MLB 116495: Twist w/ a Hero League (Lovable Losers)

THE PREMISE:

I love twist leagues, but some of the teams I’d like to use aren’t ideal because they are extremely weak at one position or because they come from an era in which the WHIPs and OAVs are a little too high to compete against some of the typical twist juggernauts. Being able to select a “franchise hero” could help even things up a little. (After all, who wouldn’t like to see if they could improve the 1934 Cardinals by adding either Bob Gibson or Stan Musial to the roster?)

Another thing that bugs me is that the same few choices get used in virtually every single twist league. It seems like it’s hard to be competitive if you don’t select one of those oft-used, cookie-filled teams. To curb that effect, each iteration of the Twist w/ a Hero League will feature a sub-theme to significantly narrow the list of available teams to choose from. Season One’s sub-theme will be Lovable Losers. Owners will be limited to selecting from among the teams that lost at least 90 games in the selected season. Other future possible sub-themes are listed below.

It is my hope that this league will be ongoing, continuing for many seasons.


THE RULES:

1. Basic rules--

• $110 MM cap.
• Clones – No
• DH – Not in Season One. (Future Seasons – TBD)
• WW- No.
• Trades - No
• AAA – No.
• Injuries – On.

2. Your team. Subject to restriction by the "sub-theme," you may pick any single season team from MLB history, and twist any player on their roster. (Rosters are determined by baseball-reference.com). No 200K exceptions. Limit one team per owner per season.

3. Your hero. You are allowed to select one “hero” to improve your roster. A “hero” must come from the same franchise as the team you have selected, and cannot have a salary over $9,999,999.

4. Team blacklist. Teams are exclusive each season. Teams that make the playoffs will be blacklisted for all future seasons.
5. Heroes blacklist. Heroes used in one season will be blacklisted for the following season. They will be removed from the blacklist before the season after that. (Example: If a team uses 1934 Jimmie Foxx as their hero in Season One, no team can use any version of Foxx as its hero in Season Two. All versions of Foxx would be available to use again in Season Three.)

6. Stadium. Use the stadium your team actually played in. If that stadium is not available in WIS, then use WIS Park.

7. Division alignment. Divisions will be realigned and teams will be placed in chronological order of the selected seasons.

8. Team Names. Include your selected season and franchise in your team name.

9. Sub-Theme. Season One’s Sub-Theme is “Lovable Losers.” Eligible teams must have lost at least 90 games in the selected season.

PLEASE CLAIM YOUR TEAM IN THIS FORUM BEFORE ENTERING YOUR ROSTER.

Future Sub-Themes Include (not necessarily in the order listed):

1. World Series Winners- Eligible teams must have won World Series in the selected season.

2. World Series Losers- Eligible teams must have lost the World Series in the selected season

3. Wildcard Teams- Eligible teams must have been a wildcard team in the selected season.

4. Yankees vs. Red Sox- 12 Yankees teams, 12 Red Sox teams, 1 great rivalry

5. Cardinals vs. Cubs- 12 Cardinals teams, 12 Cubs teams, 1 great rivalry

6. Dodgers vs. Giants- 12 Dodgers teams, 12 Giants teams, 1 great rivalry

7. Expansion Teams- Choose an expansion team in its first 10 years of existence.

8. Cactus League- Choose from teams that currently play Spring Training ball in Arizona

9. Grapefruit League- Choose from teams that currently play Spring Training ball in Florida

10. 1776 League- Choose from teams from the original 13 colonies (includes Massachusetts, New York, Maryland, Pennsylvania and Georgia)

11. California Dreamin’- Choose from Padres, Angels, LA Dodgers, SF Giants and Oakland A’s.

12. Big Apple- Eligible teams include Yankees, Mets, Brooklyn Dodgers and NY Giants.

13. Keystone State- Eligible teams include Pirates, Phillies and Philadelphia A’s.

14. Show Me State- Eligible teams include Cardinals, Royals, Browns & KC Athletics.

15. Buckeye State- Eligible teams include Reds and Indians/Blues/Naps.

16. Windy City- Eligible teams include Cubs and White Sox.

17. SEC- Choose from teams that played in Florida, Georgia, Texas & Missouri.

18. Big Ten- Choose from teams that played in Pennsylvania, Maryland, Ohio, Michigan, Minnesota, Wisconsin & Illinois.

19. Pac 12- Choose from teams that played in California, Arizona, Colorado or Washington.

20. NHL Original 6- Choose from teams that played in Montreal, Toronto, New York, Detroit, Chicago & Boston.

21. Original 5 Hall of Famers- Select from teams whose rosters include either Babe Ruth, Ty Cobb, Christy Mathewson, Honus Wagner or Walter Johnson.

