SABR-Minded Baseball Fans interested in becoming the manager/general manager of a very fun league should read this message.  My father and I co-manage the St. Louis Cardinals in a Dynasty Fantasy League, that's adapted from the old Statis-Pro Baseball game, using a players career stats (to date for current ones) to 'play' baseball games live against people from all over the country.  This is not baseball "fantasy" like newer generations may understand (ESPN, Yahoo, etc.), but an interactive board game where the manager makes all rotation, lineup, hit/run, steal, defensive allignment, substitution, injury, 25-man/40-man roster decisions, etc. etc.   There is an opening for Texas Rangers/Washington Senators dynasty (Nolan Ryan, Ruben Sierra, Teixiera, etc.) and the league will pick back up in December/January.  Currently we are in our "offseason".  Anyone interested can email me to ask questions (mcintoshts@missouri.edu) or can email the league's creator and Expos/Nationals Manager, Ty Waterman at his address below.

THE GREAT AMERICAN FANTASY LEAGUE: TEXAS RANGERS
    How would you like to manage the greatest players in Texas Rangers/expansion Washington Senators history (1961-2009)? Mark Texeira, Michael Young, Nolan Ryan, Ivan Rodriguez, Juan Gonzalez, Darold Knowles, Ruben Sierra and many more can play for you vs. the greatest players from 13 other American League teams (plus interleague games vs. all-time NL West teams).
     THE GREAT AMERICAN FANTASY LEAGUE (GAFL) is a terrific board game adapted from Statis-Pro Baseball, simulating their career performances (with their primary team) of baseball's all-time greats from 1901 to the present.  Frank Howard will take a vicious cut against a Goose Gossage fastball; Rafael Palmeiro will take a whack at Mariano Rivera's patented cutter; Ted Williams will rip the air vs. Charlie Hough's knuckler; and closer Francisco Cordero will try to blow a fastball past Mickey Mantle.
     GAFL is played with fast-action cards (not dice). The results are read off the cards of either the pitcher or the hitter, depending on who controls the at-bats. The better pitchers control the action the majority of the time. GAFL simulates a 162-game season, with the Rangers playing in the AL West. We play one date in a MLB schedule per  week, with periodic breaks. The home team manager runs the game, the visitors can either send in a lineup/game instructions for a solitaire game; or they can play head to head, via the phone or in person. A manager plays about 20 home games per year, and about 40 games per year with a break in October and November.
     The American League is in the midst of playing their second season. We started our first season in 2003. Our current Rangers manager had to resign for personal reasons, creating a vacancy 60 games into our 162-game schedule. The Rangers current team leaders are Ruben Sierra (.272, 5 HR's, 27 RBI's); Ferguson Jenkins (5-3, 2.55 in 77 innings), Darold Knowles (7 saves, 1-0, 2.38). Player cards are realistic but measured against the all-time greats of the game. Pitchers are rated on ERA+ (vs. pitchers of their own time period) and winning pct. (vs. the team winning pct.) Strikeouts, walks, stamina, hits allowed, homers allowed are calculated via Statis-Pro's formulas. The same for batters homers, walks, whiffs, steals, triples, singles, doubles, throwing arms, range, errors, and clutch batting.
      GAFL is designed for busy lives. GAFL managers have six days (Thursday thru Tuesday) to play their home games. I design and provide AL laminated cards for all 14 teams, plus 18 cardboard game charts and a set of Statis-Pro fast action cards to run the game. All for the nominal fee of $60 per year! GAFL is a non-profit operation and all proceeds are poured back into improving the game. The managers are dedicated SABR members from all over the United States, plus our Blue Jays manager from Ontario, Canada.
      Current and old-time players are in this game, based on a minimum of five years with their primary team. New cards are updated every fall. For example, Michael Young and Hank Blalock's cards will be updated shortly and play will resume in early December, 2008. I train all managers prior to beginning play. Support is available thru me and our rules committee, to help with questions, what to do if you are on vacation, etc.
     GAFL has many exciting features...wild plays, rainouts, ejections, great catches, injuries, pitcher stamina issues, range factors, home runs can be taken away by many of these great pitchers and turned into singles, bunting for hits, extra base advance percentages are calculated for every type of hit (smash, normal, Texas League and bloop hit types). You should also consider lefty vs. lefty ... or righty vs. righty pitcher/batter matchups when managing.
      The White Sox won the AL West in Season One and lost in the AL Championship Series to the Cleveland Indians. On June 11th of our schedule in Season Two, the White Sox are leading the AL West again, closely trailed by the KC Royals and Oakland A's all-time franchises. The Rangers had a decent April but slumped in May and early June. But this franchise has good power, a solid bullpen, a rotation of Ryan, Jenkins, Kevin Brown, Kenny Rogers, and Jon Matlack or Charlie Hough that has done very well in Season Two with a team ERA of 3.05.
     If managing the Texas Rangers intrigues you ... if you want to match your managing skills vs. 25 other skilled GAFL managers... contact Ty Waterman: ty_waterman@hotmail.com or call me at 508-455-1918. It won't hurt to talk and learn a bit more before you decide to join. First come, first serve.
     Games take about an hour and a half to play... home managers write game stories for other managers to view via E-mail; I keep exact league stats.. we send out weekly standings, weekly transactions, game stories, pitcher rest rules, a scoreboard, and pitcher/team matchups for the next set of games. This is a league for serious baseball fans. (No trades but we have a 25 man active roster and 15 players in our AAA that can be called up from our 40-man rosters.)
     GAFL is in our fall break right  now while new/updated cards are being made. We want to train and get you ready to play after Thanksgiving. You will make many new baseball friends in GAFL whom you will enjoy knowing for years. We can't promise the GAFL Texas Rangers franchise will win the GAFL championship but we can promise you a great time trying!
                                                                               Ty Waterman, creator of GAFL, and
                                                                               Manager of the Montreal Expos/
                                                                               Washington Nationals GAFL team.