A number of years ago, there were a series of theme leagues, where in order to qualify for the playoffs, your team had to be really bad in a pre-defined statistical category.  (Sorry, I can't remember who ran these leagues).  The catch was that your team had to be above .500 to be eligible.  This was a fun concept because you got to roster players you wouldn't normally roster.  This theme is based on that idea.

This is a 24-team league with a $100 million salary cap.

In this theme, you want to be among the league leaders in the following three "negative" categories:
Can't Catch - Bad Fielding (errors + negative defensive plays - positive defensive plays)
Can't Pitch - Most Home Runs Allowed
Can't Run - Most Caught Stealing

At the end of the season, each team will be ranked (1 thru 24) in these three categories and then the ranks will be added up.  The eight teams (with a W-L record over .500) with the lowest cumulative ranks will advance to the playoffs.  So if your team finishes 1st, 3rd and 5th, then your total ranking points = 9 and if your team is above .500, you will be advancing to the playoffs.  Ranking ties will be split (tied for 10th and 11th, each team gets 10.5 ranking points).  Once you get into the playoffs, it's simply winner advances.

Here's another wrinkle.  The highest ranking team will get to choose his first round opponent.  The next highest ranking team (not already selected as an opponent) will choose his first round opponent, etc.  (The team with the better ranking will have home field, regardless of the playoff round).   So it's possible for the #1 ranked team to select the #2 ranked team.  If #2 wins that series, they would be home in the next series.  The second round of the playoffs will work the same way, with the highest ranked team selecting his next opponent.

Also note that we will be using players from 1960-2014 only.

$100 CHALLENGE
I will send you a $100 Gift Certificate if your team finishes 1st (no ties) in all three categories AND wins at least 75 games.

Specifics:
Salary Cap: $100 Million
Years: 1960-2014
DH: No
WW: No
AA: No
Trades: No
Clones: No
Injuries: Turned On
Live Play: Not Allowed
Ballpark: Use any park in use from 1960-2014
Team Name: Anything
Alignment: Random


Other miscellaneous questions:

Q: Can I play players out of position?
A: Yes

Q: What if there aren't 8 teams over .500
A: Unlikely, but if that happens, I'll include the team or teams closest to .500 in the playoffs.

Q: After you add up the ranking points, what happens if two or more teams are tied?  The tie-breaker will be 1.Best W-L%, 2.Rank in HRs Allowed, 3.Rank in Bad Defense.

Signup List

1. schwarze
2. topkat
3. calhoop
4. shysters3
5. rickysdad44
6. tridentric
7. zephyr1949
8. jmc44
9. thejuice6
10. Chisock
11. redwingscup
12. 2chair
13. Area51man
14. barracdua3
15. bublooo
16. mattedesa
17. PennQuaker
18. dlchow
19. Oli35
20. DoctorKz
21. jtvaughey
22. hacker7
23. reddtrain
24.

Sitemail List:
2chair; Area51man; barracuda3; bublooo; calhoop; Chisock; dlchow; DoctorKz; hacker7; jmc44; jtvaughey; mattedesa; Oli35; PennQuaker; reddtrain; edwingscup; rickysdad44; schwarze; shysters3; topkat; thejuice6; tridentric; zephyr1949

Sounds fun I am in..

I would like to be in.

OK, this time my bad picks will  be on purpose.

I'll play.

There are a number of different strategies that can be employed in this theme.  Do you try to have balance or maybe try to load up on two categories, and hoping that's enough to advance.  Just how bad do you have to be in each category?  You don't necessarily want to lead a category by a large margin.

What about taking advantage of the opponents?  If you know teams will roster high HR pitchers, do you roster high HR hitters?  Sure, you may hit a lot of HRs which helps you win games, but that helps your opponent move up in that category. 

How many innings are needed?  With bad defense all around and high scores, 1400 might not be enough. 

Or maybe you say to yourself, WTF, and try to win the $100 Challenge.  If more than a few people try to do that, that means we might have a number of 100-loss teams, which would mean more than an average number of above-500 teams, making it tougher to advance.

You're killin' me Smalls.
I'm in

I will try this, not sure what method to use yet!

Count me in

Put me in Coach - I'm ready to play....today!

I'll give this a shot.

I like this, count me in.  Thank you.

I have to suck? Count me in!

I'm in.