2009 Fantasy Razzball Leagues – Taste The Schadenfreude!
February 16, 2009
Category: Razzball: The Game, Rudy Gamble
We love fantasy baseball here at Razzball. We’re also sick bastards. Coincidence? Not sure.
What I do know is that we’re going to be running our second annual Fantasy Razzball league in 2009. What is Fantasy Razzball you ask? Fantasy Razzball is a fantasy baseball variation where you aim to manage the worst team possible. Last year’s inaugural season proved to be a lot of fun with yours truly (Rudy Gamble) besting blogmate Grey Albright and a hard-charging entrant from the then-Fantasy Baseball Generals (now Fantasy Pros 911).
This year’s going to be bigger and better. We’re going to put together as many blogger and Razzball Commenter leagues as demand warrants (Note: Razzball commenters interested in joining regular leagues, sign up here). It will be 10 teams per league. We’re going to then crown an overall winner by applying a factor to team points based on league strength. Grand Prize……$50 in Taco Bell gift certificates! The only gift that gives up more runs than Livan Hernandez’s fastball! Besides competing for this lofty prize, you’ll also be getting a lot of free PR for your blogs and/or having a lot of free fun.
(If at a loss on what to name your team, you can try our Fantasy Team Name Generator.)
We’ve tweaked our league rules from last year – moving from a standings league (top = 10, bottom = 1) to a points league. This format gives us more flexibility to incent teams to use starting hitters without requiring a whole bunch of manual work to determine the real standings.
Here are the rules:
- 10 Team Leagues, MLB universe, 20+ games previous season for position eligibility (10 games in-season)
- Weekly Roster Changes (leaves you time to lavish on your Daily Leagues)
- C / 1B / 2B / SS / 3B / CI / MI / 5 OF / 9 P
- No innings or AB mins/maxes
- Hitter Stats
- AB = +2
- H = -3
- R = -4
- HR = -10
- RBI = -4
- K = +2
- Pitcher Stats
- IP = -1
- HR = +4
- L = +8
- K = -1
- ER = +1.5
- H+BB = +1
The point structure makes it so that about 2/3 of the league’s hitters as well as just about every pitcher has positive value. So leaving a roster spot open or filled by a guy who plays once a week will hurt. Click here if you want to see how last season’s standings would look with this point structure as well as the points for all the hitters and pitchers. Here were the ‘top’ 10 in each:
Hitters:
| Hitters | Pitchers |
| Michael Bourn | Livan Hernandez |
| Willy Taveras | Brandon Backe |
| Akinori Iwamura | Brian Bannister |
| Jack Hannahan | Carlos Silva |
| Khalil Greene | Kenny Rogers |
| Carlos Gomez | Nate Robertson |
| Gregor Blanco | Jeff Suppan |
| Jason Varitek | Daniel Cabrera |
| Jason Kendall | Barry Zito |
| Bobby Crosby | Zach Duke |
E-mail rudy@razzball.com or comment on this post if you’re interested in joining. I’ll be updating the participant list at http://razzball.com/fantasy-razzball-league-master-standings. Draft dates and service provider TBD (leaning towards ESPN but can be convinced if another service can accommodate and will host for free).
February 16th, 2009 at 9:30 pm
I want to prove I am the best worst manager.
I’d like to see someone match my 5.72 ERA in over 1360 innings from last year.
February 16th, 2009 at 10:15 pm
i will finally be able to prove my love for eric gagne and still help my fantasy team. IN
@Grey: Your pitching was awesome. I’d like to see someone match my .250 AVG + 5,200 AB with only 75 HRs (that’s like 70 AB/HR).
Freak and Eric W – you’ve been added. Good to have you aboard.
February 17th, 2009 at 5:53 am
Oh, I so want in.
February 17th, 2009 at 6:23 am
This is the dumbest idea in the history of fantasy baseball. I’m in. Damnit.
