2009 FOFC Hardcore League

[sterlingice]

Originally Posted by samifan24

I have to say I do prefer points leagues but have only played head to head leagues for the last few years. I just think things can get fluky from week to week in head to head leagues but points leagues show a better overall balance of team talent.

I agree- points leagues give a better picture of how good a team is across the board (provided the points system is well set up). Never really cared that much for roto as it gave way too much emphasis to too many silly categories (saves, sbs, etc). H2H does a little of that but you still need to have a good team across the board to make up for the weekly variance.

I still prefer head to head for fantasy, tho, as it seems to keep people engaged the best- you could be a bit out of it but a 13-1 week and suddenly you're back in the hunt as only 14 "points" get decided per week. But if someone is down, say, 200 points they are in it just as in it as someone 15 games back, but it doesn't look like it due to the scoring system.

SI

[cubboyroy1826]

I will admit i really like he auction leagues with additional free agent dollars to use during the season. The obstacle with the auction league is getting everyone together for 4-5 hours for the draft. I actually have found this year i also prefer just using layers from either the AL or the NL. This definitely makes things tougher.

[sterlingice]

I was going to do an auction draft on ESPN this year for the first time as there was some murmuring of one on FOFC but it fell through. I've been wanting to do one for a couple of years.

I don't really like the AL/NL only rules that some leagues have, tho. Sure, it's "deeper" but, really, I don't want to be deciding my league based on the Royals catching situation. I like having more players picked and larger rosters (to a point)- that way the big name players can still make a big impact and injuries don't take as big of a toll (sure, you may lose your #1 draft pick but your #2-4 picks are still superstars or, at least stars, not guys who are "good for the league you're playing in". Personal preference, tho.

SI

[sterlingice]

Rank		Team	W-L-T	Pct	GB	Last Week	Waiver	Moves
1.		Killing Me Smalls	147-113-20	.561	-	9-4-1	8	12
2.		Hartford Heroes	146-113-21	.559	0.5	10-4-0	10	40
3.		Queens Bees	148-115-17	.559	0.5	6-8-0	5	18
4.		Hunters	144-120-16	.543	5	8-6-0	9	58
5.		ChicksDigTheLongball	143-119-18	.543	5	6-6-2	2	10
6.		Whos Down Wit OBP?	137-116-27	.538	6.5	8-3-3	1	16
7.		Dog Pound	126-133-21	.488	20.5	4-9-1	6	13
8.		Blacksburg Transit	115-138-27	.459	28.5	8-5-1	3	9
9.		Troy Trojans	114-138-28	.457	29	6-6-2	4	8
10.		Richmond Rhinocerii	115-143-22	.450	31	5-8-1	12	31
11.		Nietzsche's Ubermen	113-148-19	.438	34.5	3-8-3	11	33
12.		Insomniacs	105-157-18	.407	43	4-10-0	7	15

I hate to say it, but this one might be over until the playoffs. Sure, the top 6 teams have shuffled around quite a bit they've opened up a pretty big lead over the bottom 6. Dog Pound has a slight chance of getting in there with a huge couple of weeks but he's running out of time.

The battle for the all-important first round byes is quite heated as Killing Me Smalls, Hartford Heroes, and Queen Bees are all within a half game of first while 4-6 are only between 5 and 6.5 games back.

Another bit of good news is that everyone is still active.

SI

[sterlingice]

Dang pitcher injuries- didn't get minimum innings

Oh well, both of us are out of the race so it didn't effect the playoffs.

SI

[PackerFanatic]

Wow, spanked this week - while Hartford goes on a tear and retakes 1st place (likely for good) Although I must say, I would rather lose last week (and this week, if I have to) than go into the playoffs with a long winning streak. Less to worry about then, heh. It is going to be a fun final week though - still hoping for that bye!

[sterlingice]

Rank		Team	W-L-T	Pct	GB	Last Week	Waiver	Moves
*1.		Hartford Heroes	166-120-22	.575	-	8-5-1	10	42
*2.		Killing Me Smalls	157-127-24	.549	8	6-6-2	8	14
*3.		Hunters	158-130-20	.545	9	6-6-2	9	67
*4.		Queens Bees	154-132-22	.536	12	2-9-3	5	20
*5.		ChicksDigTheLongball	154-135-19	.531	13.5	5-8-1	2	10
*6.		Whos Down Wit OBP?	147-134-27	.521	16.5	8-6-0	1	17
7.		Dog Pound	142-143-23	.498	23.5	8-6-0	6	13
8.		Troy Trojans	131-144-33	.479	29.5	9-2-3	4	8
9.		Nietzsche's Ubermen	130-157-21	.456	36.5	6-6-2	12	34
10.		Blacksburg Transit	125-154-29	.453	37.5	6-8-0	3	9
11.		Richmond Rhinocerii	124-162-22	.438	42	6-8-0	11	38
12.		Insomniacs	119-169-20	.419	48	6-6-2	7	15

The last month of the season came and went without much drama as the 6 teams that built a substantial lead coasted to the playoffs. Hartford Heroes won the regular season, opening up a big lead for the #1 seed. Killing Me Smalls rallied to lock up #2 and the all important first round bye.

