|
| FIN |
112-50 |
.691 |
- |
| QUI |
109-53 |
.673 |
3 |
| MOO |
87-75 |
.537 |
25 |
| NES |
81-81 |
.500 |
31 |
| MEA |
72-90 |
.444 |
40 |
| WIL |
62-100 |
.383 |
50 |
| PIO |
31-131 |
.191 |
81 |
| PYT |
106-56 |
.654 |
- |
| NOI |
104-58 |
.642 |
2 |
| NOM |
100-62 |
.617 |
6 |
| DIR |
92-70 |
.568 |
14 |
| BEA |
66-96 |
.407 |
40 |
| GIA |
62-100 |
.383 |
44 |
| RAC |
60-102 |
.370 |
46 |
|
ISBL
HOME WEEK 26 DISKS & PAST FILES
FINANCES AUCTION SITE FORUMS
E-MAIL
PLAYOFFS DIAMOND
CUP USAGE
ISSUES VIOLATIONS
NOTES TRANSACTIONS
AUCTION DL REPORT
POWS
Force
Score 11th-Inning Win To Claim AL Crown
|
Luis
Gonzalez of the Chicago Force
|
The Chicago Force
entered the season's final day controlling their own destiny, as
they held a slim one-game lead over the Beltway Bandits for the
American League title. The Bandits complicated matters by
beating the Lexington Legends Sunday at home, 7-1, keeping alive
their hopes for a three-game playoff with the Force in the event
Chicago lost its final game at Omaha against the Orange Crush.
The Force
compiled a 6-1 lead through the first four innings, but the
Crush battled back to within a run after six. Chicago then
scored four in the top 7th on a Luis Gonzalez grand slam to
again take a five-run lead at 10-5. But the Crush battled back
with a four-spot in the bottom 8th, then tied the game in the
bottom 9th on a two-out RBI single by Jorge Posada.
Finally, in the
top 11th, a one-out double by Chicago's Michael Ryan moved
Magglio Ordonez to third and set the stage for Mark Johnson to
be the unlikely hero, as he hit a sac fly to plate Ordonez and
give the Force an 11-10 lead. T.J. Tucker then pitched a 1-2-3
bottom 11th, and the Force had punched their ticket to the
Senior World Series.
|
|
Finns
Capture NL Pennant With 110th Win
After trailing
the Manchester Moose by an 8-3 margin after the first inning,
the St. Louis Finns rallied to score a dramatic 10-9 away
victory Tuesday to capture the National League pennant. The win
was capped by a two-run HR by Jack Cust off Moose reliever John
Smoltz in the top 8th to erase a 9-8 deficit and give the Finns
their 110th victory.
The Finns -- who
finished the regular season with an ISBL-best 112 victories,
getting their final win Thursday as Woody Williams became the
team's fourth 20-game winner --
travel to Chicago to face the Force in the Senior World Series,
which starts Tuesday at Jacobs Field.
|
|
|
|
Pythons
Drown Out The Noise For FL Flag
Tim Hudson of the
Pittsburgh Pythons faced just two batters over the minimum in
leading his team to a 7-0 away victory Sunday over the Arizona
Raccoons to clinch the Federal League pennant. The three-hit
shutout was Hudson's 23rd win of the year against just five
losses, and slammed the door on what little mathematical hope
remained for the Illinois Noise to grab the FL crown. The
Pythons travel to Albuquerque to start the Junior World Series
Tuesday against the Sidewinders.
|
|
Bulldogs
Sweep Their Way To Playoffs
The only remaining drama in the UL was in Chicago
Sunday as the Bulldogs hosted the Cartersville Cyclones. The
B-Dogs, needing a seven-game sweep to swipe the final promotional playoff berth away
from the Clones, scored a trio of three-run wins at
Cartersville, then won three one-run games (two in extra
innings) at Chicago to set up a final showdown.
