January 22, 2010
Ballpark change   
DAYTON, OH. - The Colgate Creek Blue Crabs have vacated Coors Field and have moved into pitcher-friendly PETCO Park.  Coors Field and Tropicana Field are available.   

January 2, 2010
Extra players added to rookie draft pool    
DAYTON, OH. - Two teams have decided to cut ties with carded players, thus adding them to the rookie draft pool.  Most, if not all of them are FA quality players who probably wont get drafted in the first 8 rounds.  The players are: Doug Mientkiewicz, Branson Backe, Freddy Dolsi, Enrique Gonzalez, Luis Mendoza, Jose Ascanio, Bryan Bullington, Eulogio de la Cruz, Chris Duffy, Greg Golson, Logan Kensing, Tony Pena (ss), Jason Schmidt

December 19, 2009
2009 Phase 2 Protected player numbers    
DAYTON, OH. - Below are the numbers that each team will be allowed to keep for the Phase 2 draft:

18 Players
Canton Moondogs
Niskayuna Warriors
Dayton Dynamo
Dodge City Marshalls
Rip City Highlanders
Richmond Rebels

19 Players
Jotenheim Storm Giants
Carolina Sandlappers
Ozark Fiddlers
Thunder Bay Damage
Needham Rockets
Bowling Green Buskers
Manhattan Titans
Worcester Grays
Oakwood Owls
Scio Farmers
Virginia Terriers
Waldo Peppers
Kansas City T-Bones
Midnight Rambler
Bay Area Barking Seals
Frankfort Frogs


20 Players
Simi Hillbillies
Houston Oil Barons
Colgate Creek Blue Crabs
Jersey Jukes
Leeds Zeppelins
Michigan Tigers
 

December 19, 2009
2009 Player disk now created    
DAYTON, OH. - After many hours of tweaking, the player disk is complete.  In the links above you will find updated links for team rosters, 09 eligible rookies, ballpark ratings, and uncarded players that you will need to pare down to three for the upcoming season.  Not included in the links are the 2009 position removals, which lists those players who had >=400 at bats and <= 10 games played at a position.  If they had <10g played at an OF position and they had more than 10g at another OF position, I did not remove the lesser rating since you are allowed to use OFers at any OF position.  Hideki Matsui did not have any rating as he was a full-time DH. Per the constitution he was given last years' OF ratings and also a Pr100 rating at 1b.  David Ortiz and Pat Burrell's ratings were not deleted or changed because they were primarily DH's during the season.  Ballpark names were also updated on the disk, the managers listing and on the manager's bio pages.  Everyone must purchase the season disk in order to play in 2010.  Addendum:  Travis Hafner will also be rated Pr100 at 1B.  

December 15, 2009
New manager on board    
DAYTON, OH. - It is my pleasure to announce that Rob Capizzano will be taking over the reigns of the Lafayette River Pilots franchise.  He's renaming the team to the Thunder Bay Damage, and will remain in Ameriquest Field.  Rob will be moving to the Schilling-NY Metro division by virtue of his location, and Tom Kackley will be moving once again to the Falduto-Wabash Division alongside his fellow Buckeyes and Hoosiers!  Welcome aboard Rob!  

November 29, 2009
Teams swap divisions    
DAYTON, OH. - With some new managers taking over since the current divisional geographic setup, I am making a small tweak with the approval of the two managers involved. Tom Kackley’s Canton Moondogs will be moving to the Schilling-Great Lakes/NE division, and Greg Henning’s Richmond Rebels will be moving into the Falduto-Frontier Division. Thank you both for accommodating this move 

November 15, 2009
Stadium change    
DAYTON, OH. - The Kansas City T-Bones have taken up stakes from PETCO Park for the pitcher-friendly Comerica Park.  PETCO and Tropicana Field are the two available stadii.  

October 12, 2009
Team name change    
DAYTON, OH. - Jim Wheeler has decided to change the name of his Pocono Pumas to the Manhattan Titans.  He also has some trade bait posted on the site as well.  

October 4, 2009
2008 Player Losses    
DAYTON, OH. - Now that the season is over, the database has been updated to reflect rosters based on the player losses from this past season.  The rosters are still from the 08 season disk.  The 09 season disk will be out in December.  

September 27, 2009
Dayton Dynamo capture 2008 crown!
DAYTON, OH. - The Dayton Dynamo outlasted the pesky Richmond Rebels in 6 games to capture their first SPB-Now championship.  Mike Napoli was named series MVP, as he smacked 3 homers and 12RBI, including a grand slam in the clinching game.  Congratulations to Greg Henning for a great battle. This officially ends the 2008 season.  The trading lamp is now lit.

August 21, 2009
Regular season complete...playoff pairings set
DAYTON, OH. - Congratulations to the following playoff teams. The pairings will be as follows:

Falduto League:
Canton Moondogs, Tom Kackley (107-55, Frontier division winner) vs. Rip City Highlanders, Marc Hollingsworth (97-65, Wild Card winner). Moondogs will have home field advantage
Dodge City Marshalls, Craig Korol (97-65, Plains Division winner) vs. Dayton Dynamo, John Turnbull (97-65 Wabash Division winner). Marshalls will have HFA due to better head to head record.

Schilling League:
Niskayuna Warriors, Don Rahn (106-56, NY Metro division winner) vs. Carolina Sandlappers, Don Swearingen (92-70, Wild card winner). Warriors will have HFA
Richmond Rebels, Greg Henning (96-66, GrtLks-NE Division winner) vs. Jottenheim Storm Giants, Brian Toso (95-67, Mid-Atlantic division winner). Rebels will have HFA due to better overall record.

July 22, 2009
August stats posted
DAYTON, OH. - The stats and power rankings for August have been posted.  A few divisions are still up for grabs.  Please remember to watch your usage as we enter the final month.  Rosters for September can now be expanded to 40 players.   

May 22, 2009
Player overusage losses
DAYTON, OH. - As we get closer to the end of the season, a few clubs have overused players.  These players have been released from their clubs and are ineligible to be picked up as free agents.  They will enter the rookie draft pool for next season.  **Updated 22 July**

Jared Burton-Owls
Jorge Posada-Storm Giants
Danny Richar-Frogs
Scott Elarton-Tigers
Raul Chavez-Blue Crabs
Marcus Thames- Dan Giese-Storm Giants

January 30, 2009
Ballpark Change
DAYTON, OH. - Marc Hollingsworth and the Rip City Highlanders have vacated the auspices of Comerica Park and have moved into Citizen's Bank Ballpark.  This leaves Comerica Park and Tropicana Field as the two available stadiums.

January 23, 2009
Depth Charts published
DAYTON, OH. - A big thanks goes out to Greg Henning, who compiled team rosters and put them on a WORD document.  You can access through Google Docs the SCHILLING LEAGUE depth charts and the FALDUTO LEAGUE depth charts. Thanks Greg!

January 22, 2009
Drafts over. Free Agency period begins
DAYTON, OH. - Thank you for a smooth running draft period.  All available free agents are located under Available FA's in the Trade Central section.  Please  follow rule 12.E. in the constitution for instructions on how free agency is run.  Requests are due to me by January 29th. After the first wave of players have been distributed, it will be on a first come-first served basis after that.  

December 15, 2008
Defensive Deletions for 2008 season disk
DAYTON, OH. - As per current SPB-Now rules, all players with less than or equal to 10 games played at a position with 400 or more at bats will have those ratings deleted at the positions in which they played less than or equal to 10 games in. Click HERE to view the list of players whose positions were deleted for the 2008 season disk. 

December 14, 2008
Uncarded player lists
DAYTON, OH. - A file has been created that lists the players that each team has the opportunity to protect as an uncarded player. Those players without the team name next to them are carry-overs from the current list and are also eligible to be protected.  Bottom line is everyone listed on the list associated on your team can be protected/uncarded.  I will call for everyone's uncarded list at a later date.  Please remember the new rule change in which only three (3) players can be uncarded each season. Click HERE to see the list of players for all teams. 

October 16, 2008 **Updated**
2008 Stats created
DAYTON, OH. - Thanks to Greg Henning, he has put together the individual player stats sorted by team for both HITTING and PITCHING.  These sheets will not be updated as trades happen.  If Greg updates the sheets, I will post them.  Thanks Greg!

October 16,  2008
2008 Phase 2 protected player numbers allowed
DAYTON, OH. - Below are the numbers of players you will be allowed to protect for phase two for the upcoming draft.  You do not need to send me your lists now, but this will help you manage your roster when it comes to making trades. 

18 Players Protected
Needham Rockets 109
Carolina Sandlappers 106
Jottenheim Storm Giants 104
Midnight Rambler 100
Dodge City Marshalls 98
Leeds Zeppelins 91

19 Players Protected
Pocono Pumas 90
Scio Farmers 90
Rip City Highlanders 89
Bowling Green Buskers 88
Dayton Dynamo 87
Richmond Rebels 86
Beach City Dukes 84
Virginia Terriers 84
Frankfort Frogs 81
Kansas City T-Bones 80
Pacific Powerhouse 77
Colgate Creek Blue Crabs75
Waldo Peppers 74
Oakwood Owls 73
Lafayette River Pilots 70
Houston Oil Barons 69

20 Players Protected
Niskayuna Warriors 68
Jersey Jukes 66
Bay Area Barking Seals 63
Michigan Tigers 56
Worcester Grays 55
Ozark Fiddlers 55

October 16, 2008
Team Relocation
DAYTON, OH. - From The new owner of the Batkats:  The Kentucky Batkats thank all their fans for years of support. However, a new stadium awaits. The city of Leeds, New York has voted to provide public funding for a ballpark. Therefore, the Batkats bid farewell to the Bluegrass state and welcome the Empire State. They will henceforth be known as the the Leeds Zeppelins.  Thank you!

Shane Bowen
Chairman/CEO/General Manager
Leeds Zeppelins

October 13, 2008 **Updated**
2008 Managerial Changes
DAYTON, OH. - Now that the 2007 season is in the books, I would like to announce a new manager who joins the SPB ranks.  Nite Mahan, will be taking over the old Asgard Heroes franchise, and will be renaming it the Ozark Fiddlers.  Nite is an experienced gamer, and I am excited to have him join our league.  Please welcome him if you get the chance.  He will also be changing parks, moving into the Metrodome. 

Brian Toso, the former Asgard Heroes manager will be staying with SPB. He will be taking the reigns of the Atlanta Colt45 franchise, whose former manager has resigned from SPB.  Brian has renamed the team the Jotenheim Storm Giants. 

Due to time and job constraints, Mike See has relinquished control of the South Fork Survivors franchise.  A manager hunt is underway.  I would like to thank Mike for running the franchise for the rest of the 2007 season.  Taking over the helm for Mike will be veteran SPB manager Vin Onstott, who will be renaming his team the Oakwood Owls. 

October 7, 2008
Carolina Sandlappers 2007 SPB-Now Champions!
DAYTON, OH. - The 2007 World Series was decided in a thrilling 7-game series, with Don Swearingen's Carolina Sandlappers outlasting Craig Korol's Dodge City Marshalls.  The first three games of the series went extra innings, taxing both bullpens greatly.  The entire series boxscores and writeups can be found in the playoff section in the menu on the left.  Congratulations once again to Don, and to Craig for being classy in defeat.   