Queen Bees fall out of that bye spot to #4 and face #5 ChicksDigtheLongball while Hunters has rebounded all the way up to #3 and will play #6 Who's Down Wit OBP in first round action. ChicksDigtheLongball haven't made any changes since late July.

I thought there was a consolation bracket somewhere but I can't seem to find it. I know I'm playing this week but I finished out of the playoffs. Just a reminder to those in the championship- it's the last 2 weeks of the season, not just 1.


SI

[CleBrownsfan]

Good luck to the playoff teams...

[Travis]

I'd feel much better about this week if Hill hadn't left the game yesterday to be with his wife (understandably so, but the timing blows) and now I read that Braun may not play too much this week. Especially after coming so close to locking up one of those precious, precious bye weeks.

D'oh!

Ah well, enough complaining. Good luck to everybody in the playoffs and hopefully there are a lot of closely contested series!

[PackerFanatic]

Very happy to lock up that #2 spot after sitting in 1st for one week. A couple of my big guys are coming back from injury so I am hoping that they just keep raking for the final month. Good luck everyone in the playoffs.

[samifan24]

I just lost Carlos Pena for the year so whichever team advances to face me gets to tremble at the sight of Jeff Baker at 1B in my lineup. That's right, the one and only Jeff Baker.

[DeToxRox]

Originally Posted by Travis

I'd feel much better about this week if Hill hadn't left the game yesterday to be with his wife (understandably so, but the timing blows) and now I read that Braun may not play too much this week. Especially after coming so close to locking up one of those precious, precious bye weeks.

D'oh!

Ah well, enough complaining. Good luck to everybody in the playoffs and hopefully there are a lot of closely contested series!

When I come back from this 13-0 deficit luck will have nothing to do with it!

[Travis]

Originally Posted by DeToxRox

When I come back from this 13-0 deficit luck will have nothing to do with it!

I'd feel a lot better about that score if we weren't just a combined 16 IP into the week. Or you know, if I hadn't been pretty much forced to start Chris Davis thanks to my own share of those fun Texas injuries

[MizzouRah]

Good job Hartford Heroes! Good luck to everyone else!!!

[Ramzavail]

Good luck everybody.

[samifan24]

I had my best year in fantasy this season but am obviously disappointed to lose a shot at the championship because of my team's poor performance on one single day. I was leading 9-5 earlier in the week but we were tied 7-7 going into play today. I had a blast in the league this year but losing this way is just so disappointing. Congrats to Queens Bees and Hunters and I hope the best team wins the championship.

I already look forward to next season when we introduce larger rosters and a keeper element to the league.

[PackerFanatic]

What an absolutely depressing way to end the season. I finished the regular season strong and even ended up with a bye, but my guys decided to lay a huge egg this week and I won't even hit the min. innings for my pitchers. Just a really sad way to end it...hopefully I can at least salvage 3rd place.

[samifan24]

After all that we tied 6-6 and yet I can't find the tiebreaker criteria anywhere on the Yahoo site. How did Queens Bees move to the title game and I move to the 3rd place game?

[PackerFanatic]

From: Tiebreak System

Originally Posted by Yahoo Help

In the event that a playoff game ends in a tie, the deadlock will be broken using the following system:

1. Lowest team ERA
2. Highest team AVG
3. Lowest team WHIP
4. Most team HR (batters)
5. Most team Wins
6. Most team RBI
7. Most team Saves
8. Most team Runs (batters)
9. Most team Strikeouts (pitchers)
10. Most team SB
11. Random "coin flip."

So since Queen Bee's had a 3.20 ERA to your 3.84 ERA, they advance. Harsh way to lose

[sterlingice]

I wonder if there is any way to make the playoff weeks 2 weeks long. I know the finals are but it would be nice if the semis were, too- I wonder if that can be changed for next year.

Also, while things are still fresh in peoples' minds- if there are some changes to propose for next year, I'd love to hear them and we can bring them up next year. If we wait 6 months, we'll have forgotten

Good luck to Queen Bees and Hunters in the finals

SI

[samifan24]

Originally Posted by PackerFanatic

So since Queen Bee's had a 3.20 ERA to your 3.84 ERA, they advance. Harsh way to lose

Disappointing.

[Ramzavail]

Thanks, honestly, I thought I lost thats why I forgot to move Morneau out, idiot.

[samifan24]

Originally Posted by sterlingice

I wonder if there is any way to make the playoff weeks 2 weeks long. I know the finals are but it would be nice if the semis were, too- I wonder if that can be changed for next year.

