In the holiday spirit of giving, I'd like to bring back my Twelve Random Pages league, founded on the "random page" feature of www.baseball-reference.com

We'll make it a $90m cap league, and we'll go without a DH this time around.  No trades, WW, or other nonsense ... you have to play with the cards you're dealt.  [No clones, either ... you can't have three Walter Johnsons on your squad even if you have three ways to get him.]  Stadium choice should be limited to a park that one of your players actually played in that season.  [With the 25th man wild card, though, you could take any stadium you wanted as long as you picked a qualifying player.]

When you sign up for the league, I'll go to the web site and let its randomizer choose twelve pages of wonder.  Each page will determine two players on your 25-man roster.  [The 25th man is a wild card, totally up to you, except no Hall of Famers, please.]  For example:

If your random page is a player, you can choose any season of that player's career, plus a teammate from the same season.  [no twisting of teammates]
If you draw a team, you choose two players from that team/season.
If you draw a leaders page, you take any two players listed on the page.  [If it's single-season leaders, you have to take that season; if it's career leaders, you can choose any year of their career.]
If you draw a box score, you can take any two players who played in the game in question, in that season.  [again, no twisting]
If you draw a manager page, you can take any two players in a season they played for him.

Then there are the oddball pages, such as "Kenesaw State University Owls" (6 players) or "115 players buried in Connecticut".  I'll spell out the rules clearly for you in these cases.  They often provide memorable team names.

My one rule that's sometimes been hard for people to follow is what happens in case you draw a player who never had a sim-eligible season.  For example:  Herb Washington.  In such cases, I insist that Herb Washington makes your roster.  So, the deal is that you pick a 200k player, and then replace him on your roster with a pick-your-own average AAA player who should be re-named Herb Washington, in this case.  You would also choose a teammate of Washington's from the 1974 or 1975 Oakland A's.  Depending on the vagaries of the random page generator, you could wind up stuck with as many as three players like this on your roster, but with the pick-your-own AAA, their lack of choice for teammates is made up for by their real value vs. 200k cost.

To give you an idea of what it's like to build a roster, here is a sample of a random draw:

1.  1966 American League fielding appearances [any two players 1966 AL]
2.  * C  Jim Byrnes 1906  
3.  OF  Charlie Hanford 1914-15
4.  1B  Heinz Becker 1943-47

5.  P  Darryl Kile 1991-2002
6.  SS  Bones Ely  1884-1902
7.  2004 Minnesota Twins lineups and defense [includes pitchers, so you could use any two players who started a game for them]
8.  Progressive Leaders & Records for Errors Committed as OF  :)  
          [this page lists the career, single-season, active total, and yearly leaders for errors as an OF.  You can use anybody going back to 1885 who's on the page, but you have to use a season in which they are listed on this page.  For those dying to know, Tom Brown is the career leader in OF errors with 491, a category he's led since 1893.  1890 Ed Beecher set the single-season record, with 55 errors.  Bobby Abreu is the current active leader with 73.  See how educational this league can be?]

9.  1996 New York Yankees lineups and defense
10.  * DH-C  Luke Montz  2008-13
11.  1922 Major League Baseball Neutralized Pitching  [all pitchers from 1922]
12.  1936 Detroit Tigers batting, pitching & fielding


If you have any questions, ask and I will clarify the rules here.  Also, the first sign-up who wishes to may generate 12 random pages for my squad.  Be kind to me!  Merry Christmas!

I forgot:  when you do decide on your final team, please copy your original 12 pages and list the two players you've chosen for each page, to help me verify rosters.  Example can be found on page 2 where you'll find my team.]

Owner list:  dodgebob; dlchow; thaneoffife; bublooo; bigben83; houseofbayne; pinotfan; kentol; sevenfifty5; rjj4191; btoy1975; specsman; reddtrain; beachhouse; midknight; Pzzaman001; uncleal; Rattlers; dcmatcheck; daddyzander; bobbyj7; finn2030; benfc; bigfatjew

This league creates truly challenging drafts. Sign me up.

me please

dodgebob:  You are the first, here are your twelve random pages:

1.  P  Chummy Gray  1899
2.  *INF  Owen Kahn 1930  [he pinch-ran for the Braves on May 24 in his only MLB appearance, and scored a run]
3.  OF  Al Martin  1992-2003
4.  1959 Cincinnati Redlegs batting statistics [includes pitchers]

5.  3B-OF  Bubba Phillips  1955-64
6.  P  Tom Bruno  1976-79
7.  2004 American League attendance & miscellaneous  [no players listed on this page, so you can take any two players from the 2004 AL; and please use an A.L. stadium from 2004]
8.  P  Fred Waters  1955-56

9.  OF  Gene Locklear 1973-77
10.  1979 California Angels Batting Orders  [does NOT include pitchers since they had the DH]
11.  OF  Chief Wilson  1908-16
12.  1982 National League Baserunning  [any two players in the league]

