I play on Smallworld.com. It’s free and everything. Basically, this is how it goes (these were last year’s rules, I don’t think that much has changed):
-You register sometime between when they open up the game and opening day (you can register after opening day of course, but you’re at a disadvantage). You can play in a random division, or one that you or a friend create (so you play against your friends/associates/people you know).
-You pick a team. You pick five pitchers, one player at each infield position, and four outfielders. You have a salary cap of $50 mil, and each player is assigned a price (this is where it gets cool).
-Your players recieve points for their stats. Hits are worth so much, singles/doubles/triples/homeruns are worth different amounts, steals, etc. For pitchers, they get points for innings pitched, strikeouts, etc. Negative points are also possible, for outs, or runs given up, hits allowed, etc. This is the basis for the scoring.
-You are allowed a certain amount of trades per week. Last year it was just five per week, but I think this year they are changing it to three pitcher trades and three player trades per week (this sucks…it makes it considerably harder).
-Player prices are adjusted regularly. Last year it was every week, but now I think they’re doing it every day (after the season starts). Price fluctuations are based solely on how many people buy or sell that player (much like a stock market). Buy buying low and selling high (like a stock market), you can make money and expand your salary cap. This is the trick to success. There’s another trick as well that I kind of alluded to before, but I wouldn’t want to give it away for anybody who hasn’t played before.
The game isn’t ready yet, but it should be soon. If enough people are interested I’ll start the division (I’ll probably call it Straight Dope or something like that, and I’ll make it password-protected and post the password here), and let you know when you can start drafting. Oh, and one more thing, before opening day you have unlimited trades, in case anyone should get hurt or anything.
So, any takers? Who wants to lose to me?
“History will be kind to me, for I intend to write it.” -Winston Churchill
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