourages you to play less.

 
At 9:58 AM, March 05, 2008, Blogger seanp said...

I understand the concept of best differential - what is the formula? I found one reference from google mentioning (my runs + opponents runs) / opponents runs

Is that correct?

 
At 11:29 AM, March 05, 2008, Blogger Dennis Ugolini said...

That's right, Sean, except it's Win-Loss differential rather than runs.

 
At 3:42 PM, March 05, 2008, Blogger Simon said...

From one geek to another:

You guys are huge nerds.

 
At 4:13 PM, March 05, 2008, Blogger seanp said...

Simon - I'm such a huge nerd that I don't really even know anything about MLB or baseball strategy, but I'm *still* spending this much energy on the game. I love the idea of baseball, I just can't stand to watch it.

 
At 4:24 PM, March 05, 2008, Blogger Brian said...

I'd watch baseball a lot more of double headers took 1.5 hours (like our earlier series).

As it was, I watched way too much of the post season and games would take 2+ hours ... while using a DVR. Man that sucks.

 
At 4:56 PM, March 05, 2008, Blogger Brian said...

Still wondering what the minimum requirements for a card to be draftable are (IP for starters/relievers, AB/PA for position players).

 
At 8:16 PM, March 05, 2008, Blogger Dennis Ugolini said...

I was just accepting yours (300 PA, 250 if a catcher, 40 IP reliever, 120 IP starter). I prefer PA to AB because it's not Barry Bonds's fault that he was walked 1856 times.

 
At 10:20 AM, March 06, 2008, Blogger seanp said...

OK - for pitching - The starter rule is essentially four games off once you've started? so if you had 6 pitchers you'd have a tiny bit of wriggle room? And relievers?

I like the idea of scaling the injuries. It adds a little more tension to that outcome.

 

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