Rules

News

Teams

Scores

Stats

Standings

Transactions

Message Board

Downloads

Home

Finally! Opening Day 1999!

The Countdown Clock is in single digits, the hard part of the draft is out of the way, all the rosters are set (for the most part), and February 1st is approaching quickly. Pitchers and catchers may not report for another two weeks in Major League Baseball, but we in the BDBL are ready to PLAY BALL!!

I wouldn't call the Inaugural BDBL Draft "smooth" by any stretch of the imagination, but in general I felt it was a relatively painless exercise. Especially when you consider all the problems we encountered finding a date or two we could all agree upon, selecting the right software for the draft and surviving a couple of "drop-outs" at the last minute. I warned everyone from Day One that this wouldn't be easy. It's a logistical nightmare trying to assemble 24 different people with 24 different schedules in four different time zones to pick 960 players over the course of a few weeks. But we did it! So now, let's enjoy it!

There are a couple of things you need to do before we begin play on February 1st:

1) Download the "Series Instructions" and "Rulebook" documents from the "Downloads" page. It is highly important that you follow the Series Instructions to the letter. Whether you're a DMB veteran or a DMB newbie, please humor me by downloading these instructions and keeping a copy handy when you play your games. I haven't tried it yet, but supposedly these instructions and rules can be included with the season disk so that they can be accessed by selecting the "Info" option from the main menu. If I'm able to do this, I will.

2) Fill out the pitching rotation form linked to your team's home page. Just click "Rotation" on your team's page and you'll find a link to the rotation form. This is a league based upon the "honor system", so I'll ask you all not to look at any other team's rotation before selecting your own. Is this the most realistic way to simulate the major league experience? No, but it's the most fair, since we play our games one month at a time. You may only select this rotation once per chapter, so be careful not to make any mistakes. Remember to allow your pitchers at least three games of rest between starts (this applies to games outside of the current chapter as well, meaning you may not start a pitcher on the last day of the first chapter and the first day of the next chapter.) That - other than the innings requirements outlined in the rulebook - is the only requirement you need to be concerned with.

3) If you haven't done so already, decide which players you'd like to include among your active (25-man) roster, and which will occupy the reserve roster. I will need a complete reserve list (include the ten reserved players ONLY, please) from everyone (e-mailed to me at bdbl1999@aol.com) by midnight, January 30th or I will make this determination myself. (Note: there has been some confusion - mostly from a certain fishlike character in our league, about the term "midnight." You may think of it as Friday night or Saturday morning, but whatever the case may be, I'm talking about 12:00am on Saturday, January the 30th.)

4) Once I receive all reserve rosters, I will post the official BDBL Chapter One disk on the web site. This file will appear on the "Downloads" page as soon as I'm able to do it. Once this file has been posted, you will need to fill out your Manager Profile. The only thing you HAVE to fill out in this profile is your lineup against lefties and righties. Remember that the top line of the "save lineup" screen is reserved for your lineup against lefties, and the number two spot is reserved for your lineup against righties. (Note: this really doesn't matter, since we'll be loading the lineups for both teams ourselves. However, it's nice to be consistent.) Once you have done this, export this profile and send it to me via e-mail. If you need help in doing this, let me know.

Now for a reminder. As I said earlier, this is a league based upon the "honor system." There is no way I can police some of these rules, so I have to trust you to police yourselves. One rule which I am personally adamant about is that no one should simulate any season using the league rosters. If you want to play an exhibition game or two, that's fine. But I'd like to protect the integrity (and mystery) of the league by disallowing the simm'ing of entire seasons.

And now, I'll answer some FAQ's:

Do I have to sign players to contracts now? No. The deadline for contract signings is one week before next year's draft (a.k.a. "Cutdown Day.") At that time, you'll decide whom to keep and for how long.

Do I have to stick with the same manager profile for the entire chapter? No. Your default profile is the one you send me at the start of each chapter. This profile is included along with the chapter disk. However, if you want to change your profile for a particular series or game, you may do so. Just change your profile, export it, and send it via e-mail to your opposition. You may also leave instructions with an opposing owner such as "play Cecil Fielder at first instead of John Olerud." (I said you "may" - I didn't say I "would.")