October 2, 2008
2007 World Series matchup set
DAYTON, OH. - The 2007 World Series will be underway shortly.  Winning the Falduto League pennant was Craig Korol and his Dodge City Marshalls.  Craig bested the Rip City Highlanders and Marc Hollingsworth 4 games to 2.  In the Schilling League, the crow goes to Don Swearingen and the Carolina Sandlappers, who beat Martin Speilmann's Needham Rockets 4 games to 1.  Good luck to both in the series.  Could Don bring a second championship to the Swearingen family in 2008?  

August 31, 2008
2007 BASE Reports
DAYTON, OH. - Thanks to the great BASE program, that was created to give us much more statistics than the DMB game can provide, here is the 2007 Base Reports for the end of the 2007 campaign.  Mind you, this only scratches the surface of what this program can do.  

August 25, 2008
Player losses announced
DAYTON, OH. - The season-ending player losses are now out on the following file.  These players are ineligible to be traded, and will be entered into the 2008 rookie draft if they are carded.  

August 25, 2008
Final Stats now posted
DAYTON, OH. - The stats and power rankings for the end of the 2007 campaign are now posted.   Congratulations goes out to the following teams and managers for securing playoff spots with the following matchups:

Falduto League: Chris Williams and the Bowling Green Buskers won the Wabash division in the closest race over my Dayton Dynamo by a single game. A face to face series was played during the latest SPB-4 draft heightening the excitement of the race. The Buskers will face the Frontier Division winning Rip City Highlanders, with Marc Hollingsworth at the helm in the division series. The other match up in the Falduto League division series will pit the Plains division winner Dodge City Marshalls, managed by Craig Korol. He had the best record in the Falduto league, and will face Shane Bowen and his Kentucky Batkats, who clinched the wild-card spot. 

Schilling League: This league should have the advantage in the World Series, with 3 of the 4 playoff teams winning over 100 games. The Midnight Rambler, guided by Jim Jansen, who won the NY Metro Division, will face Don Swearingen and his Carolina Sandlappers, who won the Mid-Atlantic division. Martin Spielman and the Needham Rockets won the most number of games in 2007 with 109 victories, easily winning the GreatLakes-NewEngland division. They will face Peter Brooks and the Scio Farmers. The Farmers won a head-to-head tie breaker with the Pocono Pumas in representing the Wild card spot with the resignation of Richard Pearson and the Atlanta Colt45's. 

Each of the Division series games will be a best-of-five game series. 

Good luck to all playoff participants. Games will be loaded onto the webpage as they are received. 

May 23, 2008
Another New manager mid-season
DAYTON, OH. - It is my duty to announce that Joe Hamrahi has resigned from SPB-Now due to expanding commitments to his Baseball Digest Daily website.  I would like to thank Joe for his service, and is welcomed back anytime.  Stepping right in his place is trader-extraordinaire  Mike See.  Mike's email is ebetts1957@yahoo.com  Welcome aboard Mike!

January 15, 2008
Drafts complete, Free Agent claims begin
DAYTON, OH. - The Phase 1 and 2 drafts are now completed.  Updated rosters and free agents can be found on the left.  There will be a 1 week period for free agent claims.  Complete FA rules can be found in section 12E. of the constitution.  Deadline for submitting Free Agents will be 9PM January 22.   

December 15, 2007
Phase 2 Protected player numbers
DAYTON, OH. - Below is a list of how many players each club can protect prior to the Phase 2 draft.  

18 players protected:
Rip City Highlanders, South Fork Survivors, Bowling Green Buskers,
Frankfort Frogs, Troy Haymakers, Needham Rockets

19 Players protected:
Colgate Creek Cannons, Worcester Grays, Houston Oil Barons,
Scio Farmers, Niskayuna Warriors, Pocono Pumas, Dodge City Marshalls, Richmond Rebels, Asgard Heroes, Pacific Powerhouse,
Lafayette River Pilots, Kentucky Batkats, Midnight Rambler, Kansas City T-Bones, Carolina Sandlappers, Virginia Terriers

20 players protected:
Dayton Dynamo, Atlanta Colt45's, Bay Area Barking Seals, Waldo Peppers, Jersey Jukes, Michigan Tigers
 

December 15, 2007
Call for Unrostered players
DAYTON, OH. - Now that the 2007 season disk is in your hands, you are eligible to farm up to 5 players from your 2006 roster that did not receive player cards for the 2007 disk. You may also carry over any players from your current uncarded roster that did not receive a card in 2007 as well.

A complete list of who is on your uncarded roster can be found HERE, and also on the website under UNCARDED ROSTERS. Those players bolded in yellow are players that received cards and have been placed on your 2007 roster. 

Only players that are not on your 2007 roster that were on your roster at the end of this past season are eligible except for those that you lost to usage penalties. 

I will set a December 31st deadline at 11:59PM, so basically by the end of the year to have your submissions into me. I will not accept submissions after that date. Those players who are not on your 2007 roster that were on your 2006 roster and that do not get placed on your uncarded roster will be lost from your team and will be returned to the rookie draft if they surface again. 

This is not mandatory. If you do not wish to place anyone on your uncarded roster, you do not have to.

December 8, 2007
Ballpark Shuffle synopsis
DAYTON, OH. - The following stadium movements have been accepted in the past few days:

Team                        Old Stadium           New Stadium
Kentucky Batkats       Shea Stadium          McAfee Coliseum
Jersey Jukes              Chase Field             Shea Stadium
Carolina Sandlappers  Yankee Stadium      Chase Field
Troy Haymakers          Minute Maid Park    Yankee Stadium
Troy Haymakers          Yankee Stadium      Minute Maid Park
Midnight Rambler        Tropicana Field        Yankee Stadium

Available Parks:  Tropicana Field, Metrodome

November 24, 2007
Draft date set 
DAYTON, OH. - The draft date for the 2007 rookie draft will be held Saturday January 12th at 11:00AM Eastern time.  I will be hosting the draft here in Dayton Ohio.  All are welcomed to attend.   

November 24, 2007
Plains Division overview 
DAYTON, OH. - New SPB Manager Kevin Nichols has written a short synopsis of the Plains Division.  Anyone is more than welcome to contribute articles to the webpage for submission.  Thanks Kevin! 

October 12, 2007
Divisional Realignment complete 
DAYTON, OH. - In order to make room for the wild-card teams, and to create better geographical rivalries, new divisions and names have been created.  The two leagues, the Falduto and  Schilling Leagues honor two of our own past managers who are no longer with us.  

October 7, 2007
Voting booth results posted 
DAYTON, OH. - The results from the 2006 season are now posted in the Voting Booth section of the website.  There were very close races overall. Thank you to everyone who voted.   

September 28, 2007
Carolina changes nickname 
DAYTON, OH. - The Carolina Crush, skippered by Don Swearingen has decided on a new marketing strategy, and will now be called the Carolina Sandlappers.   

September 28, 2007
SPB-Now adds wild-card teams and new structure 
DAYTON, OH. - In order to get more competition into the league and to reward winning even further, the rules committee has decided to introduce a 2-league, 3-division per league structure with 1 wild-card team per league. This means 8 teams will make the post-season per year as opposed to 4. We had 3 teams this year with 90+ wins…..2 of them with over 100 that did not make the playoffs. 

Complete playoff rules and the like will be detailed shortly. In short, Division winners and teams with better records will have home field advantage over wild card teams. The league divisions will be a 5/5/4 team structure with 1 wildcard per league. I am going to most likely be aligning the divisions geographically to retain rivalries amongst the locals. 

Since each league doesn’t necessarily have its own identity since we will not be using the DH, I would also like to name the two leagues the Falduto League, and the Schilling league in honor of our first two SPB managers who have since passed. Division names will more than likely be geographic in nature. 

September 27, 2007
Colt45's changing cities 
DAYTON, OH. - Richard Pearson and his Colt45's has terminated his lease with the state of Texas and has now moves his posse to Atlanta.   

September 25, 2007
Yet Another team name change 
DAYTON, OH. - Scott Felt and his Colorado Grizzlies have pulled stakes from the front range, and will now be called the Houston Oil Barons. 

September 25, 2007
Free Agency rule now in effect 
DAYTON, OH. - The SPB-Now Rules committee has convened and has adopted a free agency system starting next season.  Its main purposes were to shorten a very long Phase 1 draft, and afford teams the chance to acquire players during the season who may need more at bats or appearances.  The Constitution has been updated to reflect this change.

September 21, 2007
Player losses due to over and under usage 
DAYTON, OH. - As is a yearly custom, I am announcing the player losses for this year.  Please consult the constitution for the player usage rules.  Even I lost a good player in Chris Duncan this season.  Three teams were given pardons because they took over clubs, and it is a long-standing rule not to penalize new managers coming into the league.   

September 20, 2007
Another team name change 
DAYTON, OH. - Marc Robinson, of the formerly Latrobe 33's has moved his club west, and will now be known as the Bay Area Barking Seals.   

September 20, 2007
Team Name changed 
DAYTON, OH. - I have received this communiqué from the offices of Kevin Nichols:  

Flyers EOS Press Release
Team Name Change
The Flyers organization will be relocating for the third time in three years. Their new home will be in Lexington, Kentucky and their team will be known as the “Kentucky Batkats”.
  

September 20, 2007
Ballpark Changes announced 
DAYTON, OH. - Two managers have announced ballpark changes for the 2007 season. Jim Jansen will move out of PETCO Park, and into Tropicana Field.  Mike Boling will move out of McAfee Coliseum and into PETCO Park.  This leaves the Metrodome and McAfee Stadium (Oak) available.

September 20, 2007
Two Manager changes for 2007 season 
DAYTON, OH. - I am pleased to announce our two newest managers to join the ranks of SPB-Now:

Taking over for Steve Parsons and the Zeeland Zombies will be Jim Jansen. He has decided to name his team the Midnight Rambler. Jim is also an SPB-5 manager. 

Taking over for Rick Ryan and the Sparkplugs will be Brian Toso. He will name his team the Asgard Heroes. I know Brian from another current league I am in, and am glad he is on board. 

September 20, 2007
2006 Champion: Rip City Highlanders 
DAYTON, OH. - Congratulations goes out to Marc Hollingsworth and his Rip City Highlanders, in a 5-game victory over Marty Spielmann's Needham Rockets.  Complete coverage can be found on the left menu, with series writeups coming in the upcoming days.   

September 10, 2007
2006 World Series set 
DAYTON, OH. - The matchups for the fourth SPB-Now World Series is set. Marc Hollingsworth's Rip City Highlanders defeated Terry Baxter's Troy Haymakers to meet the Needham Rockets in the World Series.  Complete playoff coverage can be found in the SPB-Now links to your left.  Series write ups will be forthcoming in a few days. Good Luck to both clubs!

August 31, 2007
Atlantic League LCS Shocker!!! 
DAYTON, OH. - Get the defibrillators out, because you will need them when you see the finish to this series!  Joe Hamrahi's South Fork Survivors suffers probably the toughest loss of any SPB playoff series to date, when they blow a 5-run lead in the bottom of the ninth in the final game of the Atlantic League LCS.  Couple that along with 3 other extra-inning games, and you have the makings of an "Instant Classic!"  See the Atlantic League LCS link to the left for more details.  Write ups will be in shortly.  You won't want to miss these!

August 31, 2007
2006 BASE Reports
DAYTON, OH. - Taking advantage of the wonderful technology that the Trilogy program has to offer, I present to you some of the BASE reports for the 2006 season.

August 24, 2007
2006 Final stats in
DAYTON, OH. - Congratulations to Joe Hamrahi’s South Fork Survivors, Marty Spielmann’s Needham Rockets, Marc Hollingsworth’s Rip City Highlanders and Terry Baxter’s Troy Haymakers for winning their respective divisions for SPB NOW 2006! 