February 17th, 2009 at 6:29 am
After all the championship caliber teams I’ve drafted and subsequently mismanaged to absolute worthlessness I think it’s time to step up to the razz-plate. I’m a natural
February 17th, 2009 at 6:50 am
This Demetri Martin joke seems somehow appropriate:
“I think Employee of the Month is a good example of when a person can be a winner and a loser at the same time.”
Another example: Razzball champion.
I humbly submit myself as a participant.
Cool. Added everyone onto the list (http://razzball.com/fantasy-razzball-league-master-standings/).
@Jack: Welcome to the boards! (or, if you’ve been on before and this is just a new alias, welcome back). Just want to make sure you want in for Fantasy Razzball (worst team possible) vs. the Razzball Commenter League (normal play for best team)….
February 17th, 2009 at 7:05 am
You mean i’ll be able to celebrate when my pitcher’s shizz the bed? I’m in!
February 17th, 2009 at 7:14 am
I tried a similar league in football one year, and only managed to finish middle of the pack. If there’s a spot open, I’d be game to give it a go. I predict big things for Dontrelle Willis.
Planet 10 aka Stylez G.
February 17th, 2009 at 7:18 am
P.S. You guys should make sure to patent the Razzball formula, so that you don’t get jacked out of a billion dollars like all those original Rotisserie Baseball guys did. Because this is going to be huge.
February 17th, 2009 at 7:21 am
I’m in, if there’s a spot for me. Mark Hendrickson, you’re mine.
February 17th, 2009 at 7:26 am
If you still have any openings, I’m in.
@Baron Von Vulturewins: We thought of patenting it but it’s one of those things that’s not original enough to patent. Our goal is to make sure we’re the most synonymous with the game/rules so Bob Costas and the Friday Night Lights writer can yell at us a couple years down the road…
February 17th, 2009 at 8:09 am
@Rudy Gamble: Good point. And now you’ve given me yet another idea of my Razzball team name: Buzz Bissinger’s Spittle.
@Baron Von Vulturewins: Ha! Great name!
@vinko: @johnwhorfin: @youngid: @Bud: Y’all are in!
February 17th, 2009 at 8:26 am
@Rudy Gamble: The Jim Bowden Memorial League, of course.
February 17th, 2009 at 8:27 am
Hey I’d love to join the league! But I really think balks should be included as a pitching category…
@Jack: Ha…will consider that as one of our divisions….although I think we’ll be commemorating awful hitters/pitchers from years past. Can all but guarantee that Brad Ausmus gets a Division named after him – http://razzball.com/razzball-historical-spotlight-brad-ausmus/….
February 17th, 2009 at 8:49 am
Would love to get in if there is a spot left!
February 17th, 2009 at 8:52 am
@Rudy Gamble: Oh, that photo of Ausmus is dirty!
@SeanRoto: Cool. Added you to the list. We’ll see how well you do vs the other FP911er (Mike P)
@IowaCubs: We do our best…
February 17th, 2009 at 9:06 am
as long as there won’t be steroid testing, i want in. though my steroid regimen may defeat the purpose of being the worst, i’ll give it a shot. jay gibbons, paul byrd, larry bigbie, todd hundley, et al are surely points in my favor.
February 17th, 2009 at 9:07 am
@Rudy Gamble: Nope… you do your worst and that’s why you’re the best.
February 17th, 2009 at 10:05 am
I think if I stick to my normal strategies I may do just fine, count me in.
@evil eye: @tripbs: you guys are added!
February 17th, 2009 at 12:22 pm
I’m in. Sign me up for Totally Not a Sleeper Blake DeWitt.
February 17th, 2009 at 12:28 pm
Right up my alley. Send me an invite, plz.
@ZK: @JG: Cool…you guys are in. We’re up to 30 teams in 1 day! (17 Razzball commenters, 13 Bloggers).
February 17th, 2009 at 12:53 pm
I want in.
February 17th, 2009 at 1:07 pm
I’m wetting my pants just thinking about this. I’m in.
February 17th, 2009 at 1:18 pm
I definitely would want to give this a try!