How do I know who my opponent is pitching against me? This was outlined in the Series Instructions, but I'll repeat it again. Before each series against an opponent, you should: a) contact the opponent and ask if there are any specific instructions for the series, b) ask if he's available to play over NetMeeting (if desirable) and c) check your opponent's team page, click on the "Rotations" link and find out who he's pitching against you for each game.

What if I screw up and pitch the wrong pitcher? Contact the Commish. Depending upon how badly you screwed up, the game may be salvageable. Otherwise, you'll have to replay the entire series.

How did you get to be so brilliant AND so good-looking? It's a curse.

What's the deal with the maximum playing limits? Can they BE more confusing? No. I have spent a great deal of time trying to make these rules as confusing as possible, so that everyone but me is penalized. In a nutshell, here's the story: for pitchers, it's easy. Just multiply their actual innings pitched by 1.10. Then make sure they don't pitch more innings this year than that number. For hitters, it's a little more complex. If a hitter has more than 450 AB's, you're all set. Just multiply his AB's by 1.10 and don't go over that number. If a hitter has UNDER 450 AB's, though, that's where it becomes a little tricky. Now, instead of AB's, we're talking about plate appearances. First, take the number of plate appearances a hitter had in actuality - against lefties and righties - and multiply each number by 1.25. Then don't let your player go over that number. Since most people don't know the number of PA's a player had vs. left-handers or right-handers, I am including a "Status" link on each team page which will show these numbers as a factor. If the factor is 125 or greater for any hitter with under 450 AB's, you're in trouble.

Are those Bugle Boy jeans you're wearing? Good god, no.

Are we really going to use the warm-up rule? Yes. Yes, we are REALLY going to use the warm-up rule.

Boxers or briefs? Boxers.

No, really. Are we REALLY going to use the warm-up rule? Yes. No joke. Since we're going for maximum realism - and maximum strategizing on the managerial end of things - I can't think of any reason not to. I know we're apparently the only DMB league in the known universe which uses this rule, but I like to think of us as trend-setters.

Is anyone else scheduled to quit the BDBL any time soon? Well, the trend has been that every time I update all 24 team pages with links to every other team page, an owner quits, forcing me to update all 24 pages all over again. I haven't updated the team pages yet (mostly because I'm afraid of the consequences), so I'd say the minute you see the "Des Plains Diamond Kings" link on your team page get replaced with a link to the "Southern California Slyme," you'll know it's almost time for another resignation.

What's up with your third base combo? Is this some kind of joke? Actually, in terms of pure hitting ability, my third-base combo outperform most other third basemen in the league. The problem is that their combined age is a little less than Joe DiMaggio's. My original strategy (for those who haven't heard this 3,000 times since Draft Day) was this: I had the #3 pick of the $2 million players, and the #3 pick of the $500,000 players. There were three "A" level third-base prospects out there I was willing to spend $2M for: Chavez, Beltre and Glaus. I figured I'd get one of them. But all three went for $3M in the last round of the $3M picks. There were also three "B" level 3B prospects I wanted: Branyan, Ramirez and Barrett. Again, all three disappeared before I had a chance to acquire them at a reasonable price. So now I'm stuck with a couple of geezers. I've got a couple of geezers at catcher, too. But at least I've got Ben Davis for the future.

Speaking of which, how on earth could you spend $2 million on Ben Davis?? Well, I kind of got carried away. I was so distraught at losing all three of my "A"-level third basemen that I panicked. With so many vultures in this league, I figured I'd better grab Davis while I could. I love the guy, but I think I'm going to be wasting $4 million on him over the next two years waiting for him to get enough big league at-bats to justify carrying him on the active roster.

What do you think of my team? Well, since you asked, here's a brief synopsis:

OL Butler Division

Antioch Angels: Three number-two-type hitters (Jeter, Kendall and Vina), all with great OBP's, and Brian Jordan in the cleanup spot form a tough 1-4 in the lineup. Kotsay and Jordan eat up a lot of turf in the outfield, but the rest of the D is average. A solid front three in Cordova, Pettitte and Thompson, but little bullpen depth beyond Acevedo. On the horizon: Eric Chavez, Bubba Trammell, Kotsay.

Madison Fighting Mimes: An offense/homer oriented team featuring 70-HR Big Mac, Sheffield, Kent and Matt Stairs. Very shaky defense, and starting staff of Millwood, Woodard, Ramon Martinez, Alvarez and Burkett. On the horizon: Marlon Anderson, Manny Aybar.

