New positions: 431 Betemit,Wi (SS 4.69); 435 Hannahan,Ja (1B 1.85); 620 Ramirez,Al (SS 4.69); 682 Norton,Gr (1B 1.85); 378 Valentin,Ja (1B 1.82); 535 Keppinger,Je (3B 2.64); 638 Casto,Ko (1B 1.85); 4121 Newhan,Da (2B 4.15); 4251 Murphy,Da (OF 2.05). Scoresheet Baseball August 18th, 2008 Hi All: Once again, we are devoting this week's notes to playoff matters. We wish the best of luck to all of you still fighting for a playoff berth! If you do not turn in a special 'playoff only lineup', then the lineup you have in effect for major league games the week of Sept. 1st (Labor Day) thru Sept. 7th is the one that will be used if your team makes the playoffs. You do NOT have to turn in a new lineup that week - like all other weeks, we will just continue to use your most recent lineup if you make no change. You can also make lineup changes after Sept. 1st - the new lineup will affect that week's games, and then if you make the playoffs we'll just go back and re-use your lineup from the week of Sept. 1st. Or, instead of us using the same lineup as you use for Scoresheet games of Sept. 1st thru Sept. 7th, you can turn in a 'playoff only' lineup. To be used for the playoffs, that lineup also has to be submitted (sent from the web, postmarked, e-mailed or faxed) by/before 1 PM Eastern time/10 AM Pacific time on Labor day, Sept 1st. (In other words, sent in before the first major league game starts on Labor Day.) Please note that even though Labor Day is a holiday, 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 after Labor Day's first MLB game starts be used. After all, using lineups and trades turned in on Tuesday the 2nd would NOT be fair to the other folks in your league, since you would have been able to see what all your players did on Monday the 1st before sending in your lineup. If you generally send lineups by postal mail please make sure you postmark any trades, or any lineup changes you want used for games of September 1st thru 7th, or any playoff lineups, on Saturday August 30th since most Post Offices will NOT be postmarking letters on Labor Day. You can turn in a lineup you want used for the 'playoffs only' using the web lineup form. On your lineup form (beginning August 20th and ending September 1st) there will be a link at the top of your lineup that says 'click here to create a Playoff Only lineup'. NOTE: As that name implies, if you choose that 'Playoffs Only' form then that lineup will NOT be used for any regular season games. Good News! - this year the playoff form is a separate form, meaning that creating a playoff lineup will not erase your regular lineup. A 4-man rotation is used in the playoffs. So, to send in the 'playoff only' lineup you will need to have just 4 starting pitchers listed. (NOTE - when you first go to the 'playoff only' lineup there will be 5 starting pitchers shown, since that form will originally open with whatever you have entered as your regular lineup. But once you make changes and hit either send or save then your changes will be saved, and will show up the next time you open that playoff form.). To start in the playoffs, a pitcher must start at least once in the majors the last 4 weeks of the season; for a pitcher to start twice in the playoffs he must have at least 3 major-league starts the final 4 weeks of the season. If you need a pitcher pulled from the bullpen to start then the normal procedures apply – the program will look down the bullpen in order that you list pitcher names and start use the first pitcher it comes to that had at least one start in September in the majors (ignoring the 'earliest inning to use as a reliever' and 'rank as a reliever' columns). If you are sending in a lineup by postal mail, fax or regular e-mail and want that lineup 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 games beginning September 1st will automatically be used for the playoffs if you do not send in a playoff only lineup - if you actually write the word 'playoff' on your lineup card or you send in a 'playoff only' lineup then we assume you do NOT want it used for any regular season games! A player's playing time limits for the playoffs is determined only by how much he plays in the majors the last 4 weeks of the season. Pitchers in the Scoresheet playoffs will be allowed to pitch up to 45% as much as they did during those final 4 weeks in the majors; hitters have up to 40% of their total major league at-bats during those final 4 weeks available for Scoresheet playoff use. If you have a player who does not play at all in the majors in September he will not play at all for you in the playoffs! How a player performs in the playoffs will be based 40% on what he does in the majors the last 4 weeks of the season, and 60% on what he did in the majors the first 5 months, IF he plays the same amount of time per week during the 2 periods. If a guy only plays in the majors in September then his playoff stats will only be based on those stats. Vice-versa, if a guy plays full-time in the majors the first 5 months, but only part-time in the last 4 weeks of the major league season, then his first 5 months stats will count more than the last 4 weeks when figuring how he will do in the playoffs. We simply multiply each player's major league stats in the last 4 weeks of the season by 3.33, then add in his total stats from the first 22 weeks. Then, as always, how that player will do is determined by what he did per at-bat, or per inning pitched. Finally, don't forget the Scoresheet Baseball trading deadline of Monday morning, Sept. 1st! Have a great week! - Jeff Barton Scoresheet Sports, PO Box 1097, Grass Valley, CA 95945 (530) 470-1880 phone (530) 470-1885 fax staff@scoresheet.com www.scoresheet.com