Now on to the playoffs.
PLAYOFF PAIRINGS

Atlantic League
Needham Rockets host the South Fork Survivors in the best of 7-game playoffs, 2-3-2.

Pacific League
Troy Haymakers host the Rip City Highlanders in the best of 7-game playoffs, 2-3-2.

World Series
The winner of the Atlantic League playoffs will host the World Series.

I have begun the arduous process of going through the rosters and determining, with the help of Gary Plunkitt, all of the use them or lose them casualties as well as the over-use casualties. Please refer to the Constitution to check your own rosters, but it should be apparent that many players will be in this list, including a key player from the Speedway Sparkplugs. I will try to get those lists out to you early this next week. 

Remember the penalty is loss of the player from your roster, but they will appear as Rookies in this year’s Rookie Draft. ALSO, this doesn’t effect your drafting position for that draft and the subsequent Phase II Draft. Following the World Series, trading will be allowed again. 
Thanks for another great year and let the Playoffs begin!

July 22, 2007
Two new managers aboard
DAYTON, OH. - We have 2 new members to SPB, who will be taking over franchises in mid-stream.  The Phoenix Flyers will be piloted by Kevin Nichols, while the Zeeland Zombies will be steered by Steve Parsons.  Drop them a line and welcome them into SPB.  Good Luck guys!

April 4th, 2007
New manager for Rebels
FRANKFORT, IN. - Please welcome the new manager of the Richmond Rebels, SPB veteran, Greg Stillwagon. Please send your May MP’s to Greg and be sure to welcome Greg to SPB NOW 2006.

March 4th, 2007
Pumas pull off the improbable!
DAYTON, OH. - The  Pocono Pumas pulled off a stunning 4-pitcher perfect game against the Dayton Dynamo.  Scott Shields started and went into the fifth inning, before being pulled by injury.  Chad Paronto, Steve Kilne, and Jose Mesa finished off the Dynamo on a total of just 78 pitches!! This is the 5th perfect game in SPB history.

February 25, 2007
Instructions for resetting player injuries
FRANKFORT, IN. - Since we are using injuries this season, you all need to know how to reset them after each series you play at home. Here goes:

To reset your players injuries, it is the same as resetting your players before any series. Under tools in the game, go to Reset Player Usage, make sure that both boxes are checked, Reset Usage and Reset Injuries.

January 28, 2007
Team name change
FRANKFORT, IN. - The Oneida Silver Sox, owned by Mark Van Roekel has changed his team name to the Richmond Rebels. 

January 28, 2007
Manager Change
FRANKFORT, IN. - Ricardo Lois, San Juan Stars, has been forced to drop this league due to a family illness. We hope that all goes well with Lois’ family and that he can re-join us at some time in the future. Dan Visser of Michigan has joined the league and changed the San Juan Stars to the Zeeland Zombies. Please welcome Dan

January 20, 2007
Minor name change
FRANKFORT, IN. - Richard Pearson is changing his team’s name from Atlanta to Texas. So now it is the Texas Colt 45’s

January 13, 2007 *Updated*
Protected player numbers
FRANKFORT, IN. - The following represents what each team is allowed to protect before phase 2:

18 PLAYERS EACH
Speedway, Waldo, Kansas City, Carolina, Oneida, Atlanta

19 PLAYERS EACH
Lafayette, Niskayuna, South Fork, Scio, Phoenix, Pacific,
Colgate Creek, Worcester, Frankfort, Dayton, Bowling Green,
Rip City, Seattle, Colorado, Troy, San Juan

20 PLAYERS EACH
Virginia, Dodge City, Latrobe, Pocono, Michigan, Needham

January 13, 2007
Voting booth all-stars announced
FRANKFORT, IN. - Now that the voting is complete, I can announce the starting All Star teams as voted by you, our NOW managers.

AMERICAN LEAGUE
Jason Varitek, Mudcats C
David Ortiz, 45's 1B
Alfonso Soriano, 45's 2B
Aramis Ramirez, Crush 3B
Orlando Cabrera, Warriors SS
Miguel Cabrera, Survivors LF
Coco Crisp, Survivors CF
Jose Guillen, 45's RF
Mark Buehrle, Warriors SP
Billy Wagner, Cannons RP

NATIONAL LEAGUE
Joe Mauer, Haymakers C
Albert Pujols, Haymakers 1B
Jeff Kent, T-Bones 2B
Alex Rodriguez, Sparkplugs 3B
Miguel Tejada, Buskers SS
Andruw Jones, Marshalls LF
Chone Figgins, Highlanders CF
Brian Giles, Peppers RF
Bartolo Colon, Peppers SP
Al Reyes, T-Bones RP

The closest races were for A.L. catcher where Varitek edged Bengie Molina, N.L. SS where Tejada squeaked by Rafael Furcal, and N.L. CF where Jones sneaked by Jim Edmonds. All of these were won by less than 10 points. For the total breakdown of the voting, and to see where your players finished, be sure to check out the latest results in the Voting Booth on the SPB main webpage.

January 13, 2007
Voting booth awards announced
FRANKFORT, IN. - The SPB NOW voting booths have been closed, with a bit of a disappointing turnout of only 20 managers voting. My thanks goes out to the 20 managers who did make their ballots out for 2005! You know who you are. :)

The 2005 A.L. MVP race was a close one that saw Atlanta's slugger David Ortiz capture a close race over South Forks Miguel Cabrera by a slim 81-74 margin. Niskayuna's Mark Buehrle easily captured the Cy Young Award in the A.L. Other A.L. Awards went to the following players: 

Billy Wagner of Colgate Creek took the Fireman Award.
Dan Johnson, rookie 1B of the Mobtown Rounders was rookie hitter of the year.
Cliff Pollitte, of Carolina took rookie pitcher of the year.
Don Swearingen was the A.L. Manager of the year while guiding the Carolina Crush to their first pennant.

The 2005 N.L. MVP race amazingly finished in a tie with Speedway's 3B Alex Rodriguez and Troy 1B Albert Pujols ending deadlocked with 57 points each! Waldo's Bartolo Colon easily capture the N.L. Cy Young Award. Other Awards went to the following players:

Kansas' Al Reyes won took the Fireman Award.
In yet another tie, Troy's 2B Tadahito Iguchi and Kansas OF Emil Brown were rookie hitters of the year.
Dayton's Huston Street won the rookie pitcher of the year.
Rick Ryan was named N.L. Manager of the year while guiding the Speedway Sparkplugs to their 1st championship title, after they beat the Crush in the World Series for 2005.

For the full story on the voting, be sure to view all the total voting breakdowns on the Voting Booth's SPB Poll Results for 2005. (right hand side of page). See if you had any challengers for this years Awards. 

January 10, 2007
Uncarded lists unveiled
FRANKFORT, IN. - The official list of all uncarded players for the 2006 season has been released. This list will replace the 2005 list on the SPB NOW webpage. All players on this list will be returned to the roster of your SPB team, if they appear in MLB during the 2006 season. Players listed with a B are batters, and P are pitchers. These players do NOT count against your protected rosters, as there is no guarantee they will ever play MLB again. All players left off these lists, should they return to MLB, will be considered as free agents and will be placed into the rookie draft. Here is the list in alphabetical order by teams.

December 26, 2006
Deadline set for uncarded player claims
FRANKFORT, IN. - Now that you have the new 2006 Disk, you have the ability to designate up to 5 players for the 'uncarded' list. These could be guys you have had on your roster, but who didn't play on any major league roster in 2005 or are from the original list found on the league web page. So you now have until January 7, 2007 to submit your list. Gary Plunkitt has volunteered to maintain this list for 2006. 

You can include any players that were already on your team in SPB NOW past years through the 2006 season. This includes all players from 2005, who did not play in MLB during the 2006 season. Also, you can have tplayers from the 2 previous years (03 & 04) on this list, as long as they were on the list found on the SPBNOW webpage, under the heading "Uncarded Rosters 2005" The lists for each of your teams is limited to 5 names. 
Please send me your list of uncarded players by the deadline. After 1/7, no further lists will be accepted and you will loose the rights to all uncarded players. This includes all players from your previous rosters who missed being in MLB during 2006 because of injury, or being retired for a short time, or who spent the year in the minor leagues. 

December 21, 2006
Manager Change
FRANKFORT, IN. - I also would like to announce a new manager, Albert "Doc" Schweitzer who takes over Lou Ross' Seattle Totems and has renamed them the Jersey Jukes. Please greet Doc at albertgeils@yahoo.com.

November 27, 2006
2006 Uncarded players available
FRANKFORT, IN. - Many of you may not be aware that each team had the opportunity last year to protect players who were not eligible to be in the game, but had been on SPB Rosters. You can access this list from the SPB NOW homepage HERE 

If the players on your list were in the majors this last season, you will have added members on your roster. This will be reflected there when the new DMB Disc for 2006 comes out, but with some thinking trades, I thought you might wish to be thinking about these guys. I have two players from the list that will be in the new game disc, Darrin Oliver and Micah Bowie. 

Also, that list reflects the old team names!

October 22, 2006
2005 Champion crowned
DAYTON, OH. - Congratulations to Rick Ryan, the SPB-2005 league Champion.  Game 7 went into extra innings before defeating the Carolina Crush. You can see all the boxscores and writeups in the links on the left. 

October 22, 2006
2006 Rookie draft date announced
FRANKFORT, IN. - It is time to announce the DATE of the 2006 SPB NOW Draft. Thanks to Steve Ehresman, who has offered to host the draft, it will be Saturday, February 3, 2006. 

I hope that as many of you as possible will try to attend in person. Steve lives in Lafayette, IN and it is very convenient to reach from Indianapolis and the airport there. Besides many hotel/motel options in the area, I know that Steve, Gary and I would be happy to host anyone coming in overnight. I also realize that this is Super Bowl weekend but hope that will not be a burden for anyone. 

October 22, 2006
Another team name change
FRANKFORT, IN. - The old Houma Devil Dogs becomes the Lafayette River Pilots with Steve Ehresman at the keel. 

October 18, 2006
Another new manager plus one returnee
FRANKFORT, IN. - I have received word from Greg Henning that he has lost his interest in modern-day baseball and is dropping his Watertown Arrows team. Ron Peterson will take over that team and will name them the Virginia Terriers. Ron's bio is already on the SPB page.

I also wish to announce that Craig Korol is returning to manage his
Dodge City Marshalls team. Welcome back Craig! This puts us at
full-strength.

Again, please let me know if your plans have changed and you are not interested in continuing in SPB NOW for next season.

October 15, 2006
Three new managers join SPB-Now
FRANKFORT, IN. - Gentlemen: It is my privilege to name three new managers to take over for Dave Mosner, Dave Schubert and Augie Luciano who resigned at season's end.

Peter Brooks takes over the Industriales and will name them the Scio Farmers, he hails from Ann Arbor, MI.

David Neely takes over the Rounders and will name them the Phoenix Flyers, David hails from Phoenix, AZ.

Terry Buchanan takes over the Mudcats and will name them the Pacific Powerhouses, Terry adds some international flair, hailing from Wantirna, Australia. Terry has been involved SPB previously and is returning in more than SPB NOW. 

The World Series is coming to a close in the next couple of days between the Carolina Crush and Speedway Sparkplugs. I will be sharing that outcome in the next couple of days AND a revised Constitution that will be considerably easier to understand for next season. This should move us to a future draft date some time in January. 

