Rules:
This will be an epic progressive league shootout spanning only 4 seasons. 1962-1965. The name of the game is simple, ‘survive and advance’.
$25 in credits to the WS winner of season #4!
We will begin with 24 hopeful owners and a standard snake-style mega-draft using the entire 1962 player pool. Because there will not be enough players the first year, we will fill rosters with 200K players and then trade them out with AAA players before the season starts. 200 K players will not play at all. The first year AAA players will be 12 position players and four pitchers. The following three seasons will have a 6/2 ratio. NO DH FOR EITHER LEAGUE. ALL AAA PLAYERS WILL BE BELOW AVERAGE.
The dream, however, will be short-lived for four unfortunate owners.Following the completion of the 1962 regular season, the four franchises that finish with the least amount of wins will be eliminated from the league.
Therefore, the 1963 season will consist of only 20 teams.Following the completion of the 1963 season, the four teams with the least amount of total combined victories through the first two seasons will be eliminated from the league.Get the picture?
Henceforth, the 1964 season will consist of only 16 teams, and again, after the conclusion of the 1964 season, the four incompetent owners that have recorded the least amount of cumulative wins over the course of the first three seasons will get the boot. When we reach the 1965 season, where the last 12 teams standing will compete for the title. The winner of the 1965 (Season 5) World Series will be crowned as the champion.
Here is the breakdown:
(Season, Year, Number of teams remaining, League Format to be used)
Season 1, 1962, 24 teams – Standard WIS Format:8 playoff teams, AL 4/4/4 – NL 4/4/4, inter-league play, non-balanced schedule.
Season 2, 1963, 20 teams – Alternate WIS Format F:4 playoff teams, AL 5/5 – NL 5/5, inter-league play, balanced schedule.
Season 3, 1964, 16 teams – Alternate WIS Format E:4 playoff teams, AL 4/4/ - NL 4/4, inter-league play, balanced schedule.
Championship - Season 4, 1965, 12 teams –Alternate WIS Format D:2 playoff teams, AL 6/0/0 – NL 6/0/0, inter-league play, balanced schedule.
RULES:
Standard progressive rules will apply for the most part. Unlimited cap, unlimited IR. You will draft a 25 man roster and will be given additional minor leaguers (Below Average, 12/4 for the first season, 6/2 in subsequent seasons). Transaction deadline will be set for game 162. Alignment for the 1st year will be done randomly before we draft. However, the alignment will change before each and every season, depending on the current overall standings (more on that later).
Team names will be in the standard format "City - Mascot". You can choose any city/town/suburb in the vicinity of the stadium you select (Ex. if you select Yankee Stadium, you don't have to name your team the New York Whatevers, you can choose Brooklyn, Queens, etc., you can get creative, but just keep the nickname "somewhat baseball-like"). Once you choose a name, that's it, you will not be allowed to change it for the rest of the league's existence.
THE INITIAL 25-ROUND, 24-TEAM, MEGA-DRAFT BONANZA OF EPIC PROPORTIONS:
After 24 of the bravest owners in WIS-Land have signed an Owners’ Contract (thereby pledging their unwavering commitment to either:A. Participate in all four seasons, or B. Suffer through the humiliation of cold-blooded elimination), the 24 teams will be randomly aligned into either the American League (4/4/4) or the National League (4/4/4). The draft order will be randomly assigned and a snake-style order (1-24, 24-1) will be used for all rounds. Preceding the live draft, we'll do a Stadium draft in the forums. The stadiums available will be the ones in use in 1962. The team that draws the last pick of the 1st round will have the first choice of stadiums, and so on. After the completion of the drafts, we will be ready to begin the initial 1962 season.
*Players who were on IR in 1962 are not eligible to be drafted until they come off IR. I.E. they have a 1961 season and a 1963 season, but no 1962 season. You can't select them until the 1963 rookie/free agent draft.
THE OFF-SEASON
Firstly, the “Contracted Franchises” will be swiftly eliminated following the 162nd game of each season.Tie-breakers for teams facing elimination will be as follows:
A.First-year:If two or more teams finish tied, with at least one having to be eliminated, head to head will be used as the first tie-breaker (better record survives). In the case of a 3-way or 4-way tie, with all teams having faced one another, the team(s) with the lowest winning percentage in the common games will be eliminated. The second tie-breaker will be a teams' record in the last 10 games of the season (team(s) with the better record survives). If the “L10” records are the same, then their W/L streak at season’s end will be used (better streak survives). The 4th and 5th tie-breakers will be:4. Home record; 5. Expected win percentage (higher pct survives).
B.Second year and beyond: If two or more teams are tied with the least number of cumulative wins to that point, the team(s) with more wins in the most recent season will survive.If still tied, the team that had more wins in the previous year will survive (and so forth, until you are forced to revert to the tie-breakers listed above).
Bonus Wins: Victories added to a teams’ cumulative win total after the completion of each post-season.They will be awarded to playoff teams in the following manner.
1. Losing in the ALCS or NLCS – 3 Bonus wins
2. Losing in the World Series – 7 Bonus wins
3. Winning the World Series – 11 Bonus wins
Bonuses are only given once, you don’t get one each time you advance, you get it once you’re finished (ex. Winning the WS nets you 11 bonus wins, not 3+7+11).This formula basically rewards post-season series’ wins with equal weight, regardless of whether a season has only 2, 4, or 8 playoff slots.
"Note: Any team that wins the World Series will have immunity from elimination in the very rare case that they still finish the season at the bottom of the list in cumulative wins through that point. (Only applies to the next season, not the rest of the league's existence). In that case, the next team(s) with the least amount of cumulative wins would be eliminated. Since Bonus Wins are not handed out until after the Eliminations have been done, a playoff team that finds itself in the Elimination Zone following the completion of the regular season would have to win the World Series to avoid elimination. In that case, the league would wait for that team to either bow out or win that seasons' championship before determining the Contracted Teams."
