Seasons Past Baseball

1) MicroMets (2)
2) Vultures (1)
3) Zephyrs (4)
4) Express (2)
5) Red Bulls (4)
5) Sox (6)
7) Problem (10)
7) Redbirds (8)
9) Gobblers (9)
10) Hedgehogs (12)
11) Thunder (7)
12) Hot Dogs (11)
13) Indians (17)
13) Salamanders (21)
15) Dreadnoughts (18)
16) Orange Growers (15)
17) Arrows (14)
18) Thunder (16)
19) Vultures (13)
20) Boxers (20)
21) Monarchs (23)
22) Hobbits (24)
22) Kids (24)
24) Cyclones (19)
25) Damage (22)
24) Moondogs (26)

1996 Draft results

1) Corsairs-D.Jeter
2) Buckeyes-A.Petitte
3) Sox-C.Jones
4) Hot Dogs-M.Rivera
5) Moondogs-J.Giambi
6) Red Bulls-B.Radke
7) Rootwads-R.Durham
8) Gobblers-H.Nomo
9) Dreadnoughts-J.Damon
10) Indians-B.Higginson
11) Corsairs-M.Grudzielanek
12) Boxers-T.Percival
13) Algae-J.Suppan
14) Vultures-E.Alfonso
15) Thunder-J.Isringhausen
16) Zephyrs-E.Loaiza
17) Cyclones-M.Loretta
18) MicroMets-M.Cordova
19) Sox-J.Schmidt
20) Hot Dogs-R.Aurillia
21) Gobblers-S.Stewart
22) Rough Riders-Q.Veras
23) Hedgehogs-M.Lawton
24) Red Sox-T.Clark
25) Vultures-R.Bottalico
26) Red Bulls-M.Cameron

SPB Leagues

September 25, 2012
July Stats and Power Rankings posted
DAYTON, OH. -The stats and power rankings for July of 1996 campaign are now posted. The races have undergone some interesting transformations. Due to some surprising road performances, the Salamanders have finally put an AL East team above the .500 mark; only 4 teams in the league have that distinction. In the NL, the strong performers are still clustered, with 9 of 13 teams above the .500 mark and with the Express and Woodchippers tied atop the NL central.

July 21, 2012
Manager Replacement
DAYTON, OH. - The Michigan Red Bulls have been replaced by Rich Applegate, who will taking over the team for the remainder of the season. Welcome aboard Rich!

May 11, 2012
Free Agents signed
TOLEDO, OH. -Here are the results of the free agent sweepstakes. I am particularly concerned that I may have overlooked something here. If you submitted claims that you do not see reflected here, please forward me the confirmation and I will readjust how the claims were awarded.

The Baltimore Redbirds sign Greg Gohr, Tim Pugh, and Chris Turner
The Indianapolis Arrows sign Joe Boever
The Pandora Boxers sign John Hope
The Black Swamp Salamanders sign Ricky Jordan, Steve Bourgeois, Rusty Meacham, Tom Quinlan, Shawn Barton, and Trevor Wilson
The baltimore Redbirds have signed Karim Garcia and Henry Mercedes.

May 11, 2012
Managerial Return
FRANKFORT, IN. -It is indeed a happy day for SPB V. Commissioner Chris Williams is thrilled to know that Marc Robinson has agreed to return as manager of the Anaheim Orange Growers for the 1996 season, giving us a full slate of managers for the coming season, which begins on June 1st. Finally, the league is up to a full slate of managers for this year. Thanks Marc for coming back to us after all.

May 11, 2012
Free Agent news
TOLEDO, OH. -Before resigning, the Lafayette Red Sox put in successful claims on Jeff Granger and Greg Pirkl, who are now Monarchs. Indianapolis released 3b Tom Quinlan; the Elko Express release C Chris Turner, 1b Ricky Jordan, and pitchers Greg Gohr, John Hope, Trevor Wilson (returns in 1998), Shawn Barton, Joe Boever, and Rusty Meacham. These players join Steve Bourgeois, Karim Garcia, Henry Mercedes, and Tim Pugh as free agents on the database. Some of the players released by the Express have genuine 1996 value innings-eating or at bats value. Preference for awarding players will be based on Phase II draft order, one player at a time. If you are interested in more than one, therefore, please list them in order of preference. If any are unclaimed prior to the start of the season these players will be deleted from the database.

May 7, 2012
Managerial Replacement
TOLEDO, OH. -The new manager for the Lafayette Red Sox will be Mike Boling. He will rename the team to the Kansas City Monarchs. The Orange Growers franchise is still vacant.

April 15, 2012
96 Call for Protected Rosters
TOLEDO, OH. -Here is the call for protected rosters for SpbV (1996). They will be due Sunday night April 15 at midnight EDT. The draft will take place on Saturday, April 21, beginning. There will be a temporary suspension of trade activity between the release of the Phase-II ready database until after the Phase II draft. Teams may finalize and report trades to me, but they will not be reported officially to the league as a whole until after the draft.

The following 6 teams may protect 20 players: Thunder Bay Damage, Canton Moondogs, Black Swamp Salamanders, Baltimore Redbirds, Cedar Rapids Cyclones, Houston Problem.

The following 6 teams can protect only 18: Niskayuna MicroMets, Atlantic City Vultures, Knox Sox, Pandora Boxers, Michigan Red Bulls, Elko Express.

All other teams can protect 19 players.

IN ADDITION, a team may protect an “uncarded” player (a player with future value who does not play in 1996). This player does NOT count against the limits indicated above.

March 24, 2012
96 Database now posted
TOLEDO, OH. - The Draft is scheduled for 11am EDT on April 21. There remains one open team—Bill Vogt’s Say Hey Kids, though Bill has volunteered to stay with the team through the draft, if necessary. I will continue to look for a replacement, however. In addition, Al Schweitzer has indicated his intent to depart, for reasons of not liking the steroid era, but has also indicated he will stay with the team as long as it takes for me to find a new owner, including through the draft.

Please check your rosters for errors. Uncarded players on your roster have been added, along with the year of their return. Teams did lose players who were not played up to 50% either in terms of at bats/appearances or the usage meter. According to the constitution, this does apply to all players. Given the prorating that we allowed, getting all your players to 50% was easier than it has usually been.

