- BudBall -
Assorted resources for those who play in fantasy baseball points-style leagues.
Last update Mar 2011 by Steve (aka Summit Squad, Stairway to Nevin).
Many Fanball Budget Baseball refugees are regrouping at Fantrax and a new CDM.
2011 MAC Leagues

MAC stands for Manager's Challenge. All teams in these MAC leagues begin the season with an identical roster.

The initial roster is selected by the prior year's MAC winner, and all teams will have exactly the same roster (and points) for week 1.

MAC is a true test of your roster management abilities!

MAC is also great for those who can't find the time to pick an initial roster.

Game underway... info below kept here for reference.

PLEASE NOTE: with the demise of Fanball, for 2011 MAC is reorganizing at Fantrax. Please bear with us as we all figure out the new hosting site.

Now inviting team owners for MAC! MAC is in its 10th season, and all are welcome to join: we have room for 50 participants. There is no cost to enter and play; there is an optional coupon.

The format and rules for MAC is that of the Fantrax Rookie league MLB points game, except entry is free and the roster for all MAC teams is identical for MLB week 1; that roster is chosen by the prior year's MAC champ. After the baseball season has begun, you manage your MAC team individually just as you do in standard Fantrax lgs.

2010 MAC winner ABC Triplets MAC has won the honor of picking the 2011 initial roster.

How to Participate:

  • If you have not already, visit Fantrax and create an account for yourself.
  • At the Fantrax site, click on the Join League link, and choose Private Only
  • The page will replot... in the "League ID:" field enter b2d2jxepgkj5j8bg
  • in the "Password" field enter samerosters
  • Enter the 2011 MAC roster yourself, as listed below
  • After week 1 has started, each team owner can then manage his/her team as deemed fit per normal Fantrax rules. Team rosters and points will diverge beginning with week 2.
By joining you agree to be subject to and abide by the rules and guidelines posted here.

URGENT MAC LEAGUE INFO

The commissioner feature we needed from Fantrax to input everyone's MAC roster has not been implemented. There is no way for a commish to initialize everyone's week 1 MAC roster. Back at CDM, Tracy would do this for us. I've emailed Fantrax to request similar help, but have received no reply, and as of this morning they have not set up the MAC rosters. When I phone Fantrax support I get only an automated message.

With time running out, it looks like each MAC participant will need to input the MAC roster on his/her own before the deadline. I very much had wanted to avoid this because it's more work for all of you, and is subject to error, or forgetfulness. For fairness to all other participants, it is essential that you correctly input the roster for your MAC team. Since there is no way for us to distinguish between an honest error and someone looking to gain an advantage, I'm afraid we have to say that anyone who does not correctly input the MAC week 1 roster will disqualify themselves.

The 2011 MAC roster you must input before the deadline and use unchanged for MLB week 1, as selected by 2010 champ ABC Triplets MAC, follows below. He says, "The theme in case anyone cares is that these are all players that I considered for my regular roster, but as of today none of these players are on my regular roster." Bench players are designated "RESERVE" so as to match Fantrax terminology, all others are Active. Place Venable and Ka'aihue at the two Utility positions.

C RESERVE Mauer, Joe Minnesota 2440000
C Wieters, Matt Baltimore 1540000
C Arencibia, J.P. Toronto 1370000
1B Teixeira, Mark NY Yankees 2930000
1B RESERVE Dunn, Adam Chicago Sox 2660000
1B Davis, Ike NY Mets 1960000
2B RESERVE Pedroia, Dustin Boston 2450000
2B Nishioka, Tsuyoshi Minnesota 1600000
2B Aviles, Mike Kansas City 1450000
3B Zimmerman, Ryan Washington 2790000
3B Sandoval, Pablo San Francisco 2380000
3B RESERVE Alvarez, Pedro Pittsburgh 2270000
SS RESERVE Drew, Stephen Arizona 2580000
SS Rollins, Jimmy Philadelphia 2560000
SS Desmond, Ian Washington 1800000
OF Crawford, Carl Boston 3140000
OF RESERVE Hamilton, Josh Texas 2940000
OF Rasmus, Colby St. Louis 2370000
OF Ellsbury, Jacoby Boston 2340000
OF Stubbs, Drew Cincinnati 2220000
OF Morrison, Logan Florida 1800000
OF Francisco, Ben Philadelphia 1580000
UTILITY (OF) Venable, Will San Diego 1550000
UTILITY (1B) Ka'aihue, Kila Kansas City 1500000
SP Lincecum, Tim San Francisco 3110000
SP Verlander, Justin Detroit 2950000
SP RESERVE Buchholz, Clay Boston 2240000
SP RESERVE Lewis, Colby Texas 2220000
SP Garza, Matt Chicago 2200000
SP Lilly, Ted LA Dodgers 2190000
SP Volquez, Edinson Cincinnati 1950000
SP RESERVE Porcello, Rick Detroit 1850000
SP RESERVE Bumgarner, Madison San Francisco 1800000
SP RESERVE Anderson, Brett Oakland 1770000
SP Drabek, Kyle Toronto 1210000
SP RESERVE Zimmermann, Jordan Washington 1170000
RP Feliz, Neftali Texas 2590000
RP Street, Huston Colorado 2280000
RP Thornton, Matt Chicago Sox 2160000
RP Perez, Chris Cleveland 1900000

If done correctly, the starting roster will have a total salary of $59,420,000. For reference, the starters+bench have a total salary of $85,810,000. Do not swap starters/bench or modify the above roster in any way for week 1! After the season is underway, you can make roster changes that will take effect for MLB week 2.

