Introduction
Letter 2009 Season
R.I.F.G.F.B.L
"Rhode
Island's Feel Good Fantasy Baseball League"
2009
Edition
Welcome back to the 17th annual
R.I.F.G.F.B.L. Hard to believe some of us have been doing this for that long! I
believe we will have all 12 owners back and I sent out an e-mail to finalize a
draft time and date. Please take some time and read this entire letter
(Actually, I could care less if you read it or not…..you are still responsible
to know what is in the dam letter!) as well as the other links on this site. As
always, I will be send e-mails to the owners explaining what links have been
updated. It is also never a bad idea to review the rules! Ignorance is never an
excuse! I will have a hard copy available at the draft. Before we talk about
this year, in case you forgot or missed it, here is a brief recap of last year.
2008 stunk! Why you ask? Because the YJ went
to the playoffs for the 10th year in a row but were upset again!
This is NUTS! OK, but I digress. Congratulation to the Italian Stallions who
won title #2! Very impressive! We had a playoff regular (Yellowjackets),
2 playoff rookies (The Unknowns and Bush League Bombers) and the champs, the
Italian Stallions. The Unknowns, who had the best closing in RIFGFBL history
and the Bush League Bombers, who pulled out all the stops to make the playoffs
for the first time. The successful season even got them out of the basement in
the All Time Standings.
In the first week of the playoffs, the #4
seed Italian Stallions sprung an upset #1 seed Yellowjackets
259-165. The IS were led by the Dodgers ps(59) and 4 players over 30 while the YJ had the Sox ps with 60 and not 1 player over 25! Pathetic! In the
second game, the playoff rookies battled! The #2 seed Bush League Bombers held
on by 9, 198-189. The difference was the
ps, as the Blue Jays out pitched the mighty White Sox
53-14. The consolation game, which no
one cares about, the YJ defeated the UN (258-237). The
YJ, as always, score like crazy in Week 2! In the World Series, the IS claimed
their second title defeating the Bush League Bombers 228-212. Despite having
all players but 1 in double figures, the BLB’s magical
season fell short thanks to that 1 player, A. Gonzalez, who had 47 for the IS.
The IS were also led by the Dodgers ps(40). I don’t even know who won the LBR, maybe the Happy
Gators? That is what happens in the LBR………no one cares!!
Another year and, as usual, there are many
questions that need an answer. Who has the picks and who doesn’t? YJ, HBYM and
RM have a BUNCH! You should be worried about 1 of those 3! Who has a good
career record and who doesn’t? Be sure to check out the updated career records
and rankings! How about the haves first? HBYM has a lot of picks but coaching,
a baby and other distractions have left HBYM out of the playoffs for a long
time! Can he get back? We seem to ask that question every year now!! Oh wait,
we DO ask that question every year now! RM has a lot of picks but I think Obama
has him distracted and he is too busy reading political blogs instead of
reading about baseball!!! I think we all
know the YJ are a threat, especially with all those draft picks! <------I
seem to say that every year and guess what….it applies again this year! Will
the YJ return to the playoffs for the eleventh straight year (not a typo!) and
claim their fifth title, a league record?? This streak is getting crazy…..I
would have thought there would be some collusion by now against the YJ! Also,
can anyone challenge the YJ total wins for his career or win %, which is
slightly over 70? The Unknowns jumped from nothing to SECOND!! I have a
challenger! How about the have nots now? The BLB and
Unknowns mortgaged the future for the present…..it got them to the playoffs but
left them in a bad situation for 2009! Can they survive with almost no picks?
Can the ZK return to the playoffs after making it the three previous years?
Will the 1 year trade embargo placed on the ZK by the YJ hurt their chances?
Can teams that change their names from year to year ever win?! There seem to be
many of you out there, but none of you are winning!! What about our Florida
duo! They aint getting any younger!! Heck, the draft
itself seems to limit their chances of success. Remember, Yahoo IM is your
friend! The Thunderbolts need a good season to get some respect….give him
credit, he keeps coming back for more! Is this the year he makes more than a
handful of moves and makes the playoffs? Have the TB EVER made the playoffs? Can the Cyclones return to the playoffs? He
has been quiet the last couple of years!
Will the Fighting Polocks return to the
playoffs now that owner Stan “Fred Astaire” Williams will be at the draft? He
even has his own e-mail address now…..watch out, we could all be in trouble! I
think his weekend activities will limit his success again this year! The IS are
the defending champs. They are focused, dedicated, have a good career record
and the majority of their picks……they can be a threat this year, as long as he
doesn’t draft all of the JUICED up Yankees!!! All of these questions and more
will be answered in the upcoming year. Fantasy baseball is back baby!
The league fees will again be 125 dollars,
due on the day of the draft. The league is a bargain at only $5 a week!! Please
have the money at the draft. It makes it much easier for me to go to the bank
once and also makes it easier for you in terms of having an end of the season
bill of over $200 or, for Kevin and Scott, $300!! Please bring the money to
the draft! The two division winners will get $50. The team with the most
points for the season will also get $100. Again the team with the highest
points for one week will also receive 100 dollars.
The NEW monetary breakdowns are as
follows:
1st(20% + all transaction money)
2nd(40%)
3rd(25%)
4th(15%)
LBR($75)
I will be using e-mail to communicate with
the entire league at one time. I will send out weekly e-mails to let you know
when the website has been updated and also to send out any other pertinent
information. If you want to contact the entire league, just reply to one of my
e-mails. Owners will again need to e-mail me weekly with the results of their
game. We will go over that again on draft day. Again, you will be able to
e-mail everyone in the league through the roster page. Also, owners MUST
e-mail lineups to each other! Hopefully, these changes will keep all teams
updated and competitive for the entire year. On a separate but important note,
if an owner sends you a personal trade offer, not one of those "blanket
e-mails that Kevin sends every other day saying everyone on his team is for
sale", please respond. It only takes one second to hit reply and
say no thanks.
We will redraft all pitching staffs and all
position players, except two, which each team must protect. Pitching staffs can
be dropped as many times as a team wants (even right after you draft them,
which has been done before!) and you can also redraft a pitching staff that
they previously owned. The draft order for pitching staffs and position players
will again be randomly selected. Trades are allowed before, during and after
the draft, but all moves count as a transaction. We will be using the Baseball
Weekly Price List. That list can be found at www.diamondchallenge.com.
Anyone not on the price
list that I GIVE YOU is again 500K.
All teams will draft 15 players and your starting lineup must be $10
million or less. All American League pitching staffs will utilize a DH, which
must be an American League player. All National League pitching staff will get
the points their pitchers receive from hitting. If there are any questions,
comments or suggestions about anything, please let me know.
Your excellent commish,
Dave
P.S. The draft will be determined soon and
will be at my house. Expect the draft to last approximately 2-3 hours. For many
owners, including myself, the draft is one of the highlights of the year and
should be an enjoyable experience. Just plan on spending some quality time with
your fellow fantasy owners! I will provide a copy of the Baseball Weekly price
list, including pitching staff prices, and a draft sheet to assist you during
the draft. My phone number is 349-0689. Come prepared
and good luck!