Good luck!

dlchow:  Another veteran of the league -- welcome.  Here are your 12 random pages:

1.  P  Bill Simas  1995-2000
2.  box score 10/11/1916  Red Sox at Dodgers [that's Game 4 of the World Series:  Dutch Leonard beat Rube Marquard]
3.  Milwaukee Brewers yearly starters  [This is for the 1884 Milwaukee Brewers of the Union Association.  The 1884 season is not in the sim, so you can take any eligible season for any player on their roster.]
4.  * CF  Hal Anderson  1932

5.  1981 Montreal Expos batting statistics  (includes pitchers)
6.  1961 Los Angeles Angels batting, pitching & fielding statistics
7.  1959 Detroit Tigers fielding statistics  (all players eligible)
8.  P  Matt Young  1983-93

9.  1970 St. Louis Cardinals lineups & defense  (includes starting pitchers)
10.  INF  Marty Krug  1912-22
11.  3B  Don Wert  1963-71
12.  1939 American League batting leaders  (any player on the page, top 10 in 30+ different categories including WAR so you could take a top pitcher)

Fun stuff ... that 1981 Expos team was the closest they ever got to the World Series.  Good luck!

Also, one of you guys can draw a team for me, if you want.

Wow! Owen Kahn?! How ironic.
He's a cup-o-coffee player that I am currently using as my focal point player in finn2030's cup-o-coffee theme league.

Posted by dodgebob on 12/19/2014 9:33:00 PM (view original):
Wow! Owen Kahn?! How ironic.
He's a cup-o-coffee player that I am currently using as my focal point player in finn2030's cup-o-coffee theme league.

Those are some long odds right there.

I will randomize for you, tdoak, and post shortly.

Sign me up!

thaneoffife:  Welcome!  Here you go:

1.  1965 Cleveland Indians fielding statistics  (includes pitchers)
2.  1973 Philadelphia Phillies pitching statistics  (you would probably have preferred 1972)
3.  1942 Major League Baseball Attendance and Miscellaneous  (any two players from 1942 ... but you should use a 1942 stadium because of this)
4.  *  P  Charlie Grover  1913  [two games with the Tigers]

5.  2003 Pittsburgh Pirates Trades & Transactions  [any two players who the Pirates dealt for or dealt away ... 2003 season only]
6.  INF  Pete O'Brien  1901-07
7.  1920 New York Yankees lineups and defense  [includes pitchers ... and Babe Ruth]
8.  1944 Major League Baseball Cumulative Pitching  [career totals including 1944 ... so you can use any pitcher from 1944, in any season of his career up to and including 1944]

9.  * P  Tom Cantwell  1909-10
10.  box score 10/3/2009  Diamondbacks at Cubs
11.  1896 Boston Beaneaters batting statistics  (includes pitchers)
12.  1927 American League Second Base [anyone who played an inning at second base in 1927, A.L. only]

Doesn't look like a wowzer, but with Ty Cobb and Babe Ruth, it could be interesting.

So for Charlie Grover, I pick some 200k dude and a pitcher who played for the 1913 Tigers?

Here are your 12 pages, commissioner.

1. 1979 American League Standings and Head-to-head

2. 1933 MLB Transactions

3. 1952 Philadelphia Athletics team page

4. * SS Bubba Floyd - 1944 Detroit Tigers

5. P Charles Hudson 1983-1989

6. 1994 Houston Astros Pitching Stats

7. OF Eddie Lukon 1941-1947

8. C/OF Lew Drill 1902-1905

9. 2006 American League Player Value

10. P Kent Peterson 1944-1953

11. 1922 National League Awards, All-Stars, and Other Leaders

12. 1929 New York Giants Batting Stats

Good Luck

Posted by thaneoffife on 12/19/2014 10:01:00 PM (view original):
So for Charlie Grover, I pick some 200k dude and a pitcher who played for the 1913 Tigers?

You pick any 200k dude, who will be  replaced on your roster with a random AAA pitcher, re-named for Charlie Grover.
For the second player, you pick any teammate of Charlie Grover's ... so, anyone on the 1913 Tigers.

Posted by tdoak on 12/19/2014 10:11:00 PM (view original):

Posted by thaneoffife on 12/19/2014 10:01:00 PM (view original):
So for Charlie Grover, I pick some 200k dude and a pitcher who played for the 1913 Tigers?

You pick any 200k dude, who will be  replaced on your roster with a random AAA pitcher, re-named for Charlie Grover.
For the second player, you pick any teammate of Charlie Grover's ... so, anyone on the 1913 Tigers.

Ho boy, with access to Ty and Babe and 1907 Addie Joss thanks to Pete O'Brien, I think you'll have to move the salary cap to $120!