THE DRAFTS:
Contraction Draft:
Before the Rookie Draft takes place, there will be a One-Round Free-Agent Draft.The player pool for the Free-Agent Draft will consist only of the players who had belonged to the two (or four) Contracted Franchises.As an added incentive for winning, the winner of the World Series will be awarded the 1st pick of the Free-Agent Draft. The rest of the free-agent draft order will be determined by most wins during the most recently completed regular season PLUS BONUS POINTS RECIEVED AFTER THE COMPLETED CURRENT SEASON. After each team has selected its’ one player, all remaining players from the Contracted teams will be black-listed from the league forever.
Following the Contraction Draft, owners will post their rosters for the upcoming year. Each team will be allowed to keep a maximum of 22 active players (does not include IR players, which are unlimited). Players that are released will be placed back into the draft pool, along with the incoming rookies and any players that went undrafted in previous seasons.
Rookie/Free agent Draft:
The draft order for all subsequent Rookie Drafts will be determined by the current overall cumulative standings at the end of each regular season (including all Win Bonuses, EVEN THOSE from the most recent completed season).The remaining team with the worst overall record will get the first pick in each round of the Rookie Draft, while the team with the best overall record will receive the last pick. Tanking, my friends, will be a complete non-issue due to the constant threat of elimination (and the accompanying embarrassment).
The Tie-breakers for determining draft order are as follows:
1. Rookie Draft - First Year: The tie-breakers for surviving teams that finish with the same record in Season One will be: 1. Head-to-Head, better record gets higher pick (for 3-way and 4-way ties, highest winning percentage in common games decides the order); 2. Teams' record in the last 10 games of the season (team(s) with the better record gets higher pick); 3. Win/Loss Streak at season’s end (better streak gets higher pick); 4. Home record (better record, better pick); 5. Expected win percentage (higher pct, higher pick).
2. Rookie Draft - Second Year and beyond: If two or more surviving teams finish a season with the same number of overall cumulative wins, the team(s) that had the most wins in the most recent season will get the higher pick. If still tied, the team(s) that had more wins in the previous season will get the higher pick (and so on, until forced to revert to the five tie-breakers listed above).
3. Contraction Draft - First year: same as Rookie Draft - First year. Teams that win tie-breakers will have a higher pick in both drafts.
4. Contraction Draft - Second year and beyond: If two or more surviving teams finish with the same amount of wins after 162 games, the team(s) with the better cumulative record at that point will get the higher pick. If still tied, the team(s) that had more wins in the previous season will get the higher pick (and so on, until forced to revert to the five tie-breakers listed above).
Trades:
Due to the nature of the league, the trading of future draft picks during a season will be prohibited. Player-for-Player trades, however, will be allowed during the season (subject to veto). Draft picks from the Rookie Draft may only be traded in the off-season, during the draft, or in preparation for the draft, but only for either players and/or picks from the current draft. Teams will not be allowed to trade picks from the One Round Contraction Draft.
The Rookie/Free Agent Draft will consist of 6 rounds. Afterwards, teams that kept less than 22 players and teams that traded away more picks than they got, will fill their remaining roster spots on a first-come, first-served basis.
ALIGNMENT:
The league will be randomly aligned for the first year.After that, the league will re-align before each and every season depending on the cumulative team records to that point.
1. The American League will be the A-league, while the National League will be the B-league (think of the European Soccer divisions).
2. After each season, all remaining teams will be seeded first thru last based on cumulative wins (including all Bonus Wins) through that point. If any teams are tied in cumulative wins, the team(s) that had more wins in the most recent season will be awarded the higher seed. For the following season, the AL will be made up of all the highest seeds (the exact number of AL teams will depend on that season's configuration), while the NL will be filled by the remaining bottom seeds, forced to fight for their survival. The two groups of teams will be distributed evenly amongst their divisions by using snake-style dispersal.
For example, 1963 (the second season) will be aligned as follows:
1963 - 20 teams: The 10 AL Teams will consist of the 10 teams that had the best record in Season 1, The 10 NL teams will consist of teams seeded 11th thru 20th. Divisions would be balanced by seed. Using the 5/5 breakdown, the AL East Division will house Seeds # 1, #4, #5, #8, #9 , ; the AL West Division will be made up of Seeds #2, #3, #6, #7, #10. The same Formula thing for the NL.
This system will not be used for the Championship Season (1965, Season 4). The remaining 12 teams will be aligned snake-style based on seed. The AL will have seeds #1, #4, #5, #8, #9 and #12. The NL will have seeds #2, #3, #6, #7, #10 and #11.
LOOSE ENDS:
There is the very real possibility that I, as both owner and commissioner, may be eliminated from the league at some point. In that case, the remaining owner with the highest Owner Rating will have first rights at taking over commissioner duties (along with the free team). If that owner refuses, the owner with the next highest rating will have the choice, and so on, until an owner accepts.
AND THEN THERE WAS ONE...
The Champion of the Inaugural Progressive Eliminator will be the owner that captures the World Series crown in Season 5 - The Championship Season.
Nothing else matters, not cumulative wins, not prior World Series' victories, nothing. It's all about the end game. Of course, first you have to get there. Cumulative wins keep you alive, while World Series wins boost your odds, but it all means nothing if you can't win The Big One. Admin has agreed to give an additional $25 in reward credits to the season 4 champion!!!
REMEMBER: NO DH IN EITHER LEAGUE