kaufman@uiucdcs.UUCP (09/29/84)
****** After almost 5 months of preparations and delays, the net-Strat-O-Matic Baseball league is ready to open its first season. We have five players and ten teams, all from the 1983 season, as follows: Name Address Teams --------------- ---------------- ---------------- Josh Rosenbluth houxm!hounx!jhr2 Reds, Expos Peter Barbee fluke!tron Orioles, Dodgers Jeff Houston dual!jeff Giants, Brewers Shane McDonald sask!mcdonald Mets, Cardinals Ken Kaufman uiucdcs!kaufman Pirates, Red Sox Needless to say, the mechanics of playing this game PBM are quite difficult, as games could take months if rules were followed to the letter. There are many decisions encountered in the game and given the turnaround time of electronic mail, a large schedule would normally be unplayable. Therefore, I have assumed the role of gamemaster, as well as player, and will do all the dice-rolling. In order that the players won't have to approve decisions on every situation that comes up, they have all sent me policy sheets which cover most situations. I will still continue to question them where necessary. Of course, as gamemaster, so that I don't have an unfair advantage, I have also written out such a sheet and sent copies to the players. I will follow it to the letter. Several rules have been changed to add to the simplicity; the players have been informed of these. There are a couple of other relevant rule alterations. All teams will use the DH. This is mostly to balance the game for AL teams whose pitchers are otherwise at a hitting disadvantage. And, due to the shortness of the schedule (see below), the severity of injuries will tend to be reduced. This will be done by referring twice to the injury chart, and taking the lesser result. The schedule will be initially set at 8 games with each team playing each team owned by another player. After a few games, when we all get a feel of how it's going, the players will choose whether to leave it an 8 game slate, or to up it to 16, 32, or even 64, as was suggested a few months ago by one of the players. Regardless, the top two teams will meet in a 4-of-7 series for the title. Should there be a tie for the second playoff spot, we'll use a 2-of-3 to decide it. The schedule for the first eight games looks as follows: Game 1: Mil-StL LA-SF NYM-Mon Bos-Bal Cin-Pit Game 2: Bos-Mil Mon-SF Pit-StL NYM-LA Bal-Cin Game 3: Pit-Mon Bos-NYM Bal-Mil Cin-LA StL-SF Game 4: Bal-NYM StL-Cin Mil-Mon SF-Bos Pit-LA Game 5: StL-Bal Mil-Pit SF-NYM Bos-Cin LA-Mon Game 6: LA-Bos Bal-Pit NYM-Mil Mon-StL SF-Cin Game 7: Mon-Bos LA-StL SF-Bal Cin-Mil NYM-Pit Game 8: Mon-Bal Cin-NYM StL-Bos Pit-SF Mil-LA with home team listed second. Teams will be using four-man rotations - the slate for Game 1, with actual 1983 record in parentheses is: Milwaukee - St. Louis: Haas (13-3) vs. Andujar (6-10) Los Angeles - San Francisco: Valenzuela (15-10) vs. Hammaker (10-9) Boston - Baltimore: Tudor (13-12) vs. Boddicker (16-8) New York - Montreal: Seaver (9-14) vs. Rogers (17-12) Cincinnati - Pittsburgh: Soto (17-13) vs Candelaria (15-8) Updates will be posted here every week or two. Ken Kaufman (uiucdcs!kaufman)