February 17th, 2009 at 1:23 pm
This is going to require a lot of new research/Royals players, but if there is Taco Bell money available…I’m in.
@BettorFan: @Benbot: Both added.
February 17th, 2009 at 2:47 pm
@Rudy Gamble: I’m up for doing a RazzMock sometime soon. Anyone up for this?
@IowaCubs: That sounds like fun and something I highly recommend. It’s actually a lot harder than one might think to draft Iwamura in the 1st round and catchers aren’t really as valuable as you might think.
February 17th, 2009 at 6:20 pm
@Rudy Gamble: What if we are a commenter that has a blog?
February 17th, 2009 at 7:54 pm
I love it! Where do I sign? I am in. This is going to be a train wreck!
February 17th, 2009 at 8:17 pm
Would love a chance to own Jacque Jones again and have it actually help me. Yeah!
February 17th, 2009 at 8:30 pm
@IowaCubs: great idea if your going to fail you might as well fail well being prepared.
@Freak: For now, hold tight. Let’s see how the blogger recruitment goes. If we have an open slot or two, I’ll open it up to commenters w/ sports blogs.
@wiudavis: @Jerome: You guys are added.
February 18th, 2009 at 1:12 pm
I’m so looking forward to this. I can finally draft pitchers from my favorite team – the Rangers. Woohoo! I always knew Feldman and Nippert were worth something.
@Lone Star: Everyone who toes the rubber in Arlington is worth something. Millwood’s probably a top ten starter.
@Grey: You guarantee me a Texas starter will go 150+ IP and he’s a top 3 Razzball starter. Imagine how bad Seattle’s staff (Silva, Batista, Washburn…) would have done if they weren’t in a pitchers’ park? They might have hit Limaesque ERA totals!
@Rudy Gamble: I think I traded Brian Giles last year for Millwood. Looked bad on paper, but turned out awfully good.
February 18th, 2009 at 1:41 pm
Scott Feldman has to be the #1 SP. Was there a worse line last year than 6-8/151.1 IP/5.29 ERA/1.43 WHIP/9.6 H9/4.4 K9? The scary thing is that the only way he isn’t at the top of the SP rankings is if Dustin Nippert somehow beats him out of a spot in the rotation. His line last year was 3-5/71.2 IP/6.40 ERA/1.80 WHIP/11.6 H9/6.9 K9.
For now, Feldman has a spot in the rotation. Is there a worse pitcher with a rotation spot locked down?
February 18th, 2009 at 1:47 pm
Eegads! I should have looked up Batista and Silva BEFORE I made my last post. If those guys pitched in Arlington, records would fall.
They were worse, but it doesn’t look like either have a spot in the Mariners rotation.
@Lone Star: If you download the spreadsheet, you’ll find worse ones. My favorite (b/c he was on my team) was Miguel Batista. 6.26 ERA and 1.86 WHIP in 110 innings. 1.86 WHIP!
Livan was #1 most useless….amazingly enough, I think both grey and I had him ranked there at the beginning of the season. I felt Zito would crap the bed too….the absolute shocks in the top 20 have to be Harang and Snell…
@Rudy Gamble: I ran Gorzelanny out there for about two months while he was leaving every start near tears. Memories!
February 18th, 2009 at 2:03 pm
*hangs his head in shame*
Next time I will read the post fully before commenting…
On the bright side, while JD has assembled a historically bad staff, at least the Rangers don’t have the worst pitcher in baseball.
February 18th, 2009 at 2:10 pm
My favorite is Kenny Rogers and not just because he was a Rangers head-case. How has the guy put up the numbers he has over the past 3 or 4 years with a fastball that makes Tim Wakefield laugh? I guess that and his 2007 injury caught up with him.
February 18th, 2009 at 2:20 pm
On the hitting side, there are some media darlings near the top – Gomez, Figgins, Rowand, GMJ, and surprisingly, Ichiro.
@Lone Star: Yeah, SBs are ignored in Fantasy Razzball so that hurts Gomez, Ichiro, and Figgins. Ichiro also is far below average for OFs in HR/RBI….