In addition to adding uncarded players, I eliminated ratings for positions that did not meet the league minimums (5 games at a position, not counting outfield, for any player with at least 400 abs. Players, such as Dave Nilsson, who were used extensively at DH, were accorded a little flexibility in order to retain ratings at positions that were in fact their primary position). The draft module has also been set up.

March 16, 2012
Draft info and new manager
TOLEDO, OH. - There were a handful of active managers who did not respond to my request for the draft date. And, the voting was very strongly split between April 14 and April 21 as dates for having it. A couple managers are unable to make it any day but the 7th (Jim Condon, for instance, will be at the Red Sox home games both the 14th and 21st), but that was also the least desired date by the vast majority of the league.

It came down to the 21st. For three managers, this was the only date available. Several others preferred this date, and there was only one manager who indicated just the 14th as a possibility. Most of the managers who listed the 14th also listed the 21st as a second or third choice.

This draft date is a touch awkward, as the big draft convocation for 75 and 52 is taking place in Chicago the following weekend. However, as this 1996 draft will not entail a major gathering, we can take care of this in the online forum.

So, the draft will be Saturday, April 21st at 11:00am in the auditorium.

Dan Bacon has tentatively signed on as the new manager for the Anaheim Orange Growers, and is included on this email. This leaves the Say Hey Kids as the last remaining open team for the moment. One other manager has decided to hang on through the draft but does intend to leave when he gets the chance. The steroid era is, to put it mildly, less popular than other eras of historical baseball. But we’ll get through it.

I am still working on the draft database. I have already deleted players that fail to meet our minimum requirements, but I am still in the process of adding uncarded players, and adding stats to players from years where they were previously ineligible. If you have not yet purchased the 1996 season from Diamond Mind, please do so, in order that we are in compliance with copyright regulations. It’s a rather cool disk, containing as played lineups and transactions, in case you didn’t have it already. I hope to release the revised database early next week.

February 24, 2012
Managerial Replacement and call for draft date
TOLEDO, OH. - I wish to give an update on the progress toward the 1996 season. First of all, let us welcome Frank Aluzzi (piratesbillsfan@gmail.com), who will be taking over Terry Baxter’s old Chicago Zephyrs franchise. He is keeping the nickname, but simply moving them to a place where a professional team bears the same name. They are now the New Orleans Zephyrs. Welcome, Frank!

Secondly, I have had a lot of things going on at work that have prevented me from making much forward progress on the draft preparations. There are still some things I need to do for the database, which I hope will be finished by the beginning of next week. John Turnbull has volunteered to help me with the draft module, but I am also still in process calculating the (luckily) very few usage penalties incurred during the past season. This process is complicated, as you know, because of pro-rated totals due to the strike that delayed the start of the season (and canceled the end of the previous one). But, I am plugging ahead.

In the meantime, if you have not done so already, please purchase a licensed copy of the DPS1996 files from Diamond Mind (Imagine Sports), to ensure that we are all in copyright compliance. A lot of work went into that database.

Lastly, we need to schedule our draft. Normally we have it in April, with a season start date of June 1. The last weekend of April is consumed now by the double-draft fest, so that leaves the following dates: April 7, 14, and 21. Please get back to me with your preferences, in order of suitability. This is not going to be a logistical situation, with travel and face to face meetings, in light of the major event at the end of the month. But, I do expect that the Hoosiers and Buckeyes in the league will cluster in their respective locales, at least to an extent.

February 3, 2012
Managerial Replacement
TOLEDO, OH. - Let us give a warm welcome to two new managers in the league: Rob Capizzano has decided to take over the Preble Corsairs franchise and rename them the Thunder Bay Damage. His email is rcappy22@aol.com. And Pierre Rioux has decided to take over the Red Bluff Rough Riders and rename them The Houston Problem. His email is pierre.x@videotron.ca. The open teams are still the Chicago Zephyrs and Anaheim Orange Growers. Hopefully these two slots will be filled soon. I am still working on issues of draft order and disk preparation for 1996, and both of these things will be released next week.

November 25, 2011
Final stats and rankings posted
TOLEDO, OH. - The stats and power rankings for the final month of the season are now posted. We had some hitches at the end with two managers succumbing to computer problems, and the overuse situation needs to be computed and assessed before the playoff disk is released. However, because of the oddities of running the season based on pro-rated stats because of the strike, extraordinary clemency will be given to usage violations; so long as the team managed with clear awareness of the limitations and comes close, penalty wins will be kept to a minimum wherever possible.

If everything holds, as frankly I expect it will, the following playoff matchups will take place:

AL: Pandora Boxers (100 wins) have home field throughout and will host the AL Central champs Lafayette Red Sox (87 wins); the AL East champ Dexter Dreadnoughts (88 wins) will host the wild card Middle Earth Hobbits (92 wins).

NL: Although the Michigan Red Bulls and Elko Express finished the season with identical 100-62 records, the Red Bulls get the central division title nod due to a 8-6 head-to-head record. They will host the NL West champ Valley View Thunder (86 wins), while the NL East champ Knox Sox will host the wild card Express.

June 12, 2011
Another Managerial change
BOWLING GREEN, OH. - Marc Schlotthauer has had to resign, effective immediately, for medical reasons. We wish him the best and keep him in our thoughts over the coming months. Fortunately, Greg Stillwagon has eagerly taken the opportunity to rejoin the ranks of SPB by taking the reins of Marc’s team, the Elkhorn Rootwads. They will remain under that name for the duration of April games for the sake of management of manager profiles and the master database.

For May games, the team will be renamed the Fargo Woodchippers on the database.

Because we had that hitch to start the season with the era settings, I don’t want anybody to have to replay their home games hosting the Rootwads if they have already done so, but if you haven’t, I invite Greg to send out his revised profile for you to play. In the meantime, if you were scheduled to play the Rootwads in the month of April, please re-send your profiles and instructions to Greg, at stillwagon@m33access.com.