In Sunday's
game, the Bulldogs' Derrek Lee hit a solo HR in the bottom 4th
to give the Bulldogs a 2-1 lead, then added a second HR to lead
off the bottom 6th and put Chicago up, 4-2. Chicago reliever
Steve Sparks provided 3.2 innings of no-hit relief, and the
Bulldogs completed the improbable sweep with a 5-2 victory to
edge Cartersville for the final playoff spot.
|
|
THE 2004 ISBL
PLAYOFFS
|
|
The ISBL Senior
World Series opens Tuesday with the Chicago Force hosting the
St. Louis Finns. The Finns, who led wire-to-wire in the NL, will
have Barry Bonds back in time for Game 1. The Force come into
the series having battled the Beltway Bandits and Omaha Orange
Crush in a tight three-way race for the AL crown that wasn't
decided until the final day of the regular season. |
|
|
The ISBL Junior World Series starts Tuesday
with the Albuquerque Sidewinders playing host to the Pittsburgh Pythons.
Albuquerque fought off a tough challenge from the Saskatchewan Prairie
Fire for the UL title before going 6-1 against the Fire in Week 22 to
outdistance them. The Pythons, preseason favorites to win the FL flag in
a walk, had to beat back no less than three teams during the season
before gaining the edge in the season's final weeks.
|
|
|
The Manhattan Meat Possums host the Alaska
Willows Tuesday to start a best-of-seven series to see which team stays
in the NL and which falls to the FL. Both teams battled into September
with the Los Angeles Nessmen for fourth place and an automatic NL berth
for 2005, but usage issues plagues both teams as the Nessmen finished on
a 23-9 run. The Willows were 11-9 against the Meat Possums in the
regular season.
|
|
|
The Washington Gridlock host the Lexington
Legends Tuesday to start a best-of-seven series, with the winner
remaining in the AL for 2005 and the loser dropping to the UL. Both the
Gridlock and Legends struggled for the duration of the season, but the
Gridlock come into this series having finished the season on a 10-5 run.
Still, the Legends had an 11-9 advantage over the Gridlock in the
regular season, and they split their final series in September.
|
|
|
The Illinois Noise welcome the Las Vegas
Nomads Tuesday as the two former FL title contenders vie for a berth in
the NL for 2005 in a best-of-seven showdown. Both teams challenged the
Pittsburgh Pythons for the FL championship into September, with the
Noise holding on until the final weekend. The Noise also have the
benefit of a 14-6 head-to-head advantage over the Nomads in the regular
season.
|
|
|
The Saskatchewan Prairie Fire greet the
Chicago Bulldogs Tuesday as the teams play a best-of-seven series to
determine who will win promotion to the AL in 2005. The Fire were
neck-and-neck with the Albuquerque Sidewinders for most of the season
for the FL flag before going 1-6 in a Week 22 showdown. The Bulldogs won
their last 11 games, including a seven-game sweep of the Cartersville
Cyclones in the final week, to steal the final playoff berth away from
the Clones.
|
RULES FOR THE 2004 ISBL PLAYOFFS
- Rosters are to be set at 25
players, with no substitutions, even in the event of injury.
- First team to score four victories
wins.
- All series are 2-3-2, with an off
day for travel between each home set.
- The MP teams have home field
advantage (even year) in both the Senior and Junior World Series.
- Home field advantage went to the
team with the best record in the promotional/relegational series.
- No ++overused++ or <<Junior Draft>> players
are eligible for use in the playoffs.
- Non-unlimited batters are limited
to 10% of their real-life PAs for the series. Any non-unlimited
batter exceeding 10% at the end of a given game should be farmed.
The two managers should chart usage for both their own team and
their opponent's team and note when such farmings should take place.
Any non-unlimited batter exceeding 10% will be ineligible for the
2004 ISBL Diamond Cup.
- Non-unlimited pitchers are limited
to 15% of their real-life BFs for the series. Any non-unlimited
pitcher exceeding 15% at the end of a given game should be farmed.
