Click here for a copy of this report in Word for Windows format

April 19

KENNDOZA LINE reserve K Greene, activate B Hill.

RESERVOIR DOGS reserve R Ledee, activate D Roberts.

April 20

COPPERFIELDS reserve C Capuano, activate H Bell.

April 21

DEM REBELS reserve N Garciaparra, activate R Aurilia.

April 23

COPPERFIELDS reserve M DeJean, activate C Capuano.

COPPERFIELDS sign J Grabow (.06), reserve him, waive T Walker.

STONES reserve A Gonzalez, activate D Cruz.

STONES reserve R Bottalico, activate B Penny.

DEM REBELS reserve H Choi, activate L Niekro.

DEM REBELS reserve JJ Davis, activate N Perez.

DEM REBELS reserve K Wells, activate B Backe.

HOT SLUDGE SUNDAE sign R Flores (.05), reserve him, waive A Osuna.

HOT SLUDGE SUNDAE reserve T Redding, activate C Fox.

HOT SLUDGE SUNDAE reserve Z Day, activate C Bartosh.

KENNDOZA LINE reserve B Meadows, activate A Bernero.

KENNDOZA LINE sign A Heilman (.07), reserve him, waive M Anderson.

PICTS reserve M Herges, activate M Hampton.

RUFFINS reserve R Church, activate B Claussen.

LAMBCHOPS sign B Moehler (.08), reserve G Floyd, waive N Walker.

LAMBCHOPS reserve H Blanco, activate H Cota.

DOORMATTS reserve K Ishii, activate B Fuentes.

RESERVOIR DOGS reserve J Kennedy, activate D Turnbow.

DA PAUL MEISTERS sign C Woodward (.06), reserve J Cruz, waive B Hart.

DA PAUL MEISTERS reserve R Colon, activate K Wunsch.

SPLENDID SPLINTERS claim B Kim, reserve him, waive J Zeringue.

Click here for updated rosters in Excel format.
Click here for the 2006 Rotation Draft Pick Tracker

Free Agent Bids and Waiver Claims

Before Roto...

... there was Strat-O.  As in Strat-O-Matic Baseball.  I know many of you, like me, played Strat-O-Matic in the days before Rotisserie Baseball.  A recent book, Strat-O-Matic Fanatics, looks at the history of the game and it's creator, Hal Richman.  Here's a link to a nice review of the book, which is where I first heard about it:  http://www.sportsfanmagazine.com/content/view/1299/

And just last week, Stat-O-Matic was profiled on NPR's Morning Edition.  You can listen to the short piece (about 8 minutes) on NPR's website (http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4602562 - click the "Listen" buttonn under the title).  One of the people interviewed is Jon Miller, who recreates how he used to "announce" the games as he played as a kid and demonstrates how he'd even different levels of noise for smaller crowds - for weeknight games in April for example. 

The article on the NPR page features some excerpts from the Strat-O-Matic Fanatics book, including the story of how Dan Okrent so missed the involvement with baseball that he used to have when he and a friend played Strat-O that he was inspired to create Rotisserie League Baseball as a replacement.

And, finally, speaking of the Rotisserie League, here's a link to an article by original Rotisserie League owner Steve Wulf about Strat-O-Matic and making the trip to Long Island to pick up the new Strat-O player cards in person on the day they're issued:
http://espn.go.com/magazine/wulf_20020213.html.  The article includes a picture of Barry Bonds' 2001 card - yikes, check out that '1" column! 

And Before Strat-O...  

My brother Paul and I had the game when we were kids and played it all the time.   Recalling the part the game played in my own development as a baseball fan, I decided to try to get a copy for my kids as one of their Opening Day gifts this year.  I did a little hunting on the Internet, and found that the game is still being made (though the last set of player discs that was issued was 2003).  Not only that, but I found there's a thriving discussion group about the game (http://groups.yahoo.com/group/cadacoallstarbaseball), made up of guys who still play the game.  Many of them still use the editions of the game they had when they were kids in the 60s and 70s, and several even go so far as to create their own player disks for the game using a nifty Excel tool that's available for download at the site above.

I downloaded the tool and, using the 2005 projections I had done as part of my CFCL draft prep, I created "projected" 2005 disks for the Cubs and Diamondbacks (who were the Cubs' Opening Day opponents).  Then, when I gave the boys the boys the game we were able to play our own version of the 2005 opener while we watched the real one.  I'm happy to report that the simulation Cubs tallied 9 runs in the top of the 8th inning to post a come-from-behind victory, 13-6.

Dusty's Secret

Paul (the Assistant Chop, not the Meister) forwarded this to me.  It came from a blog, Die-Hard Cubs Fun (cubsfun.blogspot.com) which features a lot of fun stuff, so be sure to visit (if Cubs can do anything, it's laugh at themselves and their team).  This one's for Rich and Nick, who had been discussing Dusty's management in the Forums.  This explains a lot...

Hometown Discount Watch

In 2006, the teams that finished in 5^th-12^th place in 2005 will receive a budget of up to .06 to use toward reacquiring players who had played out their option with the team (B-contract players). The exact amount each team receives will be based on how far behind the 5^th place team they are at the end of the year, in terms of a percentage of the 5^th place team's point total.