May 30, 2011
Two new managers
BOWLING GREEN, OH. - I would like to announce that we have two new owners in SPB V and that therefore we are back up to full strength at 26. Both owners, I believe, have been involved in SPB before. I am not certain, but I believe that Jim Condon was involved in SPB many years ago. I have been involved with him in many leagues, modern and historical. He will be taking over the Madison Blue-Green Algae and renaming them the Middle Earth Hobbits.

The other new owner was in fact a previous owner in SPB V. Terry Buchanan had to take a sudden leave of absence from his gaming activities due to a compound set of physical health and personal circumstances, but I am happy to say that the owner of the former Pitcairn Islanders is back at the helm of the Cleveland Buckeyes, who have been rechristened the Elko Express.

Welcome to both Terry and Jim. Terry’s email in terrybuc@gmail.com. Jim’s email is jfcondon@comcast.net.

Again, as stated earlier, the season disk will be released ASAP after the close of pre-season trading on June 1, with your initial profiles due June 6. We will revert to our normal deadlines of the 1st and 20th with the May-scheduled games, which will be played in July.

May 1, 2011
Ballpark Change
BOWLING GREEN, OH. - The Indianapolis Arrows move indoors, as they surrender their current stadium at Riverfront in favor of the Minneapolis Metrodome. This leaves Riverfront Stadium and Atlanta's Fulton County Stadium as the two parks available.

April 13, 2011
1995 Call for protected rosters
BOWLING GREEN, OH. - I would like also to put out a call for your Phase II protected rosters to be submitted by Wednesday night. I already have several in hand, though they are not yet reflected on the disk. I would like to get the disk out In accordance with the constitution the size of SPBV protection lists are as follows:

The following teams may protect 18 players (plus one uncarded):
Atlantic City Vultures (Al Schweitzer)
Black Swamp Salamanders (Chris Williams)
Indianapolis Arrows (Rick Ryan)
Kitsilano Hedgehogs (John Saunders)
Lafayette Red Sox (Steve Ehresman)
SayHey Kids (Bill Vogt)

The following teams may protect 20 players (plus one uncarded):
Canton Moondogs (Tom Kackley)
Cleveland Buckeyes (Chris Walsh) (team name change can be submitted)
Frankfort Hot Dogs (Gary Plunkitt)
Knox Sox (Wade Mitchell)
Los Angeles Wayfarers (David Sayles)
Michigan Red Bulls (Vin Onstott)

All other teams may protect 19 players (plus one uncarded).

Note: all teams may protect at least one uncarded player, who will not count against the protection limit totals listed above.

In keeping with our other leagues, once the Phase II protection rosters have been announced, unprotected players may not be traded until after the Phase II draft.

The live Phase I (rookie) draft will begin in the website auditorium at 10:00am EDT. It should be a long-ish draft, lasting into the 10th round.

Since teams in 1995 played an average of 144 games and we are working with a 162-game schedule, allowable at bat and appearance totals will be computed by multiplying figures by 1.125 (or 10.25%). I will be circulating and asking John to post spreadsheets shortly. These will NOT show the effects of bonuses, but those will be based on the pro-rated stats.

April 2, 2011
1995 Draft date change
BOWLING GREEN, OH. - The draft date has been moved from April 9 to April 16. Although there were a couple managers who preferred April 16, there were four managers who are unable to make that date who would have been able to make the 9th. I would like to work closely with those managers in advance of the date so that I may deputize for them during the draft and make the best possible draft selections for their teams. It was my own ability to commit to the April 9th date without my encountering some professional awkwardness that compelled me to make the change.

March 23, 2011
1995 Draft date set
BOWLING GREEN, OH. - By a narrow margin, the draft date has been set for April 9. The runner-up is April 16. April 9 had the fewest number of “definitely cannot make it” and highest number of “this is my #1 choice” responses.

Because it is a potentially long draft—well into 10 rounds of players, even after rookies who don’t meet our league minimums are eliminated--and because there is a (locally held) academic conference in which I am peripherally involved (though my primary duties are on the Friday before the draft), I would like to start the draft at 10:00am EDT. If this is a problem for anybody, let me know ASAP.

It might be too grueling to try to get too far with Phase II after such a long draft, but we can play that by ear. The first few picks in Phase II should be sent in via list before the rookie draft starts, if this is conceivable.

There still are some things I need to do with the database and I will send out the official +10% charts when I have finished. Apparently, I had missed a couple players who really didn’t qualify for inclusion. And, frankly, anything we can do to limit the size of the draft pool will be welcome. While the draft is not overloaded with
“Hall of Fame” material, the number of “very useful players,” several with long careers, is quite impressive.

I will be sending out a call for Phase II protected lists due April 4. That is a ways away yet.

March 18, 2011
Manager Change
BOWLING GREEN, OH. - I would like to introduce Bill Vogt, who will be taking over from John Dewan as manager of the Qs. John had wished to give up his 1995 team when an opening occurred in the 1974 season. Although he was willing to maintain the team until we could find a new owner, we were lucky in having a new owner approach us. Bill will rename the team the SayHey Kids. He is on his way out of town so will be incommunicado for a couple weeks. His email: Soonerborn59@gmail.com. I will remove John from the mailing list after this announcement.

What I still need to do: I still need to add in the combined stats for some players who are making their 1995 debut in SPB despite having made appearances beforehand. And, once I do this, I will post spreadsheets with the prorated stats based on the fact that we are playing 10% more games than the teams played in real life, because of the end of the big strike.

February 14, 2011
94 World Series Champ crowned
FRANKFORT, IN. - I have to jump the gun a bit on Chris's official announcement on this, to let everyone know that manager Steve Ehresman has won the 1994 SPB V World Series over the Kitsilano Hedgehogs of John Saunders in a 6 game series that featured 3 shutouts including a wild no-hitter! Details will be released later, and posted to the SPB V web page. This is Steve's very first SPB championship, and it has been a long time coming. If you don't believe me, just ask the source! :) Steve has been in SPB since the start, back in 1991. While he has put together several excellent teams and won several league and division titles, this is the first World Series win for the Little General. My heartiest congratulations goes out to Steve!