Again, the two managers should chart usage for both their own team
and their opponent's team and note when such farmings should take
place. Any non-unlimited pitcher exceeding 15% will be ineligible
for the 2004 ISBL Diamond Cup.
- Playing these games head-to-head
over NetPlay is strongly recommended, in the interest of both
fairness and fun, as well as the ability to track said usage. If you have problems getting NetPlay scheduled
for your series, let STATS know.
THE 2004 ISBL DIAMOND
CUP -- PRELIMINARY ROUND
 |
The random
drawing for the preliminary round of the Diamond Cup, featuring the
bottom four teams in each Junior Circuit league, was held Wednesday.
The first team listed is the home team for Game 1 and (if
necessary) Game 3.
- Cyclones vs.
Wolverines
- Giants vs. Beavers
- Dirt Dogs vs. Sluggers
- Underdogs vs. Raccoons
The preliminary round losers will
receive $300k toward their 2005 coffers. The preliminary round
winners will advance to the First Round of the Diamond Cup,
which begins Saturday, Oct. 16, joining the remaining Junior
Circuit teams and the 5th-thru-7th-place teams from both Senior
Circuit leagues. Again, a random drawing of opponents will be
held at 9pm EDT next Wednesday. |
RULES FOR THE 2004 ISBL DIAMOND
CUP
-
Expanded
rosters (up to 40 players).
-
First
team to score two victories wins.
-
All
series are 1-1-1, with no off days for travel.
-
Pairings
and home-field advantage are determined by random lot.
-
++Overused++
players ARE NOT eligible for the Diamond Cup.
-
<<Junior
Draft>> players ARE eligible for the Diamond Cup.
-
Non-unlimited
players are limited to 100% of their real-life PAs/BFs for the
duration of the Diamond Cup. After each round, those players who
have exceeded 100% will be farmed for the remainder of the Cup.
- Playing these games head-to-head
over NetPlay is strongly recommended, in the interest of both
fairness and fun, as well as the money riding on advancing through
to the next round. If you have problems getting NetPlay scheduled
for your series, let STATS know.
2004 ISBL DIAMOND CUP SCHEDULE
- Preliminary Round (Oct. 8-10) -- bottom 4
teams from each Junior Circuit league -- losers get $300k, winners
advance to First Round.
- First Round (Oct. 16-18) -- Preliminary
Round winners join the rest of the Junior Circuit and the bottom 3
teams from each Senior Circuit league -- losers get $500k, winners
advance to Second Round.
- Second Round (Oct. 19-21) -- First Round
winners join the rest of the Senior Circuit -- losers get $700k,
winners advance to Quarterfinal Round
- Quarterfinal Round (Oct. 22-24) -- losers
get $1m, winners advance to Semifinal Round
- Semifinal Round (Oct. 25-27) -- losers get
$1.3m, winners advance to Final Round
- Final Round (Oct. 28-30) -- loser gets
$1.6m, winner gets $2m
NEW DISK CODING
1. Players
who are Junior Draftees are marked as such: <<NAME>>. Don't
bring them up for the playoffs, but you can bring them up for the Cup.
2. Players
who are overused and mandatorily farmed are marked as such: ++NAME++.
Don't bring them up.
3. Players
who are placed on the DL, but were injured for less than 15 days, have
had their return date amended so that they can't be brought up until
those 15 days have passed.
Additionally,
the usage and DL lists provided here each week will remain in place and
continue to be updated.
Hopefully that knocks out most of the violation
buggaboos.
USAGE
ISSUES
The following players have exceeded 110%
usage for the year. New additions are in bold. They have been mandatorily farmed for the year,
can not be traded, and are ineligible for postseason and cup play.
These players are noted in your roster with the coding ++NAME++.
