Gonna answer a couple of questions....
BastanRedsox – How much did you consult with the tribe before sending in a list of teams?
One of the interesting things about this team thusfar is how organized we have been. The challenge was posted, I came in an hour afterwards, and so much of the research has already been done. I think in the first challenge, without the constraints of time allowing for home-field, we discussed almost EVERY little nuance. Maybe we were a little hyper-researchy (my own new word!) but it obviously showed up for us in the results. Was choosing home field advantage so important that we might have not solicited for enough opinions? I guess that's possible, but I thought, at the time, that we were riding a pretty solid wave of momentum -- and a TON of research was done. I know for my money I played with a team I was comfortable with, but I can't and won't speak for anyone else. That really might have been the only thing we could have done differently is that more input from who wanted to play with which teams -- but that is even a minor quibble. What we're doing is working, really -- it just didn't show up in the results this go 'round.
tropicana – Neither tribe used Koufax’s best- or second-best season (judging them by whip, erc# or salary). Might that have been a mistake?
I think this precisely shows up in what knee said -- with having to choose the second pitcher it was really more important to have the best Drysdale season we could out there, and then a secondary Koufax season, because all of those were pretty good. If you sacrificed your second starter, that could have been disaster. Besides, I actually really like using that '66 Koufax, he's a value pick I've used in leagues, so I certainly don't think you can say it's a bad idea. I simmed several games against live opponents and simmy, and not only did I win every one, Koufax dominated in them all too. The only game I lost was the one that mattered, when Koufax got a little bit walk-y and that cost the game.