February 7, 2011
94 World Series set
DAYTON, OH. - Congratulations to Steve Ehresman and to John Saunders for advancing with their Red Sox and Hedgehogs to the 1994 World Series, and to John Dewan and Marc Hollingsworth for outstanding seasons up to this point.

Although there was no World Series played in 1994, Kitsilano has the home field advantage for the series by virtue of the fact that the American League had home field in 1993. The two teams had identical 105-57 records, but Kitsilano also has the edge in runs scored. There are no head-to-head results from the regular season.

January 23, 2011
Team name change
DAYTON, OH. - Jim Wheeler has decided to change the name of the Jacksonville Juicers, whose controls he assumed inherited in midseason 1994, to the Preble Corsairs.

January 23, 2011
Four manager replacements
DAYTON, OH. - Below are the new managers who will be taking over starting with the 1995 season:

Taking over for Gabe Flores of the Clairemont Eagles is Wade Mitchell (email: mitw9800@yahoo.com), who will be renaming them the Knox Sox and moving them to the open stadium at The Ballpark in Arlington. The Metrodome (aka “Baggy Dome”) is now available, along with Joe Robbie in Miami.

Stepping in for Joe Terry of the Birmingham Cloverleafs is David Sayles (email: BrkrDave@live.com), who will rename them the Los Angeles Wayfarers

For Jim Bendik’s Cleveland Buckeyes, we have Chris Walsh (email: cwspill@yahoo.com), and I await his team name change.

And, for Craig Korol’s Kansas Storm, we would like to welcome Marc Schlotthauer (email: marctimi@wildblue.net), who will move them to Elkhorn as the Rootwads.

Welcome to SPB all four managers!

December 10, 2010 
1994 Use or lose report
BOWLING GREEN, OH. - The 1994 Use or lose report is now published.  The Overusage report is listed HERE..

November 26, 2010
1994 September stats posted, Playoff pairings set
BOWLING GREEN, OH. - The stats and Power Rankings for August 1994 are now posted, with preliminary congratulations going out to the playoff teams, whose match ups are indicated on the database: Rick Ryan’s Indianapolis Arrows, after a strong month of a finale, edging out the Black Swamp Salamanders for the Wild Card, will be hosted by the Quigley Qs of John Dewan. The Zephyrs of Terry Baxter will be hosted by the Lafayette Red Sox of Steve Ehresman.

In the National League, Jerry Cada’s Cedar Rapids Cyclones will be hosted by the powerful Hedgehogs of John Saunders, while Doc Schweitzer’s Vultures, with the best record in the whole league, will play host to Marc Hollingsworth’s perennially strong Rough Riders.

The first round divisional series are all best-of-five sets with the first two games on the road at the second-seed team and the remaining five games at the team with home field advantage.

These match ups are preliminary pending Gary’s usage and eligibility report, though I expect all eight playoff teams to pass muster.

August 28, 2010
Mid-Season manager replacement
BOWLING GREEN, OH. - We have a new manager for the Jacksonville Juicers. Longtime SPB manager and SPB V original manager Jim Wheeler is rejoining the league. Please send any profiles for the Juicers to him at jim12695@gmail.com.

May 27, 2010
Trade Deadline
DAYTON, OH. - With the new season upon us, here are some individual targets that players can shoot for that are SPB-5 highs:

Batting Average-.367(J.Bagwell, KIT-93)----Tony Gwynn,ACV hit .394 in 1994 real season.
Onbase PCT-.476(P.Guerrero, Long Island-85, now CLE)----Frank Thomas, STB posted a .487 in 1994 real season.
Slugging PCT-.706(B.Bonds, BAL-93)----Albert Belle, CLE, Bagwell and Thomas all posted better in 1994.
Hits-243(K.Puckett, Coney Island-88, now CRC)
Runs-146(K.Griffey, KAN-93)
RBI-149(J.Gonzalez, CAR-93)
Doubles-55(C.Ripken, New Jersey-91, now ACV)---Chuck Knoblauch, PAN, Craig Biggio, ACV, and Larry Walker, CLE, all project out to over 60 in 1994.
Triples-22(R.Sierra, FRA-89)---Lance Johnson, KAN projects out to 20 in 1994.
Homeruns-58(C.Fielder, FRA-90)---Matt Williams, MAD, projects out to 61 in 1994.
Stolen Bases-110(V.Coleman, CAR-85)

ERA-1.89(C.Bosio, Louisiana-89, now Lafayette)---Greg Maddux, LAF posted a 1.56 in 1994
Strikeouts-327(R.Clemens, Kenesaw-88, now Chicago)
Wins-27(J.Key, KIT-87)
Saves-45(D.Eckersley, BSS-92)

May 16, 2010
Trade Deadline
BOWLING GREEN, OH. - The trade deadline is next weekend. Let’s push it until Sunday night at midnight, EDT. Both trading parties will need to have reported it by then. This will give us until right after the Memorial Day weekend to set up our season-start profiles.

Remember that in SPB V there is no in-season trading, so take a look at your usage issues and see if you can fix your needs now, so that problems do not arise as we head through the reason. Please look to bonus player options and, of course, to the fact that you should multiply all at bats and pitching appearances by 1.42 (because we will be playing a full 162-game schedule).

April 7, 2010
Ballpark change
BOWLING GREEN, OH. - The Frankfort Hot Dogs are giving up The Ballpark in Arlington for Mile High for the lofty heights of Denver (Mile High Stadium and eventually Coors).

March 14, 2010
Draft date and New manager
BOWLING GREEN, OH. - By popular acclaim, it looks like our draft date will be April 3, and will take place beginning 11:00am EDT in the auditorium chat room. This is the day before Easter. The draft looks to be one of the shortest in the history of SPBV. The labor situation in MLB worked against having many players on the MLB level, and since the real-life season did not make it until September, there were no September call-ups. So, teams picking at the front end of Phase II should also be prepared to stay in the chat room afterward. We could go a long way to getting both parts of the draft finished in one day.

We are also back to full strength in the managerial department. The Grays Harbor Rivers welcome back new ownership in Pete Reoch, whose new email is npeter7040@Yahoo.com. They have been renamed the Valley View Thunder.