BATTERS
- Juan Castro (BUL) -- 120%
- Fernando Vina (LEG) -- 119%
- Brian Daubach (LEG) -- 119%
- Ben Grieve (GIA) -- 119%
- Mo Vaughn (LEG) -- 117%
- Javy Lopez (LEG) -- 117%
- Danny Garcia (MEA) -- 116%
- Ryan Freel (SLU) -- 116%
- Rod Barajas (SLU) -- 115%
- Ray Durham (UND) -- 115%
- Kevin Witt (CAR) -- 115%
- Kevin Mench (SLU) -- 114%
- Adam Melhuse (GIA) -- 114%
- Mendy Lopez (CAR) -- 113%
- Eric Byrnes (BUL) -- 113%
- Ramon Castro (PIO) -- 112%
- Freddy Sanchez (NOI) --
112%
- Dustin Mohr (SLU) -- 112%
- Austin Kearns (RAC) -- 112%
|
PITCHERS
- Al Reyes (GIA) -- 145%
- Tony Fiore (GIA) -- 143%
- A.J. Burnett (CAR) -- 140%
- Scott Strickland (GIA) -- 137%
- Josh Hall (SLU) -- 132%
- Tommy Phelps (Released) --
129%
- Justin Duchscherer (WIL) -- 128%
- Chad Cordero (SLU) -- 128%
- Aaron Taylor
(Released) -- 126%
- Ricardo Rodriguez (GIA) -- 123%
- Grant Balfour (GIA) -- 121%
- Jim Brower (GIA) -- 121%
- Kiko Calero (CAR) -- 120%
- Jeremy Affeldt (GIA) --
119%
- Gary Glover (GIA) -- 119%
- Kazuhiro Sasaki (RAC) -- 119%
- Cliff Politte (SLU) -- 118%
- Jaime Cerda (SLU) -- 118%
- Jeremi Gonzalez (GIA) --
118%
- Terry Adams (LEG) -- 116%
- Terry Mulholland (UND) --
116%
- Rick White (GIA) -- 115%
- Josh Towers (CRO) -- 114%
- Julio Mateo (SLU) -- 114%
- Mike Gallo (GIA) -- 114%
- Rick Reed (RAC) -- 114%
- Jim Mecir (PIO) -- 113%
- Kevin Correia (NES) -- 113%
- Andrew Good (PIO) -- 113%
- Jimmy Gobble (WIL) -- 113%
- Jason Isringhausen (NES) -- 113%
- Adam Bernero (GIA) -- 112%
- John Franco (LEG) -- 112%
- Billy Koch (BUL) -- 112%
- Pat Hentgen (CRO) -- 112%
- Todd Van Poppel (CAR) -- 111%
- Felix Rodriguez (LEG) --
111%
- Chris Reitsma (SLU) -- 111%
- Nelson Figueroa (GIA) -- 111%
- Danny Patterson (WOL) -- 111%
- Mickey Callaway (LEG) -- 111%
- Jason Boyd (DIR) -- 111%
- Jesse Foppert (WIL) -- 111%
- Seth McClung (CRO) -- 111%
- Luis Ayala (RAC) -- 111%
- Steve Kline (MEA) -- 111%
- Carlos Reyes (CRO) -- 111%
|
RULE VIOLATIONS
BE CAREFUL TO KEEP PLAYERS ON
DISABLED LIST FOR MINIMUM 15 DAYS. Check the DL listings below
to be sure what date players are eligible to return. PLEASE
NOTE: The game program allows players to be brought back before
they've served 15 days. ISBL DOES NOT, so please consult the DL
listings to ensure that you're bringing players back on the correct
date.
CHECK YOUR MANAGER
PROFILE
Remember what Troy always says. Recheck
your manager profile weekly to make sure phantom zeros aren't popping
into your usage limits. Check to see if you have injured players, or
players eligible to be reactivated. Be sure to check that your
roster is at 25, especially if you have acquired new players through
trade or free agency, as the game tends to make all of these players
active.
