| The first thing you want to do to play | | | | under the 260 credit unit salary cap, or |
| fantasy baseball is find, or form, a fantasy | | | | allow the purchase of remaining players once |
| baseball league. Ten to twelve teams is | | | | the bidding is complete and the owners have |
| usually the norm in a league, though you may | | | | their teams completed. |
| have anywhere from four to 24 teams in a | | | | |
| given league. Each team in the fantasy league | | | | Players and Their Eligibility |
| must consist of 23 players. Many of the | | | | |
| leagues you will find use only American or | | | | A player may play any position that he played |
| National League players, so the number of | | | | in at least 20 major-league games the |
| quality players is limited. | | | | previous year. If he doesn't have a position |
| | | | that he did play 20 times, he is eligible for |
| Your team's roster will consist of nine | | | | the position he played the most often. The |
| pitchers, five outfielders, two catchers, one | | | | player is also allowed to play any position |
| player for each of the three bases, a middle | | | | that he may appear in through the season. |
| infielder, one corner man, and a | | | | |
| miscellaneous player (designated hitter in AL | | | | How Fantasy Baseball is Scored |
| based fantasy leagues, utility man in NL | | | | |
| based fantasy leagues. | | | | Cumulative scoring system- |
| | | | |
| Players: Choosing Your Team | | | | There are a total of eight categories each |
| | | | team will be scored on. These are batting |
| Each owner is given a list of players, and | | | | averages (pitcher excluded), home runs, runs |
| their eligible positions on draft day. There | | | | batted, stolen bases, run average, wins, |
| are two methods used to select your team in a | | | | saves, and WHIP (Walks and Hits divided by |
| fantasy baseball league. One method is the | | | | total Innings Pitched). At the end of the |
| draft method, the other is the auction | | | | season, each team is ranked from first to |
| method. | | | | last in each category. In a ten team league, |
| | | | first place in each category will receive ten |
| Draft method- The teams are arranged in a | | | | points. Second place receives nine, so on and |
| random order. Following this order, owners | | | | so forth. The champion of the league is |
| take turns selecting players until all teams | | | | determined by the highest score at the end of |
| have twenty three players. The draft order is | | | | the year. |
| usually reversed for even numbered rounds. | | | | |
| Before drafting starts, decide if the league | | | | Head to head scoring system- |
| will wipe the slate clean for the next | | | | |
| season, or whether it will protect seven to | | | | Based on the same eight categories, teams |
| fifteen players. | | | | play a game each week with another franchise. |
| | | | Each team will receive a point for each |
| Auction method- In the auction method, each | | | | category they win, and ties are thrown away. |
| fantasy baseball team owner will start with | | | | Alternatively, teams can receive two points |
| 260 units of credit. Owners will take turns | | | | for wins, and one point for ties. If tied |
| opening bids on players. Bidding proceeds, as | | | | games will not be allowed to stand, |
| with a normal auction, until only the highest | | | | strikeouts, doubles, runs, triples, and home |
| bidder remains. Bidding will have a minimum | | | | team wins are excellent tie breaking |
| increase of one unit of credit. With the | | | | categories. |
| auction method, you can force teams to stay | | | | |