North Mankato Mudhens: First four hitters in the lineup - Offerman, Cirillo, Bernie Williams and Mo Vaughn - better than any other top-four in the league IMHO. Didn't pick a pitcher until the 7th round, however, and it shows. Starting rotation of Bohanon, Sele, Burba, Bergman and Loaiza. Bullpen contains only Beck, Mike Williams, Yorkis Perez and Eddie Guaradado. On the horizon: Eric Milton, Ricky Ledee.

Stamford Zoots: Strengths: Kevin Brown pitching every fourth game, Palmeiro and Edmonds providing punch from the left side along with stellar defense, Vizquel at short, bullpen depth. Weaknesses: lack of offensive punch beyond Palmeiro and Edmonds, questionable staff beyond Brown (Arrojo, Rosado, Clark and no number-five.) On the horizon: Ruben Rivera, Mike Lowell, Angel Pena, Darryl Ward, Emil Brown.

Prediction: Antioch wins the division, Zoots win the wild card.

OL Benes Division

Akron Ryche: The best starting three in the Ozzie League (Pedro Martinez, Rogers and Reed.) Will have to pitch Nagy every fourth day, however, so that will hurt. Projected lineup of Henderson, DiSarcina, Ventura, Easley, Kevin Young, Devon White, Brant Brown and Lieberthal should result in a lot of 1-0 games. On the horizon: Robert Fick, George Lombard, Jose Jimenez.

Marlboro Hammerheads: Offense beyond Bagwell is heavily strikeout-prone and predominantly lefty. Pitching beyond Mussina is a little too hittable. Defense is average, and bullpen is shaky. (Man, I love doing this!) On the horizon: Jose Guillen, Aramis Ramirez, Ruben Mateo.

Plattsburgh Champs: By far, the best lineup in all of the BDBL: Biggio, Abreau, Galarraga, Piazza, Gwynn, Justice, Matt Williams and Tony Batista. Should score ten runs a game. Unfortunately, should allow eleven runs :-) Rotation includes Helling, Saunders, Hershiser, Jamie Wright, Oliver and Parque. Bullpen includes Roberto Hernandez, Jay Powell, Gabe White and Rudy Seanez. Will have to play either Gwynn (Pr range Pr arm) or Abreau in center. Infield defense, with exception of Biggio, is below average. On the horizon: Juan Encarnacion, Pat Burrell.

Salem Cowtippers: Far and away the best infield defense in the league. Solid starting staff and deep bullpen. Offense from 1-4 is among the best in the league. Bottom of the order is a little thin, and bullpen is questionable. Does pitching and defense really win ballgames? We'll find out. On the horizon: Ben Davis, Carlos Febles, Matt Morris, Ryan Bradley, Todd Greene.

Prediction: Cowtippers (of course!)

OL Griffin Division

Gillette Swamp Rats: Two big boppers in the middle of the lineup (Juan Gonzalez and Vinny Castilla), but little supporting cast. Cora and Weiss are the table-setters, and Will Clark and Jefferies/Strawberry provide protection. Starting staff of Ashby, Lima, Schourek and Portugal leaves me wondering how they'll get enough innings. Bullpen led by Mike Jackson, but little depth beyond him. On the horizon: Shane Spencer, Edgard Clemente.

Litchfield Lightning: A team which is aging faster and faster by the minute: Bonds, Cone, Edgar Martinez, Otis Nixon, Key and Brady Anderson form the core of the team. No player in the starting nine or rotation is under 30. And as Geisel knows all too well, 30 is pretty damn old. So it's now or never for the Lightning! Bonds and Martinez form the most awesome one-two punch in the league (Sosa-Vaughn included), and front three starters (Cone, Neagle and Harnisch) are very solid. Defense is extremely shaky with the exception of the left side of the field (Bonds and Brosius.) On the horizon: Enrique Wilson, Preston Wilson, Lance Berkman.

Los Altos Undertakers: Devastating one-two punch of Belle and Walker. Pitching staff is full of promising kids: Elarton ($5 million!), Park, Escobar and Chen ($3 mill!). But where will they get the innings for this year? Answer: Tom Candiotti and Mike Remlinger. This team is clearly playing for the 21st century. Aside from the pitching, they also have Fullmer, Sexson, Meluskey and Barrett (doh!).