We would advise those of
you that constructed preseason manager profiles (before the Week 1 disk
was released) to double check them to ensure that playing limits are
correct. The last preseason disk that was posted showed several players
with settings of zero, and the CM will pass over many of these players
when your team is away. You can see this on the final page of the profile
where the players are listed. The playing limits were corrected to the
actual usage numbers on the Week 1 disk. If you put together an MP using
an older V9 disk, you can correct the playing limits this way:
- Click on the "Other
Actions" button in the lower right corner of either the
"Pitching," "Saved Lineup" or "Depth
Chart" page of your Manager Profile.
- Click on "Generate
Manager Profile."
- Uncheck everything
EXCEPT "Generate playing time limits," keeping that one
checked, and click OK. This should retain your other settings while
ensuring that the playing time limits are correct.
Of course, once you've
corrected these playing time limits, you can manipulate them as needed to
make sure that players are used only in the specific roles you want them
to play (i.e. if you have a pitcher rated both to start and relieve, and
you only want him used as a starter, you can set his relief appearances to
zero). Also, be sure to note that in Version 9, there's a new page for
setting player-specific tendencies, as well as team tendencies.
PAY ATTENTION TO OPPONENT'S
INSTRUCTIONS
If an owner takes the time to send you
an MP and/or instructions as to how to install his pitchers/lineups,
take care to use these. Seen a couple of instances this year where MPs
have been sent, only to be ignored/looked over/forgotten by opponents.
If they're sending you an MP, it means they have changes from what's
on the disk that may affect their rotation, or player usage, or
whatever. So use them. Otherwise, you're risking having to play the
games over again. And might get fined for repeated occurances.
When your opponent has
taken the time and care to create an MP for your series that week,
make sure to import it into the database. If you're unsure that
you're doing things correctly, please contact Micah, Troy or Tim for
help. Some important things to consider:
- Merely
downloading the zip file from the e-mail doesn't install it. You
have to go to Import Statistics (found in the game menu under
Transfer), find the zip file, click it open and import it.
- If
you do this, and the initial import screen comes up, and you
don't see your opponent's team name there highlighted, there's a
problem. Contact your opponent or one of us to resolve this.
- You
need to make sure the new disk for the week is installed BEFORE
you import the MP. Otherwise, when you install the new database,
it will overwrite the new MP with the old one.
SOME ADDITIONAL DIRECTION ON PLAYING IN NETPLAY
When FTF players set their
rosters to 25 (or make changes to their roster between weeks), whoever
the host is won't have those handy, so you'll need to at least make
whatever pre-series changes on your disk, generate an MP file with
those changes (just like you would a file with played games to send),
and send it to whichever of the two of you is hosting. That's an
extra step we haven't had to contend with before with the NetMeeting,
where you could just make the changes yourself or instruct your
opponent to do so. And you can STILL instruct your opponent to do
so, but you'll need to do that before you link onto the NetPlay,
'cause there's no way to get to the MPs once you've linked.
Because of this, it's advisable that for the series, one team remains
the host throughout, who will have made his changes and installed the
MP (or made the changes as directed) of their opponent.
Switching
between who is the home manager and who is the away manager is pretty
simple if you're mid-series and already connected with one as home and
one as away. The host needs only to click on "NetPlay" in
the top menu line and then "Swap manager roles" to flip
them.
As
for changing options, this is done by the host. Make sure the settings
for the host are "Human" and for away are
"Remote." If for some reason, you get into the game and one
party doesn't have control of, say, baserunning, have the host go in
and fix it.
If you have any additional questions
about V9 play, please direct them to stats@isbl.com.
TRANSACTIONS
You can track your finances, as well as
your payroll ceiling, at the ISBL Finances page (http://www.isbl.com/isbl_2004/isbl_finances.htm).
AUCTION
If you want players
put up for auction, you need to send an e-mail to stats@isbl.com
by Thursday afternoon stating what players you want put on the board.
