In version 1 of the Sweet Sixteen league, 16 participants took turns in owning all-star teams for each of the 16 original franchises. Each season each owner got a different franchise and could select any player from 1901-2010 (2010 was the latest season available at the inception of the league) who played for that franchise, using only seasons they played for that franchise. If a player played for more than one franchise in the year you want to use him, you can use only the partial season he played for your franchise.
Thus every owner got a turn owning the Yankees, Cardinals, Dodgers etc. Each season all 16 of the original franchises must be selected. The test will be to see which owner can do the best job of managing 16 different franchise all star teams. At the end of the 16th season, I gave a total of $60 in gift certificates to the owner with the most World Series Wins and $40 in gift certificates to the owner with at least 12 seasons completed who achieved the best W/L Pct. I posted cumulative W/L records for each owner and each franchise after every season.
In version 2, Instead of using any player in franchise history, each owner used a particular season for each franchise. They could use any season from 1901-2012 in the franchise history. For example, for the Yankees they could use 1927, 1939, 1998 or any other season they wished. For franchises which have moved cities, they could use any season as well-for example for the Senators/Twins they could use the 1925 or 1933 Senators or the 1965, 1991 or 2004 Twins (or any other season in franchise history). If a player played for more than one team, you may only use the partial season that he played for your chosen franchise and season.
The test was to see which owners could select the correct "best" team for each franchise.
In version 2, WIS agreed to give $100 in gift certificates after season 16 (provided at least 9 members of the league were in the league for all 16 seasons).
This prize money will be distributed as gift certificates to the 4 owners with the best W/L Pct. as follows:
Best W/L Pct. $40
2nd Best W/L Pct. $25
3rd Best W/L Pct. $20
4th Best W/L Pct. $15
In Version 3, I anticipate that WIS will agree again to distribute $100 in prize money after season 16. The same distribution formula will be used.
As Commissioner, I am not eligible for these prizes, so if I qualify the next owners immediately below me all move up.
Owners must have competed for at least 12 seasons to be eligible for prize money
Version 3 will be similar to version 2 in that for each of the 16 seasons owners will select one of the 16 original franchise and select which season from 1901-2015 in that franchise's history they wish to use. However, they will be permitted 4 "wild card" players who must have played for the team selected in their wildcard season with the following additional criteria:
1. There may be I infielder or catcher, 1 outfielder, 1 starting pitcher (more than 50% of games as a starter) and 1 relief pitcher (more than 50% of games as a reliever)
2. The wildcard player may not be on the primary team selected (i.e if your primary team is the 1944 Cardinals you may not twist Stan Musial to a different season or add a clone from a different season). No twists and no clones !
3. If your primary team has 22 or more players, you may drop players of your choice to reduce the roster to 25.
4. If your primary team has 20 or fewer players, your first 4 additions must be your wildcard players. Additional players as required must be from your primary season from any team with salaries less than $500,000.
So imagine having the 1944 Cardinals and adding 1924 Rogers Hornsby, 1937 Joe Medwick, 1968 Bob Gibson plus either 1981 Bruce Sutter or 2002 Jason Isringhausen.
Or imagine the 1939 Yankees with 1921 Babe Ruth, 1927 Lou Gehrig, 1978 Ron Guidry and 1996 Mariano Rivera.
While I understand that health, family or financial issues may arise that necessitate an owner to drop from the league, because of the nature of the league after a few seasons it becomes difficult to replace owners so I DO REQUEST THAT YOU NOT SIGN UP FOR THE LEAGUE UNLESS YOU CURRENTLY ANTICIPATE BEING ABLE TO PARTICIPATE FOR ALL 16 SEASONS.