Additionally, if you are not planning on continuing with SPB NOW for next season, I would appreciate a note letting me know. We have had considerable interest in wishing to join us for next year. 

October 1, 2006
2005 Use or lose and Overusage penalties
DAYTON, OH. - Gentlemen....click on the appropriate link to view the use or lose or overusage stats. 

September 23, 2006
2005 Final Stats posted
DAYTON, OH. - Congratulations goes out to our four divisional champions!

Atlantic League Landis Division: Carolina Crush, Don Swearingen
Atlantic League Chandler Division: Habana Industrialies, Dave Schubert
Pacific League Frick Division: Speedway Sparkplugs, Rick Ryan
Pacific League Eckert Division: Waldo Peppers, Rich Applegate

Especially close race in the Landis Division. This one of the two closest divisional races we have had in SPB. 
Crush        91 - 71
Devil Dogs 90 - 72 Steve Ehresman
Colt 45's   90 - 72 Richard Pearson
Silver Sox 90 - 72 Mark Van Roekel
Warriors   89 - 73 Don Rahn

September 3, 2006
New manager for the Silver Sox
FRANKFORT, IN. - This is to announce that Mark van Roekel will be taking over the Oneida Silver Sox for the last month of the season. If you play Mark, please send all MP's to him. He will be preparing MP's for all the teams he plays on the road. 

His e-mail is mvr@aperturesi.com

Be sure to welcome him to the league.

ALSO - Remember that your road MP's are due to those managers by September 1st. Please let me know if that will be a problem. REMEMBER your rosters are NOT limited to only 25 players this last month of the season. Good luck to all for this final month of the season!

FINALLY - USE THEM OR LOSE THEM. Several players who are playing this season have not reached their 50% use it or lose it AB's or appearances. If they don't make those appearances they revert to this year's rookie draft. 

June 26, 2006
2005 rookie draft revisited
DAYTON, OH. - Click HERE for a mid-season perspective of the 2005 rookie draft as seen through the eyes of Dave Mosner.  It's a good read!  Thanks to Dave for putting this together!

April 28, 2006
Manager change starting for May
FRANKFORT, IN. - I have the incredibly mixed emotions of announcing a new manager for SPB NOW taking over the Houma Devil Dogs will be veteran SPB manager Steve Ehresman. You can reach him at sdehresman@insightbb.com . Please direct all MP’s for May to Steve.

Having spoken with Larry personally several times, I was always touched by his optimism and tremendous pleasure he got from being part of the SPB family. Hats-off to David Lauer for championing a combined memorial for Larry. I encourage you all to participate if at all possible.

February 18, 2006
Commissioner change of command
STROUDSBURG, PA. - As some of you know, my work requires almost constant travel to all parts of the country. Quite frankly, this leave me with not enough time in the day to adequately devote to the operation of this league. However, the good news is that an outstanding long time member of the SPB community has agreed to immediately succeed me as SPB NOW Commissioner. Without any reservations or hesitation, I am happy to announce that effective immediately, RICK RYAN will assume the role and duties of SPB NOW League Commissioner. Please direct all of your league correspondence to Rick at his e-mail address of; ryans@geetel.net

I think that Rick will find the league stronger today than it ever has been and full of new enthusiasm that will make SPB NOW one of the premier current day DMB leagues. I am especially excited to see how the in-season trading will play out. As Greg mentioned, the league is so balanced that a major trade could swing the pendulum of contention in the pennant race. But then, do you really want to trade those valuable draft picks????

I will continue to remain as manager in the current leagues that I am a member of, including SPB NOW and thank you all for helping to make this league thrive and grow over the last few years.

February 18, 2006
New listing on trades section
DAYTON OH. - In a continued effort to avoid draft day confusion, a listing has been added to the TRADES section listing all of the traded draft picks.  You can take a look at what you have traded or what a potential trade partner has left to give.  There is no longer a limitation to draft picks traded.  This list only contains traded original picks, not picks acquired and kept or then traded that did not originally belong to a team. 

January 22, 2006
San Juan Stars first SPB blogged team
DAYTON OH. - Follow the San Juan stars on their very own blog!  The web address is:  http://sanjuanstars.blogspot.com/.  It will also be linked on the managers page with their team name.  Great stuff Ricardo!!

January 16, 2006
2005 Phase 1 draft complete, plus a few reminders
STROUDSBURG, PA. - Well we did it! We drafted over 300 players in just a little over 5 hours. Many thanks to those present at the hotel and those in the chat room. As we move into Phase II, just a few reminders about new rule changes.

Trading
1. Trading will resume upon the completion of Phase II. Trading is allowed from that period until the end of June. Since we play on a monthly basis, any in-season trade will take effect in the next month of season play. For example a trade made in May will take effect at the beginning of play in June.

2. Players traded in-season WILL NOT have their stats reset to zero (0). The team acquiring an in-season traded player also assumes any player stats that have incurred year to date.

Use or Lose
1. All batters with 150 or more at bats must reach 50% on the DMB% percentage meter or 50% of at bats.

2. All pitchers with 50 or more innings pitched must reach 50% on the DMB% percentage meter or 50% of games.

At Bat Limits
1. All batters hitting .235 or higher are limited to exact at bats.

2. All batters hitting below .235 may have an extra 75 at bats added to their actual totals.

Trading
1. There are no restrictions on trading draft picks aside from that the pick traded/acquired can only be for the next draft.

2. Aside from conditional trades, there are no longer any restrictions on trades.

DMB Season Disk Ownership
1. This week I will submit our league manger list to DMB to insure that all own a valid copy of the 2005 DMB season disk. I will contact anyone for whom DMB does not show as a registered disk owner.

Please consult the league constitution for any other questions or contact me.
  

December 23, 2005
Cannons to remain Cannons
STROUDSBURG, PA. - Mike Cannon has officially named his team the Colgate Creek Cannons.  

December 23, 2005
Uncarded players and phase 2 team limitations
STROUDSBURG, PA. - An uncarded player is defined as a player who during the previous season was on the roster of an SPB NOW team but since he did not play at the ML level in the current season, does not get rated or receive a "card". In our league, these would be players who played in the Major League in 2004 but did not play at all in 2005.

Each team will be able to protect five (5) of these players that belong on their roster. These protected players are exempt from being selected in the Phase II draft and if they are to be protected, their teams manager must submit the players names along with those that are being protected for the Phase II draft.

Should have team have more than five (5) uncarded players and wishes to protect more or all of them, than those players over the limit of 5 will need to be included as one of your team's Phase II protected players.

Players protected beyond the 5 will have a "player card" created on their teams roster but he will have no stats and cannot play in the season. The 5 protected players will be kept separately off-line.

This process will be repeated each year at the time of the rookie draft and if you wish to protect player(s) for more than a single SPB NOW season, you would repeat this process for such a player.

Last year Greg Henning kept the list of uncarded players and I am hoping that he will continue with this job in the future. Limiting each team to 5 protected players should make the task much easier than last year.

Once again, here are the number of Phase II protected player slots for each team.

20 Players
Colorado Grizzlies
Latrobe 33's
San Juan Stars
Rip City Highlanders
Dayton Dynamo
Houma Devil Dogs

19 Players
Mike Cannons
Seattle Totems
Worcester Grays
Perry Hall Mudcats
Frankfort Tigers
Habana Industriales
Troy Haymakers
Needham Rockets
Carolina Crush
Watertown Arrows
Waldo Peppers
Bowling Green Buskers
Dodge City Marshall's
Kansas City T-Bones
South Fork Survivors
Mobtown Rounders

18 Players
Atlanta Colt 45's
Oneida Silver Sox
Pocono Pumas
Speedway Sparkplugs
Michigan Tigers
Niskayuna Warriors

December 17, 2005
Protected player limits now set
STROUDSBURG, PA. - Below, is a listing of the correct number of teams and protected players per the plans for the leagues expansion.

20 Players
Colorado Grizzlies
Latrobe 33's
San Juan Stars
Rip City Highlanders
Dayton Dynamo
Houma Devil Dogs

19 Players
Mike Cannons
Seattle Totems
Worcester Grays
Perry Hall Mudcats
Frankfort Tigers
Habana Industriales
Troy Haymakers
Needham Rockets
Carolina Crush
Watertown Arrows
Waldo Peppers
Bowling Green Buskers
Dodge City Marshall's
Kansas City T-Bones
South Fork Survivors
Mobtown Rounders

18 Players
Atlanta Colt 45's
Oneida Silver Sox
Pocono Pumas
Speedway Sparkplugs
Michigan Tigers
Niskayuna Warriors

December 5, 2005
Manager Change
DAYTON, OH. - Due to time constraints, Kevin Smith has decided to resign from SPB-Now.  Taking the reigns of the Honolulu Sharks will be Mike Boling.  He has decided to rename the team the Kansas City T-Bones.  

December 2, 2005
League Update
STROUDSBURG, PA. - Managers ,things have been pretty quite the last few weeks, so this is a good time to update everyone on events within the league.

First, we now have an e-mail address for Mike Cannon and it is:
mjcan922@verizon.net Please add Mike to your address books and let the trade offers fly his way.

Next, with the completion of the expansion drafts, re-alignment of the league divisions is in order. A tentative realignment has been created with the aim of placing those that live in the same geographical area within the same divisions. Here the what it looks like for next season:

AL Northeast
MacPherson
Hamrahi
Schilling
Wheeler
Rahn
Pearson
Swearingen

AL East
Spielmann
Cannon
Luciano
Mosner
Schubert
McElaney
Henning

NL Central
Plunkitt
Ryan
Smith
Turnbull
Robinson
Williams
Durfee

NL West
Ross
Hollingsworth
Lois
Felt
Korol
Applegate
Baxter

And lastly, don't forget that the rookie draft will be held on Saturday January 14, 2006. Make plans to join us in person for that event as we will be hosting the draft from the BWI Hampton Inn in Baltimore, MD.

November 7, 2005
Buskers sweep Pumas for SPB-Now 2004 Crown
DAYTON, OH. - Congratulations to Chris Williams and the Bowling Green Buskers, completing a 4-game sweep of Jim Wheeler's Pocono Pumas, taking SPB-Now's second seasonal crown.  Box scores can be found on the left with write ups due soon. 

November 6, 2005
Expansion/Dispersal draft complete
STROUDSBURG, PA. - Thanks to everyone for a very smooth running draft.  The complete rosters and draft results can be found in the DRAFT CENTRAL section on the left.  Now that all the rosters are complete, full-scale trading can begin with these teams.  

November 6, 2005...Updated!
Rookie draft date and venue set
STROUDSBURG, PA. - Mark your calendars for the SPB NOW 2005 Rookie Draft to be held in Baltimore on Saturday January 14, 2006. I realize that some of these names can move up or down the chart, but at least this gives everyone an idea of where people hope to be. We also need to hear from the newest manger, Don Rahn on his attendance.

My plan at this point is to begin to make the reservation for the conference room. The Hampton Inn at BWI looks best right now. Wow, 20 managers either in person or in the chatroom!