22. Homerun Kings- Select from teams whose rosters include either Barry Bonds, Hank Aaron, Babe Ruth, Alex Rodriguez or Willie Mays.

23. Stolen Base Kings- Select from teams whose rosters include either Ricky Henderson, Lou Brock, Ty Cobb, Tim Raines or Vince Coleman.

24. Strikeout Kings- Select from teams whose rosters include either Nolan Ryan, Randy Johnson, Roger Clemens, Steve Carlton or Bert Blyleven.
25. Disney Favorites- Select from teams whose rosters include a player named Mickey, Minnie or Donald (first or last names eligible)

26. Deadball Era- Choose a team from 1919 or before.

27. The Roaring ‘20s

28. The 1930s

29. The 1940s

30. The 1950s

31. The 1960s

32. The 1970s

33. The 1980s

34. The 1990s

35. 2000-2015
36. NL East - Choose from franchises that currently play in the NL East.
37. NL Central
38. NL West
39. AL East
40. AL Central
41. AL West

42. Lovable Losers II- If we enjoy this sub-theme, we may use it again in a few seasons!

43. We are open for other suggestions…

MLB 116495: Twist w/ a Hero League (Lovable Losers)

List of Owners – Teams

1) mars2010 – 1990 St. Louis Cardinals

2) dilligafdbp - 1992 Los Angeles Dodgers

3) trd3 - 1993 New York Mets

4) combalt - 1991 Houston Astros

5) hacker7 - 1967 New York Yankees

6) Vindex24 - 1907 Boston Americans

7) steve9955- 1966 Boston Red Sox

8) Chisock - 2000 Houston Astros

9) Rattlers - 1968 Chicago White Sox

10) sawbuxx - 1935 Boston Braves

11) ybjsports - 1947 Pittsburgh Pirates

12) matt121888 - 1966 Chicago Cubs

13) dcmatcheck - 1920 Detroit Tigers

14) frank_drebin - 1984 Milwaukee Brewers

15) gds46016 - 1998 Florida Marlins

16) shysters3 - 2006 Chicago Cubs

17) malinowt – 1986 Chicago Cubs

18) zephyr1949 - 1992 New York Mets

19) fatboydad54 - 2005 Seattle Mariners

20) richabbs - 2008 San Diego Padres

21) Yaz2Schill - 2012 Boston Red Sox
22) homiealiens - 2007 San Francisco Giants

23) pmwksw - 1944 Brooklyn Dodgers

24) zany - TBD

mars2010; dilligafdbp; trd3; combalt; hacker7; Vindex24; steve9955; Chisock; Rattlers; sawbuxx; ybjsports; matt121888; dcmatcheck; frank_drebin; gds46016; shysters3; malinowt; zephyr1949; fatboydad54; richabbs; homiealiens; Yaz2Schill; pmwksw; zany

1992 Dodgers

I love twist leagues as well. I'll take the 1993 Mets.

That 90 Cards team is a great twist team. I've won 2 championships with version of the 90 Cards twisted.

Awesome! Welcome, guys!

I'm in as well. TBD. Since there are no 200k exceptions if a team has less than 25 players listed on BB-Ref does that mean they can't be used in this theme?

1967 Yankees

1907 Boston Americans

Posted by combalt on 8/17/2016 9:52:00 PM (view original):
I'm in as well. TBD. Since there are no 200k exceptions if a team has less than 25 players listed on BB-Ref does that mean they can't be used in this theme?

You'd need at least 24 players from your selected team/season. The 25th would be your hero.

But the answer to your question is basically yes. You need to choose from teams that had at least 24 players listed on the roster for that team/season according to baseball-reference. We may add a 200k exception down the road if we do a pre-1900 sub-theme, but for now we're going to go with the no 200k exception.

6 in after only 12 hours. Excellent!

I thought long and hard about taking that 1907 Boston Americans team.

I think I am going to use Nomar because their shortstop is not the greatest of hitters. My number two team choice has not been taken yet.

66 BoSox

I'll take the 2000 Houston Astros

Love this concept. I will research and probably join