Search this forum with max. available years back and read all you can. Key words:
1- Dead ball (deadballer, dead ball era...)
2- Normalize or # (normalizing, etc... you got the idea...)
3- AAA (important stuff here)
4- OL (open leagues)
5- I'm pretty sure the word "cookie" could bring something interesting.
There is a lot of info in here, that's where I learned everything and doing pretty decent since.
Also pay attention to contrarian, zubinsum, crazystengel, johngpf, grizzly, just4me (and other frequent/great posters... you find them...) comments, opinions and ideas.
Oh... and sides does matter. Lefty vs righty (or opposite) is favoring the hitter, same sides favor the pitcher. Last tip: micro-managing seems to me to be key in most leagues (including OLs).
Welcome aboard, and good luck.