Planning to attend in Baltimore: (Hampton Inn BWI???) Jim Wheeler John Turnbull Gary Plunkitt Rick Ryan Greg Henning Dave Schubert Marty Spielman Dave Mosner Augie Luciano Mike Cannon

Planning to attend in chatroom:
Joe Hamrahi
Terry Baxter
Hugh McElaney
Craig Korol
Larry Schilling
Don Swearingen
Scott Flet
Lou Ross
Steve M.
Rich Applegate

Planning to submit a draft list:
Richard Pearson
Ricardo Lois
Mike Durfee

Received no response:
Marc Hollingsworth
Chris Williams
Kevin Smith
Marc Robinson

Updated 6 November 2005:

I have reserved a meeting room at the Hampton, Inn-BWI Airport. Here is the exact address of the hotel:

Hampton Inn Baltimore/Washington International Airport
829 Elkridge Landing Road • Linthicum, Maryland 21090
Phone: (410) 850-0600 • Fax: (410) 691-2119 Toll Free: 1 (800) HAMPTON (1-800-426-7866)

For those who will be flying into Baltimore, the hotel does offer a free shuttle bus to and from the airport. Also, the entire hotel and the meeting room, have wireless internet connections.

From the last count, it looks as thought we will have 10-15 managers at the hotel site and about that many in the chat room. If you are on the fence about attending in person, make the jump and plan to join us. It will be a great time!

October 27, 2005
New manager on board
STROUDSBURG, PA. - Please welcome Don Rahn into the league. Don will rename the Lafayette Lions, the Niskayuna Warriors. 

Don's e-mail is : donrahn@nycap.rr.com

October 1, 2005
SPB-Now 2005.....under construction
STROUDSBURG, PA. - Upon completion of the 2004 post-season, we will be undergoing an exciting expansion, adding 4 new teams to SPB-Now, along with 8 new managers, including 5 SPB newcomers!  The following managers will not be returning to SPB-Now.  We thank them for their time and efforts:

Stan Skawinski - Brooklyn Giants 
Greg Stillwagon - Bay City Rollers
John Cusack - Palos Hills Pit Vipers 
Colby Whetstone - Huntsville Hardballers

Introductions are now in order for the 8 new SPB-Now managers, along with their team names and ballparks:
Gary Plunkitt - Frankfort Frogs - U.S. Cellular Field
Dave Mosner - Mobtown Rounders - Shea Stadium
Dave Schubert - Habana Industriales - Marlins Park 
Augie Luciano - Mudcats - RFK Stadium 
Lou Ross - Seattle Totems - Bank One Ballpark
Hugh McElaney - Worcester Grays - PNC Park 
Joe Hamrahi - South Fork Survivors - Safeco Field
Mike Cannon - The Cannons - Coors Field (Subject to change)

 With the filling of all the empty manger slots, we are now ready to begin the process of the dispersal/expansion draft. A draft date will be set shortly after the regular season ends. And who are eligible players? First, any player on the rosters of the former teams of Huntsville, Bay City, Palos Hills, Brooklyn AND all those players not on any current SPB NOW rosters from the MLB rosters of Tampa, Florida, Colorado, and Arizona. All eligible players meeting the above requirements will be drafted by these 8 new teams.

NO PLAYERS that currently belong on the roster of an existing SPB NOW team will be lost in this dispersal/expansion draft!!!!!!!!

The draft order will follow a serpentine pattern throughout all rounds of the draft. For example 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8 and then 8,7,6,5,4,3,2,1. And here is the dispersal/expansion draft order, selected by random:

1. Joe Hamrahi - South Fork Survivors
2. Mike Cannons - The Cannons
3. Dave Mosner - Mobtown Rounders
4. Hugh McElaney - Worchester Greys
5. Dave Schubert - Habana Industriales
6. Lou Ross - Seattle Totems
7. Augie Liciano - Perry Hall Mudcats
8. Gary Plunkitt - Frankfort Frogs

The dispersal/expansion draft will be handled via e-mail picks. Ideally, I would like to see 4 picks per week night and 8 picks on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. Each team will have a specific time window in which to make a pick and no team will be passed over until that time window has expired. We will release the exact schedule once the player list has been completed.

Next, some have asked about their positions in the rookie draft. The 8 new teams will be assigned randomly for each round of the rookie draft the positions of 3, 5, 6, 7, 9, 22, and 24. Picks 3, 5, 7, and 9 represent the new expansion teams. Picks 6, 8, 22, and 24 represent the picks earned this past season by the disbanding teams. Once the post season has been completed, I will release the rookie draft order.

I will immediately begin to accept trades on an "unofficial and unannounced basis". Again, once the post season has been completed, trades will be announced. Please remember that all parties involved in the trade(s) must e-mail their concurrence with the details of the trade. Since the rookie draft order has not yet been released, I would advise against making deals involving draft pocks until each of you learns their position in the draft.

October 1, 2005
SPB-Now 2004 Overusage and Use or lose players
DAYTON, OH. - Now that the 2004 regular season has come to an end, it is time to announce the official overusage and use or lose penalties.  Click the appropriate link for OVERUSAGE  /  USE OR LOSE. 

September 29, 2005
SPB-Now divisional playoffs set
STROUDSBURG, PA. - Pocono has defeated Bay City 2 games to none for the divisional championship. We are now ready to begin the next phase of the playoffs. Once Chris W. has built the post season skeds, he will send out the disk and the playoff can begin.

The Buskers will be facing the Silver Sox with the Silver Sox holding the home field advantage. 

The Pumas will be facing the Colt45's with the Colt45's holding the home field advantage.

September 27, 2005
SPB-Now expansion and new managers
DAYTON, OH. - With the expansion/dispersal draft set for mid-October, the new managers and managers that will not be returning will be announced at one time in the very near future.  Thank you for you patience. We are still looking for 1 more manager to join the ranks if anyone knows of anyone who may be interested. 

September 27, 2005
SPB-Now season extended due to playoff
DAYTON, OH. - A 3-game playoff between the NL East Pocono Pumas and the Bay City Rollers will begin shortly.  I will post the end of season stats once that series is complete, since this series is still a part of the regular season.  Congratulations goes out to the other divisional winners:  AL East: Oneida Silver Sox, AL West: Bowling Green Buskers, NL West: Atlanta Colt45's.  

September 23, 2005
SPB-Now uncarded player status
DAYTON, OH. - Click HERE to see if you have any of your uncarded players from last year eligible to be carded for this season.   There are a few surprises that wont make the rookie draft, like the Bay City Roller's Ryan Langerhans.   

September 19, 2005
SPB-Now to set for expansion
DAYTON, OH. - Upon the completion of the 2004 season, SPB-Now will undergo an exciting metamorphosis, as the league plans on expanding to 28 teams, matching the 2-less than actual teams that all of the other regular SPB leagues have.  This change will mean the end of the X-player and X-teams.  A expansion/dispersion draft will be conducted in mid-October, consisting of the four expansion managers, along with the new managers that will be taking over for teams whose managers will not be returning.  The players in the dispersion/expansion draft will consist of most of the rosters from Arizona, Colorado, Florida, and Tampa Bay, to include true rookies from those four teams, along with the rosters of those teams whose managers will not be returning.  X-Players that transferred during the past season who are on current SPB-Now rosters of managers who are staying will be allowed to stay on those teams and will not be available for the expansion/dispersion draft.  Stay tuned for more information and the list of new managers, which will all be posted at seasons end.

August 6, 2005
League Update
STROUDSBURG, PA. - With just 2 months remaining in the season we have several tight races in progress. But in addition to playing your teams games and sending out your manager profiles, everyone needs to be paying attention to both Overuse and Under use Penalties.
As for Under use, all players must be used for either 50% of their at bats, 50% of their games or reach 50% on the Player Percentage Meter found in the upper right hand corner of each player screen. Players who do not reach the 50% criteria will become free agents and added to the rookies in the next rookie draft.
As for Overuse, please consult the league constitution for specifics on batters and pitchers usage. Overuse penalties are designed replicate actual Major League Baseball by limiting overuse by the better players and the impact of significant overuse penalties will be rather severe as it will alter your team's first round draft position as well as your Phase II draft position. Please take this into consideration as you build your teams remaining manager profiles. A word to the wise, "Use your subs liberally".
One note regarding batter usage. Effective immediately, we are suspending the rules regarding batting limits for same side batters. The reason for this is that with the 25 man rosters, plus all of the other batting limits, it is unlikely that any manger can use a player who has outstanding stats on one side of the plate in an unrealistic manner. This was not always the case, as prior to the 25 man active rosters, some players could be used unrealistically.
And finally, it is time to start planning the location of the next rookie draft. I would like to have the draft on Saturday January 21, 2006 which is over the 3 day ML King Holiday Weekend. I am looking for anyone who wishes to volunteer to host the draft. Let me know if anyone is interested and we can go from there

June 30, 2005
New manager for Extreme
STROUDSBURG, PA. - Please welcome Marty Spielmann as the new manager of the East Coast Extreme. Marty is a friend of Greg Henning and will be taking over the Extreme immediately.

Please insure that you send your July manager profiles against the Extreme to Marty at martyspiel@yahoo.com and update your league address books accordingly.

April 23, 2005
Tejada makes early MVP push
DAYTON, OH. - Speedway Sparkplugs slugger Miguel Tejada is taking the early lead in the MVP race from the likes of Adrian Beltre and Barry Bonds.  Matt Morris of the Silver Sox has started the season 8-0 with a 2.65 ERA, and is the early Cy Young leader.

April 23, 2005
2004 May stats now posted
DAYTON, OH. - The stats and Power Rankings for the May 2004 play are now posted.  The division leaders are starting to rise to the top of the Power Rankings, but Kevin Smith's Sharks skyrocket 10 spots out of the cellar and are only 3 games back! 

May 1, 2005
New manager in the fold!
STROUDSBURG, PA. - We are thrilled to have Stan Skawinski as the newest manager to the league and he will immediately be taking over the Brooklyn Giant franchise. If you have not played your home games against the Giants, please wait until you receive a manager profile from Stan.

If you are scheduled to play at Brooklyn, please re-send your manager profile to Stan. Stan can be reached at mudville@att.net

April 30, 2005
First SPB-Now No-Hitter!
DAYTON, OH. - The Colorado Grizzles have the distinction of tossing the first SPB-Now no-hitter.  It was a combined effort from Carlos Hernandez and  Braden Looper.  The boxscore is located in the SPB-NOW links section under superlative boxscores.

April 30, 2005
Franchise available
DAYTON, OH. - The Brooklyn Giants franchise is available for new ownership.  If you know of anyone who is interested in taking over this team, please contact myself or Jim Wheeler.  Thanks!

January 16, 2005
Venue for 2005 Draft?
STROUDSBURG, PA. - know some of you are looking at this saying "Next Year? We haven't even finished this year's draft". You are correct but there is no time like the present to make plans for the next draft. What I am thinking is seeing if there would be enough interest to schedule the 2005 rookie draft in a warm weather climate where air travel is fairly easy. Next, I would like to think about renting a small conference room at a local hotel and host the draft there. Hampton Inns are pretty nice, affordable, and in nearly every city. I attended a draft years ago in Chicago for a league using this format and it was a blast to get 20-22 managers together in one room. We could make this the social event of the season!

Anyway, we have managers in both Atlanta and my favorite state of Alabama and I know the weather is pretty good at this time of the year. Both Atlanta and Birmingham (via Southwest) are pretty easy to fly into. We also have an SPB manager in Las Vegas, if that would be a good spot.

So if this is something that you think you could attend, let me know and we can begin planning. We would need at least 15 manager commitments to make it worthwhile and I would plan for this same weekend 1/15/06, as Monday is a Federal Holiday.

Think about it?

Jim
 

January 16, 2005
Team name change
DAYTON, OH - Colby Whetstone has changed his team name from the Burns Flat Bombers to the Huntsville Hardballers.   

January 13, 2005
Pre-Draft day musings
STROUDSBURG, PA. - Click HERE for information concerning the draft day proceedings on 15 Jan 05.   

