Vol. IV, Issue #5 -
July 2016
**
Strat Wise - Part VI
**
(by Marc Wasserman, Commissioner of the Cyber Baseball
Association {CBA} )
(Note from the Wolfman:
- For those of you who have been
following our newsletter, you are already familiar with the column
called "Commissioner's Corner written by Marc Wasserman, the
commissioner of the CBA as he has discussed his
experiences and insights about being a commissioner of a Strat-o-matic
baseball league. Now continuing on with his new column, Wass
returns sharing
with us his unique and special perspective on a variety of topics that are linked and
important to the Strat Baseball World. This month he discusses
another league he is a member in called the Great Midwest
Baseball League and what to do for League Enforcements when
league rules and procedures are broken by a member ....)
Here
is some interesting stories about the Great Midwest Baseball
League and how to do League Enforcements.
Hi SOM Fanatics. It's been awhile since I last reached out. We
have had quite a few subscribers help us out the past few months
and they have made it possible for us to continue. Wolfie has put
together some great materials as well. I especially have been interested
in his 2016 replay with Daily Data for the Chicago Cubs team,
his favorite team. Give it a read.
I have been busy with my leagues especially the CBA and our GMBL Winter
league with commissioner Jack Frost. As a founding member of both
leagues, the CBA established in 1997 and the GMBL in 1998, I have a vested
interest in seeing both of them run efficiently. A Winter league is
quite different than a Spring to Fall League however. The G.M.B.L. {Great
Midwest Baseball League} is quite unique. It has a full encyclopedia
database of 18 years that is accessible to the GM's. Generations of
players have come and gone including Fathers & Sons.
The GMBL has had it's
share.
The
GMBL season begins with the mid September 10 Round draft of the
current cards. Games are played with the current season cards. Yes,
there is some overlap when the new cards are issued. Rosters
are then cut to 25 players, and increased via the draft to 35. Rosters may be
within 32 to 38 players during the season. Games are on the
honor system and are self played or Netplayed. The percentage
of Netplay games currently is a bit low. One could imagine just
how interesting a September draft could be already knowing about
3/4 of a seasons worth of MLB stats. But there is a balance between
the competition for the current Championship in the "Snowbowl" and
having strength with your team in the next season is the unique part. Do I draft
a top MLB statistical leader good for next season, or solidify
my chances for a pennant this year? This is what makes for an interesting draft.
Recently the league had an issue where three owners had over-extended the usage of their players and not sufficiently planned
for their usage during the course of the season. Over usage is a
big infraction in this league. Over usage can alter the
performances of teams in a well run league. With every at bat
appearance counting towards a decision of a team's standing, and
with such decisions, they can often come
down to a one game separation between contenders and sit downs.
The GMBL strictly enforces 100% usage. The rules that were
voted in (Ugh! league votes) were based on the amount of overuse
on a sliding scale. Gross negligence results in a player loss, in
addition to the loss of a 3rd, 2nd, or 1st round draft pick.
Enforcement or keep a barren franchise? The thinking that went
along with this was to create a strong deterrent for the negligent or rule bending
GM. Some GM's theoretically would over use their best players
for a competitive advantage for the price of a penalty which is usually
in most leagues, the loss of a draft pick. Well these three teams accrued enough
penalty to wipe out some key talent, including pretty much
losing their top 3
drafts picks (and then some) and leaving their franchise in complete danger
of not being able to even draft enought talent or usage for the
upcoming season. These devoid franchises stripped away of much
of their talent, are in reality a perfect recipe for owner apathy and a
barren dead franchise. Likely, the GM will walk away and leave
behind a league with a patsy team, in shambles over inflating
their divisional rivals records despite better teams being more
playoff worthy. So is stripping the talent and draft picks the
correct way to approach a league policy for enforcement?
The
Captain obvious speaks and will say, "Fire the GM who is grossly
negligent". This is a "Knee Jerk Reaction". But wait, isn't this a game?
Do we not all err? What about the hours the individual spent
trying to play his team's games and perhaps building the franchise? Do we
want to ruin their Strat gaming experience for such mistakes?
My answer isn't so cut and dry. If the negligence is determined
to be on purpose, that person has no fit into our sportsman's
circle. So they should be let go and be gone. But releasing a GM is a last resort
to solve this issue. There
would need to be warnings given, in a build up fashion with
clear communication first. Perhaps
there is a person problem with the family, their health or just life is happening. To keep guys around for
decades and more, we must consider all aspects. Should a GM have had two or
three years of 'apathetic' play, I would indeed terminate their
tenure naturally. Else, we must find a more palatable enforcement
schedule and rules then.
The loss of draft picks is touchy as well because, it can
deteriorate a franchise, though not to the same extent as losing
players to Free Agency. I favor loss of high picks as
a deterrent, and a strong reminder to avoid future such
situations. With two successive years of losses of similar picks, a player will
then go on probation. This is after the league and officials have
communicated with them and perhaps offered that gamer a slight leave
of absence while
an unbiased co-manager helps out to get this individual through
this challenge. Often this is the case and the league
through open communication can and will rally around a GM in
need to help ensure the other league members of a good Strat-o-matic
league experience. That my friends is the real name of
the game and the answer for league enforcement. The league
working as a team
to keep up a good membership must be willing to assist a struggling member
in order to help
everyone have a fair and fun season of games, in my opinion.
All in all, enforcement of the league rules (and usage) has to be
done in a strong manner and be dealt with consistently. In some
cases, a type of judgment will have to come in. This is
the toughest part of any
commissioner's role. Always remember to ensure that the other
league members are enjoying their seasons and having fun. But
please be very cognizant of the individual or individuals who
may be struggling to follow
the league procedures. Communicate with such individuals and encourage
them to avoid
these infractions. Perhaps give to them a phone call or
ask another GM to help them out. In the GMBL, we have
followed such actions to help these GM's out of their tough
situations. This way, friends stay together, and more fun is to
be had.
To stop
draining a GMBL franchise of their talent, we made it a point to
emphasize this by draft pick enforcement and we did not allow
such a team's overused players to be
released. With these teams staying relatively healthy,
then a new page can be turned. Probation keeps order in
our league, giving such troubled GMs time to reach out
to the more experienced members and ask for help. At least
then, the league community
continues to bond and stays together. Should it happen once again,
there will be a mechanism in place to deal with the management
of the faltering team. At least within such a league,
several fair chance opportunities are given to the team having
difficulties to improve their performance. If after all options
for a solution to bring the team into balance have been exhausted,
then its time to move on.
Through such experiences, a Commissioner can then learn the biggest lesson of all.
The absolute key that I can share is to screen your
potential candidates to fill a GM opening very carefully....