Please accept my apologies. I am not happy this has happened, and am disappointed Fantrax has not stepped up to help us out, especially after the MAC league has come here from Fanball to support their efforts. I worry that hard feelings could result if someone forgets to input his roster, or does so incorrectly. If you know a MAC participant who might not see this message in time, please email that person to let them know.

Only one MAC entry per person is allowed. MAC is limited to the first 50 teams that join. Entry deadline is end of the day March 29, 2011.

Though optional, all MAC participants are encouraged to send in a coupon. Only those who timely send in the coupon with payment are eligible for prizes.

Questions? email Steve (aka Summit Squad, Stairway to Nevin).

2010 MAC Results
(lgs 50 and 51)


The Winners!
Congrats to the 2010 Manager's Challenge Champion: ABC Triplets MAC! With this victory, ABC becomes the first person to win MAC for a 2nd time, a feat that had proven elusive in the 9-year competition. ABC's key timely acquistions included Casey McGehee, Buster Posey and David Price, but not 2010's breakout Jose Bautista.

Though the MAC roster began the season strong, ABC's was the only MAC team out of the 50 to finish on the top 100 team overall leaderboard. Former champ Comfortably Numb was the runner-up, and only team to finish within 100 pts of ABC. ABC had finished 7th in 2009 MAC.

The top 10 finishers (out of the 50 MAC teams) were, in order:

ABC Triplets MAC
Comfortably Numb MAC
Atlantic Scotians MAC
Winston MAC Wahoos
Sin City MAC
BobCat MAC
Michigan Trumbull MAC
*MACswells Silver Hammer*
MAC Attack
Morticia Macguana

In the all-time MAC totals, Stairway to Nevin added slightly (2.33 pts) to his lead over Lorraine's Bandits. In the "top average pts per season" column (teams that have missed MAC no more than one year), with a strong finish Stairway also gained a tiny amount of breathing space on Penguin MAC who at the start of the season had trailed by a mere 0.04 pts.

History of MAC winners:

Special thanks to Dick's Big Sticks for in 2002 organizing the first MAC competition. He writes, "A short summary of the history of MAC. There was a lot of debate one year as to whether some of us were giving out to much information on the BBS and that lurkers could just simply read the board and get a good team. I argued that you could give lesser-skilled team managers a good team but they would still end up with poor results. MAC was created to prove this point and I created a roster that I think was good but not great. It was decided that the winner each year would create the next year's roster which was OK by me because I really didn't want the responsibility of doing it every year. With a different person creating the roster each year, we've had some diversity as to how it's set up. I think that's a good thing and keeps it interesting."


Worst Team League

2011 WTL

WTL stands for Worst Team League

No Studs, Just Duds

Hall of Shame

Bad luck/skills wished to all!

Game underway... info below kept here for reference.

And now, for something completely different...

Join us for fantasy baseball's most upside down points-style contest, the Worst Team League. The 2011 season will be hosted at Fantrax. Entry and participation all season are free!

How to Join:

  • If you have not already, visit Fantrax and create an account for yourself.
  • At the Fantrax site, click on the Join League link, and choose Private Only
  • The page will replot... in the "League ID:" field enter at5uwry1gl8l2qlv
  • In the "Password" field enter nickpunto
  • Fill your roster with the worst MLB players you can find who MLB managers keep putting into games

How to Play: with your entry, abide by the following WTL rules:

  • your team must accumulate a minimum of 2500 GP (games played) total for the season
  • there is NO minimum team salary
  • there is no bench... for replacements you can select from the entire list available in Fantrax's Rookie and Pro games
  • the number of roster changes you can make each week is limited... for 2011 the number will be either 1 or 2 changes per week (yet to be finalized)
  • your roster scores points via the same formula as Fantrax's Rookie and Pro games: single=1, double=2, triple=3, HR=4, run=1, RBI=1, SB=2, batter walk=1, IP=1, Win=10, Save=10, K=1.
The WTL team with fewest points at the end of the 26-week season is the champ! A Completely Random Amazing Prize (CRAP) will be awarded the champ. Is it a 1962 Mets team photo? Maybe a Jose Macias rookie card? Rack down the fewest points, and you'll find out.

In the event no team reaches 2500 GPs at the end of the contest, or if two (or more) teams tie in Pts, the winner will be the team with the lowest Pts/GPs ratio.

In recent years, more than half the entrants have been unable to reach 2500 GP, and were thus disqualified. Each week you fall behind in GP, you have less time remaining to catch up, so watch that GP column!

