Team Names

I was just thinking that we never discussed how we are going to handle team names in this league. Given that it's a keeper league, the default position is to maintain team names from year to year. I know, however, that some people get bored seeing the same team name year after year (or even month after month). This is especially true if you've named your team something that sounds clever at first, but gets less and less funny each time you see it. Does anyone have any feelings on this issue? Don't make me post another poll to get an answer.

The glory of captions

I realized in looking over the blog that had Rich not captioned the photos in the Gallery of Champions I would not have known who was who. Thank you, sir.

I hope all are looking forward to this season. Dave is coming off an impressive stretch run while Rich is trying to soothe the burn of the silver medal. As Prof. Klein will tell all who ask, it is much more satisfying to win the bronze than to come in a close second. Rich's motto for this year will no doubt echo Simpsons' standout Gil Gunderson, who said of the brass ring, "Don't I get a lick? Doesn't Gil get a lick?!"

I, meanwhile, have no such issues while attempting to improve upon my astoundingly mediocre year. At least my keepers suck. But I did win the ESPN league. And yeah, I'm a notary. So I got that going for me too.

My missive to the league is to send Rich the money as soon as you can while looking at the calendar for a suitable draft date. At first cut I see nothing wrong with March 31st. Let's keep it in mind as a starting point. Meanwhile, the Superbowl is here, the vast sports wasteland of February stretches before us with pitchers and catchers reporting the only thing to tide us over until March Madness. But then MLB and FLB will arrive in full force. Let us prepare now to avoid the wailing and gnashing of teeth that would be.

P.S. With his first pick, Dave selects World Series MVP David Eckstein.

2007 Rules of Note

Scoring:
-Offense - OBP, HR, R, RBI, SB
-Pitching - W, SO/BB, SO, ERA, WHIP (1500 IP limit)

Keepers:
-keep at most 4 players, keep at least 2
-if only 3 players kept, player gets 1 supplemental pick in between first and second rounds.
-if only 2 players kept, player gets 1 supplemental pick in between first and second rounds and 1 supplemental pick before first round.

Draft:
-Rounds 1-4 - straight draft, reverse order of last year's standings (i.e. last place picks first, first place picks last)
-Rounds 5-end - snake draft, true order of last year's standings (i.e. first through tenth, then tenth through first)

Purpose Statement

The purpose of this blog is to serve as a reference guide for the illustrious history of the BP Guinea Pigs League - a "keeper" fantasy baseball league formed in 2006. The great part about a keeper league is that there is a history. Each player is allowed to keep some players from year to year, so players do not start completely anew every year. On this blog, we can highlight this continuity.

Today, our league does not have much history, as we have only existed for one season. But, as the years advance, we will accumulate our own statistics for league wins, points scored, etc. I propose that we keep track of this information on this site. Then, we (and the whole world) can see our achievements (or shame).

Also, I propose that we use this page to make league-wide announcements. In this way, we can avoid clogging up our e-mails and have a nice record of how the league has functioned and changed over the years. In the future, a sociologist (or you) may find this information useful.

If any league-member wants to be an author on this blog, contact me and I will be happy to invite you. Otherwise, feel free to comment, trash-talk, or ignore this blog at your peril.

2006 Final Standings

1. Dave (PECOTA Monkeys) ---------- 82.5
2. Rich (Replacement Levelers) ---- 71.5
3. Jeff (Smooth Segues) ------------ 67
4.5. Mike D. (On the Juice) ---------- 57
4.5 Vadim (Donkeys) --------------- 57
6. Matt (TINSTAAP) --------------- 53
7. Ryan (Ugly Coyotes) ------------- 50.5
8. Mike M. (Norcal Peaceniks) ------ 43
9. Justin (Long Live OBP) ---------- 41
10. James (LeetSauce) ------------- 27.5