First, each manager is responsible for purchasing their own 2003 season disk through DMB. I understand that the disk is scheduled to be released on Monday 12/9/03, so if you have not ordered your disk, you may want to do so in the very near future. On March 1, 2004, I will be sending a list of our managers names to DMB in order to confirm that each of you is a registered owner of the season disk. If you have not purchased a registered copy of the season disk by that time, you will be dropped from the league. Sorry to be so harsh, but we must protect copyrights and prevent software piracy.

Next, we all have been following the off-season very carefully, myself, as never before. Of course this is all done with an eye as to which players will be "rookie" in the 2005 rookie draft and which players we will need to protect at the cost of a draft choice or release from the league. I have been keeping an unofficial count of who is who in our off season. John, Mike, Richard, BJ, or anyone, please feel free to update this list as needed.

As we will soon begin to make two (2) player selections with each draft choice, now is a great time to famialairize yourself with the SPB playing limitations. For those managers that are new to SPB, we have several restrcitions on player use that are designed to insure that a realistic mix of players are used throughout the season. In SPB, the subs are just as valuable as the super stars! All of the details are in the League Constitution, but here are some of the major principles of SPB player limits.

11-1. All batters with batting averages of .250 or HIGHER are limited to their ACTUAL
number of at bats. (NOTE: SPB uses at bats as a guide, NOT plate appearances).

11-5. Batters with a batting average of less than .235 AND fewer than 400 at
bats may have up to 50 additional at bats without penalty. All other batters
are limited to their actual number of real-life at bats.

12-1. All pitchers with an ERA of 4.49 or LESS are limited to their exact number of real
life starts and relief appearances PLUS 10%. However, NO starting pitcher using the 10%
bonus may start in more than 35 games. Starting pitchers with games started of 35 or more
are limited to their actual number of starts.

12-2. All rated relief pitchers with an ERA of 4.49 or LESS are limited to their exact
number of total real life appearances plus 10%. However, relief pitchers making 60 or more
relief appearances are limited to their actual number of relief appearances.

12-6. Pitchers with an ERA of 4.50 or higher making fewer than 24 real starts may double
their actual number of starts not to exceed 24 total starts. Pitchers with an ERA of 4.50
or higher making more than 24 real starts are limited to their actual number of starts.

12-7. Pitchers with an ERA of 4.50 or higher, and who have fewer than 60 real relief
appearances, may double their actual number of relief appearances up to a maximum of 60.
Pitchers with 60 or more real relief appearances will be limited to their actual number of
relief appearances

11-4. Use or lose: All batters must use at least 50% of their real-life at bats for that
particular season or risk being lost to the upcoming rookie draft. The only exception will
be for rookie batters with 50 at-bats or fewer.

12-5. Use or lose: All pitchers must make at least 50% of their real life appearances for
that particular season or risk losing him to the upcoming rookie draft. The only exception
will be for rookie pitchers with 6 or fewer appearances.

13-5. Players with 400 or more at bats will NOT be rated at any position for
which they played 10 or fewer games. This may entail the removal by the
league office of ratings assigned by Diamond Mind. Players who were primarily
used as designated hitters are not affected by this rule.