Some strategy tips:

  • part-time players alone often don't general enough GP, you may also need some nearly full-time players
  • as part timers, the veteran pinch-hitter and the late inning defensive specialist are often good choices
  • avoid starting pitchers, but to reach 2500 GP you might need to fill a few SP slots with those who toss few IP
  • "situational lefty" can be the WTL's ideal pitcher: he comes in for 1 batter, gets an out (0.33 pts) and 1 GP
  • seek players from MLB teams whose manager tends to use many replacements
  • look to achieve about 100 GPs per week every week
  • if you fall behind in GP, don't delay catch up measures
  • the rosters of WTL champs often generate roughly 2 points per game played (ppg)

Remember: the entry deadline is Thursday, March 31, 2011.

2010 WTL Results


The Reigning Champ!
First-year WTLer Nashua Hitman stunned the group and claimed the 2010 title with an appropriately woeful 1.8 ppg performance, one of the lowest ppgs in WTL history. Former champs Chuckleheads and Steuben finished 2nd and 3rd respectively. Congrats to Nashua in a year that proved the most difficult in terms of GP: only 5 of the 18 competitors managed to reach the 2500 GP minimum, down from 7 of 17 in 2009 and 6 of 17 in 2008. Another 6 teams came up less than 50 GP short of the 2500.

Special thanks to Steuben Kings for posting WTL stat updates all season, as well as those below.

WTL Points Per Game Standings After Week 26

Nashua Hitmen------------------------- 1.80 PPG--2510 GP--4,528.00 Total Points
Chuckleheads WTL Basura--------------- 1.83 PPG--2515 GP--4,614.66 Total Points
Scrap Heap---------------------------- 1.89 PPG--2453 GP--4,631.33 Total Points
Steuben Kings WTL--------------------- 1.896 PPG--2527 GP--4,791.33 Total Points
Summit Worst Team League-------------- 1.903 PPG--2497 GP--4,753.00 Total Points
PBR WTL------------------------------- 1.957 PPG--2405 GP--4,707.00 Total Points
BobCat's PoleCats--------------------- 1.958 PPG--2487 GP--4,870.00 Total Points
Zero Bears Tries Again---------------- 1.959 PPG--2484 GP--4,866.66 Total Points
pooooholes---------------------------- 1.98 PPG--2045 GP--4,046.00 Total Points
Waterboys----------------------------- 2.09 PPG--2494 GP--5,215.00 Total Points
UMMAGAMMA----------------------------- 2.10 PPG--2536 GP--5,318.66 Total Points
TREXPENNIEBAKER----------------------- 2.18 PPG--2486 GP--5,430.00 Total Points
Wurst is First------------------------ 2.21 PPG--2192 GP--4,853.00 Total Points
Winston WTL Wahoos-------------------- 2.36 PPG--2171 GP--5,133.66 Total points
Loser--------------------------------- 2.55 PPG--2152 GP--5,482.33 Total Points
Sopranos WTL-------------------------- 2.56 PPG--2252 GP--5,767.33 Total Points
Kawasaki Bikers----------------------- 2.63 PPG--2712 GP--7,128.33 Total Points
Ciber WTL----------------------------- 2.76 PPG--2246 GP--6,194.33 Total Points

Final Real Standings

Nashua Hitmen------------------------- 4,528.00 Total Points--2510 GP
Chuckleheads Worst Team Entry--------- 4,614.66 Total Points--2515 GP
Steuben Kings WTL--------------------- 4,791.33 Total Points--2527 GP
UMMAGAMMA----------------------------- 5,318.66 Total Points--2536 GP
Kawasaki Bikers----------------------- 7,128.33 Total Points--2712 GP

Summit Worst Team League-------------- 4,753.00 Total Points--2497 GP--Disqualified
Waterboys----------------------------- 5,215.00 Total Points--2494 GP--Disqualified
BobCat's PoleCats--------------------- 4,870.00 Total Points--2487 GP--Disqualified
TREXPENNIEBAKER----------------------- 5,430.00 Total Points--2486 GP--Disqualified
Zero Bears Tries Again---------------- 4,866.66 Total Points--2484 GP--Disqualified
Scrap Heap---------------------------- 4,631.33 Total Points--2453 GP--Disqualified
PBR WTL------------------------------- 4,707.00 Total Points--2405 GP--Disqualified
Sopranos WTL-------------------------- 5,767.33 Total Points--2252 GP--Disqualified
Ciber WTL----------------------------- 6,194.33 Total Points--2246 GP--Disqualified
Wurst is First------------------------ 4,853.00 Total Points--2192 GP--Disqualified
Winston WTL Wahoos-------------------- 5,133.66 Total points--2171 GP--Disqualified
Loser--------------------------------- 5,482.33 Total Points--2152 GP--Disqualified
pooooholes---------------------------- 4,046.00 Total Points--2045 GP--Disqualified

Hall of Shame (History of WTL winners):

Helpful Resources

2011 Downloads:

2010 Downloads:

2009 Downloads:

2008 Downloads:

2007 Downloads:

2006 Downloads:

2005 Downloads:

2004 Downloads:

2003 Downloads:

2002 Downloads:

Miscellaneous:

Links:


DISCLAIMERS - The page is not associated with Fanball.com Fantasy Sports, and makes no challenge to their trademarks. We just like to participate in their competitions.

visitors since December 2003