January 9, 2005
Uncarded player call for protected rosters
STROUDSBURG, PA. - Managers, As I mentioned earlier this week, uncarded players (players without any real life stats) will be maintained by Greg Henning and John Turnbull offline on the web page. Aside from not appearing on your teams roster, they will be handled just like any other player. If you wish to protect any of these players from the Phase 2 draft, you must include them on your teams protected roster.

Since we originally overlooked these players when putting together the new season disk I will allow any manager who wants to add any uncarded player to their protected list to do so. However, if you add an uncarded player, you must remove a currently protected player to make room on your roster. Deadline for adding any uncarded players will be Wednesday January 12, 2005. 

In all future seasons, any uncarded players who will be protected will be submitted with the protected rosters.

Jim

January 5, 2005
Phase 2 cut list now posted
DAYTON, OH. - Managers....the phase 2 player list is posted on the left side in the DRAFT CENTRAL section under Phase 2 cuts.  Each team will select 3 consecutive players, with no team losing more than 5 players.  The Phase 2 draft will start immediately after the phase 1 draft is complete.

January 4, 2005
More Information concerning draft process
STROUDSBURG, PA. - Click HERE for an important memo from Commissioner Wheeler concerning the upcoming draft. 

January 3, 2005
New Manager on board
STROUDSBURG, PA. - An SPB Welcome goes out to Joe Hamrahi, who will be taking the reigns of the Ritchie County Royals.  Thanks goes out to Joe for stepping to the plate so quickly to take over this team.  He will be receiving a supplemental 1st round draft pick (#25) in compensation for not being able to revert his team's draft picks to their original pre-penalty position.  His Phase 2 position will, however, go back to its original #13 spot.  His team name will now become the East Coast Extreme.  Thanks to everyone for their patience, and understanding!

January 2, 2005
Draft Day Procedures
STROUDSBURG, PA. - Just a reminder that the Phase I rookie draft will begin at 11 AM EST on Saturday January 15, 2005. That should be 10 AM CST, 9 AM MST, and 8 AM PST. So far there will be three (3) of us in attendance at Draft Central here in the Pocono's, myself, John Turnbull, and Craig Korol. I have also received one managers draft list, so that leaves 20 of you participating via the SPB chat Room.

It would be a good idea, especially for those who have never participated in a SPB draft, to try to log onto the chat room and make sure all functions as expected. You can link to the chat room by going to the SPB web page and clicking on the auditorium link on the left or use this address: http://pub29.bravenet.com/chat/show.php/2463166541 

If you are not going to participate either in person or by the chat room, then you will need to submit a draft list to the league office no later than Wednesday January 12, 2005.

With so many managers participating, we are going to have to set a limit on the time that each manager may use to make his pick. We want to finish the P1 draft in one day and we have a lot of players to pick, so each manager will have a three (3) minute time limit per pick. Some of you older SPB managers may remember the old egg timer used at some of the earliest drafts...it's back!!! If you can't make your pick within the allotted time, you will lose your spot and the next manager will make his pick.

That's all for now.

Jim

December 22, 2004
Call for protected players
STROUDSBURG, PA. - Managers,With so many mangers new tot he SPB Phase II draft process, I am going to call for the protected player rosters a little earlier than usual. All teams must submit their protected player list to the league office no later than Sunday January 2, 2005.

Teams may protect the following numbers of player on their roster. Players acquired during the Phase I draft are exempt from being picked and will not need to be protected. Once the all protected player lists have been received, a pre-draft disk will be assembled, with the unprotected players 'farmed" on each teams roster.

19 Players:
Burns Flat Bombers
Carolina Crush
Pocono Pumas
Watertown Arrows
Brooklyn Giants
Houma Devil Dogs

18 Players:
San Juan Stars
Waldo Peppers
Michigan Tigers
Speedway Sparkplugs
Latrobe 33's
Oneida Silver Stars
Lafayette Lions
Dayton Dynamo
Honolulu Sharks
Colorado Grizzlies
Ritchie County Royals
Rip City Highlanders

17 Players:
Troy Haymakers
Bay City Rollers
Dodge City Marshall's
Atlanta Colt 45's
Palos Hills Pit Vipers
Bowling Green Buskers

Remember, if you plan on protected an X-player, the cost is the reduction of two (2) spots on your protected roster. So if Pocono protects an X-Player, rather than protecting 19 players, they would be limited to protecting 17 players. Those X-players who are not being protected will be deleted from the disk, only to return to the league if they become a member of a non-X team.

Please let me know if you have any questions.

Jim

December 17, 2004
Voting booth results posted
DAYTON, OH. - The first SPB-Now voting booth result have been posted on the website.  Click on Voting booth link, then on the right side will be the link to the results.  The center ailse contains archived voting results for all SPB-Leagues.

December 12, 2004
Team name change
DAYTON, OH. - Greg Stillwagon has officially changed his team name from the Kansas City Monarchs to the Bay City Rollers.  All of his SPB-Now references now carry the updated/new team name. 

December 12, 2004
Further Clarification on X-Player scenarios
DAYTON, OH. - Click HERE for a league update by Commissioner Jim Wheeler.  It gives some excellent examples of X-Player scenarios, and how it may affect your players and phase-2 draft strategies.    

December 1, 2004
SPB-Now league Update
STROUDSBURG, PA. - Here's hoping that everyone had a safe and pleasant Thanksgiving holiday. Only a few more weeks until the release of the DMB 2004 season disk, which means our SPB season is right around the corner. We are still on schedule to have our first "rookie" draft on Saturday January 15, 2005 beginning at 11 AM Eastern Standard Time. Everyone is invited to attend in person at my place in the Pocono Mountains or if that is not possible, participate live in the SPB Chat Room or else submit a list in advance of the draft. My intention now is to complete the rookie draft in one day and I am told to estimate the length of the draft to be about eight (8) rounds. Currently John Turnbull and Craig Korol are planning to attend in person and we are planning to also visit the Hall of Fame on Sunday. Upon completion of the rookie draft, the Phase II draft will immediately begin via E-mail. More on this later below.

A couple of business needs to take care of. First, it is the responsibility of each manager, with the exception of the league stat, to purchase their own copy of the 2004 DMB season disk. If you have not purchased the disk yet, you can do so by either calling DUMB or visiting their web site which is http://www.diamond-mind.com/. Shortly before the rookie draft begins I will check with DMB to make sure that everyone has become a registered owner of the season disk.

Next, league dues are $3.00. If you have not sent in your dues yet, please due so prior to January 15, 2005. Your dues are used to keep the SPB web site operating and to provide the league stat with an official DMB season disk. At SPB we recognize the hard work the the stats perform by waiving their league dues and the purchase of the their season disk is made by the league. Please note that both your dues and ownership of the season disk are due by the date of the rookie draft, January 15, 2005. If this represent any particular hardship, please let me know so that other arrangements may be made. Send your dues to myself at 833 Blue Mountain Lake, East Stroudsburg, PA 18301.

A few questions have come up about X players such as Carl Pavano. Remember, it is on which roster the player ends the season that determines his X player status and the X teams are Florida, Tampa Bay, Arizona, and Colorado. In the example of Pavano, he finished the 2004 season on the roster of the Marlins which qualifies him as an X player. Should he sign with a non-X team (and finish the 2005 season on the roster of a non-X team), he will be eligible to be drafted in the 2005 rookie draft which will be held in January 2006. Regardless of where he signs, he will not be eligible for our next rookie draft on January 15, 2005.

Also, a reminder on obtaining a current X player in trade. The manager owing any X player on his roster assumes the liability of protecting that player in the Phase II draft. The cost of protecting an X player in Phase II is giving up 2 protected roster spots. For example, on my team I have X player Julio Lugo and for Phase II, I am allowed to protect 19 players on my roster. Should I elect to keep Lugo on my roster, I may do so but only by reducing the number of Phase II protected players from 19 to 17. Thus far, I believe that the only X player traded to another team is Jeromy Burnitz (John correct me on this if I am wrong).

For the newer managers now on board, lets review the SPB draft formats. All SPB leagues feature two (2) very distinctly different draft formats. The first draft Phase I or the "rookie draft" consists of all players who are determined to be rookie eligible for drafting in a particular season. You can read more about the eligibility requirements in the League Constitution. In SPB NOW, rookies would be the new rookies joining the Major Leagues along with any X players who have signed with a non-X team such as Schilling, Derek Lee, Ronnie Belliard, etc.

Phase II is that portion of the draft where typically veteran players are drafted with the draft order based upon reverse order of finish plus any permanent overuse penalties applied. Phase II is where SPB differs from most leagues! Here each manger picks three (3) players consecutively rather than round by round. You can see what an impact this has at filling crucial immediate roster needs! Also, while each team gets only three (3) players, no team in the league can loose more than five (5) players from their roster. The number of players a team may protect from being drafted depends on a couple of factors. First, there overall record in the previous season based upon worst to best. Next, the application of any overuse penalties. So you can see where protecting an X player at the cost of 2 protected roster spots is something not to be considered lightly.

For the upcoming season, the overuse penalties have been tightened up. Please review them in the League Constitution and plan your draft needs accordingly.

let me know if you have any questions.

Jim


November 25, 2004
SPB-Now voting booth open
DAYTON, OH. - Belated as it may be, the first ever SPB-Now voting booth is now open on the website.  It is a civic duty for all managers to participate in the voting process as per the SPB constitution.  Commissioner Jim Wheeler will announce a deadline shortly.  All current managers are allowed to vote, even the new ones that did not participate in the league last season.   

November 5, 2004
Team name change
DAYTON, OH. - Rick Ryan has changed his team name from the Rossville Rockets to the Speedway Sparkplugs. 

October 27, 2004
SPB-Now League Stats database now open
DAYTON, OH. - Thanks to the efforts of Lynn Miller, the SPB-Now League stats database is now open.  This will be a running tally of all major SPB-Now stats.  It is located in the left under SPB-Now Links.  

October 24, 2004
Stadium Change
STROUDSBURG, PA. - The Waldo Peppers (Rich Applegate) will be moving from Olympic Stadium (MON) to Kauffman Stadium (KC).

Open parks are now: Metrodome and Olympic Stadium

October 22, 2004
Inaugural World Series Champion crowned
DAYTON, OH. - Congratulations to John Cusack and his Palos Hills Pit Vipers, for taking the first ever SPB-Now crown. A hearty round of applause also goes out to Chris Williams for taking yet another SPB team to the finals.  The complete boxscores, write-ups and stats are posted on the left. 

October 17, 2004
More ballparks claimings
STROUDSBURG, PA. - The following changes in ball parks have been made.

Altanta Colt45's (Pearson) from Metrodome (MIN) to Citizens Bank Park (PHI).

Watertown Arrows (Henning) from Kauffman Stadium (KC) to Camden Yards (BAL).

Parks now open for bidding are Metrodome (MIN) and Kauffman Stadium (KC).

If 2 teams claim the same park, ties will be broken in reverse order of last seasons finish. 

October 14, 2004
X-Player clarification and drafts
STROUDSBURG, PA. - Hopefully to clear up confusion over X players and the Phase II draft understand the following. Any X player who is left unprotected in the Phase II draft will be considered ineligible for further league play and will be removed from that teams roster. Unprotected X players are also ineligible from being selected by another team in the Phase II draft. An X player may return into the league as a "rookie" if he leaves the roster of an expansion team (Arizona, Tampa Bay, Florida, and Colorado) and finishes a season on the roster of a non-expansion team.