New Milford Blazers: Billy, Billy, Billy... What can you say about this team? Well, the bullpen is excellent with Rob Nen AND Billy Wagner. And Randy Johnson is a bona-fide ace. But several questions come to mind. How will Bichette perform in the Ballpark at Arlington? Is Hal Morris really worth $3 mill? Is Charles Johnson worth five? Does Tony Fernandez have another good year in him? And what will happen to this rotation beyond Johnson? On the horizon: Luis Castillo, Matt Beech, Brad Penny.

Prediction: Geisel wins! Theeeeee Geisel wins!!

EL Higuera Division

Bowling Green Spoilers: Dominating one-two punch at the top of their rotation. Schilling can go every fourth day, followed by Smoltz and El Duque Hernandez. Last two should combine for a full season of VERY dominating pitching. Unfortunately, not as impressed with the rest of the staff: Woody Williams and Mark Gardner. Offensively, the Spoilers decided to go for defense. Jorge Posada was their first offensive player taken, and will most likely be their cleanup hitter. On the horizon: George Arias, Alex Ramirez.

Morgan Hill Panthers: More than any other team, the Panthers have their eye on the 21st century. They could potentially field an entire team of 20-year-olds if they wanted to: C - Marrero, 1B - Derek Lee, 2B - Carlos Guillen, 3B - Rolen, SS - Cabrera, OF - Ramirez, Grieve and Hunter. Beyond Andy Benes, the rest of the pitching staff is young as well: Jaret Wright, Jason Schmidt, Javier Vazquez, Odalis Perez and Rafael Medina. Should do fairly well this year, but could dominate in years to come. A couple of questions, however: a) where will they get enough innings and AB's for this year?, and b) how will they fit everyone under the salary cap in years to come?

Southern California Slyme: A very good chance of winning this year. With Kenny Lofton setting the table, and Chipper Jones and Tino Martinez knocking him in, they should score some runs. Starting staff beyond Wells and Bartolo Colon is solid yet unspectacular: Chris Peters, Traschel and John Thomson. Bullpen is also excellent: Gordon, Wall, Belinda, Loiselle and Mike Myers. On the horizon: Jeremy Giambi, Gabe Kapler, Cal Pickering, Fernando Seguignol and Ryan Anderson.

Virginia Cavaliers: Dropped the bomb when they chose J.D. Drew with their first $3M pick, four picks before I would have done the same. (Damn you, Jack!) They are another team heavy with prospects for the future: Sean Casey, Dennis Reyes, Russ Branyan, Roy Halladay, Trot Nixon and Braden Looper. Not to mention two under-27 stars of today: Garciaparra and Todd Walker. Yet another team who should be fairly competitive this year and downright scary in the future. But like the other teams, I wonder how they'll be able to squeeze everyone under the cap. Drew, Casey and Reyes are all $3M, Branyan is $2M, and Halladay and Nixon are both $1M.

Prediction: Southern Cal (if they don't trade Wells) or Morgan Hill (if they do.)

EL Petralli Division

Delafield Ogres: If you like the long ball, you're going to LOVE the Delafield Ogres. Sosa, Greg Vaughn, Delgado, Eric Davis, Dean Palmer, Jay Bell and Glenallen Hill are going to cause a lot of whiplash to opposing pitchers this year, especially when they're playing in the Ogres' home ballpark modeled after Tiger Stadium. Unfortunately, Ogres Ogres pitching also tends to give them up as well: Moyer, Perez, Olivares, Karl and Sparks. Let the fireworks begin! On the horizon: Ron Belliard, Abraham Nunez.

Ft. Lauderdale Marlins: Yet another team loading up on youngsters. The Marlins feature not only the best young player in the game today (A-Rod), but also Fernando Tatis, Jose Cruz, Shawn Estes, Matt Anderson, Paul Konerko and Karim Garcia. In terms of this year, the Marlins have a potent offense led by Rodriguez, Thome and Durham, but waited until the 7th round to choose a pitcher. Brad Radke is the ace, followed by Hentgen, Nomo, Estes and Baldwin. That would have been an AWESOME rotation in 1997. Unfortunately, we're using '98 stats this year. Also, the bullpen is very thin, and the defense is severely lacking.