Players will typically be put on the board at 9 pm Eastern Thursday night
and stay there for 72 hours. If you are a new owner and need to set up an
auction account, please contact stats@isbl.com.
DL REPORT
Please be sure to check if you have
injured players. This lists only players already placed on the DL.
NOTE: Not sure if V9
handles DL'ed players the same as V8. With V8, you typically could call
a player back up on the day listed as his last day on the injury line
(i.e. if if said "Out from 4/20/2004 to 5/17/2004," it'd let
you call him back up on the 17th), so that's what I've used here. If it
turns out that it's one more day, let me know so I can start accounting
for the extra day. Sorry if this causes any confusion.
These players were DL'ed
during the past week and must remain there for at least 15 days:
- Giles,M (PRA) -- injured 9/28 for 17 days --
can return 10/15 (in time for Diamond Cup)
These players are eligible
to come off the DL at some point (see below) this week:
These players were placed
on the DL previously and are not eligible to come back this week:
- Osik (NOI) -- injured 9/14 for 30 days --
can return 10/14 (in time for Diamond Cup)
POWs FOR WEEK 24
14 teams voted:
NES, BAN, CRO, CAR, BEA, CYC, PRA, DIR, MOO, PIO, WIL, FOR, MEA, PYT
SENIOR
BATTER: Ryan
Klesko (Quicksteps)
Klesko
(QUI): 7 votes -- BAN, CAR, BEA, CYC, DIR, FOR, MEA
Williams,B
(QUI): 6 votes -- NES, CRO, PRA, MOO, PIO, WIL
Helton
(LEG): 1 vote -- PYT
Randa
(WIL) & Ross,D (FIN): no votes
SENIOR
PITCHER: (TIE)
John Smoltz (Moose) & Joel Pineiro (Orange Crush)
Smoltz
(MOO): 5 votes -- CRO, BEA, MOO, PIO, WIL
Pineiro
(ORA): 5 votes -- NES, CAR, CYC, DIR, PYT
Martinez,P
(WIL): 3 votes -- BAN, PRA, MEA
Zito
(FOR): 1 vote -- FOR
Kim,BH
(QUI): no votes
JUNIOR
BATTER: Preston
Wilson (Pythons)
Wilson,Pr
(PYT): 10 votes -- NES, CRO, CAR, BEA, CYC, PRA, PIO, WIL, MEA, PYT
Castilla
(DIR): 3 votes -- BAN, DIR, FOR
Belliard
(BUL): 1 vote -- MOO
Coomer
(BUL): no votes
JUNIOR
PITCHER: (TIE)
Estaban Loaiza (Bulldogs) & Brandon Webb (Sidewinders)
Loaiza
(BUL): 7 votes -- BAN, CAR, BEA, CYC, MOO, PIO, WIL
Webb
(SID): 7 votes -- NES, CRO, PRA, DIR, FOR, MEA, PYT
Hudson,T
(PYT): no votes
POW BALLOT FOR WEEK 25 & POM BALLOT FOR
SEPT/OCT
You can vote for BOTH Senior AND Junior
players. Submit by Sunday, 5 pm EDT.
|
| FOR |
107-55 |
.660 |
- |
| BAN |
106-56 |
.654 |
1 |
| ORA |
100-62 |
.617 |
7 |
| CRO |
85-77 |
.525 |
22 |
| GRI |
69-93 |
.426 |
38 |
| LEG |
61-101 |
.377 |
46 |
| CAR |
52-110 |
.321 |
55 |
| SID |
109-53 |
.673 |
- |
| PRA |
102-60 |
.630 |
7 |
| BUL |
94-68 |
.580 |
15 |
| CYC |
93-69 |
.574 |
16 |
| WOL |
64-98 |
.395 |
45 |
| UND |
45-117 |
.278 |
64 |
| SLU |
37-125 |
.228 |
72 |
|