For example, on my team (Pocono Pumas) I plan to leave Danys Baez unprotected. If this occurs, Baez is no longer allowed to play in the league until he returns to the roster of a non-expansion team. So lets further say that Baez signs this off-season with the Yankees and does so after our drafts have concluded. He would no longer be a member of my team, so he would enter next year's rookie draft subject to be selected by anyone.

Use great care in making trades where you acquire any X player.

October 14, 2004
Pre-draft trade clarification
STROUDSBURG, PA. - Managers,  For a deal to be official, both parties must report the trade in writing (e-mail) to the league office. Thus far I have received word of one trade, however I am holding off announcing the trade until I am sure that the managers understand the consequences.

Understand that any team that acquires an X Player, which is a player who has ended the season on the roster of Arizona, Tampa Bay, Florida, or Colorado, also assumes any liability associated with protecting that player on his roster

For example, lets say that I trade Julio Lugo to Rich Applegate. Since Lugo is an X player, Rich may keep Lugo amongst his teams 18 Phase II protected players. However, if Rich elects to keep Lugo, he can only protect 16 players, one of which must be Lugo. Only X players cost you protected spots on your roster for Phase II. Remember this is done to act as a counter balance to the influx of veteran players coming into the league from the X teams, a la Schilling and Rodriguez. So in essence, keeping an X player is certainly allowable but at the same time the added cost acts to prevent a manager from keeping an X player. SPB NOW is not a super star/all star type of league and this unique part of our draft process acts to keep the playing talent realistic to the number of teams in the league. With SPB NOW you get to use them all, the good, the bad, and the ugly.

October 14, 2004
Dispersal draft complete, Draft order released
DAYTON, OH. - A hearty thanks to everyone for making the Seattle-Toronto dispersal draft go so smoothly.  The results will stay on the page to the left.  A link has been added to reflect the current draft order including all trades.

October 10, 2004
World Series now set
DAYTON, OH. - Congratulations to Chris Williams' Bowling Green Buskers, and John Cusack's Palos Hills Pit Vipers for advancing to the inaugural SPB-Now World Series.  The ALCS and NLCS box scores and scoresheets are posted on the left. Good luck to both in the finals!

October 9, 2004
Ballpark changes
STROUDSBURG, PA. - The following changes in ball parks have been made and John, please note them on the web page and manager listings.

Burns Flat Bombers (Whetstone) from Veterans Stadium (PHI) to Safeco Field (SEA).

Michigan Tigers (Durfee) from Camden Yards (BAL) to Skydome (TOR).

Parks now open for bidding are Citizens Bank Park (PHI) and Camden Yards (BAL).

If 2 teams claim the same park, ties will be broken in reverse order of last seasons finish. Bidding for these parks will last until Friday October 22, 2004 at 11 PM EST.

October 8, 2004
New manager in the fold to fill last opening
STROUDSBURG, PA. - Please join me in welcoming Ricardo Lois to SPB NOW. Ricardo will be immediately taking over the reins of the Kenosha Eagles and will also be participating in the current dispersal draft. Ricardo can be reached at rlois@att.net.  Ricardo's new team name will be the San Juan Stars.

October 4, 2004
Seattle/Toronto dispersal draft now started
DAYTON, OH. - The Dodge City Marshalls, and new manager Craig Korol makes a tough decision and takes Ichiro Suzuki to kick off the player dispersal draft.  Click on SEA/TOR Draft results on left in Draft central box to keep track of who is taken. 

October 4, 2004
Ballpark claiming
STROUDSBURG, PA. - Claims for the Safeco Field and Skydome will end on Friday October 8, 2004 at 11 :00 PM EST. Thus far I have received the following claims.

SKYDOME-Tigers (Durfee)

SAFECO-Bombers (Whetstone), Pitvipers (Cusack)

Claims for the same ball park will be broken based upon reverse order of finish. Since the addition of these 2 parks will set off a chain event of park availability, we will accept claims for the newly available park in this same manner. When a new park(s) is available, I will announce it to the league and allow 2 weeks for bidding. This pattern will continue up till the rookie draft date at which time all parks will become frozen.

October 4, 2004
2004 Seattle/Toronto draft info posted
DAYTON, OH. - The draft schedule/results list, and the hitters and pitchers lists are posted in the draft section on the left menu.   

September 29, 2004
2003 Player overuse/underuse info
STROUDSBURG, PA.. - Click HERE for the total overusage and underusage of all SPB-Now teams.  Teams that have new managers are exempt from overuse or underuse penalties. 

September 27, 2004
Information on trading
STROUDSBURG, PA.. - Trading will be allowed to officially begin upon the conclusion of the Seattle/Toronto player dispersal draft. However, no trading of picks will be allowed for the dispersal draft.

There will be no restrictions upon trading of players or draft choices aside from those already in place in the league constitution. Remember, to be an official trade, both parties must report the trade to the league office. Let me know if you have any questions.

Also upon conclusion of the dispersal draft, I will be releasing the draft order for January's rookie draft.

September 26, 2004
New Managers join SPB-Now
DAYTON, OH. - With the end of the inaugural season officially over, it is time to announce the new managers that will be joining us starting with the 2005 season.  

Taking over the New York Knights will be Steve MacPherson, who has renamed his team the Oneida Silver Sox.  

The Lethbridge Merlins have been taken over by Colby Whetstone, renaming his team the Burns Flat Bombers

The Louisville Centourions are now skippered by Craig Korol, who will name his team the Dodge City Marshalls.  

Last but now least, the Brookline Stars have just today been taken over by Don Swearingen.  Don has named his team the Carolina Crush.

The new manager's Bios will be posted to the website.  The Kenosha Eagles are still available, so if you know of anyone who wants to join, please let myself or Jim know.  

September 26, 2004
Final Stats and Power Rankings posted
DAYTON, OH. - Runaway champs of National East are the Palos Hills Pit Vipers by 12 lengths over the KC Monarchs.......Congrats to John Cusack!

Near runaway champs of National West are the Atlanta Colt 45s by 8 games over the Latrobe 33s and Honolulu Sharks.......Congrats to Richard Pearson!

American League East thriller champs are the Rip City Highlanders as they squeak out a one game margin for their divisional championship over the New York Knights...........Marc Hollingsworth comes out on top with Mike See breathing down his neck.......Congrats to both for a well fought season!

American League West thriller champs are the Bowling Green Buskers as they too squeak out a one game divisional championship over the Louisville Centurions........Chris Williams comes out champion with Steve Lasley right on his tail.......Congrats to both for a well fought season!  The Playoffs page will be setup soon.

September 2, 2004
League news
E. STROUDSBURG, PA. - As we enter the final month of our inaugural season, there are some important dates ahead. First, the distribution draft for players ending the season on the rosters of Seattle and Toronto will begin on Sunday October 10, 2004 at 12 noon EST. This draft will be done exclusively via e-mail and in similar fashion to the original player draft. Each team will be assigned a reasonable time slot in which to make his pick and be passed over if a pick is not received in the scheduled time frame. I am asking John Turnbull to put this schedule together Also, John has posted the draft order on the web page.

It is important to understand that ONLY those players ENDING the season on the roster of Seattle and Toronto and who ARE NOT rookies will be eligible for selection. Players who began the season with Seattle or Toronto but have since been traded to an existing MLB team will be drafted in the Rookie Draft. Also any true rookie, by definition of an SPB rookie criteria, will be eligible for draft only in the Rookie Draft. Finally, players, who were already owned by an SPB NOW team, that end the season on the roster of Seattle or Toronto will be retained by those teams at no penalty to them.

The actual Rookie Draft is tentatively scheduled for Saturday January, 15, 2005 and I will be hosting the draft here at my home in Pocono Mountains of Pennsylvania. All are welcome to attend if possible and for those who enjoy the snow, this will be a perfect spot for you. As a side note, Cooperstown is only 3 hours away and would make a great side visit for those who may be interested. More draft details will be released as we get closer to that date.

Next, as we enter the final month of the season, please pay attention to the manager profiles that you receive from your opponents. Many managers are trying to prevent over use of players and have specific lineups and rotations to be used. As long as the constitutional guidelines for manager profiles are followed, there is no justification for using the incorrect manager profile. Also worth noting is that I notice many managers are now sending one manager profile but in their accompanying e-mail list different starting pitching rotations for each series. Make sure you get it right!

And last but not least, we have a new manager one board who will be taking over the New York Knights at the conclusion of the season. He is Steve McPherson and can be reached at stemac@dreamscape.com

If you have any questions, let me know.

August 3, 2004
Stadium Issues
EAST STROUDSBURG PA. - Since the Seattle and Toronto teams will be coming into the league this Fall, so too will be their ballparks. We will have a random draw for those teams that are interested in switching to one of these parks. I will call for teams interested prior to the Seattle-Toronto dispersal draft. However, you can still let me know if you are interested in drawing for one of these parks. Also worth noting, that the owners of the Philadelphia and San Diego parks will retain the new parks that opened this season.

April 7, 2004
Inaugural Season has begun!
DAYTON, OH. - After a marathon draft, and a new system to learn, the first pitch of the SPB-Now season has been thrown.  Commissioner Wheeler was in Pocono PA to throw ceremonial first pitch for the Puma franchise.  Click on the following links for opening day boxscores!

Ritchie County Royals @ Latrobe 33's 
Rip City Highlanders @ Atlanta Colt45s
Troy Haymakers @  Dayton Dynamo
Colorado Grizzlies @ Kenosha Eagles 
Watertown Arrows @ Lafayette Lions
Brooklyn Giants @ Jersey Mob 
Houma DevilDogs @ Waldo Peppers
New York Knights @ Palos Hills Pit Vipers
Louisiville Colonels @ Pocono Pumas
Bowling Green Buskers @ Rossville Rockets
Louisville Centurions @ Honolulu Sharks  

March 7, 2004
New Manager on board
EAST STROUDSBURG PA. - It is my pleasure to welcome Harry Conover into the SPB family, who will be taking the reigns for the departed Mike Boling.  Harry will name his team the Windsor Barons. All manager information has been updated and he can be reached at: harryconover@hotmail.com.

February 7, 2004
League start date and draft modification
EAST STROUDSBURG PA. - Last week I asked for your opinions on when to begin the first SPB Now season as well as your advice on whether we should wait for DMB to release V.9. Based upon the responses I received back, the season will begin on 4/1/04 and hopefully with the V.9 release from DMB. While I have no information on the exact release date from DMB, I do know that they are working very hard to get V.9 ready for a Spring release. In any event, once we begin the season, I think we may have to stick with what ever version we began with but time will tell on that one.

Next, many of you have expressed concern over protecting a veteran player and thereby losing a draft pick. To compensate for this, the rule will be modified accordingly:

"For each draft choice(s) involving draft picks 1,2, and 3 which have been forfeited to protect a player who has gone to a "lost team", that team may add 1 player to their protected list in preparation for the Phase II draft. No more than three (3) players may be added to a teams protected player list. There will be no compensation for lost draft picks in Rounds 4 or higher (Round 5, Round 6, Round 7, etc)".

As an example using my current team, let's assume that I finish the upcoming season at 81-81. which would allow me to protect 19 players. Prior to the 2005 Rookie Draft, I opt to keep Roberto Alomar and Dennys Baez at the cost of my 1st and 2nd round draft picks. I allow any other players who have gone to a "lost team" to be released from the league. As compensation, I would be able to add two players to my Phase II protected list, increasing the number of protected players on my roster to 21 players (19+2)=21.