Massillon Tigerstrikes: Well-balanced team who should compete for the division title. Clemens, Reynolds, Moehler and Tyler Green form a solid, innings-eating staff. The bullpen is VERY solid, with Rincon and Steve Reed setting up Mariano Rivera. Offensively, Tony Womack will try to get on base often enough for Shawn Green, Jason Giambi, Canseco and Jose Hernandez to drive him in. If there is one area where this team may be severely hurt, it's defense. Canseco, Womack and Giambi are all brutal in the field. On the horizon: Adrian Brown.

South Carolina Sea Cats: A very solid yet unspectacular team who may surprise. Glavine and Hermanson top the rotation, Fassero and Yoshii fill it out, and Ligtenberg and Olson close them out. Offensively, Tommy Goodwin leads off, with Derek Bell, Larkin and Segui in the heart of the order. Defense is above-average - especially the right side of the infield with Segui and McLemore. On the horizon: not much.

Prediction: South Carolina.

EL Hrbek Division

Bourbannais Bad Boys: A VERY good defensive team with three "Ex's" in the infield: Helton at first, Benjamin at second and Clayton at short, and two "Vg's" in the outfield: Carl Everett and Darren Lewis. The offense is solid in the middle with O'Neill, Helton and Everett. But there are no table-setters (Clayton or Lewis?) and the rest of the lineup is very thin beyond the fifth spot (Bret Boone, Benjamin and Bako/Walbeck platoon.) The top two pitchers are dominate when on the mound (Leiter and Wood). Problem is, they're not out there all that often. Fortunately, Scott Erickson is a workhorse. Unfortunately, he tends to get lit up like a Christmas tree at times. On the horizon: Corey Patterson.

California Storm: In terms of pure, overall talent, I like the Storm's prospects more than anyone. Unfortunately, with the prices paid to these guys I don't see how they can keep all of them beyond next year. Vladimir Guerrero ($10M) will most likely be the Barry Bonds of the 00's (what are we calling that decade anyway? The "ought's?" The "double-oh's?") Pudge Rodriguez ($5M) is also a long-term keeper. So is Travis Lee ($5M). So is Adrian Beltre ($3M). So are Pavano ($3M), Carpenter ($3M), Sanchez ($3M), Hidalgo ($2M), Howry ($2M) and Beltran ($1M). But how on earth do you keep them ALL? I guess we'll find out. As for this year, the Storm don't really have a shot at competing. Beyond Vlad, Pudge and to some extent Robbie Alomar, they have no offense. Their pitching consists of nothing but kids: Pavano, Carpenter, Sanchez, Ponson, Silva), which begs the question once again: where are the innings??

Chicago Black Sox: A very solid, balanced team now and in the future. Andruw Jones, Darin Erstad, Troy Glaus and recently drafted Eric Munson should all dominate well into the next decade. In '99, the Sox should be right in the thick of things as well. Offense is superb with Alou, Salmon and Jones in the middle of the order, Erstad and Deshields at the top. Solid front-three in Valdes, Hamilton and Guzman, but little help beyond and no ace. Outfield defense is excellent, infield is average but with much potential. Bullpen (Percival, Osuna, Wendell, Tabaka) is deep and young.

Oakville Marauders: Another team who loaded up on offense early in the draft. Griffey, Javy Lopez, Tony Clark, Mondesi and Knoblauch (first five picks) are big-name established superstars. Renteria, Zeile and Surhoff are more of the same. Staff is filled with soft-tossing control artists - Hampton, Bobby Jones, Kile, Belcher and Mlicki - who are very good when "on" and very bad when not. Bullpen consists of Rockies: McElroy, DiPoto, DeJean. On the horizon: Matt Clement, Alex Gonzalez, Carlton Loewer, Ben Petrick.

Prediction: Chicago, with Bourbannais winning the wild card spot.

More predictions:

Ozzie League Champion: Salem Cowtippers (a boy can dream, can't he?)

Eck League Champion: South Carolina

BDBL Champion: Is there any doubt about it?

Hey, if nothing else, springtime is a time for optimism and hope. Ask any ballplayer where he thinks his team will be at the end of the year and you'd be hard-pressed to find one who doesn't say his team is going all the way. I look forward to competing with all of you this year and giving you all a chance to prove me wrong. I can't WAIT to find out how this one turns out.

Best of luck to you all. Let the games (finally) begin!!