New positions: 447 Wigginton,Ty (OF 2.05); 528 Amezaga,Al (2B 4.24); 770 Mientkiewi,Do (OF 2.04); 4016 Ward,Da (1B 1.81). Scoresheet Baseball August 25th, 2008 Hi All: The Scoresheet trading deadline is 1 PM Eastern/10 AM Pacific time, September 1st (Labour Day). That is also the deadline for turning in lineups to be used for next week’s games of September 1st thru the 7th and also for ‘playoff only’ lineups. (The first major league games on Labour Day start at 1 PM Eastern time, so that is the deadline for lineups and trades.) If you make a trade, please do report it to us by the deadline so that we can put it thru! And like always, please only make trades that are designed to help your team, not a friend's! Labour Day is also the deadline to turn in a 'playoff only' lineup. You do NOT have to turn in a special lineup for the playoffs. If you do not turn in a special playoff lineup then we simply use whatever lineup you have in effect for games of September 1st thru 7th as your lineup for the playoffs. To get to the ‘playoff only’ lineup form on the web just click the link at the top of your regular lineup form. If sending in a playoff only lineup by postal mail, fax or e-mail that you want only used for the playoffs, and NOT for regular Scoresheet games that week, make sure you clearly mark 'PLAYOFF ONLY' at the top of the lineup so we don't miss it. If you want your lineup used for BOTH regular season games and the playoffs do not write 'playoffs' on your lineup card. The lineup used for the week’s games beginning September 1st will automatically be used for the playoffs - if you actually write the word playoff on your lineup card then we assume you do not want it used for any regular season games! Please note that September 1st is Labour Day, meaning it is a federal holiday, so Post Offices are closed. In the interest of fairness to other members of your league, any lineups and trades turned in on Tuesday September 2nd will *NOT* be used for the games that week, nor will any playoff lineups turned in on the 2nd be used. After all, that would not be fair to your fellow league members since you would have had the advantage of seeing your player's stats from major league games played on Monday September 1st. So if you normally turn in lineups or trades from work, and will not be working on Labour Day, then please make sure you either turn in your lineup or trade from home by/ before Monday morning, or from work on Friday August 29th. And if using postal mail to send in your lineup please make sure you put your lineup in the mail by Friday August 29th since most Post Offices will not be issuing postmarks on Monday the 1st! Once again - how much a guy can play in the Scoresheet playoffs is solely based on how much he plays in the majors the last 4 weeks of the season. In every series hitters can get up to 40% of the number of at-bats they got in the majors the last 4 weeks of the regular season and pitchers can get up to 45% of their innings pitched. How well the players will do is based 40% on how they do in the majors the final 4 weeks of the season, and 60% on how they did in the majors the first 5 months, assuming they play about the same amount of time per week all season long. Also, we only let pitchers start a game in the playoffs if they start a game in the majors in the last 4 weeks of the season. Major league teams don't use middle relievers to start playoff games, and we figure Scoresheet teams shouldn't do so either. Yes, we do realize you'd probably make a different playoff lineup if you were turning it in in October, and knew exactly what all your players did in September. But the reason that we have you submit your lineup with 4 weeks left in the season is we want to keep the element of prediction in our game - we want you to decide who to play BEFORE you see how players actually do in the majors the last 4 weeks. This is especially true for rookie call ups. If you have a young minor leaguer, and he is called up in September, he can play for you in the playoffs, based on his September playing time. However, you have to have the guts to stick him in your lineup before you see how he does. Deciding how to use your players before you see how they do is one of the most important parts of Scoresheet! NEW THIS YEAR: For the playoff only lineups please just list 4 starting pitchers in your rotation (instead of the old way of listing 5 starters and also putting the 5th starter in the bullpen.) If you don’t turn in a playoff only lineup and so we are using your regular lineup, then if your 5th starter is not needed to start a playoff game he will automatically be moved to the top of the bullpen with an earliest inning of 1, a hook of 3, and a rank of 5 versus both RHBs and LHBs. To avoid using those assigned numbers you will need to turn in a ‘playoff only’ lineup Have a great week! - Cory Watson P.S. If you (or a friend) have an interest in playing Scoresheet Hockey this year (a great way to get more involved with the NHL!), please give us a call and we will mail you a free information packet. Or, you can read more about the hockey game on our web site.