With the draft on April 3, the call for Phase II protection lists goes out. Please have these lists to me by March 28.

The following 8 teams protect 18 players:
Baltimore Redbirds
Birmingham Cloverleafs
Black Swamp Salamanders
Chicago Zephyrs
Kitsilano Hedgehogs
Red Bluff Rough Riders
Madison Blue-Green Algae
Valley View Thunder

The following 10 teams protect 19 players:
Blacksburg Gobblers
Cleveland Buckeyes
Dexter Dreadnoughts
Frankfort Hot Dogs
Jacksonville Juicers
Kansas Storm
Lafayette Red Sox
Pandora Boxers
Quigley Qs
Stebbins Indians

The following 8 teams protect 20 players:
Anaheim Orange Growers
Atlantic City Vultures
Canton Moondogs
Cedar Rapids Cyclones
Hayward Faults
Indianapolis Arrows
Michigan Red Bulls
Niskayuna MicroMets

February 25, 2010
New manager
BOWLING GREEN, OH. - And let us welcome a new manager to the fold. Randall Reilly will be assuming the controls of a very good, former Brooklyn team, a playoff regular, and is renaming them, intriguingly, the Madison Blue-Green Algae. His email is blueboy714@sbcglobal.net.

February 20, 2010
Important notes about league files
BOWLING GREEN, OH. - Please note the following items pertaining to the season disk just emailed.

1. Because of the strike-shortened year, players who had 10 at bats/plate appearances, 10 IPs or 10 games appeared are included. This roughly parallels the roughly 2:3 (114:162) ratio of actual appearance to appearances prorated for a 162-game schedule. Normally, players with 15-15 or 15 are deleted from the disk. Even so, there are only enough players for slightly less than 6 rounds of rookie drafting, a likely consequence of the labor disputes that disrupted play in 1994 and led to the cancellation of the World Series (to the chagrin of Expos fans everywhere).

2. Please consult the tables posted to the website for 1994 usage. These adjusted numbers could not be applied directly to the disk, but managers will be allowed to use players up to the maximums indicated (in some cases almost 50% more

3. For some first-time SPB players that would otherwise have been deleted for having too few appearances, pre-1994 stats have been added.

4. For players with 400 or more at bats, fielding ratings have been deleted when the player played fewer than 5 games at the position. An exception was made for players primarily used at DH.

5. DH players without fielding ratings have had Pr ratings added at 1b and at the last fielding positions for which they were rated. Their DH designation has been changed to the position they played most frequently in 1994, or 1b.

6. Player records have been added to teams for already-drafted players who did not play in 1994, but who appear in future MLB seasons.

February 20, 2010
Team name changes and Managerial changes
BOWLING GREEN, OH. - The following team name changes are made with a few managerial changes:

1. The Pitcairn Islanders are now the Blacksburg Gobblers (Greg Nolen)
2. The Frisco SkySox are now the Jacksonville Juicers (Shane Bowen)
3. The Carolina Lighthouse are now the Stebbins Indians (John Turnbull)
4. The Cows are now the Hayward Faults (Jeff Thomas)
5. The Brooklyn Bridegrooms are now vacant as well, but we should have a new owner by the end of the weekend.

December 16, 2009
New Manager on board
DAYTON, OH. - Shane Bowen will be taking over the Frisco Sky Sox franchise. He will remain in Olympic Stadium and will rename the team the Jacksonville Juicers. Welcome aboard Shane!

December 14, 2009
1993 Season Wrapup
DAYTON, OH. - Greg Henning, our resident scribe for SPB-5 has provided us yet another tasty nugget to chew on....the End of Season wrap up. Good stuff Greg!

November 29, 2009
1993 Beat writer reports
DAYTON, OH. - Our esteemed beat writer, Mr. Greg Henning has given us two more nuggets to munch on: The 1993 Season wrapup and the 1993 Playoff preview. Thanks Greg!

November 29, 2009
1993 Usage reports
BOWLING GREEN, OH. - As with any season, the use or lose and overusage reports become a staple that is as almost as anticipated as the following year's rookie draft order!

November 29, 2009
1993 Final Stats posted
BOWLING GREEN, OH. - The final stats for the 1993 season are now posted. Congratulations to the Black Swamp Salamanders, Greg Henning’s Baltimore Redbirds, and Rich Applegate’s Brooklyn Bridegrooms, who won division titles in the AL, and to Terry Baxter’s Chicago Zephyrs, who snuck in through the back door to snatch the wild card away from the Lafayette Red Sox. The Salamanders will travel to Brooklyn to face the Bridegrooms, while the Zephyrs will travel to Baltimore. Over in the NL, there was little drama in the East and Central, where Joe Terry’s Birmingham Cloverleafs and Craig Korol’s Kansas Storm. Despite their comparatively mediocre record, the Cloverleafs are a true sleeper, as they boast one of the finest road records in the entire league. The NL West came down to the wire and is still there. John Saunders Kitsilano Hedgehogs won the division outright, and Marc Hollingsworth’s Red Bluff Rough Riders won the wild card.

Incidental, three consecutive games in the Cloverleafs @ SkySox series require comment. The first game was won by the Cloverleafs on a 3-hit shutout by the Leafs’ Ben McDonald for his 18th win. The Sky Sox won 5-0 thanks to a one-hitter by Danny Darwin, his 19th. Game 3 was a NO-HITTER for Allen Watson, who won only his 4th game of the season.

It is my sincere hope that all of the post season series be played H2H. I have some experience with this, so if there is any difficulty in making connections, please consult me in case I have a solution. The monthly awards have been posted to the website.

November 29, 2009
Team change
BOWLING GREEN, OH. - The Carolina Lighthouse franchise has been taken over by John Turnbull. He will be renaming his team to the Stebbins Indians, and will remain in Fenway Park.

November 29, 2009
1994 Strike season player projections
BOWLING GREEN, OH. - As with the 1981 strike-shortened season, the 1994 season presents us with the opportunity to play out a season as if the strike had not happened. While the seasons of strikes, juiced balls, and juiced bodies are a big turn-off for historical season gamers, it was the 1994 season when I discovered Diamond Mind. Then called the computer version of Pursue the Pennant, they offered a projection disk that would allow gamers to play out the remainder of the season. Suffering from serious baseball withdrawal, I was hooked.