February 18th, 2009 at 9:09 pm
Hells yeah, last years Neifi Perez draft was freaking hilarious.
@djwoody: cool djwoody. we’ve got you added. i take it you are an HJE reader?
February 20th, 2009 at 5:14 pm
I am in if there is room. . . . I have a feeling Brian Bannister is about to take the world by storm. Anyone that can be #3 at SP in this league USING sabermetrics only has room to improve with a few tweaks here and there. . .
February 20th, 2009 at 5:17 pm
OH, and if possible I would like to be in the same league as wiudavis. . . He’s always said he wanted to have a “better” team than me, this will be his chance!
February 22nd, 2009 at 2:38 am
Sign me up, please. I love wacky fantasy scoring schemes because they force players to come up with their own strategies and think for themselves.
@basketballin: @Peter: Ok, added you both. Welcome aboard.
February 23rd, 2009 at 5:14 am
I’m trying this again. Left a comment last wek bt neve got the email to verify it… I love the idea that the very guys that kill my regular teams cold be my MVP here.
February 24th, 2009 at 8:52 pm
What is the game plan for a draft? I have not heard anything, so I just want to make sure I didnt miss an email.
March 1st, 2009 at 6:19 pm
Hey,
i’d like to join a Razzball league. Let me know how I could join. thanks
@Jay: Hey Jay – Yup…added you to the list.
March 2nd, 2009 at 4:43 pm
With many last place finishes on my resume, I know that this is MY kind of league. Please consider my application for admission to one of your fantasy leagues.
@Dave: cool…added you to the list.
March 2nd, 2009 at 5:16 pm
With many last place finishes on my fantasy baseball resume,this is MY kind of league.
Please consider my application for placement in a fantasy league.
March 2nd, 2009 at 5:17 pm
sorry for the dupe, computer did not refresh.
March 11th, 2009 at 12:47 pm
Could you resend me the invite, I never received it… Billy Ripken division.. gracias.
March 14th, 2009 at 2:02 pm
Can someone post a guide on how to change the settings for team set up? I would hate to go through the entire season with a truly uncreative league name like “Team 7″? I accepted the invite from my commish but not that familiar with the inner workings of ESPN.
Any help would be greatly appreciated…gracias.
Go to ‘My Team’ tab once logged into ESPN FLB and then click ‘Edit Team Settings’
If you need any suggestions, try this: http://razzball.com/fantasy-baseball-team-name-generator/
March 17th, 2009 at 12:30 pm
Just a heads up: I switched from the Gary Pettis division to Brad Ausmus.
March 19th, 2009 at 11:47 am
Rudy- any room left in any leagues? Let me know. hardcoremidgets AT yahoo.com
@Freak: Ok. Will make the change.
@Hardcore Midget: I think we’ve got an open spot somewhere. I’ll check with the commissioners and we’ll get back to you.
March 22nd, 2009 at 1:20 am
Would love to be a part of this next year if you have room!
@Bob Biscigliano: You should get an invite from one of our commissioners.
Anyone else – we have a couple of openings in one of our divisions so post here if you’re interested…
March 29th, 2009 at 12:28 pm
Gary Pettis league is turning into a horror story. No communication at all from the commish, league draft time was change with only 1 hour advance notice, on the date/time of the new draft the league has dropped from my ESPN page with again , no email from the commish.
Is there an opening on ANY league?, cause it feels like I am on a boat ride with Gilligan at the helm!
March 30th, 2009 at 12:57 am
any spots still available?
March 30th, 2009 at 7:35 am
@Doug: hey doug – we just had one league have to postpone due to some late pull-outs. (see dave’s comment above). so once i figure out how many people in that league still want in, i’ll see if we can get it back up and running.
will keep you posted…
rudy
March 30th, 2009 at 9:49 am
I still want in and will even serve as commish in order to ensure it gets off the ground. Please consider me very interested in being part of a league.
April 2nd, 2009 at 7:19 am
Damnmit i also want to join!! is it still possible to join??