Also, while things are still fresh in peoples' minds- if there are some changes to propose for next year, I'd love to hear them and we can bring them up next year. If we wait 6 months, we'll have forgotten

Good luck to Queen Bees and Hunters in the finals

SI

Here are my suggested changes for next year:

-General Additions-

1) Make playoff games two weeks long or, at the very least, make the last two playoff rounds (after the bye) two weeks long

2) Add second C spot to roster

3) Add third RP spot to roster

-Keeper Elements-

1) Allow teams to designate four players as keepers but all four must have been drafted after a specific round (very late in draft), acquired via trade or signed as free agents - This involves added strategy each year and can keep bad teams interested...it also prevents star players from never being drafted for years

[sterlingice]

I like the playoff one for sure and the second C works- it's going to be an ugly spot and you may be better off not having one many weeks- but we have the pool for it.

As for the third RP, maybe change the P to RP but there aren't a lot of RPs floating around at any given time. Right now, I see MacDougal and Capps and maybe Franklin Morales if he's the Rockies closer now. There would be a lot of teams who don't even have 3 closers so that would just encourage a manipulation of the system- grabbing a SP who counts as an RP (Brandon Morrow a couple of years ago, for instance). With 12 teams, you just can't get 3 RPs for everyone as it's really rare that teams use a closer by committee so you'd just end up with 6 teams not having an RP, wouldn't you? However, there are still some SPs who are vaguely worth owning and players may need that extra SP to get to the IP limit.

The keeper one is interesting and I'd be curious to see more thought given to it. Just making it the last round few rounds seems arbitrary. Someone took a good lucky flier but we all know how that works- if we really thought they would be great, we would have taken them in the 10th or something; it's still a crapshoot.

I'm open to a small keeper pool but we need to figure out the specifics. Maybe 1 OF, IF (including C), P, rookie, and late round (say, 17-25 non-ww) but I'm just blue skying here. Also, there would have to be a limit, say 2 years max, that you could keep any player.

SI

[PackerFanatic]

If you put a max on the number of years you can keep a player, I think we could make it any player (instead of restricting it by round drafted) And I agree with your RP analysis, SI - I'd rather see it stay as an overall P spot for that last pitching spot, instead of forcing us to have 3 RPs.

[samifan24]

My thinking in suggesting the third RP spot was to make middle relievers with low ERA and WHIPs valuable for bringing down the team's numbers in a given week. I hadn't thought that it could be manipulated as a way to carry an extra SP that qualified as a RP but I see that now.

[MizzouRah]

I don't like the keeper idea.. but that's just me.

[Ramzavail]

I got pasted.

[PackerFanatic]

It ain't over yet, Ram.

[cubboyroy1826]

Not sure if i like the keeper but i do like the 2nd catcher and the added reliever. The reliever does not need to be an actual closer it can be a just a setup guy.

[PackerFanatic]

Congrats to the Hunters for taking the title in dominant fashion! Disappointed how my team fell off so much at the end, couldn't even take third. Oh well - great season everyone!

[CleBrownsfan]

Grats.. I haven't really followed the playoffs since I didn't make it

[cubboyroy1826]

Congrats to the winners, back to the drawing board. First new rule, no Mets.

[Ramzavail]

yes good game and congrats.

I was pretty happy with my all pitching draft strategy.

[cubboyroy1826]

Okay guys when are we going to start this back up again? I would like to come back for a 2nd season after the nightmare that was my first season.

[sterlingice]

It's going to be back but not for a couple more weeks. I'll be in Colombia the next week and a half, starting Monday. Also, I don't really want to start until Spring Training and the last few free agent balls juggling in the air come down. But I think I'll create the thread in early February, around pitcher and catcher time and get started with the draft in late February/early March.

SI

[cubboyroy1826]

Sounds good.

[Ramzavail]

yea I'm sure I'd be interested again.

[DeToxRox]

In.

[Toddzilla]

in

[sooner333]

In.

[samifan24]

I'd love to come back. This league was a blast last year.

[sterlingice]

Cool- we'll have a chance for previous GMs to check in prior to the league opening up for everyone else.

SI

[CleBrownsfan]

Count me in

[MizzouRah]

I'm IN

[samifan24]

Just an FYI that Yahoo Fantasy Baseball '10 is now live on their site. They've made live stats free this year which is really nice. They also have auction leagues available for those that want them. One click is all it'll take to start the league up again.

[Ramzavail]

I'm in

[sterlingice]

Hm... I've been wanting to do an auction league for a while now but I'm not sure I want to use that format for this league. I think I still like the draft for this format but if someone else is doing an auction league, I might be interested in playing. The slow, live draft is the part of the league I like the best- it gets me prepared for any other leagues I might be playing in.

I'll see if I can get the league set up over the weekend. Crazy busy with the job search right now but I'll try to get a league and thread started.

SI

[Ramzavail]

I think we all understand SI, don't rush.

[CleBrownsfan]

I was just thinking about our league last night... funny