We are not using a projection disk for 1994, but we will be playing a 162-game schedule. As with 1981, usage will be based on statistics prorated for the full season. Teams in 1994 played an average of 114 games. The linked usage charts show what the total stats would look like if the players’ playing times were increased in proportion to the increased length of the season from 114 to 162. These pro-rated statistics will be used as the basis for calculating usage. NOT included on these sheets is any calculation for bonus pitcher or batter usage. League managers will be able to apply bonus values to these statistics. I felt it would be less confusing to keep the pro-rated statistics separate from bonus allotments

Any batter with an average of less than .235 may have 100 additional at bats added to his totals. Starting pitchers with an e.r.a. of 4.50 or higher may double their actual starts not to exceed 26 starts. Relief pitchers with an e.r.a. of 4.50 or higher may double their actual relief appearances not to exceed 60 total relief appearances. Pitchers with an e.r.a. of 4.50 or higher who are rated for both starting and relief may double their actual total appearances not to exceed 60, but may not start more than twice their actual games started.

October 4,, 2009
Another New manager on board
BOWLING GREEN, OH. - Let us extend a warm SPB welcome to Jeff Thomas, who will be taking over the New Jersey Cows effective immediately. Many of us know him from other leagues as a responsible, attentive manager.

Joe DeZarlo, current and now outgoing manager of the Cows, has signaled since before the draft that he wanted to give up his Cows after this season, because of his distaste for modern baseball eras. After all, we are apparently entering the steroid era and we probably all have suspects on our teams (like the Salamanders and Brady Anderson). Joe remains very enthusiastic about his other SPB teams in earlier eras, as evidenced by the fact he has flown in from New Jersey for live drafts.

Jeff will be sending out his profile for August, so Joe is off the hook. If you are hosting the Cows (which will probably be renamed after the season), please hold off until you hear from Jeff and do not use Joe’s profile if has already sent it out.

Welcome, Jeff! His email is jst81@sbcglobal.net

September 27, 2009
New manager on board
BOWLING GREEN, OH. - It is my pleasure to announce that Greg Nolen has agreed to assume the helm of the Pacific Islanders for the rest of the season. We have been waiting for Terry Buchanan to return contact, but none of us has heard from him for almost 4 months now. I have known Greg as a league member in several modern-day leagues and have found him to be an engaged and engaging team owner and H2H opponent.

Please send your road profiles vs. the Islanders to Greg at gnhokie@verizon.net. If you are hosting the Islanders this month, you should likewise await his team profile. This is why the league office did not yet send out a profile for them this month. Greg will be changing the team name after the end of the season.

Thank you! And please extend a warm greeting to Greg. Welcome aboard!

June 21, 2009 *Updated*
1993 American & National League Preview
DAYTON, OH. - Thanks to Greg Henning, he has put together his A.L. Predictions and N.L. Predictions for the upcoming 93 campaign. Thanks Greg for all you do!

April 22, 2009
New manager on board
DAYTON, OH. - The vacant Legends franchise has now been filed by SPB stalwart Marc Robinson. He will be renaming the team to the Anaheim Orange Growers, and will stay in Anaheim Stadium. Welcome aboard Marc!

April 22, 2009
Stadium Clarification
DAYTON, OH. - Jeff Snell, new manager of the Rivers, is changing his stadium from Fulton County Stadium to Joe Robbie Stadium. The available stadii are now Coors Field and Fulton County Stadium.

March 28, 2009
Draft date and protected roster numbers
BOWLING GREEN, OH. - The draft for SPB V will be held April 25. After taking a poll of the league, this was the day the fewest people would NOT be able to attend and there were a couple managers for whom this date was the ONLY one which could work. My apologies to those managers for whom this date is more difficult or impossible. My aim was to accommodate the largest possible number of managers, and the last Saturday of April does this. As always, there will be plenty of time to ask for lists and instructions to be sent. I will call for protected rosters to be due no later than April 20, and will send out a reminder closer to that particular deadline. The season will start, as always, June 1.

The following 8 teams protect 18 players:

Baltimore, Black Swamp, Carolina, Cedar Rapids, Frisco, Gray’s Harbor, Kitsilano, and Quigley

The following 10 teams protect 19 players each:

Michigan and Indianapolis (the two expansion teams), Brooklyn, Canton, Chicago, Cleveland, Frankfort, Lafayette, Niskayuna, and Pitcairn

The following 8 teams protect 20 players:

Atlantic City, Birmingham, Dexter, East Kenosha, Kansas, New Jersey, Pandora, and Red Bluff

All teams also have the option to protect one uncarded player in addition to their normal protected players list.

February 12, 2009
Team Name Change
DAYTON, OH. - Tom Kackley has changed the name of his Beach City Dukes to the Ohio-based Canton Moondogs.

January 30, 2009
Skysox win 92 World Series in 5
BOWLING GREEN, OH - Congrats to Greg Grover and his Skysox, who took the 92 series in five games over John Dewan's Q's. Boxscores are posted on the left, with writeups coming shortly as I receive them. Trading is now officially open for the 1993 season.

January 22, 2009
1992 All-Star winners announced
FRANKFORT, IN - Thanks to everyone for voting this year. Now is the time to announce our official All Star teams from the 1992 season.

NATIONAL LEAGUE ALL STARS
C Darren Daulton, Cleveland Buckeyes
1B Mark McGuire, Frisco Sky Sox
2B Ryne Sandberg, Wabash Rivers
3B Edgar Martinez, Frisco Sky Sox
SS Ozzie Smith, Kitsilano Hedgehogs
LF Shane Mack, Atlantic City Vultures
CF Andy Van Slyke, Wabash Rivers
RF Rob Deer, Kansas Storm
SP Jamie Navarro, Cedar Rapids Cyclones
RP Tom Henke, Cedar Rapids Cyclones

AMERICAN LEAGUE ALL STARS 1992
C Brian Harper, Quigley Q's
1B Frank Thomas, Carolina Lighthouse
2B Tony Phillips, Baltimore Redbirds
3B Robin Ventura, Pitcairn Islanders
SS Barry Larkin, Carolina Lighthouse
LF Juan Gonzalez, Carolina Lighthouse
CF Barry Bonds, Baltimore Redbirds
RF John Kruk, Beach City Dukes
SP Greg Maddux, Lafayette Red Sox
RP Dennis Eckersley, Black Swamp Salamanders

Be sure to check out the Voting Booth off the main SPB webpage to see the total votes cast for each team and position. See where your players finsihed in the voting. There were a few close races in each league. Enjoy.