As you can see from the list that B.J. Porter released earlier this week, at this point in the season, there are far more valuable players entering the league than there are leaving. But again, remember it is not where the player is now, but where he ends up the season that dictates if he is a "lost player".

Finally, not much has been happening in the trade market. A quick review of team resources show that some teams are borderline in pitching games started. Please review the league constitution for player limits and more importantly, overuse penalties. Does your team have enough resources to get through a season?

January 10, 2004
Trade restrictions relaxed
EAST STROUDSBURG PA. - Effective immediately, there will be a minor modification of the restrictions placed upon the trading of draft choices. While the trading season is open, Fourth (4) or higher draft picks for the next rookie draft may now be traded with no restrictions, (IE: 4th, 5th, 6th round etc.)

There is no change on the restrictions placed upon trading draft choices lower than a fourth round pick. Here are the restrictions on trading draft picks One (1) through Three (3) :

1. Draft choices may only be traded from the time period between the conclusion of the World Series and the conclusion of the next upcoming rookie draft.

2. Future draft picks, for those drafts beyond the next upcoming rookie draft may not be traded.

3. Upon the conclusion of the World Series, any manger who owns a player who has been traded to one of the six (6) non-existent teams, must decide whether to keep this player at the cost of his first available draft choice, or release the player from the league.

4. During the off season ( between the conclusion of the World Series and the conclusion of the rookie draft), once a player is traded or signs with a non-existent team, the manager owning this player has 24 hours in which to decide whether to keep the player or forfeit his first available draft pick.

December 20, 2003
Super Rookie Draft begins
EAST STROUDSBURG PA. - Now that the rookie draft has concluded, this is a good time to regroup before we move into the "trading season". FYI, those 8 or 9 rookies who were not drafted, will go into the 2005 rookie draft if eligible. As for trading, "Caveat emptor' Let the buyer beware! There will be no restrictions on players that may be traded aside from the prohibition on trading draft choices for the 2005 rookie draft. Remember, it is not which of the eligible teams a player is currently on that now matters. It is where he ends up at the conclusion of the 2004 World series that determines his further league eligibility or protecting him at the cost of a draft choice.

I realize that there has been some concern over this concept. However, until we have actually played a season or perhaps two, I am not yet ready to modify any of the rules that we have in place. I reviewing the teams, I see no real problems with player usage. You will have to use bad hitters and pitchers, just as the actual Major Leagues used in 2003 and that is the way it should be. The DMB game engine functions much more efficiently by having a representative mixture of good and bad players in the league. I think this is one difference between SPB Now and other current leagues of 24 teams. In the other leagues, where 24 teams are staffed using all 30 ML teams, most of the weaker players are never even drafted, let alone used.

Some teams may still have to make trades to make sure that they are sufficiently covered. Please take advantage of the web page or use league wide e-mails to make your needs known. I for one have many more outfielders than I need and could use a little more help at shortstop.

Finally, I ask each of you, especially the managers new to SPB, to review the league rules regarding player usage. If you have any question regarding usage, let me know.

And one last thing, please copy both myself and Richard Pearson on any trades that are made. Let the trading begin!!

Jim

December 20, 2003
Super Rookie Draft begins
DAYTON, OH - Thanks to everyone for an extremely smooth player draft. Picking hundreds of players via email is never easy.  Thanks to Mike See and Marc Hollingsworth for helping me keeping the draft flowing smoothly.  The Super Rookie draft has begun, and will conclude our player dispersal for this season. 

December 7, 2003
League Update
DAYTON, OH - Click HERE for the latest league update from Commissioner Jim Wheeler. 

November 7, 2003
Constitution addendums
DAYTON, OH - As you know, SPB Now is going to be a different type of mail league. Due to the nature the draft choice and their relationship to players who may be traded to or sign with one of the 6 non-existent teams, a certain amount of safeguards need to be put in place to prevent a manager from trading draft choices simply in order to keep a premier player at a minimal cost. 

For example, Barry Bonds signs with the Rockies. We have said that the manager owning Bonds may elect to either keep Bonds at the cost of his first available draft choice, or loose him without any compensation. Realizing this, a manger could trade several of his top draft choices and keep Bonds at the cost of a very low draft choice. Clearly, this is not what the spirit of the league is built upon. And while this situation may never actually occur, the league is better off to address this situation in writing now, then later. Accordingly, I am asking John Turnbull to add the following points to the SPB Now Constitution.


1. Draft choices may only be traded from the time period between the conclusion of the World Series and the conclusion of the next upcoming rookie draft.

2. Future draft picks, for those drafts beyond the next upcoming rookie draft may not be traded.

3. Upon the conclusion of the World Series, any manger who owns a player who has been traded to one of the six (6) non-existent teams, must decide whether to keep this player at the cost of his first available draft choice, or release the player from the league.

4. During the off season ( between the conclusion of the World Series and the conclusion of the rookie draft), once a player is traded or signs with a non-existent team, the manager owning this player has 24 hours in which to decide whether to keep the player or forfeit his first available draft pick.

October 18, 2003
SPB-Now draft now underway!

                                                          
DAYTON, OH - Manager Chris Williams selects Alex Rodriguez as the first overall pick in the 2003 inaugural SPB-Now draft. 

September 27, 2003
New Manager announced.                   
STROUDSBURG, PA - Please welcome Steve Lasley as a member of the league. Steve will be taking over for the departed Mark Fisher and will call his team the Louisville Centurions. Steve has an extensive back round in mail leagues and is highly recommended by Mike See and Dave Lauer. To learn more about Steve and all of the other SPB Managers, please check the SPB web site.

Also as a reminder, while the initial player draft is in progress, there will be no trading allowed. Trades will be announced upon the conclusion of the draft.

September 20, 2003
Manager list posted.                   
DAYTON OH - The manager listing has been released with all ballparks, team names, and email addresses.  List will be rearranged once divisions have been assigned. 

September 13, 2003
First round draft order released.                   
STROUDSBURG, PA - Due to popular demand, the first round of the SPB-Now draft has been released.  The order will be reversed in round 1B, then a new order will be picked for each round.  The order for the Super-Rookie draft will be the reverse order of what is shown to the right. Complete orders for the first two rounds and the Super-Rookie draft can be accessed HERE.

September 8, 2003
Update on voting issues.                   
STROUDSBURG, PA - In response to yesterday's proposal which I asked you to vote on, response has been very light with only 9 managers voting. The tally is 7 managers for the proposal and 2 against.

One of the criticisms that Gary and I often hear from SPB managers is that there are few league wide votes on rule changes. So here is your chance to vote!! I will be the voting booth open until this Friday September 12, 2003 @ 12 midnight EST. After that deadline, I will release the results of the vote and if called for, the draft order for the first 2 rounds.

In case you missed it, here is what we are voting on:

The FIRST ROUND draft order (picks 1 to 24) of the Super Impact Rookie will be the reverse order of the FIRST ROUND Phase A of the regular player draft (picks 1 to 24). So the team that drafts last in the regular player draft would have the first pick in the rookie phase. The SECOND ROUND of the rookie draft would then be drawn at random order. Please let me now if you favor this change or not.

Next, several managers have asked me to immediately release the first two (2) rounds of the regular player draft. I am willing to do this if that is the preference of the league. Let me know what you think. However, I will not release any draft order until the previous question regarding the format of the impact rookie draft has been finalized.

Jim Wheeler
 

August 31, 2003
Ballpark draft finished, player draft in October.                   
DAYTON, OH - The SPB-Now ballpark draft is now complete.  The results are listed under the DRAFT CENTRAL section. Jim Wheeler has sent out another update with detailed drafting instructions for the upcoming player draft.  You can read his update by clicking HERE.   

August 24, 2003
Ballpark draft has begun.                   
DAYTON, OH - The SPB-Now ballpark draft has kicked off, with Steve Ehresman choosing Atlanta's Turner Field as his home park.  President Richard Pearson will be overseeing the festivities.  A reminder that Bank One Ballpark, Coors Field, SkyDome, Tropicana Field, Pro-Player Stadium, and Safe-Co Field are not elegible to be drafted. 

August 24, 2003
SPB-Now names President
DAYTON, OH - It is my privilege to announce that Richard Pearson has accepted the offer to become the SPB Now league president. The league stat will also be named in the immediate future. I have asked Richard to handle the ball park draft, which has now begun. So
be ready with your pick when Richard notifies you of your turn.

Good luck.

Jim

August 23, 2003
SPB-Now Filled
DAYTON, OH - All 24 slots for the inaugural SPB-Now league has now been filled. Drafting for ballparks will begin shortly. 

August 15, 2003
SPB-Now Update
DAYTON, OH - 18 Managers are in the fold with 6 more to recruit.  Jim Wheeler has sent out an updated draft of the rules, and can be accessed HERE.  The main change from the  previous rules is the super rookie increase from 24 to 48. 

July 29, 2003
Seasons Past Baseball-Now spinning up
STROUDSBURG, PA - Managers, For several years now I have thought about how to start a decent current day baseball league using the SPB format. What I have come up with would be called Seasons Past Now and would incorporate all of the current SPB rules
and at the same time insure that there is a decent distribution of talent without having to have a 30 team league. Here is how it would work:

1. There would be 24 teams in the league, with the league being broken into three (3) eight (8) team divisions.

2. The initial player draft would be based upon only those players playing on the rosters of the 1969 era Major Leagues. The one exception to these teams would be whether to have the current Milwaukee team or the Seattle team replace the 1969 Seattle Pilots.

3. The draft format would be based upon Turnbull draft format which was used to distribute the SPBV players. This would also include a bonus round of "Super Rookie" draft picks as selected by John Turnbull.

4. OK, what about the players on the remaining 6 current ML teams, i.e. Florida, Arizona, Colorado, Toronto, Tampa Bay, and either Milwaukee or Seattle? These players and any future players from those teams would basically cease to exist and would never be eligible to be drafted. However, there would be one exception. If one a player from one of the excluded franchises would join one of the existing teams (the 1969 ML teams), that player would enter the league as a "rookie" in the next rookie draft. An example. Randy Johnson who is on the current Arizona team would not be eligible to be drafted or play in SPB Now. However, Johnson is either traded to or signs as a free agent with one of the existing 1969 era ML teams, say the New York Yankees. Johnson would then be eligible to be
drafted in the next rookie draft based upon the fact that he would now play for a 1969 ML team.

5. What about players who are on a 1969 era ML team roster, drafted through the initial player dispersal draft, and then are traded or sign with one of the ineligible teams? The manager of the player involved could elect to keep the player on his teams roster at the cost of a first round draft pick, or he could keep the draft choice and forfeit the player. If the later occurred, that player would be inveigle for play unless he re-enter the 1969 era teams as described in point #4.
As an example, Barry Bonds is traded or signs with to Colorado. He would basically cease to exist as a player in SPB Now unless his manager opted to forfeit his first round draft pick.

The intent here is to prevent a team from being destroyed by circumstances he cannot control.

6. Only the 1969 era ML parks would eligible to be drafted.

7. With 3 eight team divisions, there would be a wild card team. This
would be the team with the highest winning percentage that does not win its division. The wild card team would then enter the first round playoffs against the team highest winning percentage and the wild card team would also be the visiting team in this series. The other two division winners would play each other with the highest winning percentage team enjoying the home field advantage. In all playoffs, the team with the highest winning percentage would enjoy the home field advantage.

8. At the conclusion of the World Series, random team divisional assignment would occur. What this means is that each year the divisions will be different. That way, no team will be stuck in a perennially strong division.

9. All other SPB rules would be in effect.

Any one interested in this concept?

Jim