January 22, 2009
1992 Award winners announced
FRANKFORT, IN - It is my privilege to announce the Award Winning players of the 1992 season, and here we go:

AMERICAN LEAGUE MVP: FRANK THOMAS, 1B Carolina Lighthouse
NATIONAL LEAGUE MVP: ANDY VAN SLYKE, CF Wabash Rivers

CY YOUNG AWARD (AL): GREG MADDOX, Lafayette Red Sox
CY YOUNG AWARD (NL): JAMIE NAVARRO, Cedar Rapids Cyclones

FIREMAN OF YEAR (AL): DENNIS ECKERSLEY, Black Swamp Salamanders
FIREMAN OF YEAR (NL): TOM HENKE, Cedar Rapid Cyclones

ROOKIE HITTER OF YEAR (AL): PAT LISTACH, SS Beach City Dukes
ROOKIE HITTER OF YEAR (NL): ERIC KARROS, 1B East Kenosha Leopards

ROOKIE PITCHER OF YEAR (AL): JOHN DOHERTY, SP Chicago Zephyrs
ROOKIE PITCHER OF YEAR (NL): STEVE FOSTER, RP Cedar Rapids Cyclones

A.L. MANAGER OF YEAR: GREG HENNING, Baltimore Redbirds
N.L. MANAGER OF YEAR: GREG GROVER, Frisco Sky Sox

There you have it all our Award winners for 1992. Special congrats goes to the managers. Greg must be the magic name this year! Way to go guys!

For a complete list of all voting for each award, be sure to see the comprehensive list on the SPB main webpage. Just log into the Voting Booth and see EVERY vote that was cast for these prestigious trophies. :)

January 16, 2009
Another new manager in the fold
FRANKFORT, IN - I find this to be the right time to announce that Joe Terry will be returning to SPB after a year off as manager of the SPB V Phoenix Phantoms. Welcome back Joe. John T. will repost Joe's information to the managers page soon. Thanks goes to Mike See as he stepped in and did a fine job as interim manager with this team last year.

January 5, 2009
New manager in the fold
FRANKFORT, IN - All SPB V Managers, At the end of the 1992 season, both Bill Lanke & Mike See resigned from SPB V, leaving the Wabash Rivers and Phoenix Phantoms as available teams for the coming 1993 year. My thanks goes out to Bill and Mike for their time spent in SPB V. They both will remain in other SPB Leagues.

I am happy to announce that we have found a new manager to take over the Wabash franchise in plenty of time to participate in all preparation for the '93 year. Jeff Snell, of Washington state will be taking over the Rivers team. He has decided to rename the team as the Grays Harbor Rivers and will be leaving Atlanta's County Stadium as well. His new home park is Cincinnati's Riverfront Stadium. Jeff is retired from the education field, and is looking forward to a successful run as an SPB manager. Welcome aboard Jeff! If you would like to contact him and welcome him to SPB; he can be reached at jeff_snell@comcast.net. John Turnbull will soon be posting Jeff's info to the managers page. In the meantime, I am still working on finding one more manager to take over the Phoenix reigns.

January 5, 2009
1993 Draft order ruling
BOWLING GREEN, OH - In calculating the draft order for 1993, I noticed that the one perma-penalty team, the Pandora Boxers, was also far and away the worst team in the 1992 season. On close inspection, it became clear that their overusage was inevitable given their team’s upper limitations in at bats and pitching. I could not find a way to forgive enough penalty wins to get them under 20, in order to avoid a permanent penalty. They are also an aging team. Thus, I also think it would be damaging to the team’s future to deny them a first round pick. They do suffer the perma-penalty in all rounds from the 3rd round, however. In Phase II they will also be allowed to pick at #7. This is an extraordinary clemency, but one undertaken, as stated, because of the sorry state of a team that clearly achieved little benefit from the overusage.

With a 3-game playoff tacked on in the AL East and several teams suffering minor penalties, I also figured that the draft order would be most accurate if it were calculated on winning percentage rather than absolute wins. The constitution in fact does not firmly specify whether winning percentage or wins should be used. As a consequence, only two teams (Carolina and Wabash) have tied records. As Carolina dropped 3 of 4 versus Wabash in head-to-head, they get the privilege of picking first.

As a consequence of the above calculations, the heavily-penalized Boxers select in the #7 position.

If you have any questions or concerns about my decisions, please let me know ASAP so that I can send John any changes that need to be made in the posted order.

The expansion teams pick after the last under-.500 team, with order reversed from the expansion draft. Thus, Indianapolis picks first, after .500 Lafayette (I thought it also best to divide the pool in half, with 12 teams picking before the expansion teams and 12 teams picking after.

The entire draft order will be posted shortly.

January 2, 2009
1992 World Series matchups set
DAYTON, OH - Congratulations to John Dewan’s Quigley Q's and Greg Grover’s Frisco SkySox for advancing to the World Series. It is Greg’s first trip. Pursuant to my email about draft order, this leaves the Cyclones picking #3 in Round 2 and the Redbirds #4. Since the NL champions had home field advantage in 1991, the Qs start out at home in 1992. Good luck to both combatants!
.

January 2, 2009
1992 End of Season reports
DAYTON, OH - As is customary with each SPB league, we present to you the 1992 Use or Lose and overusage report for the past season.

December 16, 2008
1993-1999 Usage reports
DAYTON, OH - Thanks to SPB-5 beat writer Greg Henning, he has published a new set of usage reports that you can use to map the career usage of all your players. This current report also includes the expansion teams from the most recent draft. Thanks Greg!

December 16, 2008
1993 Expansion draft results
BOWLING GREEN, OH - Last Wednesday, Dec. 10, the SPB V 1993 Expansion draft was held. The ground rules were that players had to have played on the 1993 Marlins or Rockies (if they played with either team only AFTER 1993, their inaugural year, it did not count). Each team took 35 players, and rookies were eligible. Since there were a few other players who played for these teams, not every player was selected. In fact, Nigel Wilson, the first pick of the Marlins in real life, was not picked at all (for obvious reasons).

Both teams will participate fully in the drafting process, and will be seeded after the teams with records worse than .500, except in Rounds 2 and 3 of the Phase I draft, where they will pick after the LCS teams (in Round 2), and will be randomly seeded in Round 3.

The LCS playoffs are still in progress. An official 1993 disk will be released after the 1992 post-season has been brought to a close.

In the player draft, Vin Onstott and his Michigan Red Bulls won the toss to draft first. As a consequence, Rick Ryan’s Indianapolis Arrows had first choice of available stadiums and went with Riverfront. Vin took the Astrodome.

Here are the complete results, with real life and SPB team:

November 30, 2008
September stats and power rankings posted
DAYTON, OH - The stats and power rankings for the final month of the 1992 season is now posted. Congratulations to John Dewan and his Qs, who swept a best-of-three playoff to solidify the Salamanders’ place as a perpetual also-ran (the teams finished the season 7-7 against one another). Dave Stewart and Ron Darling both turned in masterful pitching performances, but the Salamanders squandered too many opportunities, and Jose DeLeon and Jose RIjo were unstoppable. Bobby Bonilla drove in all three of the Qs runs in the 1st game, including a 2-run home run. Game 2 was scoreless until the 7th.

So, I have attached the database with the final regular season stats and LCS playoff matchups. The Western Division teams host this year, as the Eastern Division teams hosted last year.

Good luck to the Qs and Redbirds, and the SkySox and Cyclones in the LCS.

October 29, 2008
1992 Season update by Greg Henning
DAYTON, OH - Thanks goes out to SPB-5 beat writer Greg Henning in capsulizing the 1992 season to date. Thanks Greg!

September 4, 2008
1992 Halftime report
DAYTON, OH - Greg Henning has put together a great article handicapping the first half of the 1992 season. Great work as always Greg!

May 30, 2008
Team city name change
BOWLING GREEN, OH - The Philadelphia Phantoms, fed up with all the good will, have “deserted” the City of Brotherly Love for Phoenix, where they will be a ghost of their former selves..

May 18, 20088
Team Previews beginning from SPB-5 Beat writer
DAYTON, OH - SPB-5 beat writer Greg Henning has released three of his first four installment for 1992 season, with the 1992 Preview.

May 15, 2008
New manager in the fold
DAYTON, OH - In conjunction with Co-Commish Chris Williams it is my pleasure to announce that we have a new manager for the coming 1992 season. Tom Kackley will step in as new manager for the old Lake Superior Whitecaps, replacing former manager Greg Stillwagon who has left the league. Tom is renaming the team as the Beach City Dukes and switching ballparks too. Tom is currently a manager in SPB NOW. He is abandoning Cincinnati's Riverfront Stadium and will play his home games in Milwaukee's County Stadium. So the current available parks for SPB V become Cincinnati (Riverfront Stadium) and Houston's Astrodome. Please welcome Tom to SPB V!

May 11, 2008
New SPB-5 President named
DAYTON, OH - Please welcome Marc Hollingsworth as he has accepted the Presidency of SPB-5. As a league officer, he will be included in all decisions made on behalf of the league. The website has been updated accordingly.

April 20, 2008
Expansion update
BOWLING GREEN, OH - As a reminder, we have 2 expansion managers lined up for 1993. Expansion WILL be taking place. This means, in accordance with established SPB practice, than any player who played for the Rockies or Marlins in real life during the 1993 season is subject to drafting by the expansion teams, which means that if you draft them, it is with a view ONLY to their 1992 performance. Because of the big trade between the Marlins and Padres that season (Sheffield, Hoffman), there are some big names who are taken off the table (though, of course, Hoffman is a rookie in 1993).

April 17, 2008 ...Updated
Protected list numbers
DAYTON, OH - With the draft coming up a week from today, beginning at 11am Eastern Daylight Time, it is time to call for your Phase II protected lists.

The following 6 teams protect 20 players each: Cedar Rapids Cyclones, Rockbridge Rebels (now Philadelphia Phantoms), Lake Superior Whitecaps, Atlantic City Vultures, Pandora Boxers, and Cleveland Buckeyes.

The following 6 teams protect 18 players each: Quigley Qs, Brooklyn Bridegrooms, Baltimore Redbirds, Black Swamp Salamanders, Red Bluff Rough Riders, and Kitsilano Hedgehogs.

The remaining 12 teams protect 19 players each.

Please send in your lists as soon as possible, and by Tuesday night at the latest. After the disk with Phase II protecteds is released, the only trades that may take place until the end of the draft are trades involving draft picks and/or equal numbers of players on both sides of the coin. Such trades may be made but will not be announced until between Phases I and II. Players exposed in Phase II may not be traded until after the conclusion of the Phase II draft.

Of course, trading remains free and open until Tuesday night when the protected lists are due.

April 7, 2008
1992 Mock Draft
DAYTON, OH - SPB-5 beat writer Greg Henning has put together his Mel Kiper-ish mock draft for the 1992 season. Good stuff Greg!

March 15, 2008
1992 Draft date set
BOWLING GREEN, OH - After much consultation, it has been determined that the draft will take place on April 19, beginning at 11:00am EDT. The Phase I portion of the draft, and as much as possible of Phase II will take place in the draft room. This was by far the date most favored by the membership. There were a couple people who indicated they could not attend on this date, but there was a slightly larger number who could ONLY attend on this date, so it wound up being a difficult, yet clear decision.

I will be running things from the auditorium. It is not clear at this point whether I will be able to host visitors at my home in NW Ohio. It comes at a difficult time in the semester, with only two weeks remaining after that weekend. Plus, I am involved in rehearsals for a musical performance the next day.